Bose Acoustimass 15 Floorstanding Speakers

Bose Acoustimass 15 Floorstanding Speakers 

DESCRIPTION

Home Theater Speaker System

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 310  
[Feb 02, 2004]
Shmulik
AudioPhile

Strength:

Good for DVD's.

Weakness:

Not for pure music fans.

I've had the AM15 for almost 3 years now and I'm upgrading to audiophile-grade speakers. Comapred to other home theatre systems that I auditioned this one ranked #1. If you are into multichanneling/DVD audio needs this one is one of the best in its price range. The sound from a DVD playback is clear and if you position the speakers right you'll get the sound encapsulation feeling similar to a movie theatre. If you are into music skip them and all HT systems altogether. No sattelite speaker can get close to natural sound as main speakers can, no matter what it's called or how much it costs. I've enjoyed my AM15 very much and I can't say bad things about it. The sound is very good in most of the frequency range. The subwoofer gives a lot of depth in the low frequencies. I always thought that the sound is a little "flat" and "tight" for better way to describe it. But maybe because my hearning is very sensitive. The best way to describe the AM15 is Head of the wolves and tail of the lions.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 15, 2003]
Rogozhin
AudioPhile

Strength:

None

Weakness:

every attribute this rig has is a weakness.

I bought this system for my grandmother-and also for myself because I wanted to hear "the bose expience". Conclusion: They are very very ugly sounding speakers-no dynamics range AT ALL and the frequency Response is just pathetic. For $800 you can pick up the SD 300TIs and the RTS3s and be in heaven compared to these blaring monstosities. I'm just appaled with bose. rogo

Similar Products Used:

SD, Warfdale, Onkyo, HK, NAD.

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Dec 14, 2003]
Alex
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Cute looks

Weakness:

More suitable to Karaoke systems rather than Home Theater

Charles Lim from Indonesia. I'm sorry to say that Bose is equivalent to a Karaoke system and they are all crap. There must be a reasoning why many people are bashing Bose. Get real. We can say that Bose is great stuff IF ONLY the price for these are at 200 bucks. At about 1000 dollars they are totally crap.

Similar Products Used:

Definitive Tech, B&W CDM and Nautilus, Miller and Kriesel

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Jul 27, 2003]
regalman
AudioPhile

Strength:

Small, Ease of use, Friendly Bose Customer Service, Great for Music, Movies, Video Games.

Weakness:

Wall Mounting Brakets for the Cube Arrays should be designed better and should be included with their Acoustimass System

Well it seems like a lot of people are bashing bose here! Well I have owned the AM16 for quite a while now, and have found it to be the most intriquing sound I have heard yet. I have been into the surround sound thing for quite sometime, 11+ years and listened to or have owned Infinity, Boston Accoustics, JBL, RTR, Polk, Cerwin Vega, and Monsoon. A lot of the speakers in my opionion have very good sound. But what you have to concentrate on is what the human ear can hear. A lot of you guys out there are probably putting a good speaker down regardless of bose, because there is not a good recevier used with these speakers. I admit bose is expensive, but in the long run when your running a 6.1 system, you need 7 speakers, 4 surround front and back and 2 centers front and rear, and then a sub. But In my summary of my review is that it seems Bose and Monsoon have been the top in my book, thus you use the right hi-fi equipment along with it. If you need specs, all you have to do is call bose.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha Sony Bose Infinity Polk Cerwin Vega RTR Speakers Monsoon Boston JBL

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
2
[Jul 01, 2003]
charles lim
Casual Listener

Strength:

for me...i need a small micro HT speakers system that "INCLUDED" with mounting accesories, can u recomend me with another system? no? so... bose have no trouble to beat all competitors for me

Weakness:

a little pricey, but once again... i dont have other choices

don't complain about it's sound quality.. i'm bored. thats why we have hi-end, karaoke, pc n other speaker system to choose, i'm using a pair of b&w 601 for my music listening pleasure n this killer bose for my HT in my "SMALL ROOM" be smart, buy things depends on what u need...,if i dont have bose...where should i put 6 gigantic wood speakers in my small room n i hate just by looking at a big rear speaker hanging in my wall

