Small Size, Plenty of base.

Weak mid-range, Way overpriced.

First, let me say that I was one of those people who almost bought Bose without listening to anything else. That would have been a big mistake!

In my opinion, the Bose sound ok and are decent considering their small size, but they are way, WAY overpriced. In comparison to the other speakers I looked at, the Bose had little mid-range, and sounded kind of like tin cans (really!).

The Polk Audio RM6500 is very comparable in size to the Bose, sounds a lot beter, and costs hundreds less (they retail for $1000, but I picked them up on sale for $800).

By the way, I never saw this web-site until after I made my decision, so there is no bias here.

Similar Products Used:

Bose AM-10, Polk Audio RM6500, Yamaha CLS-150

Bass,Bass and I think bass as well.

All of the wiring through the bass module or "subwoofer".
Spagetti Warehouse!!

Well I must say, if you compare this to the Acoustimass 10, a job well done! This powered sub has a frequency response a lot lower than the Bose Lifestyle systems. I bought for my parents the AM15 as well as a Denon 1800 digital/dts reciever, and it sounds great, especially in 5 channel stereo for music, damn it's good. If you don't like alot of wires watch out, every speaker must wire through the bass module, which makes me think that those "audiophiles" who dissed the AM15, didn't hook it up correctly or the sales men didn't. A lot of people don't read the instructions well and they hook the cubes directly to the reciever, and in return they get response that sounds like s***. Of all the Acoustimass and Lifestyle the AM 15 is the best for sound. If you are going Digital, I recommend an AM 15 with a Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha, or Harman Kardon reciever. It sounds great. I have to give 5 stars.

Similar Products Used:

Mission Surround sound package, Acoustimass 10

size

price, sound

The last reviewer said people who don't own crap shouldn't write a review about crap. I beg to differ. If I went to the audio store and listened to Bose speakers, then I'm qualified to review them (and hopefully sway someone from making a mistake that I, myself, almost made).

I listened to Bose compared next to the Energy Take 5 (for half the price) and the energy's filled the room so much better and sounded so much nicer overall. I ended up spending twice the price of the Bose after an exhaustive listening stint.

Bottom line - the Bose are overpriced and don't sound good when compared to other speakers in their price range.

And I ain't no BASS hog either.

Similar Products Used:

too many to list

Size

Price

It still shocks me that people write reviews on Bose speakeres even thought they NEVER owned them or listen to them in their own homes. It's a good thing that I didn't listen to these reviews when I bought these speakers. However, when I did get them home, I was extra critical for the 30 trail period. What I found was a good sounding system the good for music and great for movies. If you are 16 years old and all you want is to hear bass and shake the paster on the walls, you may be a bit disappointed. I find its a well balanced sounding unit. Is it the best, hell no, but for $1099.00 and the size it is pretty good. Don't let the people that never owned them sway your decision. Get them into your home, set them up, and judge for yourself. Good Luck.

Similar Products Used:

Too many to list

None

Just about everything

I cant' believe that anyone can actually feel as though this system or any Bose systme sounds good for home theater. I just can from a Bose demo (put on by Bose) and I have to agree with the majority of you. The Bose lacked any perceivable bass or midrange. It was nothing but harsh sounding treble. If this is as good as it gets, when the system was set up by the Bose "professionals" then I'm glad I never purchased Bose. I have about $600 invested in my home theater speaker system and it will blow any Bose system away for movies or music.
My system includes 3 Optimus Pro-X88AV ($50 each) for surrounds and center. A pair of B&W 201s for mains, and an Audio Source SW15. Powered by a Sony 835 receiver. Actually I have less invested in my ENTIRE system (receiver, DVD, speakers) than what just a set of Bose speakers cost and it sounds ten times better. Save you money and put your own system together or buy a package system (if that's what your looking for) from another manufacturer. You'll be glad you did.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Optimus

Great Sound

None

I purchased my AM15 speaker system over a month ago from www.noav.com. Great price, I won't said the price because what I paid was an unbelievable price and I was told not to say it. Check it out yourself. Anyway, I hooked it up with my Sony STR-DA555ES digital receiver and my Sony CDP-CA70ES CD player with optical connection. Let me tell you, this was the best purchase I ever made. The sound of these speakers are superb. I read all the reviews in this site before I bought the speakers. I felt that a lot of you folks just hate BOSE or maybe just can't afford them. My wife loves them, mostly because they take no space. SO I went to a local store and listened to them, and guess what, I loved the sound. I do not own a DVD player yet, but when I watch the digital movies through my cable with the surround sound, the speakers rock the walls. The powered subwofer has great power and the bass is deep and clear. Take the advise from the folks who own AM15, go to your local store and listen to them. If you don't like em, then go and by something else. WARNING, DO NOT BUY FROM TATUM ELECTRONICS, WORST EXPERIENCE EVER, THEY CHARGED PRODUCT FIRST DAY, NEVER DELIVERED PRODUCT, CANCELED ORDER (2 MONTHS AGO) HAVEN'T GOT CREDIT FOR MY PRODUCT. stay away from Tatum.

Easy setup, cute look for the satellite speakers, and good name associated with Bose (may be?)

Value, price vs. performance

I provide my input here because I want to contribute, because I benefited from the reviews by many people here that helped me in selecting the loudspeakers. I am not an audiophile. In fact, I picked up my knowledge about the speakers/receivers since mid November when I started to think about the Home Thearter and I am still learning. My wife granted me $2000 budget for a receiver and a surround sound system.

