I have recently purchased the AM 15 (a powered sub version of the AM 10). I did not buy them because of fancy web pages, I did not buy them because I am hooked on the BOSE name, I did not buy them because I was brainwashed by magazine adds. I bought this speaker system because I liked the sound.
I advise anyone when purchasing speakers not to pay too much attention to internet comments. Any child or household pet is free to post on the internet. Let your ears make the decision. Sound is a subjective thing. No one can tell you if you will like the sound of a speaker - NO ONE. For me, the AM 15 sounded the best. (I also looked at Mirage, Cerwin Vega and a host of others) Perhaps some wont like the sound with the BOSE product - thats fine too. But I think it should certainly be considered when purchasing a speaker system. Do yourself a favor and give it a try.

I just purchased a white set of Bose-AM10s in December, and am very happy with them. I know these are not top-of-the-line speakers, but they do the job. If you have kids, be careful where you put the base unit - you might find a toy in it sometime. I have a front-to-back family room (14' x 26'), and the sound fills the room quite nicely. I don't even notice the speakers in the room, since they blend in with the walls. I had speaker wire installed before my walls were blueboarded and plastered, so no wires are visible. I think that movies sound better than CDs on them. A few CDs can sound brashy at times at louder levels. I have the bass higher than treble on my receiver (Pioneer Digital-Ready Pro-Logic Receiver) and also enabled the bass boost, which gives a fuller sound. Since the surround speakers are far from my couch, I raised their levels and it sounds great. The front channels sound like you are in a movie theater. I have the Series II, and have never heard the Series I, so I don't know how many noticeable improvements have been made. I'm don't know if the negative reviews on this site are for Series I or II. I have a 16-month old and one on the way, so rarely will I have the chance to crank the sound up. I don't have the desire to shake the walls or rattle the windows with my speakers. To sum it up, if you want speakers that are very pleasing to the eye, and give great sound without making you bankrupt, I would recommend the AM-10s. My last pair were the 301s which I bought in 1994, and was very pleased with them as well. I'm probably going to get the 151s for my deck, and the 100s for my bedroom.

I bought the AM10 with RX-V2095. The output is great. The only thing is little weak was the bass output. Late, I added the Yamaha powered sub, sure it made a huge difference. Bose speakers are great, you just have to config the whole system properly.

As an "audio enthusiast" versus an "audiophile", I can see how folks can be disappointed with the Bose Acoustimass 10 system. I bought a "Series II" 10 system three days ago and have been struggling to get it to sound decent since then. I had a crappy, 10 year old Technics receiver w/out pro-logic. The system really lacked bass and a full-range. I am by no means an audiophile, but I could tell something was missing. I thought maybe the system deserved a half way decent receiver, so I got a new Sony STR-D925 receiver. It helped in that the different sound fields really play to the home theater capabilities of the Acoustimass, but that's about it. It lacked guts when playing music, and in order to get any bass out of it I had to hook up my own powered sub. Once the powered sub was hooked up, the sound was reasonable. I got thinking and thinking about it - and the cash I laid out - and was getting more and more annoyed with this system.
Then I popped in here....

I'm glad I'm not the only one realizing that the Bose system, given its sound quality, should cost about half as much. In its defense, it is positioned as a "home theater system" and as such performs that task very well. No matter where in the room I stood or sat, it seemed like I was in the middle of the sound field. Other than that, though, its too much of a compromise. It's a compromise of sound quality for space and high-tech looks. I'd rather give up the floor space to a good pair of full range speakers - which I did. I brought back the Acoustimass and got a pair of Infinity RS-5s for a little over half as much. Naturally, they sound great for music but now my surround sound is lacking. BUT, I did have to plug in my old cheap rear and center speakers. I think that with a good set of center and rear speakers, I'd be at around what the Acoustimass cost me and have a more versatile setup.

I gave the Acoustimass 3 stars because it does perform well as advertised - a "home theater system", but does little else well.

