Size, clarity, overall performance

light on bass, too expensive at full retail

Upon moving into a new house, we needed to replace all the stereo equipment. My S.O.'s main requirement was inconspicuous, small size, and attractive looking. My criteria was good overall sound quality from a small package, reasonable price, and ability to occasionally "crank it up" with minimal distortion (for parties, for example). I went to the CES show last January and went through demo room after demo room of high to mega-priced systems to hear. We listened to expensive systems at high-end listening rooms at various retail stores. In the end, we decided that the Acoustimass 5's sounded just fine for our "upstairs" non-home theater system, and would work great for the rear channels of the "downstairs" home theater. Frankly, I'm very hard pressed to hear a substantial difference between the Bose 501s we have on the front channels downstairs and various multi-thousand dollar speakers we could have chosen. Maybe we're just not so discriminating, but they work fine for us. With some bargain shopping on eBay, I was able to pick up a set of AM 5's for around $300, and the same for a pair of 501s....a bargain in my mind when I look at what I could have spent for only marginally better sound! I don't think Bose deserves all the bashing I've seen on this review list.

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JBL, Ohm, home-built system

Inconspicuous, neat design & very user friendly manual

Sound, build quality, performance across genres, price

Up until recently i owned these speakers, but thanks to my very understanding dealer i returned them. Ever since visiting a Hi Fi store in my teens and seeing Bose speakers in action i promised myself that i'd buy a pair when i could afford them, but now that i could their performance fell short of my expectations.

As time went by i noticed that in many respects my £300 JVC micro system's speakers could outperform the bose speakers - depending on what kind of music you play they will sound either awesome or aweful. And while upon first inspection the cubes look solidly built, a closer inspection of the bass module reveals glue fixtures and of course springclip terminals - widely seen as a cheaper option to the more durable and flexible solid binding posts.

I was so sure they would sound amazing, but was beginning to feel worried about my almost impulse buy. While most speaker manufacturers dedicate highs, mids and lows to individual drivers, bose do not and this i imagine is why they are the bane of hi fi enthusiasts. While it's novel for bose to try to break the mould, in this respect at least they fail to communicate music accurately with their dual drivers per cube handling both treble and mids and the bass module, which appears to act more like a detached woofer than a dedicated sub.

The bose do however have one major advantage - size and design. As i've been shortlisting alternative speakers i cannot escape the 'big box' design. It seems speaker and PC manufacturers share designers.

I imagine most designers of be it furniture or hi fi have an axis in mind, in the middle of the line is a perfect balance between style and functinality, and at each end is total style and total functionality. It seems that bose veer heavily towards the style end of this axis, and by this rationale have great appeal to style gurus, but if your spending £400 on speakers you're a hi fi enthusiast and as such you will, like me remember that the primary role of any speaker shoud be to relpicate sound as closely and accurately as is possible.

I hope that my review brings some balance to the others here. For those that value style over substance, the bose will fit the bill perfectly, but for those like me who favour a speaker that sounds good first, and looks good second alternatives from B&W, TAG McLaren, Monitor Audio etc. will hit the mark more closely.

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none

Sounds very good
The speakers are small but give a pretty sound

The price is a little bit expensive, because Bose has a standard price you will NEVER find a cheaper bose set else, the prices are everywere the same

Well, this my 3rd bose speaker I purchased, because I like Bose I have the 601, the 701 en the accoustmas 5..Wel, when I heard the accoustmas i can't believe my ears, the high and the low tones are very good seperated.Because these speakers has a very smart equilizer. Well, this sounds very good in my room and I'm very happy with this one

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701
601

Size, style. Decent sound

Price

The are very clear and precise and the bass is not overpowering. Most people crank their subs which I find annoying. Bass is a compliment and just part of music, this system works reasonable bass into the overall sound. I live in a condo and this system fills the place well. Good bass level without the pounding thump that annoys neigbours (yes audiophiles, that is truly annoying not impressive to your neighbours) The bass unit is passive which is a little weak in my opinion for the price. The biggest drawback is these speakers are terribly overpriced. As for the Bose haters who keep screaming about lack of big sound - no, these speakers will not compete with a huge speaker driver. Common sense alone tells you that. But they do exceptionally well for their size.

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Mission, Energy

Size, clarity, present-but-not-boomy low-end response

After I read about 50 reviews from this site (both positive and negative) - I decided that I had to make the decision by listening to them myself. The sales guys guarenteed them for 30 days and said that if I wasnt 100% thrilled - that I could bring them back for a full refund - so I gave them a shot.
My typical music includes a wide range of alternative and metal. Nine Inch Nails, Stabbing Westward, Coverdale - Page, Days of the New, Sublime, Crystal Method (rave style), Depeche mode, Tool, and even a little Fresh Aire and Tangerine Dream when the mood is right. The point is, I needed a speaker that could play them all.
I am simply amazed. Within every song of every disk that I have sampled through my new AM-5's, I can clearly hear new details that I never even knew existed. From the subtle female whisper in the background of many songs from SEAL, to the distant yet industrial sounds of heavy machinery backing songs from NineInchNails. The level of detail that I can clearly distinguish is amazing. I have listened to the Coverdale/Page disk thousands of times but now I can make out the crisp details of Jimmys fingers changing frets, and the almost inaudibe sounds of Coverdale taking his next breath before a verse. I never thought I'd say this but I feel like they are quite literally less than 5 feet from me. Songs by Dawys of the New are simply Breath Taking thay sound SO damn TIGHT.
I am glad I took the negative reviews of the AM-5 with a grain of salt. I cannot imagine being more impressed by the size and even more by the sound of these speakers. and in a heartbeat I would reccomend these to anyone.

