Bose Companion 3 Series II multimedia speaker system (Graphite/Silver)

By 

N. Stein “Who?” (Baton Rouge, LA USA) –

  

I blew a ridiculous amount of time listening to them in the store, reading reviews and what not and it by no means really helped me choose. I finished up buying all 3 and hooking them up so I could test drive them. Then returned the ones I didn’t keep. Hopefully a name in the same situation I was in will benefit from my review. If you can’t choose I recommend buying the ones you can’t choose between and test them yourself.

SPEAKERS:
Klipsch Promedia 2.1, Logitech z-2300, Bose Companion 3

BACKGROUND:
Before Speakers- Creative 6.1, reckon they were the first inspires.
Sound Card- Creative x-fi
Primary use- Gaming with restricted music
Volume- maybe max out around 10%. Live in multifamily complex and don’t need a lease breaker to live up to its name.
Ear quality- I’m no sound engineer so all references to quality of sound are just what MY ears heard.

6.1 V 2.1:
You will not find any 2.1 system that rivals even a cheap 5.1 or 6.1 set. No way around that. In downgrading you are compromising from the start. If you have the space/cash/mounting locations go with 5.1 or higher.

SOUND QUALITY:
The Klipsch had the best by and large performance when it came to sound. Second was Bose and third was Logitech.

I was not at all impressed with the Logitechs. They had a nice booming sound but no matter how much I fiddled with the EQ could I get a clean regular sound across the board. Highs sounded watered down, Mids sounded muted and the Lows were…booming in a excellent way. Granted I’m sure this had a lot to do with the fact that I wasn’t turning them up very loud. When I cranked them up they sounded much better but that’s not the situation I needed them for. If you are throwing a block party the sound quality might be fantastic.

The Klipsch certainly had the best by and large sound. It seemed to have a small distress with definition on the highs and the extreme lows but far out did the other two with the mids and the lows. When I say distress I mean nothing noticeable if you didn’t have multiple speakers hooked up at the same time. This could once again be attributed to the fact that I’m running them at such a low volume. As far as the extreme lows, I don’t reckon either of the other two systems even had those lows to take note too.

The Bose handled the highs with crystal clarity. They do have the “tin can” effect that other reviewers have mentioned but adjustment of the EQ was able to compensate for that. The mids had to be corrected with the EQ but once setup right they were adequate, nothing to enter home about, but better then the Logitech and not as excellent as the Klipsch. The lows thumped nicely and seemed to fit well but on extreme lows it seemed to be more of a single rumble as opposed to individual sounds.

REAL ESTATE:
The Bose significantly outshine the other two sets when it comes to desk real estate. The footprint of each satellite is about 2.5×2.5 inches. Receiver might take up less space. The Logitechs and the Klipsch take up about the same amount of space on the desk. Slightly better than your average desktop speaker but not so large that you can’t fit them on the desk.

CONTROLS:
All three sets had the same set of controls and inputs on them, namely bass, volume, and a miniplug out or two.

I preferred the Bose when it came to the controls. The small wired remote puck thing works excellently and sticks to the spot you place it. The volume control consists of turning the outside of the puck and works excellently. One added feature is the top of the puck is a touch activated mute button. Useless really since the volume is so simple to adjust but nice all the same. The bass control for the Bose is located on the back of the sub near the top. The sub sits below my desk so it’s simple enough to adjust by just reaching behind it from the top and turning the knob.

Second would be the Logitech set. They also have a wired remote similar to the bose. Has a link knobs on it a large (not as large as the bose puck) one for volume and smaller one for bass. They seemed to turn smoothly and work fantastic. The one thing I didn’t like about the Logitech remote was that it was very light and didn’t really stay where you place it. Some double side tape or a rubber pad would easily fix that.

This is one spot where the Klipsch comes in last. I read that the controller could be removed from the speaker but didn’t see an simple way to do it and didn’t want to muck them up since I would be returning 2 of the 3 systems. The Klipsch controls are located on the right speaker similar to your normal OEM speakers. There is a volume and bass knob. The volume knob didn’t seem as charming as the other two systems and tended to jump as…

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 Comments (27)

With spending a link of days with these speakers I can know how people are polarized in their opinions of them. Depending on your listening preferences, these could either be the best speakers in the world, or (as was the case for me) lacking and not value the price.