Jim Stoltz

I work at a BOSE retailer and so I have to hear these speakers everyday. I have just one thing to say to anyone who is looking for or "listening" to bose speakers. Are you even listening to these things? Anyone who has a pair or eardrums in their head should know 10 seconds after the salesman puts in a cd that you are hearing the most expensive, worst sounding speakers you can buy! I admit that there are much worse speakers available but they sell for less than $100 a pair. If you are not going to spend at least $200 a pair for your speakers you may as well not buy any at all. I sell bose product....let me rephrase that. I hate selling bose product as I am embarssed to actually try to pawn that stuff off on people in fear that they might go hear some paradigms or something that sound 10 times better for $200 less, then come back all pissed off. I am an avid music listener and would love to have a truly high end system, but I am a college student so I can only afford so much. When I purchased my home theater I had to be alert as to the good price value brands and which companies are a joke. Bose is a joke. I baught paradigm reference and it sounds awesome. My system for now anyway is fairly expensive but I fell that it sounds better than most costing more. I have four Yamaha MX-1 power amps. A sony TAE-9000ES preamp, Yamaha cdc845 cd player and then a Parasound tdq1600 tuner. For video Ive got a Yamaha dvd player a Mitsubishi VCR and a Mitsubishi TV. I have Two Panamax 1500 surge protectors and I use all Monster Interlink Reference cable. For speakers Ive got the Paradigm reference set of studio 100's, cc-450, studio 20's and Servo-15. I know what good sound is and what good value is as well. The bose is not a good buy. If any of you are reading this thinking that you may buy the AM-10's please for your own sake look at paradigm or polk or something. If you hear a theater comprised of 2 pairs of Paradigm titans, 1 paradigm cc-170 center speaker and a paradigm pdr10 POWERED sub you will not even consider the bose junk. This system can be purchased at the same price as the Bose am10 and It sounds twice as good. I give the bose system one star for their inovative compact design philosophy but as for performance/price value they get a zero. If they lowered the price to $399 on the Bose Am-10's I might consider giving them a 3 star but bose NEVER does any research anymore like they claim so they wont ever lower the price.

bose......better sounding ads through research!

Recievers aren't hi fidelity items. They are integrated, and ergo not high end. They are mid/good midfi at best. To say that a reciever [>snortgiggle<] improves the sound of a low fi item like Bose shows the world where the Bose mentality is. " I have junk Bose, connected to a Junk Kenwood reciever then they are[to coin a phrase] wicked awesome"
The Energy, Paradigm, Boston and so on that retail for less than the Bose really give you a comparision point.
While Bose rate a single star for sound/value, the Energy and other rate into the 4 and 5 star.
Want to see what Bose cannot do?
1) Try the jet roar on "The final countdown" it hits into 21-25hz. PATHETICALLY weak on the Bose.
2) Try Enya "longships". The cannon shots sound like sad and tiny cracks.
Bose is the only low fi product with a vast lemming like following that is defended. I guess people are trying to justify bad taste, and wasting their beer money on bad overpriced speakers.

My advice when you are at BEST BUY ask them to put the KLH 5525 in place of the BOSE speakers for comparison in THE SAME TEST ROOM. Listen to the same source materials, close your eyes and plug your ears and have a friend move the Bass Module and then unplug your ears. Can you find the bass module with your eyes still closed (this is what you will notice when you watch movies and music, this won't happen with good sub/sats). The KLH will have the same problem but it actually can play the frequency range more accurately (they have a 3-5/8" midrange and 5/8" liquid cooled polycarbonate dome tweeter) and will cover from the 50-20K hz range. The only difference between the KLHs and BOSEs are price ($99 usually for a set of 2 sats/1 sub for KLH) and performance (KLH actually sounds better). Then you can go to Radio Shack and buy a pair XTS-10 (almost the same appearance sats) and the SW-14P (a better performing sub) for $99/$149=$249 respectively (on sale every other month for $49/$99 respectively). The XTS-10 has a 3-1/2" midrange and a 2-1/2" tweeter for a frequency range of 170-20K hz (I screwed up at the other post) and the SW-14P is a passive 12" sub with a frequency range of 29-200 hz (a total range of 29-20K hz). All these sub/sat systems actually have the same problem with sub localization, but see what the BOSE really actually competes against for performance (note: I didn't name off other generic competetors and most of the name competetors have powered subs with sats that play lower so you don't have this sub localization problem usually for a lower price than BOSE) and check the price difference! I say take a consumer product test and buy the other two non-BOSE products and try it in your home for a week or two, return it, try the second system for a week or two, return it, and then the BOSE and see how much of a difference these systems truly are (don't be suprised if you don't want to keep the BOSE). After all you can only really know what a system sounds like at home and if BOSE is truly a great product then you just confirmed it, but if you notice that it doesn't really stand up to this simple test then ask if you really looked. Performance for the price ...

