Manage updates with the Download AppBose Companion 5
Manufacturer: Bose Corp. Part number: 40326
- CNET Editor rating: Not yet rated
- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 83 reviews
- More product information:
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Description:
- The Companion 5 multimedia speaker system is engineered to deliver the excitement of surround sound content right at your computer - without the clutter of five speakers. Just two small speakers and a hideaway Acoustimass module deliver much of the audio performance you'd expect from a five-speaker surround sound system. And a single USB connection is all it takes ... Read more
Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  | In stock Get free shipping on orders over $25! | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 05/14/2013 |
 | | In stock Ships same day if ordered by 8:00pm EST | as of 05/14/2013 | |
 | | In stock Free Shipping (promo) | as of 05/13/2013 | |
 Savings, Selection & Service since 1971 | | In stock FREE SHIPPING! Authorized BOSE Dealer | as of 05/14/2013 | |
 | | In stock | as of 05/13/2013 | |
| 4ElectronicWarehouse.com | | | as of 05/13/2013 | |
 "Your customer service is the best I have ever encountered' | | In stock | as of 05/13/2013 |
User reviews
-
-
Sound Sytem!
by SHodapp55 on November 8, 2012
Pros: Affordable speakers which produces sound to me expectation
Cons: Shipped speakers cable looks cheap ( will change to better cable)
Summary: Purchased the Bose Acoustimass 5 in replacement of my 15 years Polk Audio speakers which deteriorated at the paper diaphram. Tested on a few of my collections.
Kitaro- drum solo ...Summary: Purchased the Bose Acoustimass 5 in replacement of my 15 years Polk Audio speakers which deteriorated at the paper diaphram. Tested on a few of my collections.
Kitaro- drum solo sounds good with very clear deep bass. (have placed the sub-woofer at the bottom of my TV cabinet)
Vivaldi- four seasons. The high pitch sound is clear and accurate but the sense of "openness" in lacking probably due to my living room size and openness compared to show room confine space.
Pavarotti- various. His powerful voice can be heard clearly and the background drum in finale is well define. Similarly , lack of "openness" as experienced in real theatre. Cannot complain for speaker at this cost. May experiment with the placement of smaller speakers.
Linkin Park-Session. Good and clear synthesizer and Bass. No complain
DVD sound- Saving Private Ryan and the speakers sound reasonable but the volume need cranking up,set at below -30db to hear better. Most likely my Amp ( Pioneer VSX-75W/channel series)not enough to drive the speakers.
If you are looking for an affordable speakers with reasonable sound, this may suit you, For Audiophiles, you have to look for something else. Lastly, before you will buy this system, I suggest check for best price at: Speakersystemdealsweek.blogspot.com/p/bose-acoustimass-5.html
Hope I helps, Enjoy!11 out of 11 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Hands down the best PC speakers I've ever listened too, period.
by TheSteelGuy on February 12, 2007
Pros: Design, build, and the full range of sounds. Treble, mids, and bass, its all there.
Cons: Nothing, worth every penny I spent on them, and more.
Summary: <p>I use to have Logitech Z-560 400 watt 4.1 speakers before I spent the big bucks on these Bose Companion 5's. Yeah, $399 plus tax. ...
Summary: <p>I use to have Logitech Z-560 400 watt 4.1 speakers before I spent the big bucks on these Bose Companion 5's. Yeah, $399 plus tax. It was just time for a change. I have an enormous 70GB digital music collection and about 500 DVD's that I wanted to treat better on my 24" iMac. I was also done with all the wires involved with 4.1 and 5.1 PC Speaker systems. </p>
<p>What 2.1 speaker systems was a I looking at before purchasing these gems? I looked, read reviews for, and listened to the Logitech Z-2300, Klipsch 2.1, and Altec Lansing FX6021. At first I was concerned with wattage until I listened to the Altec Lansing FX6021 with only 75 watts total RMS. When I heard these I realized that wattage really meant nothing. 200 watts was bull. I really wanted speakers that made my movies sound crisp, clear, and realistic even at low volumes. I kept myself away from Bose just because of the prices. I was really close to ordering the FX6021's at $175 on Amazon, but I decided that I should really listen to the Bose Companion 3 Series ll, and the Companion 5's. The Bose store was close by, so I went. The Companion 3 Series ll were incredible. But I can afford to spend more, so I went with the Companion 5's. I was sold within a few minutes and within 10 minutes walked out with my new speakers. I'm so happy with me that I can't describe it in words.</p>
<p>I've never listened to speakers like these in my life. There really isn't much to say. They are insane. Don't listen to all this hype about the "Bose" name bringing the price up. Just go to a Bose store and listen for yourself. If you like, and can afford them, then buy them, you won't be sorry. You'll probably keep them forever. Good luck in your speaker search! I found mine after looking long and hard!!</p>15 out of 24 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
BOSE, Marketeers, need to say anymore
by mikeste101 on January 16, 2007
Pros: Actually has a solid feel for surround from two speakrs at movies and games.
