I own a pair of the original AM 5's. When I first got them home I was disappointed with the sound. Back
then I had low powered receiver. The bass was not
what I had heard in the store. Later I upgraded to a
higher powered seperate amplifier and the sound of
the AM 5's improved beyond discription. These same
speakers sing. I like them more now than any other
speaker on the market. I would compare the sound to
Cerwin-Vega! but small and cute. I do have one
Question though, why are so many audiophiles so
arrogant and egotistical about their reviews?

Having heard a set of Bose AM5's, I found the sound to be rather dissapointing. The high frequencys were just not there, and the sound was somewhat "nasal" and muffled. Definitely, there are much better bargains out there in bookshelf speakers that deliver a lot cleaner sound for a fraction of the cost. If space is a major consideration, might I suggest checking out the Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble IV system. Same size cube, much better sound, and half the price. (Note: the sub that comes with the E IV is fairly weak, call Cambridge and see about getting the sub from the Ensemble II set, a little more money, a LOT better base)

A few minutes ago I wrote a rather lenghty review reassessing my first review of the Bose AM-5's. Then I tried to submit this review and forgot
to select my rating and lost everything. Pity. Okay, here it is in a
nutshell. After 2 days of listening to every possible musical genre played
over the Bose AM-5's, I have decided to return them to where I purchased
them. At first the AM-5's sound pretty darn good. Unfortunately when one begins
to pay attention to the music, the shortcomings of these speakers
become all too apparent: the midrange is inadequate and has a nasel sounding
quality, the highs are tizzy and limited, there is no upper bass, and the
subwoofer is rather one-notey when thumping out the bass (this spells:
b-o-r-e-d-o-m). Added to this list is the cheapness of the 2 1/2 inch
speakers, the spring-loaded speaker terminals, and the imprecise stereo
imaging (I know, that's one of Bose's trademarks: the attempt to recreate
the soundfield of the concert all with all its reflections, etc., to promote
more realism in the musical soundscape). Anyway, I have come to loathe the
AM-5's. As I've said many times: "[A]ll speakers suck. All speakers are
wrong; however, some are more wrong than others." The Bose AM-5's fall into
the more wrong than others category. By the way, as I spent my two days
listening to the Bose AM-5's, I had the irressistable urge to gorge myself
on potato chips and dip, peanuts and beer, soft drinks and pretzels, and
microwave pizza! I gave into this craving and gained about twenty pounds in
the offing. I had an epiphany late last night as I was chewing on a handful
of anti-acid tablets! Bose AM-5's are the junk food of the speaker
industry! Junk food for ears!! At first they sound good (a taste treat for
ears!), but later one is filled with regrets--a sonic tummy ache, and
auditory heartburn. My new revised rating is:

We just reviewed a ton of Mass Market speakers, in the under $1K range, and to be honest, they all have flaws big enough to drive a truck through. We had much trouble getting to hear a set of the Bose AM5's- and never succeeded at all at Best Buy. At CC were at least able to hear them.

They didn't measure up in comparison; the sound is not accurate in the transitions, and speaker placement is very critical. We choose instead a
pair of Boston Acoustics Micro90's; with the powered sub we can at least tune out the room resonance. The M90s are coming off as a little too bright I think, but they are accurate to the extreme, and the price was right- $799.

-Paul & Karen

The Bose are great speakers! Specially for certain types of music (like jazzand country).

I remember buying my AM-5s back in '88 or '89. At that time I lived in a dorm room with another roommate. We always had speaker wars. I don't remember what kind of speakers he had, but they had a decent overall range. I hooked up my speakers. The highs were much clearer, it didn't take up any space, and the bass, in my opinion, wasn't overpowering like many of the freaks out there that put 18" subwoofers in their vehicle only to drain their car batteries.
I thought they kicked ass.

Then one day I went into an audio shop (NOT best buy (duh)). I listened to a bunch of speakers side by side at half the price of what I paid for the AM-5s. I didn't realize how much music I was missing. No midrange. The lows were muddy. But the highs were still ok.

The more and more I listened to other speakers at or under the price of the AM-5s, the more I hated my Bose's. And the more music I was missing.

I no longer think my AM-5's kick ass. Bose sucks. For the same amount of money, you can easily find a better pair of speakers.

Hi! Here I am again kids!I have been working last week for RCA who had an expo
in my area. I have seen different systems they sell
(Mini surround systems), and on one of their system
that sells probably within the $350 - 550 range
(CD/Tape/FM/Surround Cheapoleto), I have seen
identical drivers (I AM 99% SURE THAT THESE ARE THE
EXACT SAME) found in the BOSE "cubes" in the surround
enclosures....
What's wrong with this picture?
Well, Bose attemps to have the law on people who say
bad things about their products; in fact, BOSE should
be sued for daylight robbery!

superb bass detailed warm mid with fantastic response of the inner macohline linear.

the voice coil of the nonrecontive algeracanotive is made of tonoohmanalliume

well these darned speakers cracked another one of my windows agian this fine evening as a 25+ years of being a audiophile i have to say these are great speakers they surpass the polk and b&w bar far id have to say these are worth more than 2000 easy i mean come one this is huge clear sound were talking about here there the best i never heard any thing betterexcept for that factory stereo out of that 1972 ford well i must say if u buy these speakers you will be in for a real trip {thats trip to the hospital because the gangsters down on the south side of town are gonna come and rob you} truly a great speaker!


my system consits of....

stereo receiver:KLH r-3000 {you can check that out at best.com}

tape player:audiovox walkmen hooked up with oldheadphone wire connected to some rca plugs

wire:i had to cut this lamp cord from this 40 year old lamp i had.

Similar Products Used:

polk audio B&W infinity AR KLH CW all hi fi brands have proven to be nothing in comparioson

Lumpen uneven tonal balance, cost

Thankfully I have not parted with any money on these. Get over the 'OOoh aren't they cute' reaction and listen with eyes closed to the thick bass and uneven overall balance. They cope with higher volumes with some panache but in fact much is lost and congested in the general boom and tizz. One to impress your Grandma but not true HiFi. The tiny size has to be essential to seriously consider.

Lacks bass, highs, mids, clarity

I bought these in 1989 after reading a review of them in Australian Hi-Fi magazine, they were better than the budget speakers I had previously and I was happy with them until about 18 months ago when I decided to upgrade my hifi system to home theatre.

I started researching what equipment to buy and going to hifi shops and listening and thinking my speakers don't sound this good, yet I had always thought they were good, so I bought all new components but kept the AM5's for the time being until my budget allowed me to buy some new ones.

About a month ago I decided to go for the Tannoy Saturn S10, quiet the opposite of the the AM5 in size, but what a difference in sound quality bright, clear and bassy, made the AM5's sound like junk.

I know mine were 11 years old and Bose would have made some improvements to them since then but they couldn't have made up the difference in sound quality between the AM5 and real quality speakers. If you do own the AM5's and are happy with them I would suggest auditioning some other speakers and you will be amazed at the difference.