Small size and good sound

Price

Over all for the size I think the AM5 is great. A bit expensive though.

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None

"virtually invisible", good overall sound, very flexible as to placement

overpriced, not for heavy metal or "ear watering" levels

Mine give excellent sound both in my 12 x 15 ft den and my 16 x 28 ft living room. (for Jazz, orchestral, movie sound tracks, TV sound, chamber music and most popular--but not for heavy metal or similar music and not at extreme levels) BUT you have to work a little to get it. Setup is EVERYTHING!!! First, you have to be sure you have it hooked up right. Lots of ways to screw up here and they all affect the sound.(many of the negative reviews sound suspiciously like the symptoms of a mis-wired system) I have found several in stores that were mis-wired. (deliberately to sell the house brand? or just careless?) After that, the placement of the satellites and the orientation of the two modules is critical. I wound up with mine set up as forward radiators with the two cubes oriented at 45 degrees to each other and placed so I'm 22.5 degrees off axis to each. About 7-8' apart in the smaller room, and 10' in the larger. Mine are 39" above the floor, about ear height for a seated listener. Then I moved the woofer module until the bass had the right solidness and texture. Finding the right place for that took me several hours of listening and trying stuff. Try to point the port away from the listener location. I have mine pointing straight up, with the bass module centered between the satellites. (a good plan with any sub)

Set up like this, the AM-5's are remarkably close to my JBL L-110's, my all time favorite. (I've been playing around with this stuff since about 1953, so I've tried and listened to hundreds of systems) I use male and female vocals as the first CD's to set up a system, and then procede to other material. The Bose can do a very convincing job on well recorded vocal material. Try some Cat Stevens and Rickie Lee Jones and fiddle around until they sound like they're there with you. Many very well reviewed speakers do terrible things to their voices. After much fooling around, the AM-5's make them sound very lifelike.

Would I buy the AM-5's for my "personal" listening system? No, I use my JBL's for that. The Bose are in the living room where their "disappearing act" pleases my wife, and the sound pleases both of us.

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JBL's, AR's, Advents, other Bose

Small size,Power handling,loads o bass in heavy metal music,nice highs,solid mids.

placement for bass!

I love these speakers,the overall sound is impressive with all typs of music.I am using an acustimass sub MK2 with the series 3 cubes and the result is you feel the bass drum to its fullest,this sub carries way more bass than series 3
this combo rocks for heavy metal,I rented a mettlaca consert DvD and I felt the bass with such perssance it shook me up
and the bass was half off,the highs where equaily as good with good transits that you can see through the also can punch out the volume in big amounts.the best part is that the sound better than B&Ws DM602s.

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all bose

bose the name,voces,bass,highs

some midrange colorations

These speakers have very good to exelent imaging and timber very clear,you can pin point each of the musical insturments in the massive sound stage and the scence of depth is respectible for the price.Don't be fooled by the negitive reviews beacuse those people that rote the bad reviews never even owned the speakers or did and never took the time to set them up. If ypu have the mone get bose,their classy and sound like big giant speakers.

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jbl,boston,jamo

Small footprint. Jewel cubes look good.

Can sound jarring and muffled.

Sounds fine when listening to rock/pop music. Bass seems a bit muffled though. Classical music doesn't sound as clear and warm as my previous Cambridge pair. Music gets cluttered, the highs become very jarring and the mids seem muffled. It's as if the speaker doesn't have enough range to produce all those sounds at the same time. (am i making sense?) At some points, the bass seems inconsistent, you can hear the "Dubb" sound but there doesn't seem to be a distinct note.

I got it cheap so I'm not particularly upset. I just expected much more given all the hype and advertising.

