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Arthur T Knackerbracket [soylentnews.org] writes:

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ADD +++ HARDWARE +++

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story [theregister.co.uk]:

Hoity-toity hi-fi purveyor Bose has inadvertently silenced a bunch of its own soundbars with a recent firmware update.

The problems were first reported on the Bose support forum [bose.com] two weeks ago and affect the company's Soundbar 700.

Users connecting the overpriced telly speaker via HDMI are being advised to use optical connections instead as a temporary fix. Support staff have also suggested rebooting the speaker every time the TV is turned on or contacting the telly's manufacturer – ideas not broadly welcomed by Bose customers.

The Reg reader who tipped us off complained: "In typical Bose fashion thus far, they attempted to blame TV and other device firmwares and suggested asinine resolutions that seem as positive as jumping up and down on one foot to solve the issue. Lastly they suggest using optical cables rather than using what has been [the] working solution of HDMI ARC and CEC for many people since inception of the product."

Users are accusing the firmware update 5.0.12 download for the strange silencing. Punters have suggested Bose does not adequately test its firmware, and have suggested making updates optional rather than automatically pushed out to all devices.

As usual, the irritation of a broken soundbar is made much worse by the two-week silence from the company as to when users might expect a fix or even a simple rollback to the previous, functioning firmware.

Some have fixed the problem by using the latest 5.0.14 firmware version – see page 19 of this thread [bose.com] in the support forum.

Back in June, Bose forums were full of irritated punters experiencing unwanted crackles [theregister.co.uk] through their soundbars.

The reassuringly expensive Bose 700 (the world's best soundbar, according to the company) will set you back about £700 and surround speakers are an extra £245.

We've emailed the company via their public relations firm and will update if we get a response. ®

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