By Allan D. Francisco
If you’re like most other PC owners, it is most likely that you have got loads of multimedia (audio and video) files stashed in your PC’s hard drive. Or, perhaps, you have amassed a collection of MP3-loaded CDRs and other less-than-fully-certified legit copies of CDs that could make any Quiapo stall-owner blush with pride.
In other words, your PC has become a virtual entertainment center. The next question then is, why settle for a 150-peso generic speaker that your friendly IT retailer bundled with your multimedia PC?
You do not have to spend a fortune on a state-of-the-art multi-channel speaker system. (If you, however, happened to have an STL franchise, go ahead and splurge.) There are budget-friendly multimedia speaker systems that can greatly enhance the audio performance of your PC without driving you to bankruptcy, or go begging for alms.
No Costly Upgrade
The Bose Companion 2 is one such audio system. It is, as its maker claims, “a significant upgrade in sound and style over original equipment computer speakers.”
Equipped with dual inputs that make it easy to install and connect to a PC or a portable audio player, the Companion 2 comes in a stylish and space-saving design. Out of its shipping package, the Bose desktop speaker system weighs less than 2kg, and occupies a space no bigger than 19 x 8.6 x 15.2cm.
Putting both the volume control and the headphone jack on the front of the right-side speaker, an act of genius and simplicity in design, has made it easy for the user to adjust the sound level and control the audio experience.
Quality Audio
The Companion 2 may be small and compact compared with other desktop speakers, but it provides high-quality audio performance that goes beyond those of other comparable brands. It delivers clear sound, and while it may not be as loud as those speakers of bigger sizes, it nevertheless can fill the room with its audio presence. And what a presence it is.
Bose TrueSpace stereo signal processing technology would make its presence felt each time I turned on the Companion 2 speakers. While it failed to match my PC’s resident 2.1-channel speaker decibel for decibel, the desktop speaker system from Bose offers an audio quality rich enough to present the best in aural qualities that compressed music files could possess.
When I played movie CDs on my PC, the Companion 2 provided sound that could be considered immersive enough to approximate a mini-cinema experience.
Magnetic Shield
Companion 2 speakers are magnetically shielded, Bose claims, to prevent interference with the PC’s monitor. Does it work? To find out, I placed the speakers as close to the Samsung CRT monitor of my PC as the law of physics would allow, a speaker on each side.
What do you know? The proximity between the monitor and the set of speakers did not cause my PC’s display to start flickering, or lose its colors and turn pale as the face of one who has seen a ghost.
These qualities make the Bose desktop speaker system one of the best I have ever encountered. PC owners who want to upgrade their desktop PC speakers but do not want to spend their life savings doing so, and users who may not have enough real estate on their desktop may want to consider the Bose Companion 2 multimedia speaker system.
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