Bose Companion 2 Series II Multimedia Speaker System

Be careful. The required wires are hidden in the bubble packaging.Sound is crystal clear.Enjoy

The Bose Companion 2 Series II speakers are nice computer speakers to be sure, but if you are looking for a good speaker for music, look elsewhere. As is common with most Bose products, the bass fills the room with these speakers, even without a sub-woofer. However, the sound is muddy, and the treble levels are no where to be heard. The sound is lopsided. I put on my favorite record, and while the bass came flying out at me, I had to strain to hear the vocals, no matter how much I tweaked the bass and treble levels in iTunes and on my computer (levels can not be adjusted on the speakers themselves).My other concern with the speakers, which may effect musicians more than casual listeners, is the volume control. I am a professional saxophone player, and when I buy speakers, a feature that I need is the ability to turn the speakers up to a high volume without distortion. The Bose speakers would go only so high before a feature kicked in to keep the loudness from blowing out the speakers. In other words, when the volume peaked, the speakers would automatically turn down the music for the duration of that peaking. As a result, when playing along with a record, there was more or less a "wah-wah" effect on the music as a result of the volume being constantly adjusted. Not to forget that even at the highest volume, the treble levels were buried by the bass. This will effect any musicians trying to use these speakers for the same purpose, or any consumer that wants to rock out hard with the volume blasting.The Bose speakers are sleek and have solid construction, but those are unfortunately the only positives I can highlight. I had them out of the box less than two hours before I repackaged them and sent them back for a refund.

Just got these b/c my dog chewed the wires to my last stereo (basic ihome), to me this was a blessing in disguise because I now have an awesome set of Bose.To kick off the review I want to say that I am by no means an audiophile, I am just a casual music lover/listener. Nor do I listen to music that requires high quality equipment to really enjoy (i.e. orchestra or opera). I listen mostly to rock, classic rock, and occasionally I like to play nature sounds to help me relax and meditate/sleep.I have these set on my bookshelf and hooked up to apple's airport so I can stream music from my iphone and computer. It's in a fairly small space cuz I live in an NYC apartment. For my purposes, it's absolutely perfect. The sound is rich and bounces off the walls, it sounds like I am surrounded in my music even though the speakers are located in a corner of the room. The bass is not too much, which is a plus for me because sometimes too much bass gives me a headache. The volume goes up pretty loud, for the most part I turn it less than halfway and it's more than enough for me. However, I am in a very small space, so this may not be the same for other people.When I have friends over, they comment on how great the sounds are, and I tell them it's computer speakers, and they're all surprised.To give you an idea of how great and 'realistic' the sound is...one night I was playing a recording of a thunderstorm to help me fall asleep, and my gf woke up and said to me 'wow it's really raining out'!A lot of people are saying you can get a lot better for your money, and theres also the Bose haters who thinks they're overpriced and the products are shoddy. I personally think these are great and I am really getting my money's worth. These are actually intended to be computer speakers, which in my opinion is an overkill. I think they work awesome as a mini home stereo system.

If you're considering Bose, you're probably doing so because you have an ear for accurate sound reproduction. Otherwise, if you're looking for just pure "thumping" bass or to simply blast loud music, from your PC, you'd be better off with other (and cheaper) 3 pc (with sub) systems out there.Don't get me wrong, if like me you've stuck with Bose (901s, 802s, etc.) over the years, well, keep in mind these speakers are the "low end" of the PC line - you can get the $300+ Bose computer speakers. At less than $100, you get an excellent pair of desktop speakers - of course depending on what you use your desktop PC for and what systems/resources you have that match what it is you do.In other words, if your desktop PC doubles as your home theater, these speakers won't do (obviously). If you create music on your desktop PC, you should be looking at using that optical output to connect to larger systems. Match your system with what your intentions are.Going back to this unit.Sound reproduction is excellent. Some quotable quotes here say "bass is muddy" - I'd probably point to the sound source/recording and/or the sound output settings in your PC. If you were using "lesser" computer speakers in the past and tried to compensate by setting your PC EQs and "sound/bass boost" or some other "sound enhancement" setting offered by your sound card, I think you should start from scratch when upgrading/switching to the Bose C2 SII.I currently have all these "extra" sound settings turned off - in other words, *nothing* is distorting/manipulating the sound source being reproduced (aka "flat" setting) by the Bose C2 SII. Voila! Crisp highs, clear mids, clean lows - and I don't mean I "feel" the lows (you need a sub for that, period), I hear it.No, I'm not saying I have a home theater experience in front of my desktop PC...if I wanted that, I'd go to the living room and enjoy...although watching movies on my desktop is just fine as well.At this price, the Bose C2 SII will satisfy a specific type of listener.Its probably too expensive if you're just looking to hear some sound from your PC.Gamer? Maybe - but I think you should get 3 pc systems for most popular games - if you're just into Angry Birds however, these would do just fine :)Home theater - no, go for a home theater setup, or at least a 3pc system.But if you're looking for accurate, clean sound reproduction from your desktop PC, if you want to "hear" (not feel) sound, for under $100? Yup, the Bose C2 SII will do.