Cons: Better brands for the money, just trust your ears, not what bose tells you to trust
Summary: One, is HIGH END AUDIO is not sold at the Wal-Mart of Electronics. Two, Listen to others before you buy, not that because Paul Harvey Owns One, being paid to ...
Summary: One, is HIGH END AUDIO is not sold at the Wal-Mart of Electronics. Two, Listen to others before you buy, not that because Paul Harvey Owns One, being paid to get marketing by. I have listened to Bose Home speakers for awhile, and the home products they sell can be worthwhile, to worthless. The companion 5 has a nice presentable soundstage to offer with games and movies, as the two areas this system really feels good with. Musically I found trouble to find a presetable sound stage that was not all over the place. But again, These speakers are intended for movies and games to give surround feel for less wires and two speakers. Reason I give this system a 7. If you like music try the BIG Three THX certified speakers from Logitech, Creative, and Klipsch, and you can at least get some sound differences to listen to. Hey, you might even like the Bose Better. All I am saying is , I was a victim of marketing from Bose, buying on the spot. But when I listened to other comapanies and finally got the Bose rythym out of my head I say theres a vast world of speakers, and its technology out there. Just give all a fair try without comming to the conclusion, that This is the best. Check out the editors pick and TONS of reviews on the the Big Three. I have the Klipsch Promedia THX and I rate them better than the Bose, so does the editors, same goes with the Logitechs and the Creatives, which the editors rank those better than the Klispch. Price versus Performance. The pro Medias at Best Buy are $169.99 I bought mine the day after thanksgiving for $92.00 out the door. But if you are looking to pay $400.00 look at all your options because in this technological world Price does not mean everything.
11 out of 19 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Top-of-the line quality for top- of-the line price
by MarcPBcup on July 14, 2007
Pros: crisp sound, USB interface, surround emulation
Cons: Pricey, Control pod could be better, Acoustimass unit is not "hideaway-able", could be louder
Summary: I got these computer speakers as a birthday gift after having them on my list for two years. As an acoustical engineer, I can say that the Bose crew did ...
Summary: I got these computer speakers as a birthday gift after having them on my list for two years. As an acoustical engineer, I can say that the Bose crew did their research on this model. If you set the speakers up in the configuration as per the instruction manual, the sound field is very wide and crisp. However, the "hideaway" bass speaker is actually quite chunky and will be difficult for most people to actually hide. And the satellite speakers are quite attached to their (slightly awkward) 6" tall stands and don't allow for wall mounting. So expect to see some wires.
I'm not going to delve into the sound. If you've heard Bose, you know it's crisp, clean and even. You can pump the bass if that's your style, but don't expect to use this system for MC'ing/dance parties/other loud functions because it just isn't that loud. The surround emulation is very good, but make sure you have a DVD decoder with 5.1 decoding otherwise you won't get the full effect! (Try NVidia Purevideo)
My favorite part of this system is the USB connection. It completely bypasses the need for a high-end sound card, so you can use this with your laptop and it still sounds fantastic! You'll need a 3.5 to 3.5 mm cable to play an ipod or CD player, but it sounds just as good as the USB connection.
My least favorite part about the system is the control pod. The "tap" surface sometimes requires several taps to activate, and you can't mount it sideways. I wish instead of muting the system with a tap, you could customize it to skip to the next track on your playlist (or whatever you choose). However, the circular volume is beautifully articulated and the pod is heavy enough to stay in one place even on a mildly slanted keyboard tray.
Overall, these expensive speakers are worth their weight in the sound quality alone. If they were slightly more customizable, I might give them a 10. P.S.- these speakers are $50 off at Bose outlet stores!5 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Great for movies/gaming, not so for music
by neuropod on September 9, 2007
Pros: Digital signal processing adds depth to movie/game sound
Cons: Digital signal processing makes mp3 music muddy
Summary: Keep in mind that with the Companion 5's you are not getting "computer speakers" - for that I recommend the Companion 3. What you are buying here is a ...
Summary: Keep in mind that with the Companion 5's you are not getting "computer speakers" - for that I recommend the Companion 3. What you are buying here is a digital signal processor (DSP) with speakers. Your enjoyment will depend heavily on what your primary use of this system will be. If you play a lot of games and watch movies, and don't listen to music that much, the Companion 5 cannot be beat. But if you are like me, and spend a lot of time listening to music from iTunes while you work on your computer, the DSP, while attempting to give depth to the music alters the sound and makes it muddy. I had to crank the high frequencies to even hear them, but they still lacked clarity. I returned the system to Bose. If there was a way to turn off the DSP when desired, I would still own these.