Aesthetically these speakers are unmatched. Elegant in appearance, I can’t imagine an background in which they wouldn’t fit from a visual perspective. The satellite speakers have small footprints, and the included “puck” controller is slick and functional.

When you really start listening to these speakers things get problematic. In the high and mid-high frequency range the sound is quite incredible. You can hear things you can’t hear with lesser speakers, like the “finger sound” of a guitar strum or the sound of a bow moving across a violin string. But, the low-midrange frequencies are plainly lacking. The deficient low-midrange output means that the bass sounds disconnected from the rest of the sound. It’s a weird listening experience.

In listening directly to the subwoofer (the huge box that sits on the floor and puts out the lowest frequency sound), it appears that it’s tuned to output only the lowest frequency bass notes. Other satellite-type speakers I have place more of the low-midrange frequencies into the subwoofer output, which gives them a more balanced sound by and large. I wonder if Bose didn’t purposely design these speakers without much low-midrange to accentuate the exceptional highs. For some people crystal-clear highs are the most vital factor, and for those people this is a 5-star product. But, I take note to a variety of music, and I want sound that is neutral and balanced.

A few reviews have talked about how these sound fantastic in the store but poor when you get them home. In the store they are set up with the subwoofer and satellites all on the same shelf. With the subwoofer right in your face I can know how the sound would be a small more balanced. But, when you get them home and set them up as they are intended to be–with the satellites on your desk and the subwoofer on the floor–the separated “gap in the sound” effect becomes apparent.

In the end these were a huge disappointment for me. Functionally they are a joy and are perfect for my restricted-space desk. I would imagine for gaming and certain types of music these would be brilliant, with the powerful bass and clear highs. But, for me the disconnected sound just doesn’t cut it for the music I take note to and I had to return them.

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I went with my cousin to best buy and was able to use his employee discount (best buy’s employee buy program allows their employees to buy any item at the company’s cost + 5%). Since I was getting a fantastic deal, I sought after the best/most expensive they had. It came down the bose companion 3 series II and the klipsch pro media 2.1 system. The bose would come out to $160 and the klipsch $110, both before CA tax. Now as you can tell, all bose products have a crazy mark up on them. I was able to get 90 bucks off, thats more than 35%! 35% off any electronic item is a lot. The klipsch on the other hand was about the same price amazon is selling it and was $145 regular best buy price- not much of a markup if you question me.

Anyway, long tale small, I went with the bose. I brought it home and set it up very easily. Immediately I wasn’t impressed. But with an hour of listening to them I started to appreciate them. For most music (classical, rock, r&b, etc.) they do a pretty excellent job. You do hear a lot of small sounds that you probably have by no means heard before in your music. The music sounds layered, which is fantastic. The bass module can reproduce very low tones. Music sounds live and clear. And no distortion at all, even at the highest volume. The sound does fill the room. You will also notice how much mp3s suck compared to wav/cd.
The speakers also look fantastic. Very nice design and small in size. The volume is also controlled by a nice looking “puck,” that has a headphone and input jack. The mute tap button on it is also convient.

Now why I give this system 3 stars is for the subsequent reasons:
-The music I primarily take note to is Trance. In electronic music, these speakers do a very terrible job. The bass module makes a major reverb. Yes, I have lowered the bass by the knob on the back of the module, but when I get the reverb to become less audible, I end up with no bass. So I’m stuck with a nasty bass reverb or not enough bass when listening to electronic music.
-The next wits is the bass control is on the back of the module. Most people will place the bass module out of arms reach and as you take note to uncommon genres you may occassionally need to adjust the bass. So you’ll have get to the back of the module to do that. They could have solved this by count bass control to the volume “puck.”
-And last, price. These speakers are way too expensive for the average person. I certainly would not be pleased if I paid 249 plus tax for these. You can get better sound for a lot less. When you buy bose you pay for their acoustic sound proccessing, which you can sometimes tell when listening to certain music.

By and large, decent speakers. Too pricey for its performance. But if you’re rich and want something simple that will do a pretty excellent job at reproducing most music, then go for them. I would rate them at 3 1/2 stars if amazon allowed me.

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