Review by Kevin L. Devereaux
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I was having issues myself with sound quality with these speakers until I went to Bose.com and read the user guide. These speakers are meant to produce sound both directly and reflectively. If you have all of the elements pointing forward with no surfaces to bounce off of the experience is not satisfying. You need to tuck the sub away in a corner (to reflect off the walls) and the smaller speakers I find work great with one element pointing directly and the other pointing at a wall (each speaker has 2 elements). The sound with the reflection is much richer and satisfying than when everything’s pointed directly at you.

Review by D_Strasse
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Bose seem to elicit a passsionate response whenever their name is mentioned, and I will try to elaborate on my experiences and let the reader decide if these speakers are right for them.

I currently own a set of Bose Acoustimass speakers that I purchased from a friend. The speakers were in excellent shape and I felt lucky to be able to afford Bose a few years ago on my meager salary at the time.

The speakers are definitely room *friendly*, they blend in easily as their size is unobtrusive. That said, after investigating speakers recently for a planned theater upgrade, I now feel that they are lacking.

When I first got my speakers I compared them to a pair I had purchased back when I was in high-school. I didn’t know anything about those speakers at the time but was happy with their sound as well(AR Holographic M1’s). The results of the comparison left me thinking my ears were deceiving me “my old speakers sound better?” Anyway, I put those thoughts away thinking that I must not understand because “obviously Bose were the best.”

Fast forward a couple years, all the while the Bose were up front in my surround system with the old speakers in the rear. That whole time I had no issue with the Bose, they performed well enough. After buying a new TV, I thought it might be nice to upgrade the speakers so I would have the same brand in the front and back. And so began the research.

I spent time listening to number of speakers, including high end and mid level brands at custom shops as well as entry level speakers at Best Buy and Circuit City. I have now come to desparately desire replacing my Bose speakers.

They just sound *thin*, which oddly enough was my initial impression, the one I thought I must not understand. That is the best I can describe it, music on the other speakers just sounded *fuller*, like it had more body.

I will freely admit I did not know what I was missing until I sought it out, but now that I do I feel that my Bose are no longer good enough. I will also say that this is not based on cost, I listened to a number of speakers that sounded much better at the same price, although they are NOT the same size.

In conclusion, I was looking for that fuller sound, willing to devote the floor space to much bigger speakers in order to get it. Some people might not be willing to make the trade of size for sound but for me it was worth it.

Review by Joao Sa
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I am not an audiophyle, just a music lover. My main system consists of Proac 140 speakers, MF x 150 amp and XRay cd coupled with PSU and MF DAC. I have a Michell Giro turntable. Whats this to do with Bose? may you ask. Well just intended to say that I am used to a middle range audio equipment with pedigree. It hapens that I spend many hours in a private office home, crowded with shelves, books and papers, so that I have no space to position box speakers. Recently I decided to purchase a Bose kit. My amp is a old Pioneer A 400, and a Marantz CD 76 MkII is my source.

My previous speakers were a Solid Ovale set built by B&W. It produced a boxy sound without live or body. Then the Bose kitt was seted up. WOW…WOW. Now my office is full of a rich and involving sound, realistic and detailed. I can�t undestand why are people saying there is no bass…. Well I have ears, and years of music listening experience. The results are amaizing. The most impressive is that I have the sensation of presence of musicians performing in the room. Probably stereo image is a bit confusing as is the sound stage in the classical sense of stereo speakers. However is what we got when listening music live. Can someone in a concert hall define the exact posittion of musicians while closing the eyes????. This one is a great speaker set. I can�t talk about buid qualities or engineering. Honestly I do not care if this set is based on cheap componets as some argue, since I am much more concerned about its sound, and it sounds lovely

Review by P Sybe
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Pros: High and mid-range sounds from the cubes are very crisp, especially during gaming. System has a good all-round sound for the xbox 360, dvds and for music but fall short of excellent. The cubes deliver an amazing sound volume for their size and look great on the top of the piano.

Cons: Bose should make it clear that the bass module is not a powered sub-woofer. It does not deliver any where near the lows of a powered sub. This did not matter to me because I planned to add a sub anyway. Bass module is not all that easy to hide.

