Bose QuietComfort 2 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones

Two years ago, I purchased a set of Bose QuietComfort 2 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones—not because I’m into high-end stereo equipment and accessories, but because I was willing to shell out $300 if the headphones could provide significant noise reduction. My college-student neighbors were constantly slamming doors, stomping up and down the stairs, and playing music at just above threshold level—loud enough to annoy, but never quite loud enough to warrant a call to the landlord.

It had never occurred to me that headphones might be designed for noise reduction as well as for audio quality. Then I saw a TV commercial in which an older man claps on his Bose QuietComfort2 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones, to shut out the sound of his neighbor’s lawn mower; the immediate change in his expression from scowling to smiling implies that the noise has indeed been “cancelled.” Soon I found myself on the Bose website, skeptically eyeing the product description. Each bulbous earcup, amply padded in leather, covered the entire ear. You could detach the audio cable and turn on a switch that created a gentle hum if you simply wanted to block out unwanted sounds.

The commercial and the headphones’ clever features made them seem like the answer to my prayers. But “noise cancelling”? In the description, Bose referred instead to the headphones’ capacity for “noise reduction”—clearly the more accurate term—and admitted that “no headphones will eliminate all noise.” Well, no kidding! It was hard to gauge just how much noise reduction I could expect, but Bose offered a 30-day money-back guarantee, plus a long-standing sterling reputation for high-quality electronics. I’d tried using simple earplugs, but found them too uncomfortable. I decided to take the plunge and ordered the headphones via the Bose website.