Cheap Computer Speakers

Summary: All the bassy power of a 2.1 packed into 2.0 speakers.

Disclaimer: Every user has a different setup and different expectations. Take their comments with a grain of salt and note that what they experience with the speakers do not apply to everyone.

Official Overview and Specifications

Professional Reviews (click links for more information)

Average User Reviews (click links for more information)

Good

"… the Companion 2 Series II multimedia speakers offer TrueSpace surround digital processing circuitry. This ensures that all sounds is crisp and boastful, from the deepest bass to high operatic notes (if you’re into that sort of thing)."

"The sound quality of Companion 2 is excellent considering the compact product size. The speakers produce rich and noise free sounds. We tested many tracks of different genres. The speakers are well designed to produce high-quality sound even at high volumes."

"The advantage Bose has to other speakers of the same class, is the digital circuitry they probably use to enhance the sound to bring in increased stereo separation and roominess to the sound. The sound coming out is definitely more pleasing to the ears, and feels room-filling. You wouldn’t get this experience with speakers from other brands, however faithful they are in reproducing sound as exactly as recorded. "

"The best thing about Bose is the clarity and bass response. I don’t know how they packed it into this small set, but they did."

"The bass is actually quite adequate for what I use them for and I would recommend them to anyone looking for an asthetically pleasing compliment to their existing computer set up. They look good, sound good, are relatively small and priced right for the quality you get. "

Bad

"The sound from the speakers is excellent–as long as you don’t get too crazy. At times, the bass can be overwhelming with no easy way to alter the levels."

"Most midrange sounds are nice and warm. Treble is excellent, and are not screechy and distorted as much on higher volumes like many speakers that I have tried out before these… The only problem is that these two ranges are overpowered and thusly shadowed by the artificially amplified bass that the speakers pump out. "

"The little speakers put out a reasonable amount of bass–but that’s arguably the best part of the speakers’ sound… the speakers seemed to emphasize sibilants."

"It has more bass compared with most of the other speakers of the similiar size but the problem is that the music is twisted (in order to empasize bass) sounding like from a can."

"The sound is great until you go past the halfway mark on the volume knob. After that you notice the sound can’t get any louder. In an effort to offer you more, the bass becomes super muddy, as if the tiny speaker inside the unit have given up and decided to blow air in your face."

Personal Opinion

Within the speaker and headphone community, there have always been a sub-group called "bassheads" who tend to prefer an audio output that, obviously, presents more of the lower frequencies. It’s not a question of whether it’s a good or bad thing, but rather a personal preference. Maybe it’s the genre of music they listen to, or the feeling they get when that deep bassy tone them in the chest; regardless of the reason, bassheads exist, and thus speakers and headphones that have a stronger bass output exist as well to cater to these people.

Bose is a highly reputable brand in the audio world, boasting what they term as "Truespace", which is results in a wide, rich sound stage. These entry-level Bose speakers certainly have that too, but rather than having the equalized frequencies that they usually offer, these speakers tend to have scooped mids; that is, more pronounced highs and (especially) lows. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing per se, as there are many music genres that benefit greatly from this equalization (which can be modified via your PC itself anyway). That said, the main feature of these speakers is its robust bass. Obviously not as strong as a having a proper, good strong subwoofer but it’s pretty damn close especially considering the size of these and the amount of space you’ll save without the extra component. In fact, some sites list these as a 2.1 because of the powerful woofers they have. Another plus point, which is a little nitpicking of mine, is that the volume control and headphone jack is conveniently located on the front of the right speaker.

Of course, being that the audio produced from these are understandably subjective, there are bad points. If you want a more equal footing in your frequency spectrum, these probably aren’t for you. This is arguably its main strength and weakness, depending on yourself. There are plenty of people who intentionally have scooped mids when they EQ their audio through software anyway, so they would certainly benefit from these if that’s their preferred sound.

If you crave the bassy thump of a 2.1 but don’t have the space for it, or just want a bass-heavy 2.0 setup, these will certainly fit you.

Buy Now (click vendor to purchase)

Vendor	Price
Amazon.com	$99.00
mwave.com	NA
TheNerds.net	NA
TigerDirect	$99.00
OnSale	NA
B&H Photo Video	$99.00
eBay	See Below