Easy to install.
Very good to excellent imaging, ambience, and timbre.
Visually attractive and unobtrusive.

Can be slightly heavy in the midbass.
Lacks richness in the baritone vocal range.

Full review can be found at:

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/SoundAndVision/FrameSet/0,1670,_sl_SoundAndVision_sl_Article_sl_0_cm_1653_cm_105_2122_1_cm_00,00.html

"It can provide a surprisingly thunderous home theater experience without devastating your decor. And, like a ventriloquist, the AM-15 satellites make you focus on the sound and not its source. Their diminutive size, flexible aiming, and magnetic shielding let them be installed in places that would be out of question for conventional speakers."

"Bose makes setting up the AM-15 easy even for the technically impaired"

"I slid Twister into the DVD player and let it spin. I began to wonder if I had turned on my regular, larger system by mistake. But no — the AM-15 was blowing me away by itself."

"I fed the system the Stones’ Bridges to Babylon concert DVD. They opened with "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction," but frankly I was pretty satisfied...When Charlie Watts’s sticks hit the skins, they produced individual, clearly articulated beats rather than a series of dull thuds."

"...where Papageno plays the bells. The crystal-clear chiming of the glockenspiel floated out of the Bose dual cubes like sonic soap bubbles. Then soprano June Anderson sang the Queen of the Night’s famed aria with a natural, believable vocal timbre and plenty of ambience."

"Switching to audio CDs, using the standard stereo setting on the receiver, I began with excerpts from Handel’s Messiah. The Academy of Ancient Music directed by Christopher Hogwood convincingly materialized in my room. A pleasant amount of airiness surrounded the vocal ensemble, with natural timbres. In a more secular vein, Dire Straits’ Making Movies benefited from the honest reproduction of Mark Knopfler’s voice, the visceral guitar attacks, and the pinpoint imaging."

The best home theater system in the entire world. Full range frequency response 20Hz-20kHz. Seemingly limitless dynamic capabilities. They are for lack of a better word... perfect.

Absolutely none. It seems impossible that a product such as this, with nearly flawless engineering, could possibly have any weaknesses at all.

My former system consisted of (from source downward), Proceed PMDT DVD transport, Meridian Model 861 THX pre/pro,
Revel Ultima Studios with a pair of Mark Levinson No. 436s, which where used for the 2 chann aspect of a 50/50 HT setup. The Voice and Embrace surrounds where powered with 3 Mark Levinson No. 434s to maintain discrete amplification per speaker. And for a beefy bottom end I employed 2 B&W ASW-4000s. I had a $70000 (not including display) home theater setup that at the time I thought had no equal. And I loved it; my music sounded better than I'd ever heard it, and the movies where better than the theater could have ever reproduced them. And then one day while I was strolling through the mall, I stumbled across the Bose AM-15 demonstration. Being the snobby-rich audiophile I am, I wasn't prepared to give the Bose the time of day. But upon sitting down to a demo of "Air Force One" I was in utter disbelief. Here I went and spent $70000 on a dream theater when all along I could have gotten BETTER performance from the AM-15 and Kenwood receiver/DVD player. The bass module simply blew both of my 450 watt B&Ws into the weeds. The B&Ws claim extension of 17Hz, but the bose MUST be able to go down to at LEAST like 9Hz. And those cubes make the $10500 Studios look like hopeless pieces of crap. I had always thought the studios had holes in the freq. response, and the bose cubes brought that truth to light. The AM-15 destroyed my former system in every imaginable aspect. At that time I had an epiphany, I put all $95000 of my equipment up on ebay (I even sold my runco projector and replaced it with a 27" television), and although I only got $55000 in return, now I finally have my dream system. The Bose AM-15 with the Kenwood DV-1400 DVD player and VR-4900 receiver. Look at all the money I saved!!!! I now have the best system in the entire world, and it’s all thanks to Bose.

A note to everyone: If you are wasting money on ANYTHING other than Bose, you are very, very stupid. Do as I did, sell all you crappy expensive gear, buy Bose products, and get ready for the high life.

Similar Products Used:

Revel Ultima Studio, Voice, Embrace and last but least (compared to bose) 2 B&W ASW-4000s. Mark Levinson amplification.

The best home theater system in the entire world. Full range frequency response 20Hz-20kHz. Seemingly limitless dynamic capabilities. They are for lack of a better word... perfect.

Absolutely none. It seems impossible that a product such as this, with nearly flawless engineering, could possibly have any weaknesses at all.

