BOSE Cinemate 15 Review

A Quick Overview

Pros:

• Sleek, space-saving, stylish design
• Swift and easy installation
• Quality materials that are pretty to look at
• Utilizes Bose TrueSpace technology for room-filling sound
• Works well in any position 
• All wires needed are included in-box
• Rubber feet prevent scratching to your furniture
• Universal remote supplied

Possible Cons:

• Wired where most modern soundbars are wireless
• Lacking Bluetooth connectivity
• Not the best for music playback
• Bulky subwoofer must be adjusted by hand (not remote)

Let’s Get Technical: Specifications

Feel free to skip this part if it means nothing to you, as I’ll be laying out the Cinemate’s 15 positive points and potential lows without using difficult to understand jargon, but for the especially tech-savvy, here are some specs…

Included In-Box

• Soundbar and attached speaker cable
• Digital Optical Cable
• Analog Cable
• Acoustimass Module
•  Universal IR Remote (plus 2 AA batteries)
• Power Cord

What it Offers

Seeking Connection?

First things first: this soundbar is designed for tabletop placements - it’s not possible to wall-mount, nor can you purchase any brackets that will be appropriate - Bose actively recommends against doing so.

Placement-wise, they advise you position the soundbar in front of your TV as opposed to beneath or in a cabinet, with the Acoustimass module placed within three meters, standing on its feet, ensuring there’s an AC power outlet close enough.

Installing the CineMate 15 is simple enough, easily connected to your TV through an RCA analog, optical or coaxial input - you’ll find that optical offers the best performance overall if that’s an option for you.

Bring your favorite shows, video games, and movies to life with just one simple, addition to your setup - once you have one, you won’t believe you ever used to watch TV without it!

Once it’s plugged into your tv, you’ve connected the subwoofer (using the included cable) and the power cord has also been attached and plugged into an outlet, you’re pretty much good to go. Set up takes minutes, which is a big plus on my end.

You’ll find that the step-by-step guide for setup included in the user’s manual is clear, concise and simple to follow, with diagrams and simple instructions even your kids could follow, though let’s face it, they probably know more than you.

Contemporary Chic

As I have come to expect from Bose, the aesthetics of this soundbar are beautiful, with the bar itself, the Acoustimass subwoofer and the remote in a glossy, matte black design that suits any setup style.

A thin metal grille disguises those internal parts, whilst a gloss finish wraps everything up in a stylish, shiny package that looks just as modern as the sounds it produces.

As it’s been on the market for a while, you might expect it to look old or outdated beside your other gadgets and gizmos, but it fits in just fine, and it’s going to be a lot cheaper than any of your newer buys, too!

Small AND Mighty Sound

Practically miniature in comparison to some of the sound-system behemoths on the market these days, you might not expect this petite bar to pack much of a punch, but you’d be surprised at how powerful a sound it produces.

Compared to the speakers built into your TV, it’s a major upgrade: given it’s such a small bar, the compact size is a huge bonus, and it won’t block the screen whilst it fills the whole room with atmospheric sound.

Thanks to a four-element speaker array that works alongside Bose TrueSpace signal processing, any sound will be boosted far beyond its speaker itself, as though you’re fully immersed, to recreate that movie theater experience.

Mids and trebles are as good as can be expected, and for those deep, rich bass tones, look no further than the Acoustimass module, which is essentially a glorified subwoofer utilizing patented Bose technology to really hit those low notes.

Not only will you hear unrivaled sounds, but FEEL them too, as the CineMate blasts you with vibrations from the pulsating rhythms of an instrument to the ricocheting bullets of a machine gun, none of which your TV can reproduce on its own.

Unfortunately, though, the Acoustimass module is pretty sizeable, nowhere near as sleek and stylish as the bar itself, so it might ruin the minimalist vibes of your setup a bit if you haven’t got the room on your TV console or shelf to tuck it away.

Control The Universe

Thanks to the universal remote that’s included with your soundbar, not only can you control the volume, but it’ll work on your cable box, DVD player and more, too!

Never again will your coffee table be cluttered up with remotes that you have no idea how to use or what they are for - all you need is this one magic button presser and the power to control the (cinematic) universe is yours, all yours!

Unfortunately, this is the only way to control your soundbar, so if you lose it, you’ve lost your ability to turn it on, but you don’t have to replace it with an official Bose model, so that’ll save you a few dollars.

… And Save It Too!

Thanks to an eco-conscious design, the system will power off automatically after one hour of inactivity, which not only reduces the likelihood of you needing to replace it, but saves on your electricity bill too!

However, if you’re not a fan of being told what to do, you can very simply disable and re-enable the auto-sleep feature just by holding the power button down for up to ten seconds, though I’d recommend leaving it on, to be honest.