They sound great, if you like Bose’s clean, monitor-like sound. The sound is powerful, crisp and there are no distortions. I can’t say I was impressed by their 5.1-like capabilities, but I don’t have a lot of 5.1 content to throw at them. Design-wise, they are everything I hoped them to be: slick, mate metal and solid plastics, none of that shiny plastic nonsense most other manufacturers seem so fond of. They look very nice next to my TV.
I’ve purchased the Bose Companion 5 specifically for their USB connectivity. USB audio devices can be fully controlled from the host PC or Mac. The volume control on the host is replaced by the volume of device: changing the volume on the USB speakers/headphones or on the PC have strictly the same effect. The volume indicator on both the computer and on the device are updated in sync. It’s really slick. Why is this important? There are two great advantages to using a USB audio peripheral, besides the fact that the digital sound is delivered directly to your digital device: 1. the control is very precise and 2. you eliminate a remote control.
However, this is not the case for the Bose Companion 5. The speakers have their own volume setting, independent of the volume on the host PC, or Mac in my case. So, the integration is far from seamless; you end up with the same double-volumes control scheme as with any 3.5mm jack connection. If I knew this before, I would’ve opted for the Mackie S.5 Studio Monitors or the AudioEngine 5 instead. They sound better, are built just as well and cost less. And they all have the number 5 in their names, for some reason.
I’m disappointed and I will return mine.
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