Bose Companion 5 Review

Having owned the Bose Companion 5 computer speaker system for two years, I believe I am in a good position to review it. 

The appearance of this system is very nice.  The two desk mount speakers are well built with metal speaker grills and have a reasonably heavy speaker stand giving a solid foundation. The hideaway acoustimass module (sub-woofer) is again aesthetically pleasing and well constructed. The control pod has a smart sleek design and  provides volume and touch sensitive mute control. It also incorporates a headphone jack and auxiliary input.

The set-up of this system is very simple. The desktop speakers and the control pod have thick pre-connected cables with colour coded purpose designed connectors, which only require connecting to the acoustimass module. The acoustimass module has a power cable which needs connecting to the mains and a USB cable which needs to be connected the computers USB port. There is no requirement for the user to install any software since this is done automatically. 

The sound quality and power is impressive.  When listening to music in stereo mode the sound is very clear and fills the room with ease. Turning the volume right up results  in no noticeable distortion, although the neighbours will probably not appreciate it. The acoustimass module delivers a powerful deep base, which you would not expect from a computer speaker system. My only small compliant is that the acoustimass module is non-linear at high volumes and saturates before the maximum volume. This is unlikely to ever be a problem, since non-linearity occurs at a volume which is in excess of that used in the high majority of circumstances. 

The system is equally fantastic with movies, providing clear dialogue and thundering base when required. The system is said to give 5.1 sound from the two speaker and acoustimass module. It does do a decent job of this bearing in mind that there are only two speakers, but it does not and should not be expected to be equal to a true 5.1 speaker system. Each user is likely to hear the virtual 5.1 sound to a lesser or greater extent depending upon the room. 

Bose audio systems hold their value very well, probably because they do not offer discounts and do not produce new versions of their products very often, unlike the majority of other audio manufacturers. Bose is also a very popular brand, which helps to hold the product's value. The system currently costs £299 and I believe that it cost me £279 two years ago. The shop price of the product, therefore, has actually increased which is unusual for audio and electronics equipment in general. I believe I would still get in excess of £200 for my two year old system. I would say this is impressive. 

Overall I believe this is one of the best computer speaker systems available for the money and I have been very pleased with my purchase.

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