Bose Solo 5 TV sound system

I have a Samsung smart TV and a Humax PVR. After researching soundbars I opted for the Bose Solo 5. I've not been disappointed with my choice. You are aware of the Bose quality even before plugging it in. Connecting it to the TV with the optical cable took a few seconds - you just push through the spring-loaded hatch to connect to the optical sockets. I placed the soundbar in my open-fronted TV console unit rather than in front of the TV. Then I turned off the TV speakers via the TV menu - quite straightforward. The remote control is excellent - and almost intuitive - but a I checked the user guide and was soon able to turn on the soundbar. The sound is really really superb - with a clarity and overall EQ balance that was a pleasure to experience. Pressing the "speech" button button on the remote makes dialog even clearer - which is a boon for people with tinnitus like me. Within an hour I had also programmed via the remote to automatically turn on the soundbar when any source is requiring sound is on + use the remote to control the TV and main functions of the Humax. Still unable to get the DVR button on the remote to work (maybe not compatible with my Humax?) - or the subtitles (CC) button for the Humax (but it does work for the TV) but for Humax I can bring up the Guide, access Recordings and get to Netflix, YouTube, iPlayer etc. - all via the Menu button. A main learning point was that you press a programmed white Source button first - say for the TV (the Source button briefly lights up to confirm) - then the remote buttons just work for the TV functions. And continue to do so until another source button is pressed. Press another Source button - say for the Humax - and the remote buttons work for the Humax functions. And so on. I have also connected my iPad via bluetooth quickly and successfully. Wonderful to be able to play music into a decent sound system without wires. I'm sure there is more to explore and learn - but so far I consider this to be a fantastic bit of kit - and great value.

The unit is very compact looks good mounted on the wall. I like the minimalist design and installation was pretty simple opting for the optical connection to my TV. It's worth remembering that this unit's selling point is that it's way better than your TV's internal speakers and on that count it ticks the box. In my set-up I use it for a mix of normal TV, Amazon Music via the FireTV app, and music streaming from an Amazon (Echo) Alexa device. All works well enough although I had wanted to stream from my Samsung Galaxy Note 20 phone but the bluetooth set-up in that use-case didn't really work as it took a few attempts to get it to pair and then forgot the pairing. Bluetooth set-up to Amazon Echo was much simpler and has consistently reconnected. The are some differences in the quality of sound depending on material being listened too. TV is good, music from TV sounds a bit flat and needs a bit of bass boost (which is a nice feature). Music from streaming services is generally very good with newer music from the last 10 years sounding great. Classics from the 60s, 70s and 80s with their sparse mixing and mastering sound okay but don't think your getting anything close to Hi-Fi quality. In my set-up, a home workshop/art studio, I am most impressed with the sound when working at further than 2m away. Closer and you're not really getting the stereo effect and the sound just good. I like the remote but wish it was a bit more streamlined - for most people you are not going to use the multiple source options and many of the tweaking features. But it integrates well with the TV and is the only remote I need to operate the TV and FireTV stick menu so for that it wins out.

