Bose Companion 2 Series II Multimedia Speaker System
by BOSE
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Bose Companion 2 Series II Multimedia Speaker System
Customer Review: Surprisingly Good Sound for a 2.0 System, Price:Performance is only OK
Summary: 4 Stars
I have four other Bose products and have been using Bose since 1993 so I will provide you with an honest view.
I needed some speakers for my laptop and I decided to go with a 2.0 setup instead of a 2.1 setup. Knowing this, I was not expecting 2.1 sound from the Companion 2 speakers.
First Impressions:
When I opened the box, the first thing that struck me was that these speakers were incredibly sturdy and looked very well made. They feel hefty and solid and look like a quality product. No cheap, discolored plastic here. They are a little on the large side at 7.5" high but that really didn't bother me. THERE IS AN ON/OFF SWITCH ON THESE SPEAKERS despite what some other reviewers are saying. I am surprised Bose did not include a status LED green light. The cables are fine for setting the speakers a few feet apart and plugging them from a desk into a power outlet. I didn't feel they were short. They might seem short to you if you want to space them really far apart. The volume dial feels very nice and solid and has a very fluid motion to it. The silver grills also look great.
Sound:
When watching YouTube videos, I really was not impressed. This is probably because online music and videos have all types of compression and that's just the nature of it and you can't do much about it. When I started listening to my mp3's, that's when these speakers came to life. The sound is clear and I don't know how they designed them, but they produce bass. Obviously, not thunderous bass but they do sound much bigger than they really are. I think the design is more than a simple bass-reflex structure because you can feel a good amount of air coming from the rear ports when they are played loud. I think they have some type of acoustic structure inside which is similar to their acoustimass module technology. I could feel the "punch" from these speakers when sitting at my desk. Considering the price and that these are multimedia speakers, I was very impressed.
I listened to some smooth jazz, some hip hop, and some classic rock. Everything sounded impressive. I could hear natural vocals, guitar strings, high notes and the low rumble of bass strings. These speakers do get reasonably loud and they do not distort at the loudest volume. Bose has some type of anti-clipping circuitry built in because when you turn the volume dial up all the way, the sound "balances" out. You cannot get these speakers to distort because that circuitry won't let them. I want to add that the sound is very tight and not hollow --it just sounds nice and full. I did think that the bass was enhanced sometimes and this was slowly drowning out the mids but I did not think it was really a big issue. It didn't sound like the boomy bass you hear on talk radio. There is also no crackling when you adjust the volume. Bose also has something called TrueSpace Circuitry and this creates a more wider sound field. The sound coming from the speakers seems more expansive and open. In other words, the "sweet spot" is made bigger. I like this feature and it is the next best thing to surround sound.
For the price, I was expecting greater volume though. I mean they are more than loud enough to fill up a bedroom and obviously more than loud enough for someone sitting right in front of them. I just felt for almost a hundred bucks, they should get a little louder just in case you need the extra volume. Maybe it's just a limitation of the design. I mean 2.5" drivers can only do so much. I want to add that I have a nice sound card in my desktop and on-board sound for my laptop. I don't know if the sound card plays an important role in the sound considering these are powered speakers. Considering almost every other 2.0 multimedia system out there does not sound all that great, I was very surprised with these speakers and they certainly exceeded my expectations. Remember this is a 2.0 system. If you want more bass, Bose makes a Companion 3 and 5 with subwoofers but they are ridiculously priced for multimedia speakers. For ninety - one hundred bucks, these are actually a pretty good deal; probably one of the better deals from Bose.
Another great thing about Bose products is they have very high re-sale value. Unlike most other sound equipment, if you decide these are not for you, you can put them up for sale and recover most of what you paid. I keep seeing Bose Media Mate computer speakers from the 90's on eBay going for top dollar.
Conclusion:
These are well-made, good-looking speakers that sound great and have pretty good low-end considering they don't use a subwoofer. I had a sound in mind before I purchased these and these speakers exceeded that. I only wish they could get a little louder considering the premium price. Other than that, I have no regrets and I am very happy with the purchase and they do what they are supposed to do. Just remember never expect 2.1 performance from a 2.0 speaker and you won't be disappointed.
Customer Review: Small Sound at a Premium Price
Summary: 3 Stars
Bose is one very smart company. Over the years they have managed to create an iconic brand of top end speakers that retail for very high prices. Like Bose or not, there is no denying that their products sound good. Are they the best? No, not really. But they provide good sound and that is key to consumers.