The bottom Line - the only way to determine if you will like them is to listen for yourself!! Stay away from shops that allow the customers to fiddle with their stereo equipment because they are sure to be damaged. Find a place where a sales guy can "unlock" them for you to hear and BRING your own music to test. Your ears, not this review page, will be the best judge.

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Infinity, Advent, Marantz, (I've never had a huge budget for expensive speakers)

Very clean high and low frquency.good bass. Size.

placement of subwoofer and cubes.

This spk is best suited for music.
The clarity from these cubes are great.
The bass is not too tight but its good to hear in low volumes. The notes can be heard clearly even in low volumes.
Great spk that will turn u on.

My system includes.

Bose spatial control receiver.
Yamaha DSP a 592
Sansui AUD7
Sony Digital Signal Processor.
Technics Digital Sound Processor.
S.A.E. Studio Frequency changer.
Nakamachi 600ii tape deck.
National vcr.
Samsung VCd.
Technics AM/FM tuner.
Sony SDP 55 cd player.

Speakers.
Bose 501 iv
Bose AM5
Allison 4
Jbl
Kenwood LSK7
pioneer
Sony 6630.

Similar Products Used:

bose 501 iv, allison 4

Small size, good for a small listening room

Many

I have owned these speakers for the past nine years, and I agree with many of the negative reviews posted in this site, however, I believe that if used in the right setting there not as bad as many people make them out to be. For example, I use the Am 5's in my formal living room hooked up to a 100 wpc JVC receiver and a Yamaha cdp. I play only lite jazz and casual music, and they fill the room with great sound, not 3-d, air between the instrument, grand soundstage, heart thumping bass...etc...that other speaker set-ups offer. These speakers should not be used as main L/R in a high end 2 channel set-up or in a HT set-up, but to use as a second or third set of speakers somewhere else in the house, I have to give them 3 stars.

Powerful bass and clear sound.

Not so easy to set up properly.

Having listened these speakers for 10 years at a friends house I finally went out and bought a pair for myself. I can say that it was simply the best money I ever spend on speakers. I don't consider myself as an audiophile but more as a music lover. The speakers itself sounded awful at the store but that didn't stop me since I knew what kind of a sound they are cabable of producing. The hard part of setting the speakers up is finding the place in which they sound good and that indeed can be a bit tricky. In Finland Bose doesn't really have any kind of marketing system and the speakers are sold only in very few stores so I haven't been a victim of marketing as suggested in some reviews posted here. Being a music lover I personally feel that it is simply a question of a personal taste what does one like. I like the open and rich bass sound that they produce. I think the Bose speakers are worth every penny I paid for them.

Small size allows speakers to be hidden and not so tacky looking around your listening room.

No bass. I had to purchase a sub. woofer and now it sounds complete. No midrange. I purchased a pair of Yamaha towers so now the system kicks!

If you want a system that sounds great for music listening, purchase a pair of good front towers for your system. A pair of towers plus the five speakers really sounds out of this world. I on the other hand use this system for watching DVD/VHS movies. Awesome is the only way I can describe how this system sounds. I also have a nice Denon reciever with Dolby Digital. All of my dvd movies sound great, and the rear speakers accent all of the action during a movie. I love these speakers to death and for the price, they are wonderful. I think people are being a little to harsh about their reviews. Keep in mind that if you want speakers for primarily music listening, why the hell would you buy a bunch of small speakers. In my opinion, this system was built for home theater usage especially DVD movies. Again, buy a pair of nice tower speakers and pop in a classical CD. Don't ever test a system with pop/rock music. That music does not have any dynamics, meaning loud and softness. Listening to a 300 piece classical orchestra is the best way to test speakers. Their is more depth in dynamis and several more tone colors to listen to besides the typical five piece rock band. Everyone should have this system to accent their home theater experience. Bravo! BOSE!!

Good bass, can Hid the bass module anywhere.

Mid/High sats lack big time.

Well I have to admit I cheated. I used to listen to the am5-II's all the time in the stores and loved the bass they put out. But other reviews are right, you just can't get what you need from 2.5" drivers in the satalites, (even as cute as they were)
So what to do? My mains used to be Bose 101's which put out fairly decent sound themselves and I just hooked up the bass module to those. What a combo! This is just what this system needs! The mid-bass and treble are much better in the 101's than the OEM sats. I will still rate them a 3 with the original setup but a solid 4.5 w/ the 101's.
BTW I got this idea when I saw that Bose sells the 101's as sats for the acoustic wave cannons used in movie theaters.

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first 3-piece system. Bose 2.2 in the rear.