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Bose Companion 3 Series II
by kayleighmcharris
My dad is a bit of a technical nut and is always after the latest technology even though we have a very limited budget as a household. He'd wanted a new surround system for our TV set for a while seeing as the speakers on the TV were very weak and not sharp at all, being the technical nut that he is, he naturally started looking into all ... of the Bose products, one of the more expensive companies. One of the products he found was the Bose Companion system 3, this isn't strictly a product designed for a television set as it has numerous amounts of uses in the household but my dad was insistent that we had to go and check it out, and then he was insistent that we had to buy it!
PRICE
The product is marketed at the prices of between £200-250 dependent on the place you buy it from, most electronic stores do temporary offers on products like this so it is worth shopping around beforehand. We managed to get ours on a pay monthly deal at Comet, I think you need larger orders to do this as we bought ours with my Granddad who purchased his 3D TV set at the same time, which worked out very handy.
SOUND QUALITY
I already had high expectations when it came to this system, we already have a few Bose products so we knew the quality and standard of their products is usually very high. To no surprise the sound exceeded anything I have heard before, do not let the small speakers deceive you, they are indeed fierce and full of sharp sound. Like most Bose products when you are listening to them it sounds like each instrument in the music piece is its own layer rather than the flat sound when the headphones or speakers seem to merge everything together and nothing is distinctive.
The pod is 360 degrees in shape and we haven't dared to go past one quarter of the way, the system is just so loud and powerful even I'm shocked, the only reason we haven't tried it full blast is because we don't want to give out fish and pets a heart attack! Overall the sound can make you feel like you're in a cinema watching a film, that you're in a stadium at a gig or even in the game that you are playing, it's just sensational!
EASE OF USE AND APPEARANCE
I didn't set the product up myself as that's my dad's job, but i did watch him and it seemed to only take him around 10-20 minutes, he just plugged it into the sockets on the TV itself and it was ready to go. Much more impressive than the systems that come with more wiring than speakers!
The speakers themselves are very petite and cute, I much prefer the design of these speakers to the big bulky boxes that seem to take up half of your living space. The only control you need for your speaker system is the circular pod type thing which you can twist to adjust the volume. I think the design concept of this is very unique and quite sophisticated however when it comes to using it to adjust the volume you need to be very gentle, the slightest of a turn changes the volume hugely.
The thing I least like about the design of the speakers is the bigger box which is more for the bass, I know its common for these systems to have a bigger bass box, but in my ideal world we would only need two small speakers that will solve all of our needs. But that's just me being picky, in all fairness the bigger box is still fairly small compared to other systems and can tuck away quite nicely in a fair sized TV cabinet.
To change the input of the speakers (Tv, Phone, iPod) there is a small lead which is connected to the bigger box that you just plug into the item you want to use, once you've done this it should be all systems go. Easy Peasy.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE
This system is very easy and simple to use, the design is very sophisticated and looks great in any room and has made my home entertainment experience and absolute pleasure since we've had it. I haven't had any issues at all with this product, the only thing I could complain about is the fact that my dad has the TV locked with the speakers so the remote doesn't control the sound anymore and I have to get up and walk to the sound pod to adjust the volume; at least the potato couches in my house will be getting some exercise!
RECOMMENDATIONS
I would definitely recommend this to any household who like their entertainment, whether it's music, television or even gaming; I'm confident to say that you will not be disappointed. If you like the sound of the system but have reservations due to the price then I'd recommend shopping around on ebay or shops such as CEX, Bose products rarely wear out so second hand stuff can be as good as new for a fraction of the price sometimes!
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Genius SP-S110
by QuinDogg
I bought these to pair them with my desktop computer since I wanted to listen to films or songs I normally watch on youtube without having to use headphones every time and my laptop sound isn't very loud or clear. They are a pretty standard but quite sleek design with the two speaker towers in black and a long wire to plug it in, but ... although they were cheap being only around 10 pounds on Amazon, I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the sound quality.
The box includes two speakers one with the controls and the other to make the stereo effects work. You can easily install them, plugging them in and then connecting the jack to your computer to start listening to the contents you watch. Maybe the only positive aspect I can think of is that being a bit quiet and using no bass device, they do not consume that much energy, which is always a good thing to save money and take care of the planet.
Geniuns devices are quite cheap, yet durable. I have had them for a couple of years already and they still work perfectly, even if the cable has suffered some deterioration due to stepping on it and so forth, but this is really my fault.
Overall a good product for cost and performance but obviously there are better models out there for sound quality and speakers with sub-woofers.
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