Harmon Kardon Soundsticks III vs Bose Companion 3 Series II

I'm deciding between these two 2.1 speaker systems but I can't seem to find any decent comparison reviews for them.

I've heard the Bose set at Best Buy and they sound pretty good, but I haven't been able to find a place that has the HK's on display.

The only thing that concerns me is that the HK's are much cheaper, which makes me think the sound is inferior, but I'm not certain.

Anybody that owns these sets have anything to say?

 

I have the Bose Companion 3 Series I but am not that impressed with them. And as for the HK being cheaper, that does not mean that they are inferior because Bose is known to overprice all of their equipment. One thing I could tell you about my Series I is that the bass does not go very deep at all. The volume rocker is a nice accessory to have. If you really want to get the best speakers you can for a budget, I suggest heading over to head-fi.org and looking in their 'Computer Audio' threads for more help. Just FYI, they do not like Bose over there so will most likely not recommend them in this situation.

 

I personally own the Bose Companion 3 II speakers and I love them, the bass is not overpowering but it is definitely there. The speakers sound great when listening to music, when watching movies, and even when gaming, although if you cant have the satellites kind of at face level, then they can sound kind of muddy. I too was comparing the bose to the HK's but I am glad with my decision I didnt like the HK's too much so I exchanged them for the Bose.
Good luck in your findings.

 

2.1? Look at the Klipsch ProMeida and Logitechs equivalent product.

If you invest a bit more now you can get separate components, get an amp, a powered sub, and your favorite speakers. This will sound better and leave you with more options on how to use the system and upgrade it in the future.

 

Sound sticks III is newer compared to companion 3. HRS3 have more style than Bose C3. I don't know much about their sound diff, never heard them both but HKS3's appearance is so cool and appealing. For sure both of them sounds good.

Edit-
Sorry wrong model pricing.

 

Because it's Bose.

 

Ooops sorry. The price difference is way too much. I misjudged the price.

Amazon.com: Bose Companion 5 multimedia speaker system - Graphite/Silver: Electronics

Amazon.com: Harman Kardon Soundsticks III: Electronics

 

+1 to the promedia's I was myself debating on new speakers and for the price I can not buy normal computer speakers EVER again... the next step up would to buy bookshelf speakers and a amp/receiver

 

I have the companion 3's and have had them since 2003. After a lot of wear and abuse they still work and sound as they did out of the box.

An expensive, but good buy IMO. I think they sound good for what they are. The bass is louder than it needs to be at low volumes, but doesn't satisfy at higher volume levels.

This is coming from an experienced headphone owner, Bose does not make the best sounding products, by far. But my set has lasted me so long, I would have to recommend them for their durability.

 

You should definitely look at the Klipsch promedia 2.1's as well. I have two pairs of these and they are fairly good for computer speakers. Of course they aren't anywhere near as good as a real surround sound system or high quality stereo with separate amp and preamp, but they don't claim to be. In all honesty Bose is very overpriced most of the time. There are better alternatives that don't need to call a subwoofer an "acoustimass module" to sound special.