Other Thoughts: I’ve read many negative reviews about these (positive as well). I would rate them an 8.5 to 9 on a scale of 10. I played with these quite a while during set-up. Wiring, placement and amp quality are huge variables with this system. If the buyer expects subwoofer lows from the bass module, it won’t happen. The bass module is not easily driven, a weak, low current amp won’t adequately drive it. I replaced inferior speaker wire with high quality Monster Cable and it made a significant improvement. Lastly, the bass module provides PLENTY of (non-sub) bass when wired and placed correctly.

Review by D. White
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Several years ago when these first came on the market they were totally novelty priced, ie. more expensive than warranted. But now at 399. they are a great value and I say this not only because I own them and I’m thrilled but also I know several people who have them in various sized rooms and varying placements, and these speakers simply kick it!! With all due respect to the naysayers, unless you’re an ardent audiophile, these speakers will make you very happy. UPDATE: I have now had these speakers for 4 years in a system designed for low level and social listening, and they are still delivering what I wanted – solid, smooth, accurate sound.So again, just don’t ask this system to do more than it can, despite Bose’ claims. Other than very loud, this trio delivers.

Review by James Ng
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I am a former BOSE Acustimass 10 owner. When i got into Home theater, I was a newbie and pretty much bought into the marketing power of BOSE. They had the nice little Demonstration stands at Best Buy and at Fry’s Electronics, they have the Soundroom that is tweaked to make the Bose sound incredible. Problem is, that room costs hundreds of thousands of dollars of technology to make the BOSE Accoutimass speakers sound that good. I don’t have $$$,$$$.$$ to spend on a room. You need to see the EQ equiptment in that room. Safe to say, I was slightly dissappointed then these speakers did not sound as good in my house as in the store. Still un-deterred, I figured it was my room (of course, it can’t be as good as THAT sound room) and they still sound better then some other satellites speakers (though not by much) is why i justifying paying a much higher price.
Little unknown fact: These little cubes cost BOSE about $35.00 to make each double cube speaker. (5×35 = 175.00 plus probably 75 for the bassmodule = $250. This means on a $1000.00 system,the retailer and BOSE is pocketing $750.00 of your dollars)
You can buy replacement drivers on the web for about $35.00 per pair. They are paper cones and plastic casing. http://layneaudio.hypermart.net/specials.htmThe most important thing is, if you have a decent A/V Receiver, you should be able to select “Source Direct” which means the Reciever acts as a pass through, adding no EQ to the music, and just supplies power to the speakers. When playing anything in “Source Direct” mode, these BOSE speakers were the same as a cheap clock radio or the TV speakers. Actually, the TV speakers on my Sony Vega was better. Only if you use EQ, like Jazz Club, or Stereo or something like that did the speakers a little better. This is for music.
I am glad for 1 thing. I was not duped into getting a Bose Lifestyle system. My AVR and DVD separates are much better then the lifestyle box. I mean.. come on BOSE, can’t you put a Progressive Scan DVD player in it?For HT, the accoustimass is slightly better. since they do play squeakly noises good, you are able to get pretty good glass breaking sounds. This is because BOSE has almost no lower midrange sounds to speak of. This way, the sqeaky highs are of course going to sound more defined. The Bass module is way underpowered. You will never get the feel like a real subwoofer. Thats a little dissappointing with the movies and no “boom” effect during explosions. Almost everyone who keeps the AM system will get 1 or 2 subwoofers. (250 to 500 a piece). At that point, you are already almost in 1500.00 area. That puts you direct against some “reference” lines of Klipsch and Polk Audio. Still, i was not so upset to return the system. I pretty much decided that all speaker systems sound good at the store, but will lose something at the house. It wasn’t until recently when I started to learn more about speakers like Polk Audio and Klipsch did I realize what I was missing out on. I bought a new speaker system and sold this BOSE system on EBAY. I am happy that BOSE has good re-sell value due to their extensive marketing. I have a new klipsch system which forced me to re-listen to every music CD that I had to see what i have been missing all this time. Its truly incredible. I had to re-watch my movies on DVD and they all seem more alive and exciting. Much more like the theater. To say the least, if you only listen to BOSE or the stuff at Best Buy, you have little to compare with. The better audio stuff is only a few dollars more, are more flexible and deliver superior performance for the dollar. I guess BOSE will sound better then those cheap 200.00 systems, but only marginally better. I bought a cheap kenwood 206 system for my mother. It under $250.00 and it was very comparable to this Bose system for $999.99 and it came with a A/V Receiver!!! What are you paying for? I guess the rights to those 4 letters… B-O-S-E. For my money… BOSE is not much different from WOES.