4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Fantastic size and design for a small room.
by marincat on February 28, 2007
Pros: Design, concept and overall sound.
Cons: Not really a surround sounding system
Summary: I was tired of dealing with large speaker components and wires, so I thought I would try the bose companion 5. The sound is excellent when playing games, but lacks ...
Summary: I was tired of dealing with large speaker components and wires, so I thought I would try the bose companion 5. The sound is excellent when playing games, but lacks in all other areas.
The control module is great, they look fantastic, but they are not the quality sound of the Klipsch speakers I was using before. Having to set the sound card to just basics also leaves no room for customizing the sound as I had been able to do before.
Considering the price, I think they are average and not quite worth the money.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Expensive but worth the money
by 1kingsfan on November 5, 2006
Pros: Simulated Surround-Sound from two speakers, easy set-up, FANTASTIC SOUND
Cons: Price, factory settings for bass and treble!
Summary: Having now heard these speakers in several different venues...Bose Store, Best Buy/Circut City, and of course some of the more pricey electronic stores, I'm truly impressed by ...
Summary: Having now heard these speakers in several different venues...Bose Store, Best Buy/Circut City, and of course some of the more pricey electronic stores, I'm truly impressed by the sound. At first glance the speakers are a visual feast for the eyes and the sound quality matches it!
Playing off of their fantastically popular 3.2.1. home-theatre packages, the companion 5's use Bose's proprietary True-Space technology to give the listener a very realistic (though sometimes slightly tinny if you don't adjust the tones out of the box) simulated surround sound.
IF that was all it came with I'd be happy but the Companion 5's also come with an all-in-one pod for volume control, single-touch mute (an especially nice touch), headphone jack and an auxiliary input.
Obviously this setup is not for those who want true surround sound (who has that much time?) and the price is typical Bose, which will turn people off, but overall the speakers are great. Change the settings and you'll have a great surround set-up for movies, video games etc.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Overall, good speakers.
by GG25 on October 5, 2006
Pros: Sound for small speakers, convincing surround, easy to set-up
Cons: Too Expensive
Summary: I'm not sure I like these as much as my old Companion 3s, but they do offer a convincing surround sound. They do work, but you have to forget ...
Summary: I'm not sure I like these as much as my old Companion 3s, but they do offer a convincing surround sound. They do work, but you have to forget about the expereince of a full 5 speaker system, no two speaker system can do that. I will say these are the best 2 speaker computer speakers on the market.. maybe overpriced a little... but thats the same with any high end brand.
They do not distort, how that user got them to distort I dont know? Mine dont at all?
They provide a clear sound, bass is not heavy, but more balanced... it's pretty loud but the bass is a little weak at times. However, the acoustimass is very tuneful and offers a nice bass tone to music.
The speakers are nicely designed, and from past experience Bose tech support is second to none - but I've never had to return a Bose product so reliability seems good.
I wouldnt expect any less at this price, but I think the sound is decent... not the best, not the worst.. for computer speakers they are good.
The control pod is nice too.. overall I like the system.
For true movie watching.. I'd get a proper home cinema system - not the Companion 5s.
For stereo I'm pretty sure the Companion 3s would be all you need.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Just not worth the money
by maikeru888 on March 25, 2010
Pros: Design, Very good staging, Good for games, Feels like a 5.1 speaker, space saving.
Cons: Sounds are too amplified, too much treble, pricey
Summary: I just went to see and try my friend's bose companion 5, because he was bragging about it for the whole week and I wanted to know what is ...
Summary: I just went to see and try my friend's bose companion 5, because he was bragging about it for the whole week and I wanted to know what is it all about. Frankly I'm quite dissapointed at the performance. I tried listening to songs (Diana Krall, Coldplay, Dj Tiesto), it sounded okay I guess, it had the banging bass, adequate mids, but the treble was too sharp that it was hurting my ears. Well personally the Bose Companion 5 is not for me, because I prefer flatter sounding speakers, the more natural sounding one's.
by treble i mean the high frequencies. Sorry was a bit mixed up.
Well it's not all bad, it was great when I tried playing games and the surround atmosphere that the 2.1 created was awesome, it almost felt like I was listening to a 5.1 speaker. But then, if you are a music lover get the Bose Music Monitor, it sounds better, if not just buy a Creative Gigaworks T3 which I think is very worth the money, exquisite quality of sound reproducing for a price tag of only $200. But if you want a very space saving, cool, good for games and movies speaker and you have extra money to spend this is your speaker to go.
Updated on Mar 25, 20103 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
An interesting product
by usetheDAC on August 10, 2008
Pros: Clean bass response, good treble reproduction, and smooth mid range
Cons: Lacks musical detail comparatively, no option for an offboard dac, no extra digital inputs
Summary: The Bose Companion 5's are an interesting product, the attempt to solve a very tricky problem of desktop sound. As far as mids, highs, and lows go, the bose ...
