The American Bose Company possesses a fine pedigree, being widely regarded as one of the finest manufacturers of high-quality audio equipment in the world. It was against this backdrop that I purchased the Bose 321 GS Series II System some 12 months ago, and in the main, I have not been disappointed with it. With its stylish design and fashionable brand image, this is definitely one product you would not be ashamed to have under your television.
The Bose 321 range is generally available in either a graphite or silver theme, echoed throughout the main system unit, Acoustimass Module (the big sub-woofer box), 2 small satellite speakers and remote control, and is the standard options on most of the accessories. I understand that the system is also available in white, for those with a 'feng Shui' persuasion.
So what are the differences between the 3 types of 321? From the literature, the basic 321 Series II is the regular unit with the larger satellite speakers - the 321 GS Series II comes with smaller 'Gemstone' speakers and the GSX variant is a
GS system which contains a storage medium to archive up to 200 hours of music or video - apart from that, they are technically the same.
Packaged with the system are all the basic accessories you need to get it working right away, including power cables for the region in which you bought it, speaker and Acoustimass cables, remote control with batteries, AM/FM antennas, stereo and video cables, easy to follow instructions and a setup DVD.
In addition to the usual multi-language instruction manual, Bose provides a nice graphical instructional poster showing you exactly where to put each cable, connector and screw. The combination of manual and the graphical guide makes this a very easy unit to assemble, even for the less technically-minded.
Once you have assembled the unit and power it up for the first time, you are instructed to insert the setup DVD. The DVD gives not only some great audio and visual demonstrations, showcasing the Bose in all its glory, but also provides the means to configure the various parameters of the system - all this gives you the confidence that you have managed to put everything in the right place!
One additional accessory that, in my opinion, is an absolute must is the speaker stand and both a floor stand and wall-mounted bracket variety are available. I bought a Bose floor stand designed specifically for the 321 Series speakers (for the basic and GS/GSX versions), although my friend managed to find a nice set for his 321 from another 'cheaper' manufacturer. Both stands do the job, although the advantages of the Bose product over the 3rd party item are their more stylish design, their much heavier base that prevents them from being knocked over by my kids but most importantly their ability to hide the speaker cable within the stand frame, whereas the 3rd party stand has the cables dangling free and looking extremely untidy. I have no experience of the wall brackets, but as long as you can hide the cable then I would imagine that these would do equally well.
Moving on to the operation of the system, anyone familiar with even a basic DVD player-type of interface will find the Bose system a breeze to operate. The system is configurable across the full range of video and audio settings, from screen aspect ratio (ie widescreen or full screen modes), PAL, NTSC and SECAM modes for different countries (handy for expatriates). Audio settings include a fully-adjustable equaliser, choice of Dolby surround versions (2.0 or 5.1) and the ability to manipulate the radio player for your favourite stations, to name but a few of the features. I personally have not found it necessary to change many of the settings as the quality of the sound is, under its default settings, outstanding - techno wizards will not be disappointed though and will be able to spend hours fine-tuning the output to their own satisfaction.
Other features are the ability to have 3 separate audio inputs and 2 video inputs individually selectable via the remote control, and 3 video outputs to your television (component, s-video and composite). A useful feature for those without too many external sources, however, is that you can simply select whatever is on the television by linking it to the 'TV input' on the remote control - assuming that your television has at least a composite input/output capability then this will deliver perfectly adequate sound quality to the average user.
DVD playback is as you would expect from any other player, with the advantage that you gain digital video output sockets to carry the picture to your television, and that the sound is generated by the Bose system itself. The usual features are available, including different levels of slow and fast forward and reverse options, pause feature and the obligatory stop and go! CDs, VCDs and MP3 discs are all able to be played on the 321 to good effect, and with the radio function, make this system the only one you will ever need for all your audio and video requirements.
Those are some of the good bits, but what, if anything, would I improve? Firstly, the price is a little on the high side compared to many of the more mainstream brands such as JVC and Sony. Whilst the quality of the system is undeniable, Bose 'appears' to have maintained its high price to give it a little more exclusivity as I am not sure if the layman could really tell the difference between many of the latest home cinema systems. Another annoyance is its lack of a multi-region DVD player - currently you are limited to the region in which you bought the system, ie region 2 for the UK, region 1 for the US. For such an expensive system I was surprised that Bose chose to limit its customers to single region operation. No after-market multi-region 'work around' is available at the present time to change this!
So in summary, this is an excellent product from the highly regarded Bose Company, and one which I have been delighted to own. Yes, there are some small elements I would change but overall the enjoyment this system gives me and my family outweighs the little niggles. I highly commend this product to anyone thinking of buying a high-endhome theatre system.
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