Great computer speakers for music listeners.
Written: Mar 14 '01 (Updated Mar 19 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent sound, tasteful design -- very clear and crisp, especially for computer speakers.
Cons: No subwoofer, so not-so-great bass response
The Bottom Line: If you need speakers to listen to music -- not for games -- then the Mediamates are the best-sounding computer speakers for the money.
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| josh_rothman's Full Review: Bose MediaMate® 2 Speakers |
I've owned several pairs of computer speakers in my life -- a cheap pair of Altec Lansings, a subwoofered pair of Monsoon MM-700s, and this pair of Bose Mediamates. I would recommend these speakers more than any of the others, primarily because they are the best computer speakers I've heard for listening to music, which is the primary reason most people need high-end speakers unless (or even if) they're rabid gamers.
Let me first start by saying that these speakers aren't as expensive as the $200 listed here; I got mine for $150 and you ought to be able to get a pair for not much more. While I would recommend them at the $200 price point, their lower street price makes them even more of a good buy. I got mine when I started building a big MP3 collection and was tired of using headphones all the time.
Physical Description
The speakers are the Bose white/putty color; they're quite heavy and 'deep' despite their narrow profile, and are tilted up at a slight angle so that the sound is directed right at you when they're set on your desk. Unlike many speakers, which connect to the computer through a cable with mini-jacks on both ends, the Bose speakers connect through an included mini-jack to RCA cable -- in fact, the Mediamates have two RCA ins on the back of the right speaker, which means that you can connect the speakers to both your computer and your audio component system. The speakers switch between inputs with a knob (the lower knob on the right speaker in the picture), so that you can 'fade' between sources and listen to two at the same time -- great if you want to mix, say, alert sound output or game sounds on your computer with music from a stereo or discman.
As always with Bose, the speakers are well-made and tastefully designed -- they don't look cheap (which is a problem with most computer speakers), the plastics are well-fitted, and so on. This is by contrast with my old Altec Lansing speakers, which are cheap-feeling, 'creaky,' and terrible-looking all around. The Bose speakers look great, even better, I think than the cheesy 'flat' Monsoon speakers everyone is so crazy about these days.
Sound
Of course sound is the most important part of any speaker purchase, and the Mediamates sound great, with the qualification that they have no bass module. They are far and away the crispest-sounding speakers I've heard; they also 'fill out' nicely, providing a rounded stereo image and a feeling of space around the listener. The sound is clean and never tinny.
There are however a few caveats: as I said, the speakers have no bass module/subwoofer, which means that your thumpin' techno MP3s won't be quite so thumpin'. It also means that the speakers don't scale well, either to big rooms or to loud volumes -- so if you're going to be listening to music from across the room with the volume really cranked on your bass-heavy Beastie Boys tracks, these Bose speakers are not for you. These speakers are for people listening to music while sitting at their desk, in front of their computer. If that's how you listen to music, however, they are some of the best-sounding computer speakers you can buy. Obviously it's hard to evaluate speakers in a review like this, without being able to demonstrate them -- but it might approximate their performance to note that they don't succumb to any of the failings computer speakers usually suffer. Sound seems to come from the stereo center, not from the individual speakers; it also appears to come from a height level with your ears, not with your speakers or the surface of the desk. Music is vibrant and full, especially in the mid- and upper-range. Basically, they sound great, and they wrap you up in your own little sonic world so well that you forget you're listening to a pair of computer speakers.
So -- to wrap up -- it's hard to recommend these speakers in a blanket fashion to everyone, since some people really need big bass power, and other people want to multi-purpose their computer speakers as real speakers, so that they can sit on the couch while their computer plays MP3s. But is is easy to whole-heartedly recommend them to music listeners who want the best computer sound under $300 while sitting at their desks. Bose has designed these speakers with you in mind, and for you they are the perfect speakers!
-- Oh -- as a final note -- I've had great success taking my bose computer speakers with me on vacations and breaks, along with a discman, and having a really great portable stereo system. Since there's no bass module they're easy to get around, and they sound great when I'm visiting friends or staying in hotels for long periods. Buy 'em!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
josh_rothman
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Member: Joshua Rothman
Location: Princeton, NJ
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 4 members
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