I just received the Bose MusicMonitor computer speakers I ordered online.
Listing for a retail value of roughly $350, I actually am a little disappointed they don’t sound better, as in have more bass. The reviews I saw before purchasing all commented that they did have reasonably good bass, but not as good as speaker sets with a sub, which makes perfect sense. I have to totally disagree with these reviews, the bass output is really rather poor, if nonexistent. The sound quality in higher frequencies is excellent though.
The quality of manufacturing of the speakers is top end. All brushed metal construction, with side plates of solid aluminum. They are quite heavy for their size, and have the look and feel of quality.
My previous computer sound system (Logitech) had a sub. So I’m using these Bose speakers with that sub, using an 1/8″ splitter jack to send audio to the Bose speakers and the sub from the same 1/8″ output on the computer. Now they sound great. Not night and day better from the previous Logitech flat panel speakers, but noticeably sharper and clearer, and take up less. room. The Logitech flat panels sounded really good, but took up a lot more desk space than these, and looked really cheap in comparison.
Would I recommend these Bose mini-speakers? Yes, but only with the caveat of also using a sub in combination. Unless you simply want decent small speakers and don’t have the room. Unless money is no object, or looks is very important, some people might want to shop around for a small speaker set that is less expensive or has more bass.
7/10
Update 2012-02-14
After using the speaker system for a while, I’ve noticed one annoying issue. When the power cycles on these speakers, you have to manually switch them on and raise the volume. My older Logitech speaker system had a manual on/off push button switch and a volume dial. The Bose speakers have 3 soft press buttons on the side of one speaker, one for power and 2 for volume. Not only do you have to manually turn the power on after a power cycle or power failure, but the volume is initially at 0. So you have to play some audio to find your sweet-spot of volume level again. This is extrememly annoying, since I (like most people) take for granted the computer will make sound after you start it up with no changes having been made.
With the price of these speakers, it should at least remember the volume level. One of the biggest disappointments of soft touch buttons are that they require circuitry to enable what a simple dial knob and push on/off button switch does mechanically by design. This is what happens when inexperienced engineers design something, and is doesn’t get tested in the real world with user feedback.
I expect better from Bose.
My rating is now 5/10.