Simplicity and great sound optimized for a small room

We bought the 3-2-1 home entertainment system for use in our bedroom. It is an ideal application for this product. While we liked the idea of having a surround sound system in our bedroom, we weren’t all that crazy about having to mount rear speakers (which would have ended up directly above our bed). After hearing the 3-2-1 at our local Bose factory store, we purchased one.

SYSTEM SUMMARY

The 3-2-1 gets its name from the fact that it has 3 wires to connect, 2 visible speakers (they assume the bass module will be hidden from site) and 1 media center. The media center contains an integrated DVD player, an AM/FM tuner and an additional 3 inputs for other external sources. The integrated DVD player plays a wide range of formats, including DVD, CD, CD-R/RW and MP3. The system comes with a simple remote control, which unfortunately, is not a universal type.

The speakers use an articulated array design, which means there are two drivers within each satellite speaker. One of the drivers is aimed at the listener, and the other driver is canted outward, to bounce sound off the side walls. The unique speaker design in addition to some proprietary Bose signal processing helps to achieve a simulated surround field So does it work? Well, sort of – but more on that later.

It should also be noted that the 3-2-1 was beautifully packaged by Bose, and the unit itself had a quality feel. The media center had a nice weight to it, and felt like a high-quality piece. There are receivers that are 3 times larger than the 3-2-1 media center that don’t weigh half as much.

SETUP

If there is one area where the 3-2-1 absolutely shines, this is it. It is extraordinarily simple to set the system up. You couldn’t screw it up even if you wanted to. The speaker use a Y-connector that uses a single plug to connect into the media center. There is another type of plug that connects the media center to the Acoustimass module, which produces the majority of the low-frequency sounds (bass). The last connection is the power cord, and then you’re done. Since each plug only fits into its corresponding connector, it’s impossible to plug something in wrong.

Bose recommends placing the speakers a minimum of 3 feet apart. Our setup has them about 6 feet apart. Placing the speakers close to the TV is not a problem, as they are magnetically shielded. To optimize the surround effects, the speakers should be aimed straight out (not angled). The Acoustimass module is less finicky as to placement, but placing it near a corner will provide the best bass response.

The 3-2-1 allows for the connection of up to 3 external sources. In addition to analog inputs, there are digital inputs available for each additional source. The digital inputs are all coaxial, except on the input for Video 1, which also offers an optical input. For video output, the 3-2-1 offers a composite and S-Video connection. Unfortunately, there is no component video and the DVD player does not feature progressive scan. For the $999 price of admission, I think a component video connection should be included – especially since DVD players available for under $100 are now including component video connections. It didn’t matter much in my case, as my bedroom TV doesn’t even have an S-Video connection. However, if you are planning on hooking it up to a newer big screen TV, a component video connection would improve the picture.

After everything is connected, the 3-2-1 offers a very simple on-screen menu that allows you to set various system parameters. These include such things as selecting regular or widescreen for the TV, tweaking bass and treble, and even selecting a password for parental control so that the kids can’t watch any unsuitable DVDs without permission.

I am used to setting up much more sophisticated systems, so the easy setup wasn’t a big advantage for me. However, for many people, I could see this being a huge benefit. Not all of us are technically inclined, and those of us who are usually underestimate the difficulty that many people will have setting up a traditional surround system.

LARGE ROOM PERFORMANCE

Just to see how the 3-2-1 compares with a more traditional surround system, I first hooked it up in my living room. This room is a large (18 x 24) room with a cathedral ceiling. The current system in the room is a full 5.1 system, including a 180-watt 12” subwoofer. It performs exceptionally well in the large room. I was skeptical about the 3-2-1 being able to keep up, and I was right. The 3-2-1 just didn’t have the impact of the larger system. To be fair, the system I was comparing it to was much more expensive. The receiver alone had cost more than the entire 3-2-1 system. Regardless, I wanted to see how the 3-2-1 performed in the large space. Its biggest drawback was the lack of surround effects. Sound seemed to come from the front only, and it seemed thin compared to my other system. On the other hand, the Acoustimass module performed better than expected. Even in the large room, it produced very good bass response (it was placed close to the corner). It didn’t get down quite as low as my existing subwoofer, but it certainly exceeded my expectations.

While the surround performance wasn’t great, the 3-2-1 did better with music. It produced incredibly detailed sound in the large room. In fact, with some music (especially classical), I actually preferred the 3-2-1 to my other system! Still, the better musical performance couldn’t make up for the lackluster surround performance. So I unplugged it with the impression that the 3-2-1 wasn’t really well-suited for large rooms.

