Alternatives to the Bose Wave Radio System

Every year, someone in America thinks that getting an aging parent a nice radio is a great gift idea.  If that someone has plenty of money, they simply buy a Bose Wave radio system off of a television shopping network and call it a day. But, as of 2025, we're too late. Bose has discontinued them. Fortunately, there are alternatives.

Bose Wave Radio - photo by Guide22, CC BY-SA 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons

Now that they are rare, the Bose Wave Music System has become even more expensive. While it sounds great, it isn't affordable for most of us. That's where this Dirt Cheap Audio blog comes in. There has to be an alternative.

The Aiwa Exos Home Sound System (Amazon Photo)

As of this November 2025 update, one premium alternative that replicates the Bose Wave Radio functionality is this Aiwa Exos Home Speaker, 30W RMS Sound System system (shown above). It has Bluetooth, a CD Player, and FM radio in form factor that comes quite close to the Bose systems that we've seen so often. The system is compared to the old Bose by many reviewers and gets 4.2 stars overall. It is praised for its sound quality and simplicity. However, some reviewers note that you shouldn't lose the remote. You can get it here at my Amazon affiliate link!