Bose Companion 5 Desktop PC Speakers
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2014-05-07
·
1,687 words · ~8 min read
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the Jazz mini is a beautiful and compact aluminum stand for your smartphone that
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even holds tablets up to 8 in Click now to learn more now this probably isn't
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what you're expecting to hear from me right now but let's all just calm our
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boobies on the Bose hate you know buy other sound equipment yeah we've all
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heard it for a few minutes and approach the companion fives with an open mind
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because while working on my review I did
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find some strong points for this particular speaker setup so we'll start
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with accessories physical inputs all that good stuff the companion fives come
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with everything you see here and everything you need to hook up the two
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Satellite speakers and powered subwoofer to your PC Mac or basically anything
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else the sub contains the amp and a Dack so you can plug in via USB or with
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analog into the puck unit that sits on your desk the aforementioned weighted
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control Puck has a great feeling rubberized volume control wheel an
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auxiliary input that I guess I mentioned before and a headphone pass through if
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you want to use the Companion 5 to power your headphones instead of your normally
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terrible front panel audio on your PC it
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also features a touch responsive mute that at first I thought was kind of
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pointless I was like yeah okay then I had my music cranked I got a phone call
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and it was really quick to swat at a touch sensitive Surface versus fumbling
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for a button so okay you got me on that one Bose my one complaint about the puck
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is that it's it's not linked to system volume in spite of the system being
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capable of USB input a feature that other speakers in my Roundup have unlike
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something like the audio engine A2 pluses with an add-on subwoofer the
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companion fives do not run at all without the subc connected so the number
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of cables required to set up this unit is going to be unappealing to some
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customers especially when you compare to some of the other speaker sets in this
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series of reviews that I'm working on but there's no real getting around this
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without putting the and Dack in a speaker which would make it much larger
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and would make no sense anyway cuz you've got a sub box already
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aesthetically I think the companion fives are a bit of a swing and a miss
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the black and anodized aluminum designs from Bowers and Wilkins and simple audio
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and the classic black audio engine monitors look more appealing to me but I
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can't deny the practicality of the Bose design they're the only speaker in the
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Roundup that correctly plays music at my
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ears instead of at my chest and that is a pretty major oversight in my mind for
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something that you're going to call a desktop speaker as opposed to a
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bookshelf speaker I mean I guess you can buy stands for the other stuff so you
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can tow them in and then you can put little stands on them to aim them at
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your ears but I mean for something that you're calling a kit it should probably
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come with everything that you need to get started now when it comes to maximum
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volume the companion fives deliver an amazingly full pounding sound that would
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be perfect for the occasional house party when you are not listening to
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music at your desk I mean yeah they're not going to be suitable for an outdoor
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venue perhaps but if you wanted your large living room to be loud enough that
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no one can comfortably maintain a conversation while achieving very
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listenable sound quality without any noticeable Distortion the companion
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fives are going to look pretty good to you in my more you know quality focused
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listening tests um I realized that these speakers are really made for a
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particular listener no offense to the authors but any user
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reviews claiming that they have amazing stereo Imaging clear highs strong
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mid-range performance whatever were written by people who haven't heard
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better end of story The mids in particular get overshadowed enough that
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I had a hard time enjoying male vocalists but for the folks claiming
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that this system absolutely pounds with tight immersive base well they could
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have easily been sitting in front of their new companion 5 speak enjoying
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some tunes or some movies while they wrote the review because they really
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really do but honestly that's not what makes the companion 5es a legitimate
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Contender for your money they are not the best unit I've encountered for any
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kind of music really they're just all right I mean they're not even the
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loudest the audio engine A5 pluses get that award in this Roundup but with the
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turn of the knob on the back of the sub they go from being apartment friendly to
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delivering some pretty fun explosions in your favorite action flicks General
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entertainment is where I'd say this Bose unit separates itself from the rest of
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the crowd in this Roundup due to the included subwoofer and the fact that it
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sounds pretty darn good if you often watch movies at or near your computer
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even the A5 plus doesn't really compare there's something about having an actual
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sub that is filling the room from the floor or the corner compared to firing
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directly at your face that makes the experience feel different with that said
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I'd recommend putting the knob back when you're ready to listen to music again I
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forgot to do that once and it gave me a real appreciation for the tuning that
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Bose did on this product during the design process turning Basse down yields
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slightly clearer lyrics but you lose the the kick that I feel is really the big
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selling point of this set given it's included subwoofer and it definitely
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makes the set much less fun to listen to turning up the dial just drowns out
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everything else so it seems like Bose knew what was best for you and intended
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for the subwoofer dial to sit around the middle most of the time so the
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conclusion here is actually somewhat simple if you're looking to host the
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occasional house party and you want something that will keep your guests on the dance floor and you want something
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that performs just okay for nearfield music listening but is a lot of fun to
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listen to in movies and games M and
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games then whatever you want to think about Bose products in general the
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companion fivs are actually a serious option if movies and action games are
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less of a concern for you than House parties and music then the A5 plus from
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audio engine should get your $400 instead but to beat the Bose package and
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every category you're really going to have to add a standalone subwoofer to
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the A5 pluses something that is more difficult than just buying a subwoofer
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and plugging it into them choosing and tuning a subwoofer for your setup is not
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as simple as just buying the audio engine 8 and assuming it'll compliment
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your speakers perfectly so and it'll be more expensive of course so while mix
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and match can and usually does sound better overall if you're not willing or
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able to put the work into it a package deal may be a better bet for you anyway
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speak speaking of package deals here's another deal from our friends at cherro
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the iPhone 5 and 5S has a 2300 milliamp
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battery in it and considering it's available for $38 right now on Amazon
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it's got some really cool features number one is that while you can leave
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it on all the time you actually don't have to in addition to a USB cable and
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the headphone jack extender the kit comes with a slim Soft Touch case that
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offers basic protection for the phone that actually then slips into the
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separate battery casing when you want to use it so when you need more juice just
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clip the phone in and you're ready to go
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considerable bulk and weight to the iPhone it Contours nicely with my hand
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actually using a genuine lightning connector not a knockoff one this allows
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the case to act as a pass through so both the phone and the case can charge
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case guys like and share this video if
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you liked it dislike it if you disliked it and leave a comment on the line This
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Tech tips form Linked In the video description if you want to discuss the product or you have any constructive
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criticism for me and my team also linked in the video description is our support link with options to buy T-shirts like
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