I should have rocked these yesterday, but I didn’t see the embargo date of – oh… yesterday. I got to see the latest Bose gear firsthand here in New York and was relatively impressed. First, there’s the Acoustic Wave Music System II, which is a digital version of the earlier systems with some interesting signal processing that can smooth out audio as its pumped through Bose’s swirly twirly wavepipe thingy.

This version will cost $1,079 and will be available on September 7 at Bose stores. The audio was impressive for a single big speaker with lots of nice levels to the sound and some simulated-surround features that work very well.

I’m not a big audiophile and I know the haterage Bose gets for its claims of absolute fidelity and magical sound, but I could definitely see this sitting on the dresser in the bedroom for a little morning Huey Lewis and the News. Bose also released an iPod adapter for $179.

Next, we have the Companion 5 Multimedia Speaker System which is actually quite nice. The audio was definitely less powerful than the larger system, but considering it was pumped out of two stalk-like speakers next to the monitor, it was more than sufficient for gaming or music listening. A subwoofer rounded out the sound. It’s USB plug and play and will cost $339.

Both will be available from Bose and we’ll try to get some in for review in the next week or so.