SMALL ROOM PERFORMANCE

After the large room test, I brought the system to its final resting place, which is my bedroom. After plugging it in, I threw in the same X-Men disc that I used to evaluate the system’s performance in the large room. Whoa! Was this even the same disc? It certainly didn’t sound like it. The system sounded completely opposite to the way it sounded in the large room. In the smaller room, the surround effects came alive, and the system provided the impact that it couldn’t muster in the larger room. I was astonished at the difference, and I had a big grin on my face. Now this is the type of system I want in my bedroom!

After getting sucked into X-Men for a while, I refocused into evaluating the system’s performance. I paid careful attention to the surround performance. What I noted was that while the effects had the impact they lacked in the larger room, I still didn’t feel “surrounded” by sound as I do with my 5.1 system. This is not to say I didn’t feel immersed in sound, as I did. However, the effects just didn’t seem to be coming out of nowhere like they do on my 5.1 system. For example, there are sound effects in the movie Fifth Element where the sound clearly travels from front to back. The same effects played on the 3-2-1 seemed to originate in the front, and travel off to the side a bit. They never really seemed to travel behind me.

In reading the Bose literature, they clearly state that they “…won’t claim that the 3-2-1 is the equal of a fully wired five-speaker system “. They say that you get “most” of the performance. I would agree with this somewhat. I don’t think you get most of the surround performance; however, I do think you get most of the overall “experience”. In other words, movies sounded great, and the effects really popped. I would gladly trade the inferior surround performance for the simplicity of dealing with only two speakers in the bedroom.

Music sounded great again, as it did in the larger room. This is definitely an area that the 3-2-1 excels in. The two main speakers, with their articulated arrays, offer a very spacious sound that is nicely detailed.

After using the 3-2-1 system in our bedroom for a few months, we noticed something that we really grew to appreciate. When watching movies at lower volumes, it was very easy to pick up dialogue. The “Range Compression” feature automatically adjusts volume on the system so that you can comfortably hear dialogue, yet aren’t overwhelmed by loud special effects. It worked.

In our main system in the larger room mentioned above, we would frequently struggle to hear the dialogue. This was the case even though Dolby Digital has a similar feature to the 3-2-1’s “Range Compression”, which we had on its most aggressive setting. This would result in our turning the volume up. As soon as music or sound effects were introduced, the system would be too loud. We’d have to constantly be ready with the volume control. The 3-2-1 is located in our bedroom, which is about a 12 foot stretch of hallway from our 2 year old son’s room. At night, we were delighted to find that the 3-2-1 delivered crisp and easy-to-hear dialogue at lower volume levels. This made watching movies at night a much more enjoyable experience We didn’t have to worry about straining to hear what the actors were saying at one moment, and worry about sound blasting down the hallway and waking up our son the next.

OPERATION

The 3-2-1 is not only an easy product to setup, but it is also simple to operate. Just pop in a DVD or CD, and the 3-2-1 chooses the right sound mode. For example, it will automatically detect a 5.1 track and set the sound mode appropriately. It does the same
for music. There is no need to manually set these parameters. This makes watching a movie or listening to music an easy one-step process.

The 3-2-1 decodes Dolby Digital, and uses a proprietary technology called Videostage 5 to enhance mono and analog surround sources. It is similar in theory to Dolby Prologic II, and seems to work rather well on older VHS tapes that we had lying around the house.

The remote control is very simple. It makes using the 3-2-1 a snap. However, it is not a universal remote, and therefore will only control the 3-2-1. This is a bit of a letdown, as it would have been nice to be able to control my TV from the Bose remote control.

SUMMARY

We are quite happy with the 3-2-1. While it wasn’t as dynamic as our main system in the larger room, it is really at home in the bedroom. The simplicity of installation (no surround speakers) and excellent performance at lower volume levels make it ideal for the bedroom – especially when you may have small children trying to sleep nearby. Movies and music sound great on the system. When the volume is cranked, the relatively compact Acoustimass module pumps out some surprising bass.

The lack of a universal remote control is the one thing that I felt was missing from the package. Overall, I highly recommend the 3-2-1 for those with rooms on the smaller side. At $999, it is a bit pricey. You can get a decent entry-level 5.1 system (receiver, DVD, 5 speakers, 1 sub) for the same or less than the cost of the Bose system. However, the system won’t be nearly as easy to setup or use; and you’ll need to worry about wiring up rear surround speakers. Obviously, having the rear surround speakers may be desirable in some cases. It just so happens that in our case it was a cleaner installation without them.