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Bose Companion 20's?

D

DeadFalling

n00b
Joined
Jul 29, 2008
Messages
48
I know the reputation Bose has (overpriced) but I really cannot get over these Bose Companion 20 speakers. Now, I've tried out the Logitech 2.1 systems which were awful, these EagleTech Arion speakers, the M-Audio AV40's, these Cerwin-Vega powered speakers and didn't like any of them. My current setup (prior to the Companion 20's) were some classic 70's Bose 301 Series II speakers which I sanded down, repainted and re-clothed. They are the least fatiguing speakers I've ever heard. Makes listening to music a joy and work awesome in large spaces. However, I'm in a dorm and it's not practical to have the 301's + amp plus dialogue in movies wasn't clear enough. So, I picked up the Bose Companion 20's to see if maybe the sound was similar to the 301's that I love so much. While the 20's seem to have greater clarity the sound seems a bit more... 'forced' with music. Not sure how else to explain it. However, with movies they perform better than the 301's in regards to balancing the loud action scenes with dialogue while also retaining a lot of power.


My question: Are there any speakers that are cheaper (Companion 20's were $225) but offer the same clarity at low volume levels? I'm not a bass-head or audiophile in any sense of the word, I just enjoy having speakers that are clear and most importantly easy to listen to at low-moderate volume levels.
 
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few things:
a) Bose was not bad 20+ years ago.
b)The bose 301s are designed to kind of fill a room with an aura of sound. they were never meant to be used for serious listening, but more of a ambient bedroom setup, and they make great surrounds. and this is probably why they sound less fatiguing, and why they dont image well.
c) bose complete amp/speaker kits. these days tend to have a V shaped response curve, which is probably why they are so fatiguing. not sure if its the amp/audio processing or the speaker itself or not. but its probably why these are so fatiguing.

im not sure what you didnt like about m audios or cerwin vegas, or your toleration for fatiguing sound, but you might want to try to either hunt down some monsoon speakers from 10 years ago, or try some audioengine 2's.

another thing, is that the amp can make a difference in
a) how fatiguing the sound is
b) how clear the sound is at lower volumes

also, not sure how much money you have to spend, but would you consider an entry tube amp and some smaller bookshelves? something like a maverick A1 is pretty small.
 
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This is why I love this place! Such a detailed response.

Not really looking to spend much over $200 for the whole setup, so a tube amp + bookshelves is out of my budget. You suggest the Audioengine 2's? What about some swans? I've heard good things about them as well.
 
A2's or some M-Audio AV40's w/ stands to get them ear level. One thing to mention, you said "low volume," I think a lot of the monitors end up sounding much better on the top end. An actual set of "computer" branded speakers usually tend to sound best at lower volumes. In this regard the Bose would be alright, I actually picked up the Creative Gigaworks T40 Series II on Amazon on sale over the weekend for $95. I hear they are a pretty good 2.0 set as well. I'm not a bass head myself and I am primarily using speakers for some music and single player gaming. Have my HD 558's for online games (when using voice chat) and night time music listening when the GF is asleep.
 
EPOQ said:
A2's or some M-Audio AV40's w/ stands to get them ear level. One thing to mention, you said "low volume," I think a lot of the monitors end up sounding much better on the top end. An actual set of "computer" branded speakers usually tend to sound best at lower volumes. In this regard the Bose would be alright, I actually picked up the Creative Gigaworks T40 Series II on Amazon on sale over the weekend for $95. I hear they are a pretty good 2.0 set as well. I'm not a bass head myself and I am primarily using speakers for some music and single player gaming. Have my HD 558's for online games (when using voice chat) and night time music listening when the GF is asleep.
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The AV40's I already bought and sent back. It is as you described, at low volumes they just weren't the great, but if i cranked them a bit then they shined. Being in a dorm, when I watch movies at night it's usually at low-moderate volume levels. However, I don't enjoy headphones. I feel like they take me out of the experience a bit, as I can never get used to having them on my head. I've spent over $1,000 total on headphones but I always end up taking them back as I feel they aren't worth my money since I don't enjoy them as much as speakers.
 
amp amp amp. thats what i got to say about speakers not performing well at a lower level.
get a good clean sounding power amp.
 
not without going over $200. i suppose a cheap and dirty way would be to pick up a used integrated amp from NAD, something thats 10-20 years old. then get some really cheap used speakers.
 
Procyon12 said:
not without going over $200. i suppose a cheap and dirty way would be to pick up a used integrated amp from NAD, something thats 10-20 years old. then get some really cheap used speakers.
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Well, I do have my shitty Sony STR-DE197 that's powering my Bose 301's. Would that work?
 
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well it would work, but i dont know if you have room for all that.
and i was also thinking of getting a more no frills amp, that just delivers really clean power. that way we know that it will still be clear at low volumes.
i would take a second look at some computer speakers as they are meant for use at lower volume anyway.
 
Procyon12 said:
well it would work, but i dont know if you have room for all that.
and i was also thinking of getting a more no frills amp, that just delivers really clean power. that way we know that it will still be clear at low volumes.
i would take a second look at some computer speakers as they are meant for use at lower volume anyway.
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Alright, thanks for the advice man. I appreciate it :cool:
 
EPOQ said:
A2's or some M-Audio AV40's w/ stands to get them ear level. One thing to mention, you said "low volume," I think a lot of the monitors end up sounding much better on the top end. An actual set of "computer" branded speakers usually tend to sound best at lower volumes. In this regard the Bose would be alright, I actually picked up the Creative Gigaworks T40 Series II on Amazon on sale over the weekend for $95. I hear they are a pretty good 2.0 set as well. I'm not a bass head myself and I am primarily using speakers for some music and single player gaming. Have my HD 558's for online games (when using voice chat) and night time music listening when the GF is asleep.
Click to expand...

