Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Bose Solo 5 TV Soundbar Sound System with Universal Remote Control, Black

Buy the Bose Solo 5...so you won't have to sleep with the dog!!

Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2017

Style: Bose Solo 5 Sound SystemVerified Purchase

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!

1,233 people found this helpful

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DWR

I was skeptical, but it does improve the clarity of dialogue

Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2016

Style: Bose Solo 5 Sound SystemVerified Purchase

I have been having more difficulty understanding the dialogue in TV shows and movies lately... I am getting older and yes, I did listen to loud music in the 70's. I have tried a couple of different solutions like a bluetooth transmitter & headphones, which worked ok but I don't like to have the headphones on for long and it has to be kind of loud for me, and with a different sound bar which really didn't help much over the TV's own speakers. So I ordered this Bose Solo 5 system since it mentioned improving the clarity of dialogue. Well I have to say that it does. It first turns on in a "standard" mode and sounds pretty "regular" in that mode; really no big difference between it and my prior sound bar. But once you press the "dialogue" button on the remote, you can definitely hear a difference in clarity. I was pretty skeptical, but it really does help me understand much better what people are saying. It is an obvious improvement. I am adding a photo of the button on the remote you need to push to enable the dialogue mode since it wasn't obvious to me. When the dialogue mode is on, the green status light on the sound bar changes in color to amber, but you will be able to hear the difference, or at least I could. I should mention that some of the bass seems to be reduced when in dialogue mode but it also seems to me the voice frequencies are enhanced and not just pumping up the treble. I gladly give up some of the bass for the clarity. You can always just press the dialogue button a second time to toggle back to the regular sound settings if you prefer. Truthfully, I thought I would send this system back if it did not make a big difference since it is a bit pricey, and I am definitely not sending this back.

You know how some people get stuff free to review? Well, I wish I got this for free, but didn't. I paid the full price. Just thought you might want to know.

2,564 people found this helpful

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pm culby

Small size, powerful sound, lives up to Bose name!

Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2020

Style: Bose Solo 5 Sound SystemVerified Purchase

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!

32 people found this helpful

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Keith

A Great BASIC Soundbar

Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2023

Style: Bose Solo 5 Sound SystemVerified Purchase

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I purchased this with the intention of giving my gaming experience a little more depth. I just purchased an Insignia Fire TV and liked the sound but felt it lacked a lot of bottom/bass.

This sound bar makes up for that a bit.

Let's talk about INSTALLATION first:

Despite it taking me the better part of an hour to get the sound working correctly this is an easy set-up. The box comes with an optical connection so first check to see if your device has an optical input as well. If not purchase an HDMI as well.

The Sound Bar comes with ONE HDMI port so it will need to be the primary connection if you use HDMI.

The optical connections are easy but be sure that you hear the *CLICK* when connecting them or it means its not connected correctly, no matter how snug the wire feels.

Be aware of your TV's current sound settings too. I had to turn OFF my TV's speakers before I could get sound to come from the sound bar so before purchasing or arrival be aware of what that may be.

The physical aspects of it are great. It's medium sized. Tall enough to cover he space between my TV and its stand but it doesn't cover the screen at all and wide enough so that the sound doesn't feel like its on one side but not taking up a ton of space.

SOUND QUALITY:

It's good! Not going to give you a home theater experience and that probably shouldn't be expected for this price. This will make your sound feel more robust and deep but not immersive. The sound is akin to if my TV had come with really good speakers.

It does get LOUD though (check out the video for the increasing volume). So great for if you're watching a music video or concert or streaming from the TV.

Bluetooth connection was pretty easy to set up and I had no hiccups. This will probably become my preferred way of listening to music around the house or in this room. It's great for a music speaker.

REMOTE

the remote is is a universal Remote and it comes with the codes for a ton of Television types. It's a very easy setup my only complaint is that the remote is MASSIVE. As you can see it dwarfs my TV's normal remote in both width and length.

All in all I like this sound bar especially for the price point. One may find themselves upgrading though if/when a more expensive model goes on sale or feels like a better purchase.

If you want some good sound from your TV but don't need cinema style audio I'd say go for this. If you're looking to upgrade your experience to something that is very fancy and elaborate probably take the next price level up!

44 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Great value

Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2024

Style: Bose Solo 5 Sound SystemVerified Purchase

Love it! When I purchased the Bose Solo 5 soundbar, I didn't realize it was refurbished. It was easy to install, sound is great, the remote is a little scratched since it was previously used and the enclosed document stated so. My Samsung 25" TV speakers are so terrible! I can now enjoy listening to the kitchen TV. I love all my Bose products.

One person found this helpful

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Stephanie

Excellent speaker, clear sound

Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2023

Style: Bose Solo 5 Sound SystemVerified Purchase

I bought this speaker for my 85-year-old grandparents because their old sound bar (LG) sounded like it was going out. TV speakers are not clear enough for my grandfather so external speakers are a must. There was a noticeable difference between this Bose speaker and their previous LG at its best. Here are their favorite features:

Size - it fits between the legs of their TV so it tucks in nicely under the TV (their old one had to sit out in front quite a bit)

No separate subwoofer - that’s right, it’s a perk. The sound is much more balanced from this one speaker than it was from their old soundbar with a subwoofer. You can also adjust the bass and the range is pretty good.

- Sound - conversation is clear

This soundbar doesn’t compare with high end surround sound but if that’s what you expect out of a single 24-inch single speaker, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. While it’s a Bose, it’s also under $200 so curb your expectations. My Bose bluetooth speaker cost more than this soundbar so that should tell you something. It’s a fantastic speaker, significantly better than TV speakers and better than most soundbars I’ve heard. I doubt you’ll find a better one at this price point.

