Bose Soundtouch
Bose Soundtouch 10, Bose Soundtouch30 Series III, Bose Soundtouch Wireless Link Price £710 (£150, £420 & £140)
FOR A decent performer for its price; easy to set up
AGAINST Overtaken by rivals; app lacks functionality
Multi-room is no longer in its infancy. Since graduating to big school, good grades are more difficult to attain and, in the playground, bruised knuckles replace the forgiving touch of kid gloves.
It’s not that things were easy before, or that Awards and five-star reviews were previously dished out like lollipops. However, more work is now required to keep up with the leading pack.
Though we have previously reviewed the two Bose speakers in this test, awarding them each four stars, that in itself is not restrictive. There is no automatic ceiling in place: if those components still stand up to the current market, a feature-laden app and intuitive user experience, along with a talented wireless link, would make it a recommendable multi-room set-up.
A behemoth of a speaker
We start with the Soundtouch 30 Series III. It’s a behemoth in stature, dwarfing the Sonos Play:5 and Bluesound Pulse 2, while retaining its sophistication with minimalist decor and slim OLED display.
There is no hi-res support, as offered by the Pulse 2s, but the third generation Soundtouch 30 has addressed its omission of lossless compatibility, which it can pull from any controller device or NAS drive via dual-band wi-fi – a conscious decision by Bose for a stronger and more reliable connection.
There is also the option of wired internet connection, an ethernet port joining the auxiliary input on the Soundtouch 30’s otherwise near featureless reverse, and Bluetooth for untethered offline playback.
Bose uses what it calls Waveguide technology, effectively performing a kind of traffic warden role in delivering the power of the Soundtouch 30’s two high/ midrange drivers and singular subwoofer in a way that belies its considerable size.
Performance aside, there is little else but size to distinguish the Soundtouch 30 from its sibling in this test. The Soundtouch 10 carries no display panel, and internet connection is wireless only, but otherwise its functions and features are a match. There is room for six pre-set buttons on top and, perhaps most unlikely for a £150 speaker, it comes with the same remote control.
There’s not even a huge discrepancy in character between these two speakers. As promised by Bose, the scale and power in their presentation is impressive and there is considerable bass weight, which carries some insight rather than the mere warbling hum that can often be mistaken for low-end authority.
They each time reasonably well, too. Although not as meticulous as Audio Pro’s C-series – the sonic aptitude of which makes it feel an unfair comparison for some rivals – their confident handling of a beat and grasp of rhythms come closer to it than most others.
Dynamic expression is another relative forte, with the Soundtouches having the power to spotlight large-scale shifts and, while neither is exceptionally emotive, the subtlety to contour expression well enough so as not to become boring.
But the Soundtouch 30 loses ground in its inability to improve on aspects of the Bose sound present in its smallest family member. Detail levels are more than adequate for a product the size and price of the Soundtouch 10, but, though strands are set in greater space, there isn’t much more insight to be gained.
The slight coarseness to treble frequencies and hardness at louder volumes that prevented the Soundtouch 10 from receiving the full five stars two years ago is amplified in the Soundtouch 30. It contributes to the latter sounding tonally detached, a discord between frequency ranges that rankles after time.
It isn’t, of course, that the Soundtouch 30’s performance has deteriorated since first we heard it, but greater competition at its price point sheds a more unforgiving light on those shortcomings.
“The Soundtouch 30 is unable to improve on the Bose sound in its smallest member. There’s more space, but not much more insight to be gained”
Denon’s HEOS 7 HS2 speaker for example, might not match the Bose’s gift for timing, but is a more coherent listen – though neither matches the performance of Audio Pro’s C10, nor its £300 price tag.
But as with its Soundtouch 10 speaker, Bose exhibits its sonic gift in the performance of the Soundtouch Wireless Link. As far as this aspect of its multi-room set-up is concerned, it is more than happy to share an arena with any comparable product.
Though it houses only one output, for 3.5mm aux, it’s unfazed by being paired with our reference hi-fi system, showing again those dancing feet while digging up enough detail and offering sufficient dynamics that won’t hold back any system for which a £140 module would be a more suitable partner.
The Soundtouch Wireless Link is a true highlight in Bose’s multi-room set-up, with the Soundtouch 10 also deserving of our recommendation. It is a shame they are restricted by the control app. It isn’t what the app does, rather what it neglects to do. The basics are in place: pairing is simple, grouping components or conversely setting them apart is simple and well synchronised, and it runs smoothly.
Undercooked app
But there are two issues here. Functions such as queuing songs and creating playlists – key to the usability of systems such as Sonos – are missing, as are some of the major streaming services.
The ability to connect to a NAS device easily is a bonus, but one tempered by the omission even of Tidal – surely the most popular lossless streaming service. It won’t be that off-putting for Spotify users, but it sees the Bose app toe just the wrong side of the line between uncomplicated and undercooked.
Across a different landscape – one not shared with Audio Pro and HEOS, for example – this set-up might have fared better. But this is a rapidly changing market and more is required in order to stand out. Sadly for Bose, there are other systems we’d more readily recommend.