Size

Bass

It's a little dis-heartning to hear all these negative reviews about these speakers. After having a couple of friends buy these speakers and listening to those, and listening to the in-store demos (along with several other brands) this is by far the best you can get. Sure, you can get better sound if you want speakers the size of your fridge, but that simply isn't possible in my case.

The big problem with these speakers is the bass. Very non-existent with supplied woofer. Luckily I'm using another sub-woofer that I had with a previous sound system, and now it sounds great. With the money spent though, everything should of been of top quality.

Now my opinion is based on one thing, and one thing alone. My ears. I'm not a tech-guy who can take apart the speakers and examine the innards, or talk about techno specifics. These speakers are simply awesome. And look at the size! THAT is what sells a lot of people. I saw a demo for this setup once a year back. At the time the speakers were HUGE and the sound quality was awesome. And then they removed the "speakers" (which were just covers) to reveal the actual speakers. Everyone was in awe.

If the system was a bit cheaper, and there was more bass, this setup would get a perfect rating from me.

Well you so called audiophiles, you don't know how to position your speakers after all !!! I was initially finding the sound too bright. But then once I positioned my speakers properly, with one of the cubes facing towards the wall, I managed to get excellent sound from my cubes and from my Denon receiver. I can't imagine how sensitive it is to the acoustics of the room.
However, I think that the product is too pricy.

OUR BEST FRIENDS HAVE THE AM10, I AGONIZE EVERYTIME WE ARE AT THEIR HOME, AND THEY SAY LETS WATCH A MOVIE. THEY LOVE THEM AND THINK I AM WACKO FOR OWING MY HI END EQUIPMENT. I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT THE AM10 CANNOT BE THAT BAD, THEY MUST HAVE SOMETHING CONNECTED WRONG OR SOMETHING. AFTER READING ALL OF THEESE REVIEWS I RAN DOWN TO MY LOCAL BEST BUY TO HEAR FOR MYSELF. SURE ENOUGH THERE THEY WERE RUNNING A HT SYSTEM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORE. AFTER ABOUT 30 MINUTES , SALESMAN WAS KIND ENOUGH TO PUT THREE DVDs THAT I OWN IN. WELL THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH OUR FRIENDS HOOKUP. THEESE PAPER CONE EXCUSE FOR SPEAKERS ARE TERRIBLE, REALLY TERRIBLE. THAT SAID, I HAVE CAME TO ONE CONCLUSION WE ALL HEAR DIFFERENTLY AND SOMEWHAT CLOSED MINDED WHEN IT COMES TO SOME MATTERS. I WAS A CABLE AND INTERCONNECT NON BELIEVER FOR YEARS. AFTER REPLACING A EXPENSIVE NAME BRAND WITH JPS AND AUDIOTRUTH MIDNIGHT 3 I WONDER WHY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO REALIZE THAT THERE WAS A MONSTERIOUS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CABLES AND INTERCONNECTS. I WAS BEING CLOSE MINDED? NEVER WANTED TO ADMIT THE TRUTH. ALSO WE ALL DO HEAR DIFFERENTLY. OUR BEST FRIENDS AFTER HEARING OUR 15K SETUP, COMMENTED THIS. [I DO NOT HEAR HARDLY ANY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS AND OUR AM10]EITHER WE ALL HEAR DIFFERENTLY OR I BETTER RE EVALUATE WHERE I AM PUTTING MY AUDIO-VIDEO DOLLAR. THEY ARE HAPPY WITH THEIR SYSTEM AND I WILL NEVER INTERFERE WITH THAT DECISION. THEY STILL ARE OUR DEAREST BEST FRIENDS.

Well - I wonder why everyone is so against Bose? There must be other speaker manufacturers that the 'Audiophiles' don't like - but I don't see the elongated bashing of their products! There are currently 82 reviews on the AM10's alone - nothing comes even close!
I've just bought the AM 10's series 2. They are Dolby Digital compatible. They don't take up 2/3 rds of the living space in my living room (thats right - I have a living room - not a purpose built theatre) and they DO sound very good! The Module does need placing near a wall - but i want to hide it anyway so thats no problem - and once it's there you'd never know.
I've just re-watched the Stars Wars trilogy and the difference is huge. There is enough Bass without turning up the amps bass control and the sound is very clear and spacious. I'm not suggesting that they are the best sounding speaker that ever evolved - they quite clearly aren't - but they do provide one of the best solutions for a system which has to co-exist with daily life - kids etc.

I agree that the brackets are overpriced - as are the little plugs that go on the back (£4 each!) but thats the price the product is and we all take our choices. I think that there are too many people getting on too many high horses on this review page and that they are missing the point somewhat. The point of the Bose AM 10's is to provide a very good sound, with minimal visual and physical intrusion.

They accomplish these objectives perfectly. Review them in context, please.