Review by B. Coburn
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I have always run all of my media through my pc and my former speaker set (a Midiland 5.1 system) was thoroughly aged and falling apart I decided it was time to upgrade. I wanted something that had incredible sound with both music and dvd’s. I shopped around and came to the conclusion I would aim for the form factor speakers. When considering this bose system, this MUST be taken into account.

First off, this system is expensive. For just under 1000 dollars (doesn’t 999 sound sooo much better than 1g?) you get 5 bi-directional midrange speakers, the subwoofer unit, and speaker cable. At this price it is very disappointing that bose does not include some sort of receiver, but no matter this leaves room for the customer to customize his/her choice to suit any personal needs and/or budget. Bose includes 3 colors (white, silver, black) and all the speakers are well packaged and aesthetically pleasing with the exception of the sub unit (a large rectangular box meant to save space but does not).

What brought me to look into this system was the specific size of the speakers and there general attractiveness. For their size the bose do a very good job of reproducing any sound-granted they are paired with a competent receiver. Anyone who has any qualms about this system should first consider what they are running their sound through, without competent equipment these speakers will not be on par with what you heard in the store.

Once I got the system home it was very easy to set up and install. Bose packages the speakers with clear instructions and all of the wires are meant to be hidden and include markings as to what speakers they belong to-a very handy feature especially when one is trying to hide this system. The only serious issue I have with this system ended up being with my receiver (an Onkyo) and not related at all with the speakers.

Since I do run this through my computer (presently a laptop) I had a few troubles setting up a new sound card and getting it too mesh with my receiver, but when that was all said and done, I was extremely please with the system. With a bose the tweaking one needs to do is very minimal and thus why this deserves the higher price tag-its target audience is usually those more affluent and unable to spend hours tweaking individual speaker levels and sound ranges.

My test soundtracks included: Gladiator, Matrix (II or III), Snatch, and music tracks ranging from techno, rock, classical, and alternative. Everything sounded great with enough low, high, and midrange response. The second complaint I have with this system is not differentiating in the least between any of the satellites. I found myself turning the response on the center channel up so the front speakers weren’t drowning out the voices. That was solved with a little tweaking so nothing major there.

All in all this speaker system is a great investment in my mind satisfying all of my needs (though draining my bank account) and providing me with great surround sound.

Good: Great range and volume of sound. Easy set-up. Well built speakers-aesthetically and physically. No interference or feedback.

Bad: Subwoofer awkward, no dedicated center channel, pricey, no included receiver.

For their size these speakers more than compete with any full-blown tower 5.1 system. Here is one satisfied customer.

Review by Just a guy
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I am not sure why everyone has such a love affair with Bose speakers. Perhaps it is the marketing or the fact that the bass module produces a lot of bass (although it is not very accurate.) The largest problem with these speakers is that there is absolutely zero mid-range. The highs are decent and the lows are powerful, but there is nothing in the middle – zilch. Nada. I would not recommend buying these speakers. There are many better systems out there for the same money.

Review by lover
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Why buy a series IV when you can get the same thing for series III? Just a diff label that they stuck on.

Review by jfletcher
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I am actually surprised at the number of negatives, thought that there would be some loyal blinded bose fans writing review.

Look, Bose really made a name for itself in the 70’s early 80’s when they had decent bookshelf speakers, they have totally fallen behind with the advent of surround sound, prologic, thx etc.

I agree with many of the comments that the cube speakers are totally worthless, sounds like you are playing a mono am channel. The subwoofer is the worst part of the system, my $50 altec lansing computer speaker system sub blows it away.