My former system consisted of (from source downward), Proceed PMDT DVD transport, Meridian Model 861 THX pre/pro,
Revel Ultima Studios with a pair of Mark Levinson No. 436s, which where used for the 2 chann aspect of a 50/50 HT setup. The Voice and Embrace surrounds where powered with 3 Mark Levinson No. 434s to maintain discrete amplification per speaker. And for a beefy bottom end I employed 2 B&W ASW-4000s. I had a $70000 (not including display) home theater setup that at the time I thought had no equal. And I loved it; my music sounded better than I'd ever heard it, and the movies where better than the theater could have ever reproduced them. And then one day while I was strolling through the mall, I stumbled across the Bose AM-15 demonstration. Being the snobby-rich audiophile I am, I wasn't prepared to give the Bose the time of day. But upon sitting down to a demo of "Air Force One" I was in utter disbelief. Here I went and spent $70000 on a dream theater when all along I could have gotten BETTER performance from the AM-15 and Kenwood receiver/DVD player. The bass module simply blew both of my 450 watt B&Ws into the weeds. The B&Ws claim extension of 17Hz, but the bose MUST be able to go down to at LEAST like 9Hz. And those cubes make the $10500 Studios look like hopeless pieces of crap. I had always thought the studios had holes in the freq. response, and the bose cubes brought that truth to light. The AM-15 destroyed my former system in every imaginable aspect. At that time I had an epiphany, I put all $95000 of my equipment up on ebay (I even sold my runco projector and replaced it with a 27" television), and although I only got $55000 in return, now I finally have my dream system. The Bose AM-15 with the Kenwood DV-1400 DVD player and VR-4900 receiver. Look at all the money I saved!!!! I now have the best system in the entire world, and it’s all thanks to Bose.

A note to everyone: If you are wasting money on ANYTHING other than Bose, you are very, very stupid. Do as I did, sell all you crappy expensive gear, buy Bose products, and get ready for the high life.

Similar Products Used:

Revel Ultima Studio, Voice, Embrace and last but least (compared to bose) 2 B&W ASW-4000s. Mark Levinson amplification

Below you will find a listing of milestones in the history of Bose. I think it is in the best interest of prospective buyers to read over this carefully before shelling out their hard-earned cash.
__________________________________________________________

1964-Founding Of Bose
In the 1950s, Rev. Dr. Amar Buffet Bose IX observed loudspeakers didn’t deliver natural sound. Extensive research into the science of sound, lasting all of 20 minutes, led to the formation of Bose Corporation.

1968-Birth Of A Legend
The legendary 901® Direct/Reflecting® speaker is introduced, coming down from the sky playing "Carmina Burana." It reflects 89% of the sound off walls – similar to a live concert taped by a bootlegger with his Fisher Price tape deck – for natural, lifelike sound.

1969-Double Blind Test
Bose pioneers the double blind test, wherein Bose speakers are placed in a room and our competitors' speakers are placed in a high school gym. The first man to hear our speakers leaves the room saying: "No highs, no lows -- it must be a Bose."

1972-Pro Loudspeakers
Bose enters the professional ranks by producing a loudspeaker system designed exclusively for the demanding, discriminating tastes of the professional musician.
Unfortunately, these people didn't buy our products.

1972-Syncom® Testing Computer
Bose establishes the proprietary Syncom computer to acoustically measure speakers against a laboratory model to guarantee a level of consistency and reliability. The next day the computer crashes and is never repaired.

1973-Promotional Offer
Bose invents potato salad. This comes free with any purchase over $5,000.

1975-World’s Best-Seller
The 301® Direct/Reflecting® speaker system is launched into space following the Apollo 17 mission. Renowned Bose technologies, versatile design and affordability make it one of the world’s best-selling speakers. Too bad it doesn't sound very good.

1982-Moving Sound
Bose introduces a custom-designed, factory-installed system specifically for automobiles. Some of the world’s most luxurious cars today, including Hyundai and Yugo, feature Bose sound systems.

1983-Immobile Sound
Hyundai and Yugo drop our speakers from their available options, as a result of their quality control standards.

1984-Acoustic Waveguide
Bose designs acoustic waveguide technology and brings component system sound to a compact system with a side order of fries. Experience full sound with rich bass from an extremely small enclosure which sounds just as bad as you've come to expect from Bose.

1985-Advertising
Bose dupes 101,031 people into buying our speakers as a result of an aggressive advertising campaign.

1986-Acoustimass® Speaker Technology
Acoustimass speaker technology is born at 3:05 p.m. weighing 6 lbs. 3 oz. Room filling sound is available without a room full of equipment. Virtually Invisible® speaker design includes cube speaker arrays and compact module. By cutting out the insides of the cube speakers, they can be used to make high quality ice cubes at no additional charge.

1987-Inventor Of The Year
Acoustic waveguide technology creates a stir in the scientific community, earning Dr. Bose and Dr. William Short “Inventor of the Year” honors. Those who determined the "Inventor of the Year" picked up their checks in the mail shortly thereafter.

1989-Acoustic Noise Cancelling® Headsets
Bose Acoustic Noise Cancelling headsets are created to bring clear communication and protection into the cockpit for pilots and on the ground for air and ground crew.
They work incredibly well at cancelling all sound in the headsets. Plane crashes have increased every year since.

