 Bose is known for great sound quality and this simple system doesn’t disappoint. The Bose 3-2-1 GS Series II DVD - Home Entertainment System  replaces five speakers with two, but still gives excellent surround sound. Instead of a subwoofer a patented Acoustimass module is included.
This unit can be located anywhere in the room, even behind furniture, without sacrificing sound quality. Everything connects easily with just three wires and a single power cord. There are just four connections to be made, simplifying installation:
1. Acoustimass module to power outlet
2. Acoustimass module to media center
3. Media center to speakers
4. Media center to television
The central part of this system is the Media Center unit which is a well designed component that houses the integrated DVD player and AM/FM tuner. It includes amplifiers, an equalizer, and has three inputs with both analog and digital coaxial jacks, and one optical digital audio input for additional audio sources. One excellent feature of this unit is that it plays just about every type of current CD/DVD. It will play CDs, CD-R Audio, CD-R MP3, CD-RW Audio, and CD-RW MP3, as well as DVD-Videos.
The two included speakers use the Bose Articulated Array speaker design. They are designed to work with the Bose signal processing to deliver a multi-channel output from just two visible speakers. A special Videostage 5 decoding circuitry delivers a surround sound effect from any source – DVD, CD, VHS tape, and even mono TV programming. While I may not fully understand the technology behind this system, I can tell you that it works very well resulting in a broad surround sound.
Speaker placement is very important with this unit. This is well explained in the included documentation. If you have space on either side of the television or entertainment system shelving, placement will be easy. Otherwise you may have to purchase addition wall mounts or speaker stands. I purchased the Bose speaker stands. Although I wasn’t happy about the added expense, I love the subtle modern design of the speaker stands and they, like the 3-2-1- unit itself, are well-designed and manufactured.
What’s not to like? Although the Acoustimass module can be placed anywhere in the room, the short cord that comes with the unit is very restrictive. If your television, like mine, is on a short wall with no other furniture, the placement of this unit will be difficult. Also, be aware that Bose has some software problems with this unit when it was first introduced. Bose technical support tells me that the problem has been fixed. The current unit that I own has been completely glitch free.
BTW, all my contacts with the Bose technical support team have been answered by intelligent, courteous, and helpful representatives. This sound system is not cheap, but the excellent quality of the equipment, the advanced technology, and the technical support are worth the price
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