This has been installed just over a month now and I have sufficient experience of it to write a meaningful review. But with over 700 reviews posted I wonder what I can add that hasn’t already been said. What I wanted was a compact unit that would give better and more sound than the built-in speakers of my Panasonic 39” TV. Important also was that it did not take up stacks of space and would work OK in my rather idiosyncratic TV installation (rather low down on a TV stand, not raised on a shelf). I was keen if possible to avoid the need for a separate sub-woofer unit on the grounds of space and aesthetics. This Bose seemed to fit the bill, but what would it sound like? On opening the box, I found inside a solidly-made compact unit 55cm wide by 7cm high and 8cm deep. There are rubber pads underneath for placing on a TV unit. The back panel has two substantial screw fittings for connecting the optional wall-mounting kit. The 20V power supply is a separate unit (like a laptop charger) with a UK plug lead. Power and signal connections are made via a recessed panel on the rear and include standard optical and co-ax digital with supplied cables. I haven’t tried co-ax but optical seems fine. There is also an analogue AUX connector (no cable supplied) which I haven’t tried either, having no analogue sound output on my TV. A USB connector on the back of the unit is labelled ‘service’ and does not appear to have any user functions. Bluetooth connectivity is included; pairing works simply with no codes to enter and after that playing music from a mobile or tablet is a breeze. Just press the Bluetooth button on the remote to initiate pairing. The unit auto turns off about 10 minutes after you stop using Bluetooth. There is no HDMI connection. Instead Bose has supplied a brick-like remote which supposedly can be programmed with the functions of all your existing remotes which can then be put away. A whole separate book of codes is supplied. The trouble is that while you can do this for most of the basic controls of TV, DVD player etc it’s not 100% and so you still have to retain the original remotes for some functions, in my experience not all of them infrequently-used ones. One result from this is that the remote can be used to toggle on and off the TV and the Solo 5 at the same time, a useful feature. But it can get out-of-sync easily - for instance if you use the TV remote by mistake; if you are using it on Bluetooth before switching to the TV; or if putting a disc into the DVD player turns on the TV. There is a procedure in the manual to deal with these out-of-sync situations. In practice this Universal Remote idea is OK for techy types but technophobes will get fed up pretty quickly. So much simpler to have fitted an HDMI-ARC connection and supplied a small basic remote dedicated to this unit so that volume (for example) could be adjusted using the TV remote. Another potentially good feature that’s included is a selectable auto-wake mode in which the Solo 5 comes on when it sees an audio signal at the input. While this can work OK with no delay, sometimes it can take quite a while to kick in and the TV sits there in silence for up to a minute until the Bose decides to wake up. I’ve left this turned off. A ‘dialogue mode’ toggle selectable on the remote slightly improves sound clarity for speech, something very useful for those of us with ears not as good as they once were! Tone controls are restricted to bass level adjustment; there is no treble adjust. One reviewer claims that, while the bass can be adjusted, there is no indicator of the level. This is only true up to a point; adjusting the bass according to the manual instructions causes the indicator lights to show the set bass level according to the relative brightness of the two indicator lamps. Acoustically, this unit is not going to win any prizes for high fidelity but considering the size, Bose has done a good design job I think. Bass is there but it is often poorly controlled, depending on the source material (for example on George Melly’s ‘Good Time George’ the double-bass line is very boomy). Bass guitar (such as the riff at the start of Cliff Richard’s ‘Livin’ Doll’) is better at moderate volumes (albeit a bit muddy at times) but bass response tails off at lower frequencies, for example the deep descending chord about ¾ of the way through Toploader’s ‘Dancing In The Moonlight’ is a shadow of the real thing. Mid-range colouration is present, and the detail and translucence of the sound stage that you expect from a good pair of speakers is poor. Despite these limitations, I find I can listen for an hour or so to rock & blues (something I couldn’t do with my previous Panasonic four-box 2.1 sound system) but after a while it gets tiring, and you long to switch to a proper stereo. Likewise I find that in use there is no real stereo image when sitting at my usual distance of about 7 feet from the unit. Frankly, it sounds like mono. This might improve if I was able to position the unit higher up, but I doubt it would be much; Bose claim placement is not critical to sound quality. Anyway I don’t mind this as the unit is intended primarily for ordinary TV watching and it’s perfectly OK unless you are keen on big movies or gaming where immersive sound is important. If this is your bag then this unit won’t cut the mustard. In summary, the Bose Solo 5 does the job it is intended for very well, as long as you don’t set your expectations too high. Loses a star for the daft ‘Universal Remote’ idea which should have been kicked out by the Bose team at design review time.

Hace un tiempo que compré esta barra de sonido y no puedo estar mas contento con ella. El material es de muy buena calidad, se oye estupendamente bien y es muy pequeña lo que la hace ideal para un televisor de 32 pulgadas que es con el que la uso. La he puesto detrás del televisor con el soporte que incluye y no se ve. El mando a distancia que lleva me controla la barra y el televisor y también es de una calidad excelente,.

Geweldige box. Zeer snelle verzending (3 dagen)

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De soundbar werd heel snel geleverd en was goed verpakt. Mooi geluid voor een kleine box. Pas perfect in onze tv kast. Als ik 1 minpunt moet geven is het voor de afstandsbediening, deze is echt groot. Verder heel tevreden van onze Bose soundbar!

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