Needless to say I will never get sucked into another bose product since i am forced to by a new surround speaker system because of the complete and utter bose inadequacy

Review by Chris
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When i first opened my $200 (i bought them early when they were only 200 then they uped it to 250) speakers i thought the sound would be amazing. WEll the bass was great but the satelites weren’t “heavenly”. Then i went online and found out that you need to break in new speakers for 20 hours to get best performance. So everyday when i left for work i started leaving them on until i hit 20 hours. I put on a good song and it was awesome. The sattelites were unbelieveable and the bass was even more great. So this really woke the lion. One little thing that annoys me, The sattelite speakers hiss a little when no music is on but nothing nerve racking. All i do Is just hit the snazzy mute (touch sensitive) and its the hissing is gone, nothing to not buy them over. So i absolutely love mine and bose surely held up its name. Great for music and works ok for games but go for 5.1 if you’re into hard gaming and movies. One more thing these speakers aren’t the best on hard rock or something where there’s guitars and drums banging alot. But it’s awesome on pop techno hiphop classical etc. Also be sure you got a good sound card i have an audigy LS and it’s great for the price. TWo thumbs up!!

Review by William E. Irving
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Whenever I read something like the following oft-repeated mantra from Dallas Electronics Fan:

“No highs, no lows (must be Bose!)”

I am reminded that there is a cadre of Bose haters out there possessed with as fervent a religious fanaticism as the Bose lovers.

Part of the problem is that speaker manufacturers are clearly targeting their products at the gaming market. They assume that everyone wants to be immersed from all 7.1 sides in explosions accompanied by heavy metal thrash music. Small 2.1 systems are treated as cheap throw-away afterthoughts – “shovelware” tossed in the box with every low-ball Dell and eMachines.

To Bose’s credit, it appears that Bose actually considers the Companion 3 to be a serious product aimed at a different target than juvenile gamers. These speakers sound more pleasing with music (especially classical music or jazz) at low-to-medium volume than most of the future landfill being sold (or given away in computer bundles) in the compact 2.1 computer speaker system market. And the volume control/connector pod is really slick and smooth in its operation, more intuitive, simpler and just better than anything else out there, with a satisfying sense of heft and precisely the right tactile feel.

This level of product refinement and design forethought arguably costs money and to many people this makes a product worth shelling out some extra. For a more familiar example, why do people knowingly and willingly pay a significant premium for McIntosh computers when nearly everyone with any objectivity now agrees that a Windows PC can do anything a Mac can do and do it cheaper? Many “macaholics” say it is because Macs are just more sophisticated, slicker, smoother, “cooler” and more pleasant to use than the average generic Windoze beige box, and this makes Macs worth their premium cost. That argument either is compelling to you or it isn’t; it’s YOUR money. In any case, there isn’t much sense getting worked up about it. We claim to have religious freedom in this country after all.

While I said that the sound of the Bose Companion 3 is “more pleasing” than most, I didn’t say “more accurate.” Bose uses much electronic and psycho-acoustic flim-flammery to make these speakers sound fuller and more spacious in close quarters and at low volume than any tiny 2.1 speaker system has any right to. And what do most people who are not stick-in-the-butt audiophiles or blood, entrails and explosion-addicted gamers really do with their computer audio? What do these non-enthusiasts really want from their speakers while working at their computers? Most of them are listening to MP3s or Internet radio while checking their email, balancing their bank accounts and/or budgets, surfing the web, etc. They are NOT editing a video or mixing a digital master, nor are they wreaking mayhem and destruction in Palookistan. Though they may be sophisticated enough to appreciate clarity, low distortion and a reasonable sense of bass extension and heft, they want it in a small, tidy, simple-to-set-up, simple-to-use package that is satisfying at less than lease-breaking volume, even at low, 2:00AM kind of volume.

Considering sound quality and sonic accuracy alone though, I personally find the Cambridge Soundworks – selling for a ridiculously paltry $79.95 – to be a better choice. In my opinion, nothing else in a small 2.1 system is even close. And at the $79.95 price point, everything else sounds like two tin cans hung on strings, with subwoofers like somebody beating on an empty Cheerios box. The Cambridge Soundworks are the cheapest speakers BY FAR that I can stand to listen to for any length of time. And for me, that is saying a lot, since I am a classically trained musician who spends much more on audio gear than I can rationally afford.

