I got these free using reward points so for me the value is perfect. They are are the best stereo computer speakers I have ever used. They may look tiny but they hold their own and I’ve had the neighbors complain about the bass output. If you live in an apartment, these being fed by your iPod or cable box for home theater is all you need. They are plenty loud for apartment house parties too. Best part is they don’t fall apart or distort. The sound is always tight no matter how loud. They also sound much bigger than they are.

I’m writing this review because I use these speakers as a practice amp. Into my Peavey PV8 mixer I feed my computer output (MIDI keyboard, Garageband and iTunes), an active bass, passive fretless bass, passive electric guitar, pre-amped electric/acoustic guitar, passive DI boxes, a drum machine, electronic drum kit, a CD player and dynamic mics. I currently have the speakers plugged into the mixer’s headphone jack. I’ve had a few jam sessions with these speakers and they did great.

I could play bass using my SWR LA-8 but I hate hum and hiss which I still get from it even with my Monster Power Pro 2500 power filter. I don’t get a peep of noise from the Bose Companion 3. Also, the Bose does not complain or distort when I crank the bass knob all the way up on my active bass or on the mixer! The bass drum signal from the Roland drum brain doesn’t bother the speakers either. Quite a feat for “computer speakers.”

I did try M-Audio Bx8a 8” powered monitors with the mixer being fed by the main out jacks and TRS cables. Yes, they blew away the Bose in terms of power and presence but one of the monitors was perfect and the other distorted when I played bass and would cut off the higher frequencies when I played guitar. The M-Audio monitors are also much bigger and bulkier which does matter in an apartment and they are more expensive.

As far as features and durability goes, I’ve had these for over a year and tend to leave them always on. The external volume knob features a headphone jack and line input. Touch the top to toggle mute. It has an amber/green LED to let you know if it’s muted or not. Great ergonomics for a volume knob. It also stays put on glass. Have not tried it on any other surface. I keep the sub on an Auralex speaker pad to separate it from the desk.

You can’t gig with the Bose Companion 3 - unless the gig is in your apartment sized living room and your instrument has a headphone out or you have a mixer but that’s not what computer speakers are built for. I also assume that they are like Bose headphones in that they make the music sound slightly better than it really is so I don’t know if these would be a good choice for professional mixing and mastering but that’s not what I do. I create play-along tracks for myself to practice and jam with, listen to dj mixes and 2.1 movie soundtracks. For that my setup is perfect.

Even if my friends were willing to drag over their head and cabs, there is no way I would allow it in my apartment. I don’t need every neighbor complaining to the landlord about me. We all plug into the mixer which outputs to the Bose Companion 3, jam our hearts out and never miss the amps. If you want do-it-all practice amp, computer speakers, home theater speakers for your apartment or dorm, this is it!

I always have loved Bose, but this speaker system is spotty at best. I think it has something to do with the way they connect to your system. I finally gave up on them and went with some nice Roland speakers. Don't go through the frustration I did...