1990-Lifestyle® Systems
Bose develops Lifestyle® systems. Our proprietary system design approach and Virtually Invisible® speaker design create an unmatched level of performance and design, unless you include any speaker that is made by our competitors.

1993-Wave® Radio
The Wave radio, the world’s finest sounding radio (in our unbiased opinion), is introduced. Acoustic waveguide technology delivers rich, deep sound – not previously heard from an enclosure this ridiculously overpriced.

1994-Auditioner® Audio Demonstrator
Auditioner audio demonstrator is created by our renowned engineer Mortimer M. McMarmocet. You hear the exact acoustic performance of a building’s proposed sound system before the building is constructed for the amazingly low price of $1 million dollars plus a $200,000 surcharge for installation. Potato salad not included.

1995-Jewel Cube® Speaker
Bose designs the Jewel Cube speaker to bring high performance sound down to size – easily hidden behind your hand, which a lot of our customers requested, since many routinely play hide & seek with their speakers.

Small. Cult following of mindless, slobbering tone-deaf zombies who annoint themselves as "Audiophiles" when they have no idea what the word even means.

Butchered frequency response riddled with holes to account of the inadequecy of the design. No highs, no lows blah, blah, blah...

Who do you actually think your trying to fool Tim("reviewer" below me)? Your obviously a Bose employee trying to bring up the average by capitalizing upon SOMEONE ELSES words; words from a magazine that gives EVERYTHING a glowing review and therefore should not be taken seriously. A better place to look would most likely be "Hometheater" mag's review of the AM-10 (essentially the same thing as the AM-15, just a little cheaper), where it was given an overall rating of 62/100 and deamed "a very POOR value". That is the Bose legacy, overpriced crap maquerading as revolutionary technology to appeal to the wims of the audio novice. I would encourage everyone to ignore the propaganda being regurgitated below me and use common sense for this matter. Bose makes toys, not real speakers. and for a list of similarly sized competitors scroll down to "rich's" review a few spaces down. There is a link for your convienence.

I really thought these speakers sounded good in the store before I took them home. I was also looking at Infinity Overture & RS speakers which seem to sound the same. After getting them home I was extremely dissappointed! There is no mid-range, with too much bass. I went to a Circuit City afterwards since they were the only place you can make a side by side comparison with others. I found it curious that most places put them in a room by themselves. The Polk satellites @ $300 less beat them by far, along with others. I then went to a "real" stereo store and was amazed by the difference. PLEASE do yourself a favor and check out a store that sells products you do not see in the Fry's, Best Buys, and Circuits of he world. I wish I would have. I am just glad I was able to talk Fry's into giving me my money back after 40 days. These Bose speakers are VERY overpriced. If you need satellite speakers check out the Polk or Eosones, or others, just do not buy the Bose. I learned my lesson the hard way.

If Bose threw in a Pentium 2 computer with built in dvd, and an amp to drive the speakers at $1299; you would have a pretty good desktop home theathre. But that is not likely to happen. It would cut into Bose's 900 to 1000 percent profit margin.

I heard this system and was impressed. Bought it for $1300 and took it home. Boy was I disappointed. Bass was lacking, mid range was poor and crackled at high volume after 50 hours playing time(powered by Denon 2400 75wX5). Took it back and went really looked for a replacement in same price range and size of speaker. Looked at Boston Acoustics Micro 9000, Difinative Tech Pro cimema 100 and NHT. The BA system sounded really good on the high side, the Pro cinema sounded good in midrange and bass. Finally found a NHT system with SuperOnes for front left, center and right with the SuperZeros as surround with SWP1i sub. This system was the best of the BA and Pro Cinema systems combined.Three stars for Bose, 4 for BA and DT, and 5 stars for NHT.

For $1300.00 these are easily the most rotten sounding speakers on the market. I get superior sound quality from my computer. If you are considering the Acustimass, please do yourself the favor of also checking out Infinity, Polk, B&W, Klipsch, Energy, Paradigm, or hell even Radio Shack and I’m sure you will come to the same conclusion I have about Bose products..... (well marketed, overpriced, trash.)

I bought a BOSE Acoustimass system as well. I selected this system mainly because it was small and sounded powerful. During a short demo at the shop, I had really been impressed by how loud these little satellites were able to play music (hard to believe when the sub is hidden). I listened to this system during a few months at home before I decided to sell it away. I've never been able to appreciate it at home. I found that music rapidly became tiring with this system: it always sounded metallic, the bass was too heavy and the medium really weak.
Notice that it has been very easy to sell this system, which proves how popular it is (I did not even loose money in this deal). The guy (an architect) who bought it was mainly attracted by the size of the system. I now have decided to invest in a high-end system.

2 stars for the size and the design.