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
3
[Mar 17, 2003]
nicodaemos
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

o Small o Black goes with everything

Weakness:

o Way overpriced o Limited frequency response (does not handle highs or lows)

I have to admit that I was once taken in by the marketing hype. I used to drool over visits to the Bose store. But after several years of listening to these fatiguing speakers I started to look at other options. As I started listening to other speakers I quickly realized how little of the audio spectrum the Bose seem to reproduce. I could actually hear where they couldn't reproduce the high frequencies in many recordings and the bass module doesn't seem to be able to even do decent bass -- it's just sloppy. My humble opinion is that a majority of the money you pay for these speakers goes towards dealer margins and marketing, with only a small amount actually towards the product. At least it definitely feels that way. Honestly, if you want good sound then I would look at the many other alternatives available in this price range. I recently picked up a pair of Kestrel 2's that are in this price range but completely kick the butt of the Bose. If you do buy Bose, despite my warnings, then I'd recommend that you tie them up to a powerful amp (something like a Odyssey Stratos) to get the most from them.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity, Meadowlark, Magnepan, Cambridge Soundworks, PSB, B&W

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
1
[Dec 14, 2002]
hartl
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Tiny, good-looking, blend into any room. Reliable, easy to place and set-up. Simply massive sound for their size--in this sense they are in a class of their own. Big bass, and mids/highs are fine for home theater.

Weakness:

Retail price---THESE ARE NOT MADE FOR MUSICAL AUDIO!

I'm gonna make this review short and sweet. Firstly, I agree with everyone on this site that believes these are a total rip-off for the $1500 retail price tag--for this price there are much better alternatives. Yet for the price you can find these for NEW on e-bay, they without a doubt beat everything IN THEIR SIZE. People keep comparing these to B&W, Klipsch, Wharfedale, Thiel, etc. Are you people insane? How can anyone in their right mind compare B&W, for example, to Bose? Of course the B&W will sound infinitely better, but the people that want these Bose is because they simply produce the BIGGEST sound while occupying the LEAST space! If I wanted a fantastic home theater surround sound set-up, and price or space was not important, I would steer clear of Bose in general. Yet I live in an apartment in New York, and for me, space is as important as sound quality, and for their TINY, descreet, blend-able size, these produce BIG sound. There is an amazing amount of bass for the size of the speaker, and they really do make you believe you are listening to much larger speakers. Is the bass deep and tight? Are the mids well-defined, transparent, and piercing in their realism? Are the highs accurate? NO!!!! But these are only for movies! People on this site saying these are terrible speakers for music are simply audio-morons, so no one should pay them any attention. WHO THE HELL LISTENS TO MUSIC WITH SURROUND SOUND ANYWAY? Only someone that knows nothing about audio. Anyway, like I said--don't blow $1500 on these, because even though they have HUGE sound and take up practically NO space, that is not a fair deal. For $800 or $900, if you are as crammed on space as I am, go for it! Just don't buy these if you want them for music and movies--they are small little home theater speakers, and for serious audio enthusiasts like myself, these would simply be a headache if relied on for reproducing audio. Some people may not even notice either way or care, but for anyone familiar with the higher-end audio world, these would only be recommended for space-saving sound, not for the best thing in it's price if space or looks is unimportant.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch, Bose 201's, Wharfedale, RCA, etc.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
3
[Dec 04, 2002]
Cameron Porter
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

They're teeny enough to fit in any trash can. Nice size for projectiles.

Weakness:

The Fisher Price radio I had as a 4 year old sounded better.

