Bose is and has been a lifestyle company for quite some time. They have a very specific target audience, and that's people who enjoy quality audio, but aren't fanatics (aka us).

The kinds of people who by bose aren't the kinds of people who will sit with SPL meters and have one "sacred" spot in the room where they sit. They will get up, walk around, have a drink, entertain friends with background music. As a result, Bose has engineered their products to sound pretty good and uniform everywhere in the room at the expense of the other aspects. I personally feel like they achieve this goal quite well. Back when the 701 was a thing, people had more powerful amps and stereos were a greater focal point of the social experience. Now it's all HT and people don't focus on the speakers but instead the TV is the centerpiece. As a result, Bose has adjusted their product line to match the lifestyle consumer desires. People are clearly happy with it or else they wouldn't sell the way they do.

Side example: people who buy a BMW 3/5 series sedan want a car that is fun to drive and isn't outrageously expensive and nicer than your run of the mill car, but aren't going to play in the supercar highly tuned performance machine or crazy luxury car like a 7 series or boutique brands like Bently.

Also, if you think Bose couldn't make a kickass speaker if they wanted to, look at the performance of their QC series and Bluetooth speakers. IMO they are the best on the market in both their fields. Their success clearly shows they know how to make a quality product. However, They know their brand name is torched in the audiophile market and there isn't the money o earn by going after us so they stopped bothering trying to get our dollar.