Expanding Horizons
Bose
In The
1980s
Expanding Horizons
An era of creativity and innovation.
MTV, Nintendo, Back to the Future, Madonna, and the fall of the Berlin Wall — the 80s were a time of incredible growth. Technological advances began to skyrocket, with inventions such as the personal computer, the CD and disposable cameras hitting the market. For Bose, the 80s set the pace for new ventures across a wide range of industries — breaking barriers and delivering technologies that shaped the world as we knew it.
1983
1983 Caddilac Seville
The GM project is unprecedented. Engineers begin to realize they could precisely characterize the acoustics in a particular car model by measuring a vehicle’s interior and analyzing the impact of speaker placement to optimized audio in any vehicle model.
The 1983 Cadillac Seville is the first vehicle on the road with a factory-installed, custom-tuned premium audio system.
The decision to cancel the after-market product galvanized the people at Bose into thinking about other ways to deliver a new level of sound quality in an automobile.
1984
High-Fidelity Sound from a Compact Tabletop System
Acoustic Wave® loudspeaker technology came as a byproduct of solving an unrelated problem.
The company realizes that the business of building components, even successful ones like the 901 speakers, would not be the ultimate path to reaching more people with high quality sound. So, attention shifts to something that had long been Dr. Bose’s dream: to put together a simple, compact, all-in-one music system that would deliver the same performance and realistic sound as a large, multi-component system. After a decade of research, the Acoustic Wave Music System is introduced to high praise.
1986
Neodymium Driver
Bose develops a 4.5-inch inverted-structure neodymium driver, designed to enable high-performance woofers to be built into the narrow frame of a vehicle door and deliver improved low-note performance. This driver is the precursor to the patented Bose Nd woofer, which will be introduced for the first time in the 1997 Chevrolet Corvette.
Prototype Noise Reducing Headsets Used on the Voyager
Though active noise-reducing headsets are still in development, Bose Corporation makes two prototypes available to pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager on their record-breaking, non-stop Voyager flight around the world.
“I think it was June of ’86. Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager had completed a four-day test flight up and down the coast of California in preparation for Voyager’s non-stop, ’round-the-world flight. And there was an article in Newsweek that talked about how big a problem noise was for them, and that caught our attention.
“We tried to get in touch with them, but couldn’t. So in August, Roman Sapiejewski and I decided to make a cold call. We flew out to California with two prototypes, drove to Mojave, and sat in their lobby until they agreed to talk to us.
“At first, they were dismissive. ‘It’ll never work.’ But we said, ‘Give it a try.’ So we found a plane and Dick sat down in the pilot seat. He put on the headset and fired up the engine. Then he turned on the noise cancellation, and his jaw dropped. He was just blown away at the amount of noise reduction. ‘We have to have this,’ he said.”
Dan Gauger
Bose Research Engineer
1987
Introduction of Acoustimass Speaker Technology
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The era of huge speakers is over. Bose introduces a compact audio system that is the first of its kind — an audio system that uses newly patented technologies, tiny cube speakers and a compact bass module to deliver concert-like sound. Within a few years, Acoustimass systems become a new standard in home hi-fi and go on to dominate the home theater market.
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Inventors of the Year
Dr. Bose and Dr. William R. Short win the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation's Inventor of the Year Award for a loudspeaker system that employs a folded acoustic waveguide — technology that will set the stage for many Bose products to come.
1988
First-Ever Official Olympics Sound System Supplier
Bose becomes the first company contracted to provide sound systems for every event at the Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada.
1989
First Commercial Active Noise Reducing Headset
Bose engineer Jack Breen wearing an early Aviation Headset prototype. | The final production Bose Aviation Headset.
The Bose aviation headset revolutionizes flying for pilots by providing effective noise reduction, communication and comfort. It becomes the first commercially available Active Noise Reducing headset anywhere the world.
1989
Bose Auto Travels to Europe
Audi is the first European vehicle manufacturer to include a Bose Sound System.
