Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've owned these speakers for 2 months now and have a better perspective. Let's get down to brass tacks because the other reviewers have said most of the key points well. If you are someone who goes "spec crazy" and counts Watts and diameter sizes, keep browsing. I personally listen to notes and not numbers and these speakers are awesome to me. The Good.. 1. Unexpected and superb surround sound in an medium to small room. Perfect for apartments, master bedrooms or dens. I can hear birds, airplanes and dogs barking and I instinctively look towards my window or door in the house, thinking I'd left a door or window open. Nope - it's the surround sound coming at me from all angles in my living room. It's actually the movie. Awesome! 2. Minimalism in wires and wireless Acoustimass (Sub-woofer) module. This makes it wife friendly, as she's sick of seeing wires running all over the house. Note: When wife approves the battle has been won! 3. Simple setup, great packaging - I would say over packaged. Reminds me of Apple product packaging. It's obvious Bose has hired a packaging engineer to ensure their products are packaged in a specific and intuitive way to keep their products in pristine condition. 4. Quality build and solid feeling product. Piano black surface makes this the sexiest looking piece in the living room. The remote feels like a tank, and like it can be dropped from a 10 story building and survive the fall. 5. Acoustimass (Sub-woofer) module is a new generation/model. provides surprisingly good sound for it's size. The engineers at Bose have figured out a way to do more with less. I find myself taking a shower and have to turn off the water because I hear noises like someone is breaking into the house. Nope, it's the bass from the sound system. The Bad and the Ugly... 1. No iPod dock, or an ability to purchase one. While it is possible to hook up an iPod, it is not convenient. 2. No Bluetooth integration. This is a shame, as other product lines (Bose SoundLink) do have Bluetooth integration. 3. Remote uses infrared technology. As seems to be the trend right now, this tech will be obsolete in 5 years. A Bluetooth remote would have been nice. 4. Remote buttons: The volume button and channel button on this remote are switched around when compared to the CineMate Series II digital home theater speaker system. This may not seem like a big deal, unless you own both products and switch from one remote to another, you'll constantly hit the wrong buttons when trying to change the volume/channel. I have no idea which genius minds at Bose decided this idea would be a good one, but hopefully he's been redeployed to work in the room with the red stapler. 5. The Acoustimass (Sub-woofer) module is a new generation/model. To that end, it is smaller than it's sister CineMate Series II or even the Companion 5 Multimedia Speaker System. Yes, the computer speakers that Bose makes has a larger 'sub woofer' than this Home Theater Speaker system. Visually, this surprised me. As you weigh the cost of the product consider the total cost of ownership over the 10 or more years that this product will last you. Consider the satisfaction you will have knowing you didn't settle for a product that cost a couple hundred dollars less. And that you'll never wonder "Gosh, how would the Bose sound bar have been instead?". Sleep sound at night knowing that you are backed by stellar, US based support. And should you need to send it back for a replacement, they will email you an UPS shipping label to send it back to them. Will Yamaha or Sony treat you this same way? Or will you have to foot the bill on shipping a large and heavy speaker system to their warranty department? Consider the brand name is a conversation piece in your living room and 99% of the people will comment on how surprisingly great this product sounds for it's size and the way that it looks. Consider all of these facts and at the end of the day, I guarantee you will find that this product is actually a bargain.