rgathright's Full Review: Bose 3·2·1 GS II Theater System
The Bose GS II 321 has surpassed all my expectations with two years of constant and trouble free service. My neighbors and friends have never asked where the rich sound that powers my football game parties comes from. DVD's and CD's, in good condition, never skip or hang unexpectantly like other Sony home entertainment products do. You may find these statements a little over zealous but I have read other critical reviews of this product and completely disagree with their impression. My axe against these reviews is further sharpened when two years later I realized they kept me from purchasing this product sooner. Please read on and find out what you are missing as well!
Appearance
The subwoofer measures 14 1/4H" x 19 1/2"L x 9" W which is truly small when considering the amplifier electronics are inside. The woofer box is made is made of pressboard with plastic covers front and rear. Each of the satellite speakers measure 2 1/2"H x 4"L x 5 1/2"W and are made of silver colored plastic with a metal grill on front. The central unit is 13 1/2"W x 9 1/2"D x 3 1/2"H has silver border on front and a black exterior elsewhere. The GS II takes up approximately half the volume of other cheaper surround systems like Sony which utilize a much larger subwoofer box. More important than appearance in today's market is interconnectivity. You can connect the Bose Home Entertainment System in AUX mode to any HD DVD player that supports fiber link.
Sound
Most audiophiles who see a 2.1 surround sound system do not consider it worthy of any further attention. BOSE uses two small speakers and a large subwoofer to get 5.1 sound out a 2.1 system. The .1 is essentially the subwoofer component with the 2 representing the two full range speakers. The GS 321 can easily fill my living with sound at a level of 54 while playing DVD movies. The amazing part is that my living room has 12' ceilings and is 60' x 50', a large space yet I can hear the audio in the whole room.
The key point to consider when buying this BOSE system is its ability to merge dialogue while at the same time maintaining the surround sound effect in your room. You will be able to hear those rear channel voices clearly and get more out of those fast paced action films. A great example is the blockbuster movie Transformers. The sound engineers decided to move 50% of the audio to the rear speakers causing only the most powerful surround sound systems to produce dialogue that you can easily hear from across the room. My other Sony 5.1 Surround System makes listening to Transformers a challenge because the rear channel speakers are very small (15W max handling capacity) because they do not have enough power to project to the opposite corner of the room. The GS 321 focuses the audio around the room and you can hear all the voices easily.
Remote And Menus
The remote is about 7" long and is all black with white lettering on the black buttons and white lettering on the grey buttons which act as input selection sources. You can easily press the buttons and the system responds quickly to requests like input source selections. I mostly use the remote in AUX input mode to adjust the sound levels while watching TV.
Power Consumption
Using a Kill-A-Watt meter to watch the power consumption, I ran my BOSE GS II 321 for 24 hours to record the following results. Starting at 7:00PM here are some observations:
16 watts when powered off and not in use.
28 watts when in AUX mode at sound level 70.
33 watts when in CD/DVD mode at level 54.
30 watts when in FM/AM mode at level 54.
Since I started my power test on a Friday night, I had time to really test the system. I watched my two favorite movies: Transformers and Serenity first. Then, I switched inputs using the remote to AUX and left the TV on to watch some Comedy Central. Finally, I put a Carlos Makai CD in to entertain my two macaws all night while I sleeped. Saturday, I left the sound system in radio mode while working around the house and to enjoy a McNeese State University football game a 2:00 PM. The final total at 7:00 PM for 24 hours on the BOSE 321 was a total of .56 Kwh for a 24 hour period.
Technical Specifications
Three audio inputs: analog/digital coaxial jacks and RCA jacks
Optical Digital Input: Yes
Coaxial Digital Input: Yes
Radio Bands Supported: AM/FM with supplied antenna
Remote Control: Universal remote control
Built In Decoder: Videostage 5 decoder
Optical Disc Playback: DVD video, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3 files
You should be aware that there is now a BOSE GS III 321 system which provides HDMI output support. For those of you who have HD TV’s this feature will give your traditional DVD's the look of HD. Also note that the system does not have a headphone jack.
Website
The following link will take you to the main BOSE homepage for this product.
On the website you will find product manuals and valuable shopping tools.
Summary
The Bose GS II 3.2.1 will rock your home entertainment lifestyle with rich, immersing sound. The low profile control unit and silver full range speakers are barely seen and have allowed me to reclaim my living rooms decorating style with a few well placed fake plants. If you refuse to add massive unsightly speakers for 5.1 sound just to be considered cool then the BOSE GS II 321 is for you!
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