Bose Solo 5 TV Soundbar Sound System with Universal Remote Control, Black

I searched around Amazon and the internet for a one speaker (with no separate bass or satellite speakers) system that we could use in our living room. My wife gave me very CLEAR orders about having something that would fit into our entertainment center without being an eye sore while still sounding good enough to watch tv shows or movies. Well, now that she has pretty much told me that I might be sleeping with the dog, and trust me the dog doesn't like it either! Anyway, I watched youtube videos on the Bose system and the competitors. I chose the Bose Solo 5, praying that I didn't need to buy a larger dog bed too. This speaker is great! It has good bass but not overpowering the spoken words or the sound effects in whatever we are watching. WHEW! It has a well rounded sound, and can get loud enough that we can find the right volume for whatever we are watching! I haven't yet needed to max out the volume yet, except to drown out the wife's voice!!! I have other Bose speakers and have been satisfied with the quality of their products. Luckily for Bose, I didn't need to buy bandages, because, if I am honest, the dog and the wife both bite! So great job Bose! Don't get me the wrong, I still can't sleep in the bed, but at least I am in the a/c!! I am very satisfied with the Bose Solo 5! I just wished Bose made replacement wives?? (I am not concerned, because the wife won't read this! :) The universal remote that comes with this system is so good, that we have it as our primary remote for the living room. It controls that sat box, the tv, and the Bose speaker. I love that remote. The instructions were clear and replaced the tv and sat remote. Nearly worth the buy for the remote. So we are very satisfied with the remote too. Easy to hook up and setup. Great!

I had wanted to upgrade our family room TV to a soundbar for years. I was seeking something that was smaller but could still deliver some bass, but I didn't want to have to deal with a subwoofer. I researched a ton! At first I looked at the Roku Soundbar, but I realized that wouldn't work if I wanted to have great sound while watching DVDs -- and that soundbar was huge! It would take up my entire TV entertainment center. Then I looked at a compact Polk audio system. Well, my TV does not have an HDMI-ARC input - only HDMI. I have Bose computer speakers that I love and enjoyed a Bose speaker for an old school iPod about 10 years ago. I trusted the brand so I did some more delving into what they had to offer. I ended up going with this Bose 5 system over their Bose TV Speaker because of the promise of the bass; reviews of the Bose TV speaker said that system was more for enhancing dialogue clarity (and it was ~$80 more). The Bose 5 delivers! It took only a few minutes to set up; I use the optical cable. Make sure you completely follow the instructions when programming the remote. When I first programmed it, I got it to sync to the settings but didn't do the last step to finalize it, so the sound would go in and out. Once I realized my mistake and went back through programming the remote, I haven't encountered any issues. You can program the universal remote to work with your cable, which I did, but I chose not to sync the power on/off of the Bose remote with that of cable, because I don't always want to use the Bose speakers when watching TV, especially early in the morning when I'm the first one up. Turning the system on and off is super easy -- even my elderly parent can manage it. And boy does the bass deliver! It's so nice to watch some movies at home and have a semi-movie theater experience. And syncing to my phone through Bluetooth was a snap. I will say I've had to play with the sound settings. Once I realized that my TV's speakers stay on even when I turn the Bose on, I've learned to turn the TV speakers down a bit (but not muted) and the Bose speaker up for the best quality output and to not get a weird echo, which is particularly noticeable with news. I highly recommend this system for its size, quality of sound, and ease of use!

Update: 9/4/19: Here's what I learned, since I'm not much of an instruction reader: You have to put your TV on mute to get the best sound from the sound bar. I skipped over that particular point, but since I figured that out, I have grown to love this sound bar. It has great audio, great bass, the tinniness is gone, since I don't have sound coming out of both my TV and the sound bar. Solid purchase, and I'm upping my rating to a five. I live in a small apartment, so I wanted something that would enhance the sound of my new TV without ticking off my neighbors. This sound bar does the trick on may levels. On the physical side, it's the perfect size for a small space. It's not a mile long, but only 21.5 inches, and it's super-simple to hook up. Power cord, optical sound cord, BOOM! you're done. The remote control, on the other hand, is... special, shall we say... it's HUGE! It's designed to be a universal remote, and Bose does include device codes to allow you to connect your TV, Roku player, DVD player, etc. to it, but I don't have the time or the patience to muddle through that, so I just kind of ignored it. Now for the sound. I am a fan of the deep bass tones. When you get those rolling drums, those low bass chords that come thundering through, it will make you do a double take - it's got that much power and it is fulfilling. On the quieter, dialogue scenes, I'm kind of up in the air, although I'm still testing. This is the first sound bar I've ever had, so I have nothing to compare it to, and it's my first attempt at building a home theater-like experience in my apartment, but even so, those smaller scenes feel distant and/or tinny, almost like you're hearing them through a PA system. That being said, a lot of incidental background noise is amplified, which creates an immersive effect that is enjoyable, at least for me. Overall, it's something I can live with - the price is right, it's the prefect size and I'm sure I'll get used to the sound. The other sound bar I was considering was the Sonos Beam, but I didn't want to drop $400. I think the Bose Solo 5 is a good middle point (which sounds weird to say about Bose).