Wow! this guy is truly misleading in a review and deaf! It is simply NOT POSSIBLE in any way, shape or form that Bose is cleaner or superior to *ANY* high end HT product.
Man, you must have walked into Circuit City thinking it was a HIGH end store to compare.
Don't let anyone be fooled by his 5 star Bose rating, he either works for Bose or is supremely hearing impaired.
I sold high end products, as well as repaired. Some of my least expensive gear made Bose sound pathetic.
Even the modest carver 5.1, or the Boston Acoustics HT totally destroys Bose with FAR, FAR deeper bass, and REAL tweeters, not paper cones!
Saying Bose with it's paper driver array is cleaner that high end is to say a Dodge colt is superior engineering and performance to a Ferrari F-40.
But, some people WANT a certain product, they buy it, so all other products pale by comparision because that is their choice. I am here to say on behalf of the audio industry that Bose is not high end, doesn't sound nearly as clean or accurate, and barely makes a good doorstop in my shop.
Don't be fooled by gimmicks. If you believe that Bose's teensy bass module can approach the power and accuracy of *any* 10 or 12" commercial powered sub, then I will gladly sell you the golden gate bridge because you are THAT gullible.

This is to Jeremy Wichita, KS Email me and I will show for less than $500 that you can go to RS and have a much better setup. This is also an open invitation for anyone in Wichita, KS as I have a minimal doubt about my convictions. Notice that BOSE have never had a THX setup, note that no movie theater in the Wichita, KS or most likely for that matter no theater in the world brags about a BOSE speaker setup, note that on the net there are several Corvette clubs which tells you how to remove the "BOSE" speaker setup, note that most magazines state that the best budget HT package for under $1000 is the energy TAKE 5 and under $1500 the Definitive Cinema 100.6, note when you check these OTHER SITES people will state that there are other better systems but NOT BOSE, note that when most people criticise BOSE they will state usually other types of speakers from actual high end shops which sounds better and costs less. Note when the above 2 systems mentioned above are not a magazines particular favorite it has so far never been the BOSE AMs. Those of you who put BOSE SUCKS type of review please allow people to Email you so you can give them actual information so they don't make the mistake about buying this setup. Also don't just say buy NHT, PARADIGM, ETC... instead put it in the format of NHT (Superones/Superzeroes/Nextwave), PARADIGM (Micros/Atoms), ETC... this way they will have a good question of what to ask for when they go to a real HI-FI store. Most of us who dislike (HATE) BOSE products due so from the perspective that this is a hobby of great interest to us and are amazed that such a poor quality product sells for a premium price. It would be like if you went to buy a car and you get a "tunnel-vision" approach of wanting to buy a sports car and the car you want to buy is a Yugo and want to pay a Corvette price and constantly saying numbers don't matter because it seems fast and performs like a Vette when the rest of with the Corvettes tell you there are other sports cars (like the Trans AM, Mustang, etc...) while we are blowing these "Yugoes" off the road. See my previous review on these speakers and really read them. You can buy much higher quality sound for a far smaller price. I think everyone deserves much better than this product.