they are small enough that you don't have to look at them to remind yourself you've been had

everything

I guess if you're worried about big speakers "cluttering up" your room, then the Acoustimass ain't so bad. If you're worried about having something that sounds good, I'd advise you to look somewhere else.

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nht superones

...of advertising

there are no strengths

Hey! Get a clue! "no highs, no lows... it must be Bose!"
The wool has to be lifted. I used to sell audio equipment and I would do everything I could to demonstrate the difference in frequency response (ha!) and tonal balance between the Bose system and similar systems we had that cost the same.... but the people walked in to the store transfixed on the next to nothing size and oh so big sound of these crappy little things.... sad, too sad. Advertising budget is what Bose is about. My biggest concern in this realm though is how they have twisted some car manufacturers.... we need to to be heard! Regain your opinions! Hear the real music! Common Sense must prevail! Those little paper discs inside those plastic boxes do not reproduce anything remotely musical! I must say I have really laughed out loud to read so many opinions lambasting these crappy systems. About time! Go and get some little Canadian boxes or some tiny Boston or Polk sub sats... you will be much rewarded. Leave the Bose alone.

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M&K, Boston, Polk, Energy, Celestion, B&W, Tannoy, Totem, etc

Size, construction, placement of acoustimass module,

lack of powered sub, bass module does not operate below 50hz

I dont understand why all the above people ridicule this speaker system, How can you buy a system for 600+ dollars, take it home, and then not like it? Were these people thinking that the AM5 system would sound like a pair of Bose 901's with a Velodyne 250 watt sub? I hope not. the AM5 system is designed to produce the sound that you would get from a pair of big tower speakers. The bass module is weak because it was only designed to produce the bass that would be emitted from the same tower speakers. The bass module does have some subwoofer charachteristics, but I would not compare it to a powered Velodyne, Infinity, or JBL sub which have 8 inch woofers or better. If the bass from this system is not sufficient enough, go out there and buy a powered Subwoofer. I do agree that Bose should have thought this bass module out a little more. I mean if you spend this type of money on a system, you would least expect a powered sub which delivereres frequencies below 50hz. I heard the JBL SCS seriers speakers and the moment I saw them I asked the question... Why does JBL need a separate woofer and tweeter for their satelites, when Bose can produce nice sound out of a single driver? That is an example of Bose technology. Before you buy this system, be smart and read about what this system is capable of doing. Dont expect something unrealistic or sound that $4000 dollar speakers are gonna give you. I would give this system 5 stars but the bass module was dissapointing

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JBL scs 110, 115, Polk Audio

Looks good, sounds decent (see review summary)

No midrange, bass not defined enough, too expensive

I totally agree with "Dan , Audio Enthusiast from NJ" post (see 2 below mine). It's not a bad sounding speaker system, but most could do better. If they charged about half of what they charge now, I MIGHT be able to see it as an option, but for less money you can buy a much more robust speaker set (such as my Paradigm Titans). I have yet to listen to a pair of speakers where I say to myself "wow, this sounds fantastic!" at the first audition. Every speaker system has its own personality, that over time most people could get used to. With my current Paradigm setup, I cannot say that it is worlds different from the Bose speakers (as people would have you to believe). Just listen for yourself.

One note: DO NOT BUY Bose's centre channel speaker (VCS-10). You can definitely get a far superior centre channel for the same price (like Paradigm)...see a pattern here?

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Paradigm Titans, some Yamaha and Tannoys

Size

They do nothing well at all

AVOID THESE SYSTEMS AT ALL COSTS!
A less knowledgable friend of mine proudly purchased this system and asked me to set it up for him. I had heard various bose systems in stores and was interested to see how they would actually sound in a real room. I can honestly say that I have never heard a system that performs worse in the price range. Actually, even for half the price I think it would almost be impossible to do worse that a bose system in terms of sound quality. Bose does not lie about the cubes sounding bigger than they are... those 2 1/2 inch speakers sounded more like 3 1/2 inchers. In other words, pathetic, weak, and lacking any sort of dynamic range, clarity, or spaciousness. The cute little hideaway bass module is WAY beyond pathetic. The bass is loose, undefined, weak, fluffy, and otherwise worthless, not to mention that it can't even begin to reproduce anything under 50Hz. If you have absolutely no concern for sound quality and only care about size, there are still plenty of competing systems of the same size and price that slaughter this system in every way. JBL, Boston Acoustics, and Klipsch make three such systems and the list is rapidly expanding. In conclusion, there is absolutely no reason to purchase this system or any other bose cube system other than the marketing hype.

