Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsA little pricey, but definite addition to existing Bose sound bar
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2021
Over the last 15-20 years, I have gone through several sound bars, but my last combination of the Bose TV speaker with the 500 bass module is clearly the best sound I have ever had. I bought the TV Speaker as a stand-along several months before the bass module, based on a recommendation from my brother in law that had one. I previously had an economical LG sound bar with a wireless sub woofer, but the sub kept cutting in and out. Tried different locations to improve the wireless transmission (as recommended in online forums), but did not work. Finally relegated that system to the basement, and bought the Bose sound bar. Very happy with it and it’s price point ($250), but felt I was missing out on the low frequencies. I had a powered, stand alone sub-woofer from a previous 5.1 sound system that I tried plugging into the bass output from the sound bar. But there was no signal. Searched high and low online to see if there was some fix. No luck. Bose literature only talks to plugging in one of their bass modules, so I have to figure Bose must have some handshake protocol between the sound bar and the bass module. One of the key reasons I bought the Bose TV Speaker was that it had a dedicated, wired output to feed a sub-woofer (in addition to allowing wireless). I was eventually able to utilize the other sub-woofer by plugging it into the RCA audio out jacks on the tv and running the Bose sound bar with the optical output. The only problem with this arrangement is that there was no remote controllability of the sub-woofer sound level. There was a gain control on the back that I ended up setting to a nominal level, but when I would mute the TV for something like a phone call, the sub-woofer continued to stay on. At $400 for the bass and $250 for the sound bar, total investment was $650. I never would have justified buying a $650 sound system originally, and before plunking down $400 for the sub module, I did have to ask myself if it would just be better to ignore the sunk cost of the TV Speaker and buy another sound bar/sub-woofer for less than $400. But all other systems out there go with a wireless sub-woofer, which worried me. So bit the bullet and treated myself to a boys toy here and got the bass module.
Before I bought this on Amazon, searched high and low other places. FYI - Bose never discounts. Everyone sells this for $399.00. Found some used ones on eBay, but bidding always brought the price upwards of 90% of what a new one cost, so figured just get a brand new unit with full warranty.
Next issue was availability. Everywhere said they were sold out, with no idea of when they would get them in stock. Went ahead and ordered it on Amazon when I saw they had some in stock. Had to check daily to see when they had it. Original quote was 4 week delivery, but ended up showing up after 10 days.
Absolutely love the sound. Great looks. Low profile that tucks away nicely.
You don’t need to spend $10 on Bose cable - any 3.5mm audio cable will do. Got a longer one from Amazon for half the cost.