gavincumm's Full Review: Bose Companion® 3 2 Speakers
As I am sitting here writing this review, the wonderful jazz-R&B-pop-etc. etc. etc. artist Al Jarreau is playing on my iBook on the wonderful Bose Companion 3 computer speakers. To say that I am surprised by the performance of these beauties would be a total understatement. I had given up on Bose quite a while ago. But these speakers re-newed my respect for a company that was once known for producing audiophile speakers with a different way of thinking.
As a side note... I sent the QC3 headset that I purchased in August back, but these speakers were what prompted me to give Bose another go.
Those of you that are familiar with Al Jarreau know that he has incredible range, delving from baritone to upper tenor. Singing anything from funky R&B to pop. The album that I speak of is "All I Got" Al's voice is sultry and smooth. Silky and rich. Because of where his voice lies, siblance is easily detected, but so is a midrange suckout and crossover trouble.
now on to my review....
The Bose Companion 3 is without a doubt one of the best PC speakers that I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. The sound is delightfully pleasing, and very easy on the ears. The midrange is very rich and full sounding. Listening to a high quality vocal recording makes the listener aware of how well these speakers image.
Placed on either side on my iBook, AND FACED STRAIGHT FORWARD, NOT LIKE IN THE MANUAL, they throw off a rock solid image that extends well beyond the boundaries of the speakers, with the vocals centered smack in the center of the monitor. However, if the vocals (or instruments) are recorded slightly off-center, that is where they will appear. Yes, the Acoustimass module does produce some lower midrange (150 hz), but with careful placement (mine is 3 feet away from the speakers) you will not be able to discern a hole, or the source of the bass.
Listen for yourself... I bet that you will be surprised that such small speakers have such excellent midrange performance.
The highs are equally as fabulous. They are gently rolled off at the extreme end, but do not leave me wanting anything. This is a welcome change from my klipsch set which left my ears bleeding from the excessive highs. Listening to a brushed cymbal or high-hat reveals that everything is there, and nothing sounds tizzy.
The bass performance of the Bose system really blew my mind. If you believe that the bass from the AM series is all boom, than do yourself a favor and check this system out. The acoustimass system is a totally different design. The driver is front-firing and slot-ported in the back instead of a bandpass design. This gives a nice, deep, taught, tuneful bass response for just about any music style that you throw at it, be it hip-hop, jazz, pop, or acoustic music. I listen to it all, and the bass just sounds "right". I can't imagine people wanting more bass than the module puts out, unless you are one of those kids that pulls up at a stoplight and plays really loud rap on a bandpass "subwoofer" thinking that you are impressing people. FWIW, I am 22, and that is the single most irritating thing I can think of.
In closing, the Al Jarreau CD just sounds right. Nothing stands out in a way such as "im the woofer..." or "im the highs..." the midrange blends in perfectly with the bass, likewise with the highs. Al's voice is perfectly suspended in space, while the TrueSpace processing seemingly suspends his backing vocalists and band in midair behind my desk
Just give it a shot if you can spend the cash, even if you are a Bose nay-sayer and love jazz and vocally driven music, like myself. It is absolutely exquisite with such music, but good with anything.
Although I confess, I did not play anything like slayer or atreau... that is not my cup of tea.
This review is for the original Companion 3, not the newer updated version. The Acoustimass module is still front firing, rear ported, which is a good design and a nice departure from the AM-5 and AM-3 bandpass designs. It seems like Bose is finally going to slot porting their acoustimass systems.
Also, they do take some time to break in. Out of the box, they sounded terribly boxy and had me wondering if I wasted my money. Play them just as you would any speaker. They will open up in about a week.
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