But the Cambridge Soundworks’ user-friendliness and execution is rustic compared to the Bose Companion 3. The Cambridge product lacks a headphone jack, an auxiliary input, or even a volume control, except for a rinky-dink inline thumbwheel afterthought wired into the input cable. And to cap it all off, the bass level control is located awkwardly on the back panel of the subwoofer.

All this considered, I went ahead and purchased the Cambridge Soundworks despite its usability shortcomings because its octave-to-octave balance was more even and accurate than the Bose (or anything else for the Bose’s price or less), though I found I need to manually goose the subwoofer a tad at low volume to approximate what Bose’s circuitry automatically does to compensate for the human ear’s natural loss of sensitivity to bass as volume decreases. As for Bose’s clear superiority in features, ergonomics and general product sophistication, it wasn’t enough for me, in the end, to justify my paying more than TRIPLE the cost ($249.95).

I think the Bose product would be a fair value at $149.95, a bargain at $99.95, and an out-of-the-park home run at the same price as the Cambridge Soundworks. While I praise this product’s unique virtues, I cannot say I recommend it given Bose’s notorious “bigger idiot theory” of product pricing (i.e. “with enough info-mercials and slick ad campaigns, and pricing through the nose to increase ‘perceived value,’ there will be enough ‘bigger idiots’ to make us rich!”).

If you listen to this speaker at Best Buy or Circuit City and like it, look for a low-miles used one on ebay. DON’T pay retail unless you LIKE the idea of raiding your children’s college fund to send the good Doctor Bose’s grandchildren to Harvard!

I give the Bose Companion 3 “4 stars” for its slick execution and better than average performance in a small 2.1 system. But I give it only “1 star” for its low value for money. Consider it on balance a “3 star” product.

Review by Douglas R. DeMarco
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I bought these speakers a few weeks ago and like them more and more every day. The first thing I noticed when I hooked them up was that they are very loud. After that initial reaction I felt as if there was a lack of good mid-range, shrill highs and overly heavy bass. I have since managed to tweak things to my liking and I have to say these speakers are awesome. The following is a list of things that worked for me to help get things sounding right:* Point the speakers away from you, like they suggest in the manual. I have mine about pointed about 30-45 degrees outward. This will keep your sound stage wide and cut down on the tin-like sounding highs* Don’t be afraid to turn down the bass. I have my acoustimass module under my desk and against the wall so it has a lot of surfaces to bounce off of. This increases the bass response. I have the bass dial up only about 1/4 of the way and I find that to be about the right level. The bass still thumps when you listen to 50 Cent but it doesn’t become all you hear. * Play around with the output levels on your computer. I have my master volume and mp3 player set to only about 50%. For some reason this seemed to bring back my midrange a bit and cut down on how loud the sound is when the volume knob is all the way down. I also have the treble output on my sound card set a little lower than normal to further reduce the over-emphasized highs.* Break in your speakers. I’ve read that new speakers need to be broken in and I think I’m buying that suggestion now. I think this is also why I feel a lot better about the system after a few weeks than I did the first day I installed them.So, they take a little finessing but once you have played around with them for a while, you’ll be happy you have them. It’s also worth it to mention they are easily the most sylish speakers out there and one of the few brands of comupter speakers that also make other top-notch audio products. The volume/headphone jack/second audio source/mute control disc is a really nice touch too. Everything about the system is well designed.One of these reviews mentions the heavy weight of the subwoofer being a con. I see that as a pro. Lets you know there’s a lot of high quality, durable components inside it.

Review by S. RAY-MATHIEU
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I love the system but it failed six months after my warranty expired. But for $50 Bose fixed the unit and the turnaround was superfast — I shipped it to them on Monday and received my working unit back on Friday. Fabulous.