Summary: The Bose Companion 5's are an interesting product, the attempt to solve a very tricky problem of desktop sound. As far as mids, highs, and lows go, the bose reproduce them all very well. The sound however (as is the nature with speakers) tends to blend into a not so satisfactory cacophony. With high end headphones or speakers with the minimalist amount of focus one should be able to "dissect" what is being presented from the resonance of the string section or the chime of symbols. This however is not the case with the Bose, creating a "non-expansive" soundstage. That aside, the music is warm and cohesive.
My main gripes with this system are the inability to run an offboard dac or preamp. This is a problem because if one has a dedicated dac (digital to analog converter) that also upsamples and has asynchronous clocking( such as some of the headroom dac's), the resultant analog wave would be supreme in comparison to the wave created by the Bose onboard dac. This is also a problem because having the dac and amplifier in close vacinity to one another is comparative to holding a magnet near a hard-drive, the electical pulses (1's and 0's) being "translated" are actually lost before they change phase into their analog counter parts, making a lesser sound. The other issues I have are with the reluctance of Bose to discuss what sampling rates, opamps, preamps, dac chip, capacitors, and etc etc they are using. For half of a thousand dollars i'd atleast like to know what kind of parts i am getting =). The other issue is the lack of both analog (thats the dac argument above) and digital inputs. Different digital inputs such as coaxial (for longer runs) or my preference, optical inputs. This would be nice because usb is not line-level and has both bus timing issues and hits a bus capacity for data throughput.
All in all the bose accomplish what they were meant to do, but are not perfect. My opinion would be to invest in a pair of nice headphones (AKG 701's or Shure 530's or Sennheisers 650's are all highly recommended, headphone.com is an interesting site if you pick this route) and an ampstack (such as the microstack from headroom) for desktop listening, but for all those would be speaker afficionados out there, the bose companion 5 is a nice system that has a pleasant tonal quality and a few minor setbacks. (remember encode in lossless or WAV, or use CD's =D).
7 out of 102 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Bose Corp.
- Part number: 40326
- Description: The Companion 5 multimedia speaker system is engineered to deliver the excitement of surround sound content right at your computer - without the clutter of five speakers. Just two small speakers and a hideaway Acoustimass module deliver much of the audio performance you'd expect from a five-speaker surround sound system. And a single USB connection is all it takes - no special software, hardware or sound card upgrade necessary. Five-speaker systems are great for your living room or home-theater room. Maybe not for the office, bedroom or dorm room, where your computer lives. Yet, without a way to fully appreciate those breathtaking 5.1 game and movie soundtracks, you're missing much of the fun. Now you can enjoy an enveloping sound experience without enveloping yourself in hardware. The proprietary TrueSpace surround digital processing circuitry enables two elegant desktop speakers and a compact module to put you in the middle of the action. The soundstage seems to envelop you. And the experience is developed especially for computer listening, so your computer is right in the middle of the music, the game, the special effects. The Companion 5 system features a handy, all-in-one control pod to keep speaker volume control, single-touch mute, headphone jack and an auxiliary input all within easy reach. Speakers are mounted on stands enabling superb performance and more usable desktop space.
General
- Speaker type PC multimedia speaker system
- Speaker type Satellite speaker,
Subwoofer - System configuration 2.1-channel
- Speakers included 2 speakers,
Subwoofer Features
- Speaker Type Active
- Audio amplifier Integrated
- Connectivity technology Wired
- Interface type USB
- Controls Mute,
Volume,
Bass - Additional features Satellite magnetic shield
Connections
- Connector type 1 x USB,
1 x Audio line-in ( Mini-phone 3.5 mm ),
1 x Headphones ( Mini-phone 3.5 mm ) Compatibility | Accessories
- Included accessories USB cable,
Satellite speaker stand,
Remote control - Cables included 1 x USB cable
- Remote control Remote control - Cable
Power
- Power device Power supply - Internal
Battery
- Type None
PC Speakers (Extended Specs)
- Battery type None
- Cable(s) Included 1xUSB cable
- Cables included qty 1
- Cables type USB cable
- Component depth 3.8 in,
14 in - Component height 8.9 in,
8.6 in - Component weight 2 lbs,
15.4 lbs - Component width 5.8 in,
7.1 in - Power device form factor Internal
- Power device type [Feb 24, 2011 from CDS: Power Device] Power supply
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Bose Corp. products on Shopper.com
-
- Manufacturer:Bose Corp.
- Address:
The Mountain, Framingham, MA 01701 - Phone: 1-800-999 2673
- Fax: 1-508-820-3465