It is the opposite for me: Consumer conputer speakers sound absolutely HORRIBLE (or extremely dull and lifeless) at low volume, and only sound even halfway decent at or near MAXIMUM volume. This is due to the fact that many "computer" branded speakers have drivers whose minimum input power requirements are equal to or greater than the built-in amps' maximum RMS power output just to even sound decent. In other words, the amp is likely to clip before the speakers start to sound much if any good at all.

In addition, no speaker sounds very good at anything below 85 dBA. Most near-field monitor speakers are optimized for an 85 dBA sound pressure level (SPL) while consumer speakers are optimized for a 100 dBA SPL. Unfortunately, most consumer computer speakers cannot reach even 90 dBA at a listening distance of 1m (3.3 ft) - the typical distance from each satellite speaker to the user - without noticeable clipping.
 
E4g1e said:
It is the opposite for me: Consumer conputer speakers sound absolutely HORRIBLE (or extremely dull and lifeless) at low volume, and only sound even halfway decent at or near MAXIMUM volume. This is due to the fact that many "computer" branded speakers have drivers whose minimum input power requirements are equal to or greater than the built-in amps' maximum RMS power output just to even sound decent. In other words, the amp is likely to clip before the speakers start to sound much if any good at all.

In addition, no speaker sounds very good at anything below 85 dBA. Most near-field monitor speakers are optimized for an 85 dBA sound pressure level (SPL) while consumer speakers are optimized for a 100 dBA SPL. Unfortunately, most consumer computer speakers cannot reach even 90 dBA at a listening distance of 1m (3.3 ft) - the typical distance from each satellite speaker to the user - without noticeable clipping.
Click to expand...

It made sense logically for me that nearfield speakers would sound better at lower volumes due to the fact that they were designed to be listened to at much closer range than studio monitors or home theater speaker systems. I guess it all really comes down to the manufacturer and quality of the speaker set up though. I have heard really good things about some of the higher end nearfield speakers like the Focal XS (which is like a 500 dollar 2.1 speaker set). It's just been my personal experience that computer speakers sound better (to me) at lower volumes than monitors I have been around.
 
EPOQ said:
It made sense logically for me that nearfield speakers would sound better at lower volumes due to the fact that they were designed to be listened to at much closer range than studio monitors or home theater speaker systems. I guess it all really comes down to the manufacturer and quality of the speaker set up though. I have heard really good things about some of the higher end nearfield speakers like the Focal XS (which is like a 500 dollar 2.1 speaker set). It's just been my personal experience that computer speakers sound better (to me) at lower volumes than monitors I have been around.
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It's sad that none of the consumer computer speakers that I listened to sound much if any good at anything below absolute maximum volume. The problem, in this case, is poor driver/amp power matching. It's one thing for the manufacturers to spend money on decent components - but then, they shoot themselves in the foot by putting in an amp that's way underpowered for the installed speaker driver components. Or, in the case of the Logitech LS21 2.1 kit, the set begins to clip and buzz before it even starts to sound decent (at least in my setting) because the drivers themselves can't take much if anything. I am going to replace them.

And yes, I agree with some of the Bose critics: At $250 retail, the Companion 20 is way overpriced for a 2.0 speaker kit that sounds no better than a decent portable boombox. With the wired remote, it should have been priced no higher than $80 (based on my assessment of the Companion 2 Series II, which should have cost only about $60, but actually costs $100).
 
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E4g1e said:
It's sad that none of the consumer computer speakers that I listened to sound much if any good at anything below absolute maximum volume. The problem, in this case, is poor driver/amp power matching. It's one thing for the manufacturers to spend money on decent components - but then, they shoot themselves in the foot by putting in an amp that's way underpowered for the installed speaker driver components. Or, in the case of the Logitech LS21 2.1 kit, the set begins to clip and buzz before it even starts to sound decent (at least in my setting) because the drivers themselves can't take much if anything. I am going to replace them.

And yes, I agree with some of the Bose critics: At $250 retail, the Companion 20 is way overpriced for a 2.0 speaker kit that sounds no better than a decent portable boombox. With the wired remote, it should have been priced no higher than $80 (based on my assessment of the Companion 2 Series II, which should have cost only about $60, but actually costs $100).
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Only $20 more than the Companion 2's? You do know they upgraded more than just adding a wired remote right? Now, they're obviously not worth anything close to $250 but they are also not the same as the Companion 2's.


I placed an order for the Audioengine 2's. Should be here tomorrow.
 
DeadFalling said:
Only $20 more than the Companion 2's? You do know they upgraded more than just adding a wired remote right? Now, they're obviously not worth anything close to $250 but they are also not the same as the Companion 2's.
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To my ears they sounded too similar to be worth more than the $20 difference that I described. The Companion 20 does sound brighter than the Companion 2 Series II, but neither set produces much if any musical detail in the treble. The Companion 2 Series II is a bit muffled; the Companion 20 is a bit screechy. Bass response is about equal on both sets.
 
Ah yes, the Audioengine A2's seem much better. Question though, when testing them out on the new Avengers trailer I get some audio distortion. For example, the 'are' when SLJ says "and we are hopelessly outgunned" in the beginning
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/marvel/avengers/

Anyone else got this problem? To make sure it wasn't my soundcard (even though my mobo does 24-bit) I went out and bought the Creative recon3d, and still the same problem. I want to make sure it's the trailer and not my speakers/system
 
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