Enter the Bose Companion II Series II computer speakers. Right out of the box you will notice a huge increase in sound quality from your stock speakers. Most musical aspects are very clear, and for speakers that lack a sub-woofer, the bass is tight and defined. All levels are represented accurately, and there is a richness in the sound that is pleasing to the ear.
This is all true until you push these speakers in terms of volume. Now, I understand that computer speakers are not meant to rattle the house (though Logitech's Z-5500 can do that), but these speakers refuse to push out any type of real power. The sound is great until you go past the halfway mark on the volume knob. After that you notice the sound can't get any louder. In an effort to offer you more, the bass becomes super muddy, as if the tiny speaker inside the unit have given up and decided to blow air in your face. The effect is embarrassing for a "high end" system.
All this being said the speakers sound quite good at low volumes. Basically, these are speakers designed for one person to be listening to them at a reasonable level. It just seems that for $100, I should be able to push them a little. In comparison, my roommate has a $30 pair of Altec Lansing 2.1 computer speakers that really knock out some sound when you crank them, and they are only rated for 20 watts a channel.
I have missed a few technical details, but if this is the only review you read, you don't use the internet enough. Okay, this is what it comes down to...
Pros -
- At lower volumes, these speakers sound great. Good reproduction on sound, and the bass is not punchy, but rather defined. I own a good amount of high end headphones and find the sound reproduction to be comparable to them.
- Since there is no sub-woofer, you save a lot of space. I wouldn't call these portable speakers due to a fair bit of wiring and their weight, but they don't take a lot of your desktop.
- There are two stereo inputs on the back so you can attach different components to the system (they are stereo to headphone jacks, which are cheap to buy). Keep in mind that there is no switch between the two inputs and these speakers will play everything at the same time if you attempt to do so.
- These speakers look nice. Easy on the eyes and they don't take up a lot of room.
- The headphone jack on the front delivers decent amplification. My Grado's sound great on them.
Cons -
- No off switch. You can turn the volume to the lowest setting on the knob, but there is not a real off switch. This can be annoying when I forgot I set an alarm and there is no real kill switch for the sound.
- Total lack of high end power. For $100 you get great sound for one person, but these speakers couldn't get loud enough to fill a small room. Considering the alternatives, there is little bang for your buck here.
Overall -
- Depending on your needs, these speakers will either be a great investment or one you regret. For a cubical worker wanting great sound; grab these. For the college student wanting to rattle the room, go anywhere else.
Customer Review: Good Speakers for the Money
Summary: 4 Stars
I went to a local retailer looking at speakers a couple of weeks ago. I was really in the market for a simple setup, maybe with a subwoofer, but I wasn't set on any one brand. I tested the Logitec, Altec Lansing and Klipsch offerings and after looking at them all in person, I decided that I wanted something without a cumbersome subwoofer unit to be dodging with my feet under my desk. I started looking at the more basic setups and didn't like their sound. A guy next to me was looking at the Bose offerings and drew my attention to these. I liked the way they sounded and really liked the way they looked, especially considering they didn't have a huge subwoofer box to dodge. At $99 I felt they were a little steep, but they seemed to fit the bill well.
I think they're good speakers for the money. They definitely sound good. Not great, but good. I expected a little more out of Bose, but with a 2.0 system, you won't get much better sound than this. They don't distort which is nice because I listen to a huge variety of music and hate when speakers sound great while listening to acoustic or alt rock, but can't cut it when hip-hop or rap comes on. Bose has nailed the ability to produce quality sound across a broad spectrum of music styles. I think if I knew what I was doing, I would go in and adjust the equalizer settings to give me really optimum sound, but I just shuffle through iTunes and take what I get. I did find that the Acoustic preset in iTunes sounded great overall (Artists such as John Mayer, Jay-Z, Jacks Mannequin, Hockey, Augustana, Aesop Rock, Josh Ritter, Coldplay, Atmosphere, Pilot Speed, Them Crooked Vultures, The Beatles, All Get Out...You get the idea...)
They were easy to hook up. You just plug in a red and white to the back of one speaker, plug the other speaker in, attach a power cable to the wall and plug the other end of the audio cable into your computer. My computer was set to internal speakers so I had to go into my preferences panel and switch it to these, but that was it.
