Bose Solo TV Sound System
Although I have a nice Sony Bravia TV, the sound can be a little...disappointing. This is especially noticeable when we watch BluRay versions of movies like "A Bridge Too Far" or "The Battle of Britan" - the TV begins to vibrate and buzz when the planes fly over. However, not being an overall audiophile, I had no desire to install a surround sound system with five speakers. I was looking into getting a sound bar when I discovered the Bose Solo TV Sound System.
The Bose Solo is a single box, roughly the size of a standard DVD / BluRay player; the dimensions are 10.25" x 20"; the TV is placed on top of the Bose Solo. Not having to find additional shelf or floor space for the speaker is definitely a plus! According to the package, this is designed for TVs up to 32" and in some cases up to 42". The base of the TV must not overhang the Bose Solo, or else the TV may be unstable and fall. However, the base of my 46" TV fits on top of the speaker box with room to spare.
There is a very small, thin, flat remote control that comes with the Bose Solo - ON, UP, DOWN, PAUSE/OFF. According to the Operating Guide the unit can be operated with a Universal Remote as well. But since I don't have a Universal Remote, I will have to add another remote to the growing collection on the coffee table.
Hooking up the Bose Solo was simple once I located the corresponding jack on the back of the TV. There are only two connections to make - 1) the power cord, and 2) either the analog (red and white jacks) or optical digital audio cable. The optical digital cable is recommended for best sound quality, so I wanted to use that - but had no previous experience with this type of cable. The ends of the optical digital cables have protective plastic shields which must be removed before installation, and they are fairly small. It took me some time to find the optical digital cable jack on the back of my TV. I was finally able to locate it when I turned off some of the lights in the room, and then I saw the red light coming from the optical jack! The connections on the back of the Bose Solo are well labeled and easy to find.
Once the TV and the Bose Solo were connected, I turned on the new box and heard some kind of distorted sound echo. A quick trip to the troubleshooting FAQ in the operating guide informed me that the TV sound should either be disabled or the volume turned all the way down. Once I disabled the TV sound, the sound coming from the Bose Solo took over.
My personal testing included turning the Bose up to full volume. The sound filled the room and in fact could be heard quite nicely from other rooms, too. I put in my go to BluRay, "The Battle of Britan" - no distortion, no vibration, no hum. (The lack of vibration is even more impressive when you consider this rather large TV is balanced on the speaker itself!) I also listened to music from classical to metal and everything sounded beautiful! I then went back and forth between the sound from the Bose Solo and the sound from the Sony Bravia only - the Bose definitely has a richer sound with more bass; the TV now sounds a bit tinny by comparison. The TV volume can be cranked up higher, but the higher it goes the more distortion and vibration come through - the Bose certainly cranks up high enough to fill a room (and possibly the entire house) and there is no distortion. Although the Bose instructions explicitly state that the TV volume should be OFF, I also experimented with the Bose Solo and bringing up the TV volume to just under the point where echo kicks in, and thought that sounded great, too!
The bottom line is that while the Bose Solo won't take the place of Surround Sound, it greatly improves the experience of watching TV and movies with a richer sound quality than the TV alone and no distortion or vibration. Since it's a single box that fits under the TV base, it doesn't take up additional space on the shelf or floor. It's very easy to install - add the power cable to the wall and the audio cable to the TV, and you're done!
Highly recommended!
Product Details :
Product Dimensions : 12.2 x 20.8 x 3 inches ; 10.1 pounds.
Shipping Weight : 17.4 pounds.
- Wide, even sound throughout the room from Bose speaker array technology.
- More effects, music and dialogue, clearly and naturally, with proprietary digital signal processing.
- Single 3 inch high cabinet contains the speaker array and fits neatly under your HDTV, no additional equipment needed.
- Extremely easy setup, with one connection to your TV and one plug to the wall.
- Simple four-button remote with power, mute and volume functions.
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