Review by
Author’s Rating:
I bought these because I was looking to reduce the clutter on my desk. My set up had the Yamaha TSS-1s (which I highly recommend for entry level surround sound–if you can still find them in black), but I felt like the need for surround sound was diminishing in favor of less clutter. I’m in a 12′ x 11′ office with the speakers a couple of feet in front of me and the subwoofer under the desk to my left. I hooked them up (through a audio switcher from Radio Shack) to my Laptop (headphone jack), Win2K Server (headphone jack), TV (Samsung 170MP-headphone jack), and DVD player (line out).What sold me was…
-It’s Bose. I know alot of folks don’t like Bose, but I do.
-Alot of folks say that Bose doesn’t use quality parts, but I think they actually do make some durable stuff.
-I shouldn’t admit this, but they do look cool.
-The sound is clear and bright. Although Bose doesn’t publish the frequency range or power ratings, which bugs me.
-They mount easily on each side of the monitor (which is where I put them) or sit on the desktop.
-The mounting brackets are pretty solid and function well.
-The control pad – It’s a hockey puck a little over 2″ round and a little over 1″ high. The top black ring is the volume. There’s also a headphone jack and secondary input on it (the primary input is on the subwoofer). What’s the best part is the touch-sensitive top which is the mute/standby. At first, it was a little annoying when I would touch it accidentally (as it sits right next to my keyboard). But, I got used to it and I don’t have as many accidents. The control pod is very easy to use and shows good design.
-I recommend finding a demo. I was able to demo it at Best Buy. They sounded good there, but the size of the store (and noise especially during the holiday rush) did impact the quality. Bring some sort of source (MP3 player…) and a stereo jack. That way you can hook up to the secondary source on the control pod and listen to what you want to.Other Thoughts…
-The secondary input on the control pod “adds” a secondary source. It doesn’t cut off the primary source. It’s kind of neat to add a second source on top of the primary. But, may be troublesome if you can’t mute the primary source.
-The subwoofer has a bass control, and also feels solid (pretty heavy).
-The TrueSpace does create somewhat of a spacious environment. When placing them or mounting them, Bose suggests pointing the speakers outward which enhances the airiness…I actually like them pointing right at me and getting my head in between the speakers. I tried both pointing outward and at me. Both sound fine, I just prefer at me instead.
-It’s pretty good at “centering” the important audio while sending other audio outwards.
-Loudness is good. It plays louder than I can stand. If distortion occurs, there is some circuitry to cut off the sound (which has happened during my testing.. :^)
-Watched the opening NightCrawler scene from X-Men2 with both the Bose and my old speakers TSS-1s. The TSS-1s because they are DD5.1, did sound much better in terms of having the sound move around me. In a side-by-side, you can tell. But, on it’s own, the Bose sounded just fine.
-I also put in Bug’s Life which IMHO has an excellent soundtrack. The speakers did a good job of left and right and some back to front.
-I don’t do any gaming, so sorry no opinion here.
-There’s a slight buzz when the source is low volume and the Bose is high volume. May be my set up.
-Headphones jack is fine. I have Grado SR-80s. Only that buzzing again…
-You can’t get the volume down to nothing (you have to mute). If the sound source is a line out like my DVD, it has a static volume level. This volume level can be higher than desired (especially at night). For movies on my DVD it’s OK, but some music (like No Doubt’s Singles) plays too loud at the lowest volume. For the TV and PC, it’s OK because I can adjust the volume from the device. The line out, I can’tConclusion
I’m glad I bought them. They met my goal of reducing the clutter while not losing too much sound quality. Beside losing true surround sound, I think I reached that goal. I like the way they look and the ergonomics of the control pod. It also sounds pretty good and has good clarity at high volumes. The price tag is a little high (as is all Bose equipt). But, I figure the control pod adds some value over a normal control pod. The solidness of the pieces also adds value. But, I still think it’s a little high. At maybe 20% lower, this would be better priced and I’d feel like it was really worth it. The only other con is that the I can’t get the volume low enough with my DVD which has line out.To follow up, I talked to Bose Support and not being able to turn the volume down to nothing meant it was broken. So, I returned it (Best Buy was out of stock and I was going to buy it again when they came back in). So, now they raise the price $50 to $249! I think that stinks. I still think they are pretty good, but not for $249.