Bose Companion 20 Multimedia Speaker System

First off - the quality is brilliantly clear - period. The bassis remarkable for such small speakers, my friends were initially looking for the sub-woofer because the deep, thunderous nuances were so well pronounced. If your picky about the clarity over anything else than your on the right track looking at the Bose Companion 20's.This needs to made very clear - the type of music you listen to is going to need to be taken into consideration. The companion 20's do their best work with classical (orchestrated) music or similar live instrumental styles. I'm listening to Barbra Streisand's 'Love Is The Answer' album now which is mostly a type of smooth jazz, and every key and nuance is being reproduced extremely well with excellent bass response. Earlier I was sampling different types of music from techno, hard rock to a variety from the 60's. The speakers did not fair well with the hard rock and techno as I expected. It seemed the trebles were fine but they lack in the hard hitting drum type sounds. Do not let this discourage you though, as some music really needs a large sub woofer regardless. The spoken word and dialogue without music was perfectly crisp with detail beyond the immediate sounds. You really feel as though you are there. Alternate tests were done with LP recordings (rendered at 24bit 96Khz far beyond CD quality) - once again the companion 20's nailed analogue audio perfectly.I personally did not plug the speakers into any source and just fire away. After reading other reviews that rate the Companion 20's sub-par; I'm concerned that too many people blindly listen to music not realizing their source (mostly the DAC in the computers) is inferior for these speakers. I purchased a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Go Pro! THX certified external sound card ($34) before reviewing these speakers which I would recommend to anyone for utmost clarity. The THX modes on the Go Pro! lift up the bass to a much more appropriate level retaining lower notes (such as ones produced with a cello) that would have been lost with my inferior on-board sound system. Remember this before jumping to conclusions if you buy these. Not all audio sounded the same. I placed the companion 20's on the sides of a TV in my bedroom and watched different scenes from movies (Prometheus, Silence of The Lambs, various James Bond films) which were great - while the best audio experience was about 5' in front of the sound system which makes me think they would be very well suited on a bookshelf at about ear level also. While I listen to them now on the computer about 2.5' in front of me in a smaller environment, I need to push myself back some to get the full range appropriately but this is nit picking. Oh, the volume level was much more than sufficient as well.Overall the volume dial is fantastic and made with mostly aluminum parts with a rubber dial, that which if you touch the top of the Bose imbossment on the top it will shut the unit off and on. It came with a male-male 3.5mm cable for PC or pereferal connectivity. All cables were also about 3' long on each speaker which was more than enough. The only thing I could think of that I wish it came with was a digital audio in of some sort but I honestly doubt you would notice a difference being so close to the audio source (digital and fiber optic cables are mostly beneficial when near electrical sources such as a home theater besides). The build quality of the speakers is what should be expecte from Bose - the speakers are a mixture of metal and some plastic, they feel very, very solid and are slightly heavy (as expected with the driver is has).In the end I highly recommend the Companion 20 mostly for the audio reproduction accuracy and overall clarity. Another great product from an American company.

I have experience working in audio/visual so think my review might help those trying to make up their mind. By the way, these come highly recommended from other people I know in the audio business who use them at home on their computers. I run a streaming radio station from my bedroom. Space is at a premium at the home made radio rack in the corner of the room. That meant the JBL powered monitor speakers were not going to fit in the space available for the studio monitors. I was looking for studio monitors to replace the existing Bose Solo 5 that rested underneath dual monitors. What I didn't like about the Solo 5 was the lack of channel separation and relatively low bass at low sound levels. Seems that this was made to be used at higher levels in a larger space to reach its potential.Right off the bat the super plus is the volume control pod. Smooth and almost infinite level of adjustments with emergency mute by just touching the top to turn it off. I wouldn't be needing the headphone jack or aux input as the switching for those devices is handled prior to the signal into the Bose Companion 20. Of particular note is the weighting of the volume control pod and the semi-smooth surface on the bottom so it won't move around. Very nice feel to it and it found a home on top the mic preamp / processor which is powdercoated steel.Audio comments: The increased channel separation was welcome. So was the increased bass response at low levels. I really did not want to go with a sub wolfer for this installation as I already have that in another room on a gaming computer. At quite low levels, yes, the bass has a 'disco club' pulsing sound to it. But in my opinion that is an acceptable trade off for doing away with a sub wolfer. At slightly higher levels the sound frequency response has a more natural and level sound.Would I buy these again? Yes!

Excellent. But only if you set it up correctly. Unfortunately, this will cost a bit more. Worth it if you are serious about listening to music and watching movies.Setting it up correctly means:1. Use a decent sound card. The card in your computer is most likely suboptimal. I use the Sound Blaster Omni Surround 5.1 (about $90 on Amazon). Not cheap, but easy to install and set up.2. Use decent player software. The software provided with your computer is probably crap. I recommend Corel's WinDVD Pro 12 (full version currently about $55, windvdpro.com or corel.com). Set up the software and sound card correctly according to your tastes. I have mine set up for Dolby Virtual Surround (yes, I have a "virtual" surround sound system on my desk) and have my equalizer set to "Pop" . This is fairly easy to do. You can easily experiment with the settings to your liking. When you download, pay a little extra for the 2-year re-download priviledge. WinDVD's music and video playback codecs will replace the (probably inferior) ones previously installed on your computer by the manufacturer. I have moderate computer knowledge, so I didn't experience any problems. I don't think it will be too difficult for the average Windows 10 user.If you set it up this way, your computer will easily rival a decent bookshelf component system. It is my primary stereo system. The sound is generally well-balanced and smooth. Most of my friends are very surprised by it (except those who have very expensive systems).I replaced a Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 speaker system with the Bose. I have owned two ProMedias, the first was damaged in storage and the second had subwoofer problems. Klipsch has cheapened the design in order to lower the price, so I do not recommend it. The Bose setup is simple and with the subwoofer built in, it is a lot sleeker. Worth the money.