Construction-wise, these are great. The rubber feet keep them from sliding around on my desk when I'm shoving things around on it and they're surprisingly heavy for their size. They look nice with plain grilles and a single knob for on/off and volume and one headphone jack on the front of the same speaker for those times when you want to personalize your music experience. :)
All in all these are great speakers at a fair price. If I could give them a value, it would be more in the $79 range vs. the $99 that I paid for them. If you can catch them on sale or get a 10% off coupon for Best Buy or Amazon or something, have at it. You won't be disappointed.
Customer Review: Sounds great, but needs careful handling and placement
Summary: 4 Stars
After testing this system for a few hours with different types of music: dance, pop, classical, jazz, swing, at different locations, such as a bookshelf, computer table, etc, here's what I found out:
When placed one to three feet away (and no more than two feet away from each other), the Companion 2 sounds quite loud at lower volume settings. With the volume dial adjusted between 7 and 12 o'clock, the Bose Companion 2 sounds fantastic: the treble tickles your ears without being too harsh, the bass resonates firmly from the bass reflex ducts but doesn't overwhelm, the mid stays right in the middle, never overpowering but doesn't get drowned out by the highs or the lows either.
However, if you intend to use the Companion 2 to power a house party, or intend to have them fill your house with sound, this is what you'll end up with:
When the speakers are pushed to its limits (with the volume dial turned past the 12 o'clock mark), the sound compression circuit kicks in and starts compressing the sound to keep it from becoming distorted. This however, seems to have a very negative impact on the sound. At very high volumes, the entire sound spectrum is compressed, making the speakers sound very flat and dry. For certain genres of music where the sound level increases and decreases throughout the same track, those increases and decreases in sound level will become undistinguishable when the volume dial is turned all the way up.
In conclusion, the Bose Companion 2 is by no means a party speaker, and will refuse to go loud if you push it. The amplifier is reasonably powerful; I've compared the sound output level with my Sony SRS-Z100, which has a 10W+10W RMS output. Both speakers (the SRS-Z100 has 4 drivers, two woofers and two tweeters and two passive radiators) can get equality loud, but since there is no compression circuit in the Sony SRS-Z100, when I push the speakers past its limits, the drivers start adding distortions to the original sound. With the Bose Companion 2, the sound becomes compressed, but not distorted.
To compare the Bose Companion 2 to bigger systems would be unfair, since it is designed to produce well balanced sound at close range with just two small drivers measuring just over 2 inches. The bass and treble are obviously amplified to achieve this, so as a result, the drivers tend to resonate alot more at any given volume. As a result, there is no way these speakers can go loud unless you can lower the treble and bass output of your sound source.
The Bose Companion 2 has the potential to deliver great sound, but it needs careful handling and placement to achieve this.
Customer Review: Dissapointing
Summary: 3 Stars
I've spent several frustrating hours testing both the Bose Companion 2 Series II and Creative Gigaworks T20 series II. These are two very different sounding sets of speakers, with their own strengths and weaknesses. I am well aware of the major limitations of such small speakers, but even taking this into account neither pair is satisfactory, with both being disappointing for different reasons. I expected bass response to be an issue, but it really isn't for either, although the Bose did exhibit a small amount of distortion with some material. The problem with these speakers is with everything else!
The T20s have clean, clear highs, and plenty of undistorted bass, but their midrange response is severely lacking. Vocals often seem distant and swamped by other instruments. The overall result is a bright warm sound, but with a very noticeable lack of detail and presence.
The Companion IIs on the other hand are very mid-range heavy, pushing vocals right out to the front. Sometimes too much, making spoken word material sound boomy. Unfortunately Bose have managed to do something remarkable, in that the Companions II sound both muffled and bright at the same time! I attribute this to the "TrueSpace" processing, which actively changes the sound to make it seem more spacious. Whilst it does achieve this effect, it also does weird things to the dynamic range, and overall these speakers sound too forceful and not very natural. What is really amusing is that Bose put a note in the box claiming that that, unlike other manufactures, their speakers do not introduce artificial effects to make the speakers sound more pleasing ( I kid you not!).
OK, so on the positive side, The T20s have tone controls which allow one to tweak the sound to a certain extent (but they don't fix the mid-range problem). The Bose `s dynamic compression make them sound better at very low volume levels, and so would probably sound OK if you just want quiet background music whilst you are working, or of you plan to use them in an environment with a lot of background noise. Oh, and it would appear that Bose have taken note of peoples comments about the lack of a power button. The volume control now has an off position!
Neither the T20s nor Companion IIs are deserving of their high recommended retail prices. They really should always be priced under one hundred dollars.
I'll be returning both sets tomorrow. My search continues :-(