Those cute little speakers that Bose offers are a hoax. There is nothing good about them. For the same price, you could buy a much better speaker from Infinity or Polk that would give you better sound than anything Bose could put up for competetion.
If you want something good, get some decent sized speakers, nothing fancy, and for the bass, get a subwoofer that was meant to handle the lows. Nothing beats a Cerwin Vega or Polk when it comes to home theater. Bose sucks.

I am currently listening to a set of Bose Acoustimas-5's. It is surprisingthe incrediable number of negative reviews. Yes, I've heard myriad
speakers and many are better than the Bose Acoustimas-5's; however, for the
money (especially when on sale for about half of their list price), they are
a serious contender for those with space considerations or those on a rather
rigid budget. I'm auditioning a set now and think that they might be fine
until I can spring for a set of Totems or Harbeth PL-3's or whatever might
catch my fancy when I'm ready for a serious upgrade. For serious listening
I use headphones (my listening room is not audiophile friendly); for day to day listening, the Bose seem fine. By the way, all speakers suck. All speakers are wrong; however, some are less wrong than others. For what they are, Bose
Acoustimas-5's are pretty good (not a great speakers, but a good speaker).

I actually owned a set of AM5's, and I must say I really wasn't impressed. They are expensive ofr what you receive. I worked at a Srevice Merchandise that had AM5's on display. I thought the highs and the bass were pretty good, but the display in which they had the system set-up only showed a volume control. I t was a pioneer receiver, and I know they have equilizers and bass boost on their equipment. The guy in charge of audio sales sworethat there was no EQing going on, but I had my doubts. Overall rating two stars.

Sounds like a cat getting run over by a MACK truck. No bass, no mids, just plain annoying. Buy these speakers and you will be a real sucker for sore eyes. You might as well grab the neibour's cat that always craps on your lawn and flatten it with your car (the sounds you get are amazingly similar to these BOSE things).

I once owned a Bose Acoustimass 5 Speaker system, for about a month. Initially I thought the sound was very impressive, particularly from such small speakers, well I got them home and it wasn't long before musically something with these speakers did not agree with me. Their was also consistent comments from friends and family like; "They sound thin, weak.." or "The high notes are overly bright.." "No bass..", and I agreed with them. So I took them back, got my money and educated myself by listening to all various brands that I never knew existed. To anyone interested in buying a Bose or any speaker, just listen to what is out their, like: B&W, Thiel, Acarian Alon, Aerial Acoustics, KEF, Snell, Mirage and so many more. I know some of these manufacturers are expensive, but listen anyway, they helped me find the sound I was looking for. The experience was a rude but welcome awakening to what I thought was high end. In the final analysis, Bose rates poorly with me because I don't like what I am hearing.

Well, I did not change my mind. I come back on this site, and I still think that Bose AM5 sucks, so I say
it again. Somebody mentionned that he's going to tell
Bose that people say bad things about their AM5.
Well, it would be great to tell them also that what
they sell is not worth a penny and it's an insult to
intelligence. If only I could put a minus 10 star...
So I am going to put 1 from time to time. That's
what's really wrong with this page; you can't put
negative grades...

Bose are simply not good speakers. When an uneducated listener heasr them, they think "Whoa! All that from these tiny things; great!" But if the salesperson actually cared about the person's listening for the next 5 years, then he would let the person hear Bose and a real speaker side-by-side, and they wouldn't be fooled by the marketing gimmick of the size. They'd sound like a Fisher-Price radio. Not good at all. Shame on Bose.

I own a pair of 301 Series III and believe that eey sound far superior to the AM-5 (or the 301 Series IV for that matter). Musical detail is important to me and the range of the AM-5 (or any of the Acoustimass series) is separed into two basic points: fake bass and tinny highs. Notice the lack of midrange...so did I.
Although I agree with the common opinion of the AM-5, I disagree with the overall feeling of the Bose company. I thall of the speakers sound great with the exception being the Acoustimass systems.

Rating: 1 star (Acoustimass only)

If you are one of those people that think bose are worth the price and sound great.do as i did, take your own cd with you too the stores and have each salesperson demo with it only ! Nht and b&w will make you think again.

Anyone who likes these speakers has got be either a) insane or b) a crack smoker. There is virtually no soundstage, the highs and mids are entirely blurred. The build quality is terrible. Face it, you can buy superior gear for a tenth the price. Very dissapointing.