They look great and offer interesting imaging options.

Too many to list.

I have to admit having very high expectations when I bought these speakers. At a cost of $1,000, I expected them to perform exceedingly well in spite of the fact that they are a sub/sat system. I was disappointed. Beginning with the bass module, the very low frequencies are noticably absent. Further, while most subs start at 20 or 30 Hz and roll off at around 80 or 100 Hz, this one seems to start at 80 Hz and be crossed over at around 180 or 200 Hz. This makes the bass very frequencies directional. Not a good thing. The bandpass design of the enclosure limits its performance to being loose, floppy, and boomy. Moving along to the midrange. There is an incredible hole in the midrange from about 180 to 280 Hz (I'm guessing). Listening to a good male vocalist is depressing. His voice will frequently suck out. A piano concerto is worse. The high and low ranges of the piano sound ok, but the mids vaporize. The sound fades in and out as the pianist delves into the missing octave(s) as a result. Also, the mids are not smooth and natural. I think colored and harsh is a more accurate description. The highs were unilaterally disappointing. First, they stop short of the 20,000 Hz defacto standard which all other speakers seem to be able to hit. Second, the definition is cloudy and shrill. I experience fatigue after only about an hour of listening to this sytem. To put matters into context, I tried very hard to get these speakers to work. I tweaked my Onkyo receiver exhaustively in trying to dial in better sound. I even took my AudioSource EQ out of the closet and tried to finely equalize them into sounding better. I worked with placement and imaging. I did everything I could think of to no avail. These speakers are simply not capable of producing high quality sound. I cannot believe they are priced in this range. In the end, I returned them and opted for a component system centered around Polk's excellent LSi series of bookshelf speakers. I paid just a little more for them after bargain hunting on the internet, but the difference in sound quality is astonishing. In summary, the bass module doesn't move enough air to be effective. The satellites feature speakers which are too small to be effective midranges, but are too big to be even decent tweeters. I question the materials used to make the drivers. I think Bose might buy their drivers from the bargain shelf at Radio Shack. There are at least a dozen systems available which sound better for less money. I very good example of this is Polk's RM6700 sat/sub system. It looks almost as good, has the same abundant mounting options, and sounds 100 times better. At the moment, if you are willing to spend about $700 on the complement of satellites, Polk throws in a sub free. Bose is a lot like McDonald's. The marketing is great. The product is not.

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Polk RM6700

Size. Power. Great for home cinema.

Not so hot on music, they do lack something.....

Awsome speakers, for home cinema the combination of practical size and great sound is excellent. I agree that positioning of the sub is important, pointing it into a corner of the room seems to work best for me. Great speakers!!

Cute Looks

You know it well

I've had these speakers for 2 years partnered with the Yamaha AV amplification. What can I say.... I've sold it off early this year at 250 pounds which is heartbreakin. The sound does not impress me particularly the surrounds. It doesn't create that atmospheric home cinema experience and lack the power and grunt of other cheaper setups. Not worth the money for the price. Either you get the Lifestyle Series which are more convincing, or invest in a B&WcdmNT series hooked to a top-of-the-line AV amp.

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None

Size and look.

Poor midrange No high (no true tweeters) No frequency response from 120Hz to 200Hz (what's up with that?)

I've bought this system because I've got a very good deal at Fry's ($599) for my bedroom system. So, I thought what the heck, I gonna try to see why everybody rated this one so low. I have to say whatever bad things about Bose as everyone said are true. I must say Bose must have done very good job on advertising. The midrange is so terrible. Maybe it's ok for home theater but definitely not for music. And for current Bose owners, please go out and listen and compare Bose to other brand such as Paradigm, B&W, or even JBL or Infinity. I ended up with returning the AM10 and get the B&W CM2.

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B&W CM2

Size thats it.

They simply do not sound good.

After reading some of the other reviews, I've come to a conclusion that you either love or hate these speakers. I personally hate them. Yes its amazing that these tiny little speakers can make as much noise as they can but thats about it. Its only noise not music. The noise becomes painfull to listen too after 1/2 of music. You play with the placement of the satellites and the base module, you play with the base and treble settings on your receiver or preamp but you'll be disappointed each and everytime. Don't believe the hype. Bose is a great advertisement company not a good speaker company. All the downfalls of these speakers I have read so far are true. If you have limited space and need small speakers, consider the Energy Take 5, they'll much much much better and cheaper. Audition them back to back if possible. Trust me you'll see that the Bose system is not as good as you may think

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Energy Take 5

size, space sound

not huge bass

Overall I am pleased with my purchase. excellent for home theatre, good for music

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aiwa speakes & sony receiver strdb 1070

they are all cute!my neighbours keeps on visiting me just to hear and see them.their eyes won't believed what they hear!

the module!the module!MODULE!otherwise they gonna received 5stars from me.

before i decided to avail this unit i've search a lot about sub/sats speaker reviews from different hi-fi mags then i decided to to have TAKE5 ACOUSTIC ENERGY.But when i saw this AM10 and hear the demo of it i immediately grabbed these thing and deserted the AE TAKE5.I know they are not the last word when it comes to audio but they're doing the job "pretty damn good"!the size of the speakers perfectly fits my room.I must admit ae take5 has the edge over it(audio wise)but negligible.I know it is not great or the best but SUPERB!that's why i choosed these speakers among the best out there.Don't forget to pair it with good subs.

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a pair of kenwood.