I'm sorry if I didn't make myself clear in the earlier posts but the speakers that I am suggesting are all small speakers that are size comparable to the BOSE sats, costs less, built with tweeters & midrange, same or higher build quality, and simple sounds much better. Most powered 8" subs are size comparable to the "bass" module that BOSE provides but produces actual bass that will shake your listening room with authority. I know that many of you do not want a "full" size system in your homes but the BOSE AM-series is easily hands down the worst sounding system for the price that is paid to them. What I mean by size comparison is that they are no more than twice BOSE's size but their sound is much much better. What most of you who don't shop around for speakers don't understand is that these are the same style of full range paper/whizzer cone speakers that you had in your first car (unless you came from a well to do family that bought you a nice car with a nice system or the previous owner installed a better set). It doesn't produce true bass it produces resonance bass (the frequency that wood vibates) and what you are actually hearing is cabinet resonance (note mostly low quality construction). It also amazes me that someone from the UK would buy such a horrible product such as bose when your great land produces just some awesome Mission speakers. I can't believe that someone would not realise that when one company comes out with a successful product that their competetors will mimick them but to get the customers to buy these other newer products they will improve the performance of the first product. The BOSE AM is the older product and almost every company that makes speakers have small setups that sounds much better for a lower price that comes in black, white, or wood tones that if you bought them would make you much happier and you would know why the rest of us perplexed that most people pick this product. If you need an analogy of what BOSE performs like for the price, if we were talking about sports cars then the BOSE AM are Yugoes for a Corvette price because only a special few can afford the Ferrari Testarosa most other companies are making Mustangs and Trans AMs at Mustang and Trans AMs price.

I had Bose 901 Series 6 for too many years before realizing thatthere was hi end beyond Stereo Review and shit electronics. I currently
have Vandersteen 3A Signatures which are so far advanced over any crap Bose even dreamed about tha its not fuuny. Wake up brainwashed ass-wipes and
listen to the music!!

I really like that comment "some of these reviewers don't even own Bose speakers or have a life". That is too funny, to think a person has to *own* something to be qualified to review it. I would think maybe some people would go listen to this product, say "this is not good", and post here to warn them. I have a strange feeling if everybody posted 5 stars, you wouldn't see such comments. I agree everybody has their opinion, and entitled to it, but those kinds of comments only make the person saying them seem less qualified to submit a impartial review in MY honest opinion.
OK that's enough of that..... On with the review:

I've heard the AM-10's several times, had a pair of AM-5's I bought at a garage sale (and sold soon after), I've even put together a couple of speaker projects using Bose raw speakers purchased wholesale from a clearance warehouse just for kicks. You should see the speakers they use in the AM-10 close up (out of their cubes), their build quality is not that great. I've tested them, and the frequency response plot is not a pretty thing to see. I've torn apart a bass module and analyzed their crossovers. You know how the 901 has to have an outboard equalizer to *massage* the music so it sounds halfway decent on 9 full range drivers? Well the AM-5's and AM-10's have similar discrete component equalization in their crossovers just to make that little 2.25" full range driver have any sort of acceptable frequency response. There's two 3dB notch filters and a high frequency rising gain filter just to help them out a bit.

I know I know.... so what you say, lots of speaker companies do that. Yes, to a point some do, but generally it doesn't take 3 to 5 frequency shaping filters in conjunction with the crossover circuitry to get acceptable response from a typical driver. If that much frequency shaping is necessary to make it work, I would choose a better suited driver.
My evaluation of the AM-10? They sound ok, nothing I would consider *faithful* to true audio production, but if your requirements are such that you can't locate any speakers in your room bigger than a shoe box, then they work for that. To me, they sound unnatural in every way, with a massaged sound that just doesn't cut it for music. If your just going to run them in a Home Theater setup with very little music, they do ok. If your going to play music too, go look at a Polk RM5400 or RM6500 system, or NHT's SuperZero's with a NHT SuperCenter and a NHT Sub. Cost is approx. the same or less, and value is much higher in my opinion.

Rating - 1 star for music, 2.5 stars for home theater - 2 stars overall.

Honestly though, if they were priced in the $300 - $450 price range, they would get a much higher review, but when your talking over $900, more should be expected than what is being delivered by Bose.

I set my Am10's up this weekend in my 25 x 14 ft living room and they are the best, how anyone can slag these speakers is beyond me! The sound is fantastic. I personally don't find the bass an issue, when I crank up the home cinema there is enough sub there to knock your heart out of time! I am only driving it with a 50w amp. If you want more bass I suggest you keep an eye on your walls for cracks. If anyone can afford these, get them, personally I have found nothing that will touch them.

Bass that will pouund you heart? hardly. It does 80 hz thump though. If one cannot find anything that will "touch" Bose it is because the Bose are mounted too high, not because of sound.
For $899 there are many things that easily beat Bose completely, but one cannot find them in Sears. Even the low end Polk and Energy systems that I auditioned knocked the bottom out of bose with response several octaves lower, with higher output.
When considering Bose, go to real stero specialty shops and not mass market stores. You will be given choices that totally eclipse what Bose can do for less money.

I have owned several bose products including the AM10 series 2. First of all I think it is a shame that some of the reviews of this product come from people who do not even own the speakers. I beleive that bose speakers a more dependant on speaker placement for good sound. I had a 10X15 room and found the sound to be fanstic. Later, I build a new home, and installed these speakers in a 22X16 room and found that the bass has lacking. I then purchased a Sony925 and a velodyne CT-120 to give the base some umph! This combo rocks!
I dont think that bose speakers a perfect, but a good value compared to other speakers out there. If people have problems with sound, I would blame it on the reciever, or improper installation. If people want better sound, its going to cost much more than a grand!