So I got this thrift store find a while ago for $4.99. Cleaned it off and broke into the CDs for the first time in a long time.

Pretty good deal for something I don't mind getting dusty and dirty outside under the carport while we're doing yard work!

I recently finished fixing the CD drive and lid on a wave system I got off of the side of the road.

For free, I love this thing. It’s neat, it sounds plenty nice. I love the detachable base just because it has an air of opulence to it, like driving a car with a CD changer. It reads CDs a little slow but that’s mostly because WD-40 isn’t a great replacement for the original track grease.

But I’m curious about it from a 2006 perspective. Who was this product even made for?

As far as I can tell, given the detachable base with multiple audio inputs and a built in power strip, this was meant to be a speaker system, not just a really nice CD Player.

At its original $1,000 dollar price point, is it not demonstrably worse quality/$ than a more standard home audio system? Hell, even if you wanted to stick with Bose, I think it still would have been cheaper to get one of the smaller Waves and then wire that into a Bose speaker system.

The only real benefits I see to it is that it’s mildly more compact, and marginally less complicated than a bespoke stereo system (you don’t have to run any wires but the power cable, I suppose), but I just feel like that is not a large enough benefit to justify this product existing or purchasing it.

Does anyone else have some other perspective that I might be overlooking, or is this just a relic to the fact that people have been buying expensive things that have brand recognition for decades now?

Found a like new Bose Wave Sound System IV with remote at the thrift store today. I tested it out briefly to make sure the cd player read and played cds. Brought it home and I'm playing my first cd through it and it sounds great.

Do you like the Bose equipment or do you think it's just an overpriced player? Noted: I didn't pay anything near new price.

Was it a good deal? Decided against the phillips one i posted since it was not very popular here

So my mother is 87 years old and not that technologically adept (I know, surprise!) and loves her 20 year old Bose Wave radio/CD plus the 3 CD changer. She knows how to use it, it’s simple, and sounds great.

However, lately it has trouble playing CDs. I’ve been told it’s likely that the lasers have degraded over time, and that Bose does not sell repair parts. They also no longer make CD players.

So the question I have is, what are the options here? I want her to have some way to listen to all her CDs that sounds good. Ripping them to a computer and using computer audio/Bluetooth is not an option. She would have a hell of a time remembering how to use it, if she even made it past the learning curve.

So: Refurbished model? If so, where to find one?

Find someone who actually has access to parts and have it repaired?

Some other brand that’s close to Bose in sound quality?

What’s the consensus here? All helpful input is appreciated.

EDIT: There is a saint among the group. Not long after this original post, I was privately contacted by someone who had a 3 CD changer identical to my mom’s and was willing to gift it to her. He refused any offer of payment, and paid for shipping. It arrived a few days later and works perfectly. In lieu of payment, mom made a monetary donation to a food pantry local to this kind person.

I won’t name him unless he tells me it’s okay, but there are indeed kind people out there.