For the price, they can't be beat. Crisp, clear sound, once set up properly. Great package. e

Requires some tweaking to set-up properly. Need to buy a decent subwoofer in order to fully experience a wide range of bass notes. Slight hole in the midrange

Ok, listen up. Everyone who has written a review of these speakers without buying them, properly setting them up, and tweaking them at home should not be paid attention to. With Bose speakers, it is IMPERATIVE that you find an appropriate receiver and spend the time matching the components to your system. Once this is done, ONLY THEN can you begin your criticisms. Although Bose speakers are touted as 'plug and play' systems, they are not. The more you tweak and play with the setup, different distances, angles, configurations, etc., the better your experience will be. I would recommend an Onkyo receiver for these speakers, since it is also imperative that the speakers receive good, clean power. Many of the complaints that the reviewers of Bose speakers have should not be directed at the speakers, but at the crappy receiver that they are using. The Bose speakers will pick up imperfections in the power source. With that being said, I will continue my review. I bought a set of AM10's 3 years ago, and have used them daily since. When I bought these, I was struggling through college, and admittedly, the Bose system was a compromise. I won't BS you. Is there a gap in the midrange? Sure. Is it noticeable? Slightly. This is where configuring your receiver becomes important. You need to spend time adjusting your receiver's settings in order to get the most out of your Bose speakers. If you do not own a receiver where this is possible, don't even consider buying Bose speakers. When correctly mated to an adequate receiver, you will find it difficult to produce such clear, crisp, distortion-free sound FOR THE PRICE. Sure, you can spend a bundle more for much better speakers, but why? As far as the bass is concerned, you need a subwoofer. I recommend a JBL 8". That is plenty. Before this review gets too long I should sum up: Buy a bose system if and only if: 1.You are willing to drop some money for a good receiver (I recommend a mid-line Onkyo). 2.You plan on buying a decent powered sub to supplement the bass (EG: JBL works great) 3. You are willing to invest some time in tweaking your receiver. Otherwise, you might end up writing a crappy review like these other mooks on here.

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Old-school top of line Sony system w/honeycomb speakers back in the day. Panasonic shelf systems, many others

Size.

WAY too many compromises sonically for its price point(the AM 10 should cost $500...tops).

To Dave Drake(the "true" audio idiot 5-6 posts down), How can you think the Bose AM 10 sounds good is beyond me....particularily in the price category that it competes in....Aperion Audio,Axiom,Phase Tech,etc.,etc. are far better products for the same money or less. I could put together four Aura LSB-527M''''''''s,an Aura LSC-537M CC and a BIC DV1210 or Dahlquist PDQ1200 Powered sub for 1/4 the price(thanks to Ubid...no, I don''''''''t shop at high end shops) and it would kick the living sh*t outta the overmarketed and overhyped Bose AM line. Check the reviews on the Aura LSB-527M and Aura LSC-537M CC if you don''''''''t believe me. Heck, even my wife thought the Bose gear(which included the AM10) in BB sounded pretty bad and she really isn''''''''t into this stuff like I am. Her jaw hit the floor when I told her the price of the AM 10 since she already knew the sound quality of the LSB-527Ms which I snagged on Ubid for $65/pair(original retail price of $180/pair). I also have an old dbx Soundfield 3x2 sub-sat system that blasted the Bose AM-3 outta the water in a double blind test back in the early 90''''''''s. Actually, the dbx system dominated the competition which featured systems from Bose,Yamaha,Cambridge SoundWorks,and Polk...all costing at least twice as much as the dbx.Funny thing...the Bose AM 3 was dead last and it cost the most...hmmmmm indeed! I enjoy reading reviews from Bose owners who have lived with their systems for awhile(and give sensible reviews) and finally saw this system''''''''s shortcomings and moved on to something better(and usually cheaper). You sound like one of those people who defend their foolish decision to buy Bose by lashing out at everyone else. If you''''''''re truly into audio and HT then I can''''''''t believe that you''''''''d settle for this inferior product....Mr Bose thanks you from the bottom of his heart.

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Aura LSW-828M(three pair),Aura LSB-527M(three pair),Aura LSC-537M CC,dbx Soundfield 3x2 sub-sat system, and a BIC DV1210 powered sub.

Direct-Reflecting design. Small satellites.

No tweeters (biggest weakness). Small drivers. Paper speakers. No crossover at speaker. Maddening set-up.

I am not at all a Bose-basher, though there seem to be alot of them. If it sounds good to you, great, but I recommend keeping your mind open to the possibilities. I hear too many negative catch phrases on Bose, all sounding familiar. I owned Bose for awhile and until I heard otherwise, had no complaints. The good then the bad. One plus: the direct-reflecting ''technology'' (having two drivers you can direct in different directions) does fill some nook and crannies other speaker systems can''t reach. However, if you are considering this product, or any Bose, the one question you should be asking youself is: "Where are the tweeters?" The answer is, "There are none." The speakers just cannot recreate the range of sound other speakers can, simply because they don''t have the driver/tweeter arrangement to cover all the frequencies. Think about it. Or better yet, go listen to them. Circut City has the Bose systems arranged alongide other high-end components in its audio room. Listen to something with swordfighting or singing. You will notice the limitations. Trust your own ear. Other technical stuff: No internal crossover or high-pass filter at the speaker, so you HAVE to run everything from receiver-to-base module-to-speakers, you can''t just run wires to the speakers (you''ll risk destroying them). A maddening set-up. But I know why they did it: small satellites (they ARE the smallest on the market). Also, paper speakers--spending $1000+ for paper speakers. No. For some, the Bose name impresses and sounds just fine--to them I say "Go for it." But if you are here and seeking knowledge, I suspect you already have your doubts on Bose. You can do much better with other names and pay ALOT less; or pay the same and get ALOT more. (recommendations: Polk Audio if you''re willing to spend a bit more or JBL if you are on a budget).

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Test drove Klipsch, JBL, Infinity, MTX and Acoustic Research. Bought Polk RM6600 (and love ''em).