Rating: 
Summary: Nice $79 speakers... but wait, they're $249
Review: I listen to music all day while at work and play games on my system at home at night. I have owned easily a dozen or more computer speakers over the last couple of years and have listened to a number of other speakers owned by friends. I've also owned the Bose companions. I've listened to several in side by side tests at home - not sitting in some canvernous big box store and I think I have a pretty good idea of what you can get for the money. I'd say the Companions, with their undersized satellite drivers, are excessively bright and have very little mid range. Aside from other speakers that use the "micro drivers" like the Creative iTrigues, I can't think any other speaker above $50 that uses a driver as small as 2". The sub is ok. Bose says it "delivers impressive lower tones". Perhaps the people at Bose are easily impressed, but I beg to differ. Two problems here; the sub has a 5 1/4" driver - small by comparison to like priced products - and the power, which Bose doesn't publish, but I would estimate at less than 50 watts, isn't enough to recreate much in the way of low frequency effects. Overall, if these were $79 products, I could see how one might, and I stress might, pick these over a set of Altecs or Logitechs. At $249 these things are obscenely over priced. Sometimes I have to step back in awe at how much Bose can get away with charging for their products. The Companion 3s are further evidence that Bose is an exceptional marketing company and a mediocre audio company.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome for DVD's MP3's, ok for games
Review: I purchased these speakers from a BOSE dealer about a month ago and they still sound great! I can't believe the quality of sound that comes out of these puppies for such a small size. They are perfect for watching DVD's and playing MP3's. However, I have a couple of complaints. My personal listening preference is to listen at a lower than average volume than most people. In order to get the full quality of sound, you must crank it up to a much higher than normal listening volume. The other complaint is that the touch sensitive mute on top of the "hockey puck" control is a bit too sensitive for me. I like to adjust the volume with my whole hand above the "puck" and twist. Sometimes the mute is activated without even touching it, but having fingers very very close to it. If you play counter-strike, you will notice that the footsteps are much more faint than regular speakers. Gunfire is extremely loud, but it is much harder to hear footsteps. Ive gotten killed many more times because of it :P
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome
Review: I really do not know what people expect from their speakers. These Bose units are just awesome. The sound is great. I think people who are complaining about the sound must be listening to low rate MP3s. I have these great looking speakers plugged in to my Mac with the system volume turned all the way and the Bose speaker volume all the down and they sound great for listening to music. Of course if you want it LOUD it does not take much of a turn on the volume knob. And I am talking about loud and CLEAR sound from the tiny speakers that are just so cool looking on my desk. I know they are expensive but I have to say they are worth it if you want clear and great sound from your computer and they look great. Everyone who sees them comments on how cool they look and how good they sound.
Rating:
Summary: Sounds incredible, a bit overpriced though...
Review: I received a set of Bose Companion 3 speakers as a gift, and they are absolutely fabulous. More than loud enough for a typical computer room. Games, CDs, DVDs etc all sounds great. It's easy to tell which mp3s i used crappy encoding on. Oh well, time to re-rip some of my CDs with a better bitrate...
I dunno if they are the sexiest speakers i've ever seen, but are modern looking and suprisingly small for all the sound they produce. They take up hardly any room on my desk.
The control pod was wierd at first, but after a little bit of using it, it's quite cool. The volume is very smooth, although the mute can be somewhat sensitive at times (it has a touch sensor like in some lamps, etc.). I would have really liked the bass control to be on the pod. Currently you have to reach the rear of the sub to change it, although the subwoofer is versatile enough, it's easy to find a setting that hits w/o overpowering the satelites.
While the satelites have ample cord length, the cabling isn't really that impressive; not to mention it's all permenant. What they ship is what you use, period.
If i were paying for this out of my own pocket, i'd have gotten the 200W Klipsch 2.1 Pro Audio set, for $100 less, it sounds almost as good (if not AS good).
Overall, i couldn't be more pleased with these speakers. They're small, loud and the headphone jack on the control pod makes it easy to put the speakers in out of the way places.
Rating: 
Summary: Stylish but overpriced
Review: I was shopping around for a high end 2.1 multimedia set and it came down to the following 3 sets: Logitech z2200, Bose Compnion 3 and Altec Lansing MX5021. The Bose set is definately the most stylish of the three as well as it takes the least amount of space. But the price (which is twice as much as the other two sets) is a great fault. Yes, they are loud and clear but compared to the other 2 sets, the sound is colored and certain frequencies are simply "not there". It should be espected since the Companion 3 system probably uses similar drivers as Bose's Acoustimass speakers (2" mid/high and 5.25" bass driver). When compared to other ($50 range) low end speakers, the Bose set will astonish you, however put it beside the Logitech set & you will notice a huge difference. Bose is great at producing PLEASANT (but not accurate) sound. The Altec MX5021 had the best overall clarity and neutrality of the 3. All it comes down to is an individual's sound preference. I would give a listen to all 3 and make a chioce afterwards. Bose looks good but the puny 5.25" bass driver cannot compete with Logitech 8" 120W driver. Altec's 3 way stellites are 3 times bigger & give you much clearer & open sound. For under $150 I would buy the Companion 3 and keep it. But when the competitors are offering better produts at half the price, there's no reason for spending that much uless you're really dying to have the name Bose on your desktop.
