Thanks you both for replying to my question. Unfortunately I live in a fairly remote part of N.Ireland and will have to make more enquiries as to where I might find a music store who has Bose in stock.(I haven't seen anyone here using Bose systems).
I would be interested if anyone would have any other other suggestions of good sounding compact system I could enquire about as there isn't much point asking a salesman on the phone as they will recommend only what they have in stock.