Added bonus - plenty of people complain about the bulky 90s-style remote included but that may be my grandfather’s favorite part, lol. He hates the dinky remote that came with his new TV, which doesn’t have numbers on it. It’s nice that the remote is universal and you can easily program it to all your other devices but yes, it’s unnecessarily old school.

24 people found this helpful

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Derek

Fantastic audio, doesn’t pair well with a Roku TV

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2023

Style: Bose Solo 5 Sound SystemVerified Purchase

I REALLY wanted to rate this higher because
the sound quality is truly fantastic! Great range in audio and perfect amount of base. The surround sound and movie effect is very pleasing. Overall, the audio is way better than ANY other soundbar I’ve used.
Unfortunately this soundbar doesn’t pair well with a Roku TV which leaves a poor user experience. Cant use Roku remote to control soundbar (unable to turn on or adjust volume of the soundbar with Roku remote).
Highly recommend reconfiguring the soundbar to turn on when it detects audio from the TV but it isn’t always consistent in doing so.
Soundbar comes with its own remote which can be paired with the TV to turn both devices on/off together and adjust volume on the soundbar but there is no display on the soundbar OR TV to show what level of volume it is at or whether mute is on/off (must go by blinking light on soundbar).
Sometimes I use the Roku remote to turn the TV on and the soundbar doesn’t power on. Using the soundbar remote to turn the soundbar on then turns the TV off so I have to turn the TV back on again with the Roku remote… it’s annoying…
The number of times I’ve had to unplug the audio cable or unplug the power to reset the device is unexpected... Just not a great user experience overall. Can’t recommend this model if pairing with a Roku TV. Haven’t tested it on other model TVs yet… but I continue to struggle through the poor experience because I love the quality this soundbar provides.

6 people found this helpful

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Tammy W.

Traded in a Yamaha soundbar

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2022

Style: Bose Solo 5 Sound SystemVerified Purchase

I tried a small Yamaha soundbar (SR-C20A) and although the quality was very good, I found volume level inconsistencies between shows, movies, commericals, etc were too extreme for a bedroom TV. One minute it was too quiet, the next it was so loud I had to turn it down. And there didn't seem to be a way to level out the volume. So I returned it and got the Bose Solo 5 for three reasons: 1) I know Bose quality as I've owned Bose products over the years. 2) I wanted a small all-in-one soundbar for a bedroom TV and have no need to add a subwoofer or satellite speakers. 3) I wanted to be able to control it using my Xfinity remote which will not pair with all soundbars. It will however pair with Bose soundbars (and some other major brands like Yamaha, Samsung or Sony). The sound quality is superior to the Yamaha and I don't experience any of the Yamaha's annoying volume inconsistencies. The Bose has a surprisingly wide sound stage and plenty of bass. The other night, I cranked up the shootout scene toward the end of "The Matrix" to test it. It gets very loud, and I heard surprising separation, clarity and bass that didn't muddy as the volume increased. I'm not really sure how Bose manages to coax that kind of sound from such a small soundbar, but its incedibly effective. Overall, I'm really glad I returned the Yamaha and got the Bose Solo 5!

47 people found this helpful

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Ray

Good Medium-Range Sound Bar for TV Watching

Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2019

Style: Bose Solo 5 Sound SystemVerified Purchase

This is a good Bose soundbar that will meet the needs of many casual TV users who are just wishing for a better sound experience during television watching without resorting to the incredibly large and expensive sound systems out there. The unit comes as a single piece that is connected with only one wire to the TV (either an optical cable, provided, or a traditional RGB cable) and, of course, a power cord. The unit is self-amplified, and after setting up the remote (which is not as daunting as some others, but may take some extended interaction to get it the way it needs to be for full operation of all your components -- this is a universal remote, so it can control all your equipment, not just the soundbar itself).

The hallmark description of the sound produced by this bar is what I would call "clear." It's not going to pour out pounding bass as it does not have either the large speakers or amplifier necessary for such, but it does give a very well-rounded soundstage for TV watching, and actually does occasionally reveal some surprising levels of bass you would not think possible. (You can also adjust the amount of base using the remote, too, although I would call this lower-mid-range, rather than bass.) If you are used to listening to the small, tiny speaker built into all flat TVs, you'll both be impressed at the different and also need a little time to adjust to the difference in sound. As with all speakers, placement is a key factor, so you can experiment exactly where to physically locate the speaker: wall mount, in front of the TV itself, behind the TV, lower, or higher. It feels and sounds like a quality device with the trademark Bose "feel" to it. There is also another setting on the remote that allows you to set an extra clarity level for spoken words, something that is really helpful for certain shows, particularly older TV shows.

What surprised me most is the remote. This is a genuinely nice remote, which is something I've rarely been able to say about the mountains of remotes I've used over the years. Whoever designed this remote took some time to think about how the human hand holds a remote, placing curves and arcs in the right places. Furthermore, the remote itself feels of exceptional quality: this does not feel like a squeaky afterthought. It is a remarkably robust remote that not only has the right shape, but also feels extremely solidly built. And, surprise, as I mentioned, it is a UNIVERSAL remote, so after you spend some time programming it, it should control most all your devices. In a sense, that makes this soundbar a bit of a steal, because good universal remotes can run in the $75 - $100 range, so it's like you're getting the bar for about $150. It's by no means the "best" soundbar on the market, but it is very good, is well constructed, sounds good, and comes with an ergonomic, quality universal remote. It should please everyone except those wishing to build upper-end home sound theatres.

36 people found this helpful

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Mitchell Croy

Love the remote

Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2024

Style: Bose Solo 5 Sound SystemVerified Purchase

Sound is great

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