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many other sub, sat systems

Blend well into a room. Kind of nice looking, I suppose

Weird gaps in certain frequencies. Bass is muddy and loose, like my stool after a greasy meal. Way too pricey. For the same money there are things TONS better, yo.

I got these for Christmas one year when I was sixteen. They replaced a pair of Realistic boxes I had that I thought were great, and when I switched to the bose I thought I was in hog heaven, until I listened to a friend's two crappy altec lansings and realised that those two little cubes with the big box was so horrible. it was like I had convinced myself it was respectable just because I knew it had cost a lot more than my old speakers. So I bought the M&Ks and they are incredible. i am pleased. Bose is a funny thing to me now. People believe in them like it is a religion. No proof, no facts, just a lot of unwaranted beliefs.

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M&K 750 thx-select. Similar only in that they are both called "speakers". Any similarities they have end there.

small size, nice sound

I was looking for an inexpensive, small speaker system. The wife did not want big speakers. I haven't bought speakers in 15 years and after shopping around was amazed of the number of choices. More noticably was how expensive speakers have become. Especially when compared to other audio components which are now relatively cheaper. The Bose actually seemed reasonably priced compared to other systems. Yes, I did spend time listening to a variety of speakers. Anyway, purchased an older but little used AM5 system from ebay for $300. Mounted the cubes to the wall of my cathedral ceiling. After tweaking the sound with my equalizer, I think the sound is great - high, mid, low.

I don't think there is a clear answer on how music is suppose to sound. It is very subjective. For a small system that is virtually invisible, Bose delivers.

Me putting up with these lowest of quality speakers man could possibly make

My bank account now. . .

Upon purchasing these, I felt like I got a good deal at Sam's Club. Boy was a tootin' up the wrong tree. I go to update my reciever earlier in the year to take advantage of Dolby 5.1. Uh, gee, cant take full advantage of it using this junk system. I actually am using Infinity bookshelfs for my rear speakers, with a Bose center channel (I am a glutton for punishment) that I got at a garage sale for 50 bucks (Thank God). Using these speakers as a front channel has produced some interesting effects. If someone on screen walks off the screen to the right, you hear the 'tap' of the footsteps walk off the right, but you hear the 'thud' of the footsteps coming from the subbox. Way too much separation to make watching anything in 5.1 sensible. The Bose center channel has these static little paper speakers in it that I feel I got ripped off at the garage sale. I am so miserable because I wasted so much money on this poor excuses for audio equipment. I must say that these speakers are good for Dolby surround sound, but if you have these Bose and plan to upgrade to 5.1, do yourself a favor and wait until you can afford to get REAL speakers with your reciever. Utterly disgusted. I have to reiterate with you that even with a powered subwoofer, you still are missing two frequency ranges with these bose. . .one, because the puny 5.25 cant get down to what your 5.1 sub output goe up to, and two, the cubes DONT EVEN HAVE TWEETERS for the high end?

WHAT IS UP BOSE? Smoke another one.

So if anybody out there has any ideas on how to get my 5.1 system to work with these BLOWS speakers, please drop me an email!

Much thanks!

Justin

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Polk Satalites

SIZE

PRICEY

these are great speakers no other speakers with the same size can manage to reproduce the sound quality produced by the bose (acoustimass 5 series III). i dont think i would pay for their am15 due to the high price and the fact that i feel they cant produce the bass my subs and center produce. im using these acoustimass 5' as a rear surround speaker and they are great!

I bought a Bose surround system and love them.I listened to alot of differenct speakers before buying and jumped on the chance to own Bose.If Chevy sees fit to put them in their Corvette's then I think that's good enough for me.Thanks Bose.