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Tannoy, Cambridge, Boston Acoustics

size, they work

sound

I bought these because I didn't have a lot to choose from in Korea, and Bose has a great marketing department, along with a sales rep who was full of sh*t. He honestly didn't know what he was talking about, and unfortunatly, at the time neither did I.
It's all relative. compared to some walmart speakers, I bet they sound pretty good. By themselves they sound pretty good. compare them to my cerwin vegas, or God forbid the Paradigms I'm planning to buy and they sound like a dishwasher.
If anyone wants to buy them, I'll sell them for $200, otherwise I'll probalby put them in the garage or somewhere.
I will say this about Bose Acoustimass... they're small and for a small room home theatre system (like a college dorm)... they would be ok. I like that they're all matched.
But your money would be better spent elsewhere.

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bose 301, other crappy speakers

Small and discrete

sound

These things sound horrendous. When you're listening to a £30 ghetto-blaster, you can forgive the tinny sound. But the Bose manages to make an even worse sound - lots of somewhat detatched bass, and bright, penetrating treble. It's not just a sound which is bettered by other speakers, it's a sound which makes you long for silence! These cost £500 and sound much much worse than the Misson 761's I got from Richer Sounds for £50.

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haven't ever come across a similar product, fortunately.

Clear acoustic sound

poor highs and mids , but, only at loud level.

Sorry about my poor English.

First of all I would thanks people who don´t like Bose Acoustimass speakers, and sell then for a few dollars.
I bought two speakers system , AM 5 and a AM7, both série II , for about only U$700, here in Brasil.

I like then since of first time that I head ,in a store.

In my home theater the AM7 is my front speaker and the AM5 my surround speakers. Then, I have two passive subwoofers. This system has a advantage about Bose AM10, whose filter bass sound of surround speakers. Every speaker is set to a "large" type ,in my receiver. ( Yamaha 795, Dolby digital/DTS.)
I prefer listen to music than watch DVD or VHS movies, but in both situations it sounded good.
I have a "Transmission line" active subwoofer , only to watch movies.
I would like to say some things to help people choice and buy this or others speakers.

1- There is a lot of diferences in a CD records . Then to compare speakers you have to use always only one good record.
2-A good comparassion have to be doing with
the same time, record , amplifier and room.
3-The passive woofer of Bose - Acoustic Mass system- can´t be compare of active subwoofers.
4- Eletronic active woofers isn´t good for listen to music, because people can adjust level, filter frequency...It´s always sound in a wrong way.
The problem is that our ears change in diferent situations.
If you hear music , every day, with a high level set in a eletronic subwoofer, your ear automatic change their perception in a low frequency. It´s a natural protect.

5-The Bose acoustic Mass passive woofer has a clear natural sound. The level of low frequency depends if has bass in the record, whose you are listen! It´s to simple.

6- I did a test with a BOSE AM5 in a "system A out" of Amplifier and a pair of Yamaha NS10 -Studio speakers in a "system B out" of the same receiver.(without surround speakers) Then I could change between speakers quickly , a lot of time, to compare.

Conclusion: The AM5 has a perfect clear sound, but isn´t too plane in a mid frequency .It´s sound like the old amplifiers when "loudness" switch was on. But, a lot more clear, because is a acoustic filter . No eletronics!

7 -This speakers are to listen to music in a low levels. But the most important think: You can hear bass in a confortable level!

Every nigth I listen to music in a extremely low level,while my 2 years son, fall sleep...I can listen to every low frequency sound! It´s amazing!

It´s the explication because Bose don´t write frequency response in the speakers manual. Our ears isn´t a eletronic spectral analyser!

If I like of AM5 sound , then it´s the most important thing to me.

I sugest you think about Bose AM systems like a music Singer. You like or don´t .

I don´t like Franck Sinatra, but a lot of people like....do you like?

Then,is to Simple:
If you like listen to music or movies in extremely loud levels don´t buy this speakers. but,If you like a good sound do it.

I hope that I helped some people in this world wide controversial question.

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No .Bose has a characteristic sound. You like or don´t like.

This is a correction. I made a mistake on my previous posting - should have given it one star for both value and overall rating, but I drank too many 40 ounce Colt 45's.

None

It's a Bose product - enough said.

Anyone who buys anything Bose needs to have their head examined. It's all a bunch of overpriced Yuppie crap.