Wow. I can't believe people defend the sound that these pathetic excuses for speakers put out. They sound absolutely terrible. They have no midrange, distorted highs, and obscenely gross lows from the little black box they claim is a woofer. I have some advice for anyone even remotely thinking of purchasing these speakers. Go to a high end audio store. In my case, I went to Chelsea Audio in Beaverton OR. There, you can listen to speakers from reputable manufacturers like B&W. Even their lower end speakers sound great. After that, go listen to the Bose speakers again. And don't let the salesman try any tricks, like turning the volume up too loud. Instead, make them play some good music. Then you will truly see the patheticness that are the Bose speakers.

Similar Products Used:

That string and tin can telephone set up I had as a kid.

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Nov 21, 2002]
7stringZoso
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Small, pleasing to the eye(at first), average buy if you get them for under $800.

Weakness:

Flat sounding, price of a brand new set, pricey floor stands and wall mount, etc, etc.....

OWN this system from about June til now. I say now because I'm dumping them off to someone else. If your new to surround sound, these will sound good to just about anybody. There are no soaring highs to speak of and the bass is very bland and unexciting. If you stick with these things long enough you'll wonder what you were thinking when you bought them. I know I was. I recently bought two M&K 750s and a v-125 sub and am planning to buy the rest when I can afford it (the entire 750 thx system), in stereo, and I can honestly say that it sounds 4 times better than Bose. If you still insist on buying them, get them off e-bay like me. You can score some for under $800 sometimes, even the new Acoustimass 15 II, which I havent listened to (and probably wont). And like the posters who posted before me said, listen before you buy.

Similar Products Used:

Cerwin Vega stereo (pre-Bose) M&K (post-Bose)

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
2
[Oct 18, 2002]
J K
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Looks awesome Great highs and mids

Weakness:

Flat compared with other speakers Seems to squeeze out sound Low quality parts, more importantly, they do not sound like low quality parts

After listening to “Harry Potter” with these set of speakers in the theatre toom of Future Shop (A Canadian mainstream electronic retailer a-la Best-Buy), I decided to purchase them (1600$CDN). I was really impressed by their sheer size and strength. The speakers are great for looks, and average for hearing. However, if you are picky about your audio tastes, you can spend the same amount of money for a higher quality set of speakers. Obviously, there is a trade off between looks and audio quality. Although they are not made of quality parts (spring coil attachments for cables, not magnetically shielded, cardboard), here is a word of advice: LET YOUR EARS TO THE HEARING. It does sound ok. I then went to a specialized audio shop: I wanted to compare Bose with another brand. I could not find any non-mainstream specialty audio shops which carried the Bose Brand. After listening to Paradigms, Energy, Mirage, and JBL, I decided to “purchase” (or 30-day trial) a set of speakers from Boston Acoustics (see specs below) due to price and personal taste. It does not mean that B.A. are better than the other speakers, it just suits my preferences. Having the opportunity to have two sets of speakers at home (Bose and BA) and comparing them with the same receiver (Yamaha RX-V730) and settings, I was surprised to find out that, the Bose sounded flat and lacking in all ranges (including high and lows, especially bass) for MANY different types of media (DVDs: LofRings, Fast and Furious, Jurassic… CDs: Classical, Doors, U2, eminem, britney, bizkit). (Note: one should listen to music(ality) to hear speaker quality) The new set of speakers has more dynamic range compared with the Bose, which is definitely easier to hear with the naked ear: you do not need a lab to compare Bose speakers with another set of speakers of the same price range. Bose is desperately trying to squeeze out sound through those small-sized box, which explains the fact that after listening to Bose after several hours, it seems the Bose is “squeaking” and making me fatigued. Generally, I found a better set of speakers for the same price range. At first, I doubted all the anti-bose reviews. If you own a pair of Bose, they look great and will impress your friends (after all, your friends will not be speaker-fatigued since they will not be listening for several hours). If you just purchased a pa

Similar Products Used:

Receiver: Yamaha RXV730 Center: BA VR910 (Boston Acoustics) L/R: BA VR940 Surround: BA CR65 Sub: BA PV600 Use for DVD (Toshiba 5-Disc Progressive), Satellite (Bell E-vu), Xbox.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
2
Showing 1-10 of 310  

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