Very stylish, great office speakers
Pros:
Control pod, looks, sound performance and clarity, easy setup
Cons:
none
The Bottom Line:
The Bose Companion 3 is not for gamers but for an "office audiophile" who will be hard-pressed to find clearer and more spacious sound in such an aesthetically pleasing package.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
Selecting office speakers
Without repeating much of what other reviewers have mentioned, I'll share my personal take on the Bose Companion 3 version 2. First of all, I was looking for a great performance and for aesthetics. I went to the Best Buys and listened to all speakers from Logitech, Creative, Altec Lansing and Bose they had on display. To my years, there was no comparison - Bose offered the best sound and clarity and by far the best aesthetics. I did check out Bose Companion 5 (5.1 setup). It definitely sounds richer than Companion 3, but unless you are playing video games, a proper way to listening music with the most accurate reproduction is through the two frontal speakers connected to subwoofer, not from the surround sound setup. As this is my office system, I went ahead and bought Bose Companion 3 II.
At Work
The speakers were very well packaged, the manual is concise and the setup was a breeze. The speakers feature very small footprint and take almost no space on my desk. The subwoofer is fairly compact and fits neatly under my desk. Cables are of good length, so that you have a great flexibility in placing satellite speakers. I listen at low volumes a variety of music - from relaxing to soft rock, from dance to classical. The sound is very, very good. I am not going to claim that it is as good as the one from my B&W home theatre setup, but it is probably the best sound you can have from your computer.
Of course small satellite speakers force Bose 5.25-inch woofer to work extra to compensate very small, single 2-inch wide-range transducers of the satellite speakers. Still, the Bose Companion 3 ver. II sound is fantastic. It packs great bass and the highs are crystal clear - music details are limited only by quality of the recording.
Best feature
So, l like their looks and sound, but I really love the control pod. You can connect headphones or another music source (an mp3 player, radio, etc). You can control volume or, just with a single touch, mute the speakers and put them into standby. Control pod also features a great tactile feel. It is heavy and the bottom is rubberized so it doesn't slide all over the desk and feels well planted. I think having a control pod is a much better idea than a remote control which inevitably gets lost.
Value
Although pricey, I think these speakers offer a good value and I don't think that they are overpriced. I got them on sale at BestBuy so that I would recommend waiting for a promotion.
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