Rating:
Summary: BOSE Companion 3 Review
Review: I would rate this system as average to poor. The speakers provide ample bass but other frequencies sound cheap. It helps if you update your sound card drivers, experiment with plug-ins and equalizer settings if you use WinAmp but nevertheless, it's a major tweaking job. I may be too picky but I expected better sound quality for the price.
The system looks good and the mouse-type volume control/mute/headphone jack/input jack is a good idea. Bottomline, don't buy this system if you're a perfectionist about sound reproduction.
Rating:
Summary: Bose quality sound for your computer
Review: I'll make this short and sweet. They are very cool high end speakers from Bose. There are very few systems out there that will provide the same performance let alone the elgance amd simplicity that Bose provides in all its products.
Rating:
Summary: Still 5 stars for the sound, but problems came...
Review: Ok, first thing I want to say is no other brand is over Bose in Computer audio(Even less in Home, Car and Professional Audio). You can say Logitech, Altec Lansing, Creative, whatever you want.. and all of them are killed by Klipsch. And if my Klipsch 2.1 speakers are killed by the Bose Companion 3 in spaciousness and how clear the sound is, then no way any other 2.1 setup is better than the Bose. No the Companion 3 doesn't kill the Klipsch in maximum volume.. the Klipsch go a bit louder, but for what do you want speakers that go louder if after half of the maximum the bass and sometimes the voices are all distorted on them? You can't get the Bose to distort NEVER. If you are getting:
-Tiny great looking speakers that show their quality
-Clear, Lifelike, undistorted spacious sound UNSURPASSED by ANY other computer speakers(the klipsch 2.1 were considered the best 2.1 setup, the bose kills them in spaciousness and clarity so they take klipsch's place)
-Quality bass that is deep and makes nice vibrations(even on large rooms)
-Lost little details in music, that will let you know what you have missed with other speakers
-A great control pod that mutes and unmutes the volume, has the headphones jack, another line-in to mix sources and the volume control
-The name Bose on your desktop
Then they are all worth $250. Yes, the price is high, but you get what you pay for... Quality Lifelike Clear Spacious Bassy Sound. Lets say you get HUGE sound from TINY speakers. Its amazing how the Bose are like 5 times smaller(combining height, width and diameter) than the Klipsch, and still manage to sound way better than them. Dont let their size fool you.. and dont let other computer speakers fool you by making you think bass is everything. These speakers have more than enough bass.. I had the Bass Compensation to 1/2 and it made the windows vibrate already. They have about the same amount of bass as the Klipsch 2.1, the difference is the Klipsch cant handle bass to the max at high volumes, and the Bose can do so nicely with no distortion. For music you will NEVER find a better set-up than this. They sound great on my Bose CD Player, they sound great connected to the Headphone jack of my RCA 650 watt surround sound system and they sound great connected to my computer. I connected them to my Xbox and with James Bond: Everything or Nothing and Need for Speed Underground you can feel everything around you and a lot of bass. With DVDs I tested Die Another Day and the Car Chase and Hovercraft Scene blow you away! So does Star Wars Episode 1 Race! I dont care what other people have said.. these speakers get 5 stars for the great sound they make! Now time for the problems though.. I had to return my first Companion 3 because I blew it lol. I abused the volume too much.. it isnt meant to be connected to a 650 watt system and I did that and blew it. I got it exchanged and the new one I got was having problems with one speaker so I was like AHHHH and returned it. You don't know now how much I miss it. I payed $200 for it. I called the Bose Store and now they are thinking if they'll let me get it for $200... but if it is for $250 I doubt I'll get it back. I'd rather add $200 to the $$ I got already and upgrade my RCA hometheater speakers to Bose, or just get a Wave Radio/CD. And no I am not doing it because I think it is overpriced, it is just pricey to me, I am doing it because if it is $250 now.. with $100 or $150 more I can get bigger speakers from Bose. Summary: They deserve 5 stars for the amazing and unrivaled sound quality, for their simplicity, for no distorsion and because I can connect it to ANYTHING with a headphone or RCA Output. Continuity: The Bose store didn't allow me to get it back for $200, I said whatever. I'll just get it later on this year or if the price ever drops.. for now I am after the Bose 321GS... full surround sound with just 2 speakers and a bass module!
Rating:
Summary: beautiful look, beautiful sound
Review: these are the best looking speakers on the market for computer speakers, in my humble opinion, especially if you have a G5 or Powerbook, as these match them 100%. but more importantly, they sound terrific. i have been listening to music while i work much more often because of the rich, crisp sound of the satellites combined with this powerful subwoofer. pros:
-great look
-incredible sound for such small speakers
-sound control puck has great feel - like analog volume knob on a hifi system
-can be very loud if you need it to be cons:
-price!
-i concur that low volume level results in a less full sound, but that's true for any small speaker, and hey, you're lowering the volume!
Rating: 
Summary: don't fall for the marketing
Review: These speakers are terrible. I assumed -- unwisely -- that given the Bose brand and high price tag, that the sound quality would be wonderful, or at least average. As the other reviewers have noted, the midrange on these speakers are terrible -- a full 1/3 of the sound is missing: e.g., background vocals are frequently inaudible.
The industrial design is beautiful, and the interface is friendly, but not worth the extra cost. For audio purists and anyone who wants value for their money, you'd be better off with another speaker system.
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