I shoped around at local stores like Bust Buy, Circuit City, and Tweeter. The decision on picking up a Receiver was relatively easy. After a few times looking around and taking advices from my friend, I picked up Onkyo 676. On the speakers, the saleman at Circuit City pointed me to PolkAudio. However, I was so impressed with the Bose speakers, I kept asking questions on Bose, that salesman changed his tune and strongly suggested me to buy a returned Bose AM-10. He ran the deme for both AM-10 and PolkAudio, and Infinity xxx (I can not remember the model now). Quite honestly, I felt that they were close, not much of difference, with Bose satellite speakers giving a little better TV conversations. Since I was so impressed with Bose product since 3 years ago when I attended a Bose Demo, I decided to pick up that Bose AM-10, with $50 discount. To me, Bose represented superior quality, brand name, and cute systems. The setup was extremely easy, and for the first couple of days, I was very pleased with the results. Definitely the system sounds much better than my Aiwa NSX-5200 BoomBox (50W+50W) and the sound from my Projection TV (15W+15W). The music from one of my CD collection (Childron Chorous) was fantastic. On other DVD and CDs, they were not so impressive. I thought maybe it was due to the quality of those DVD or CDs. However, I noticed that the bass was missing big part. Some sound effect from the movie scenes were simply not there. So I went to friend and he suggested me to add a woofer to compensate. I added a Sony xxx with 12" (from Best Buy) and the improvement was significant. Then I came across this site and saw all the reviews. I was shocked on the negative reviews on the Bose AM-10. I knew that went back to the Circuit City, the same guy suggested me to upgraded to AM-15, which I did. It was a huge improvement with its powered moudule, and a SONY subwoofer. However, this time I was uneasy about this "frequcncy hole" problem that everybody mentioned here. I felt that people might be right but I could not tell. I went to another shop that carries PolkAudio and talked with the salesman. He simply lent me the PolkAudio RM6600 speakers for 3 days. He wanted me to compare it side by side with Bose and decide. Boy, the difference was HUGE. I did not know that Bose AM-15 was missing so much in comparison with other speakers. I had 4 different CDs and DVDs. And 3 of them were much, much better with PoldAudio, and 1 was about the same. Those CDs I thought were dull sounded very very good with PolkAudio. My wife originally was against me trying to switch because her boss bought a Bose and felt very happy. But when she listened to the music I played, she just simply said "Lets drop Bose. It is no comparison". Remember Bose AM-15 was $1200, with a Sony subwoofer ($190). The result can not be compared with RM6600 which is only $750 (with a free ASW-350 10" subwoofer).

I am not trying to trash Bose. I am trying to speak of my buying experience. Certainly Bose AM series is not garbage, it does produce good sound. But, it seems that Bose is re successful in marketing than the improving the performance of their products. I believe PolkAudio may not be the only product that beats Bose. So buyer be aware, the principle of "the more expensive, the better quality" may not hold when you purchase speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Polkaudio RM6600

There are none.

I will save this catagory for my review. Although I am upset that the "lifestlye 50" isn't on the list because that's the apex of monetary squandering.

I will try to be as objective as I can. The technical facts first: bass module 45-220 Hz response is lumpy and unrefined. The cubes START at 280Hz and falls off around 13.5kHz. notice the 60Hz hole, if you don't value hearing all that your recordings actually contain, then this may not bother you much. These are measurements taken by a real-time analyzer in good working condition. The math alone should stop anyone with a brain dead in their tracks, steering them in the direction of any of the similarly priced products that offer far superior performance. If watching movies is your bag, this system may offer a slight degree of enjoyment to those who are moving up from their television, or perhaps an AV minisystem. But there are SO MANY better alternatives that it is pointless to begin mentioning them. Just don't run out and buy this system immediately just because of all the hype and because a sales man thinks that you should. All the people who half-wittedly gave this system 5 stars did so because its all they know, and the thought of auditioning anything else gives them an anxiety attack. To all those new to the hobby, I implore you to experience the broad array of products that are out there, before making a dreadfull mistake.

And I will offer an alternative way to view this subject. This and actually most bose systems all come crammed into a single box. Kind of like a TV dinner. They both offer a simple, easy, but not entirely fulfilling way to satisfy the respective need. The bose system offers sound where there may heve been none before, a quick answer to he who wants to get music and HT into his house without taking the time to pick the components and to compare the spectrum. The TV dinner can be plucked from your freezer and heated up within minutes, filling the void in your stomach, but not really worth savoring. So, needless to say, if you want to go around sporting the sound worlds TV dinner equivilant, then bose has a number of flavors for you to choose from!!

And to those who want to send me hate mail:
I welcome any responses. especially those attempting to put me in my place. However an unintelligable response(what I expect to recieve from bose fans) is likely to be laughed at. If you think that bose is god, you are wrong, sorry to break it to you. And if you wish to put your wits to the test I appear As "The Anti_Bose in chat room from time to time.

Similar Products Used:

I have never encountered a product with such a low cost/performance ratio. So there are no products "similar" to the bose that I use on any basis. But the products I have actually used include B&W ,Paradigm, Polk audio, Revel, Rotel And conrad johnson.

cubed-design makes for easy and non-space-consuming disposal in your garbage, subwoofer acts as boat anchor for small fishing canoes. bose vendors can be found in all acclaimed "high-end audio" stores including target, walmart, sears, best buy, fry's, and circuit city-- hah!

hmmm, how about the bio-gradeable paper-cone subwoofer with matching paper-cone tweeter/midrange-in-one satellites, the lack of bass extention in the woofer (roll-off at 50Hz), clock radio quality sound, inflated price tag, high frequency roll off at 12Hz (-3db) with strong emphasis on 7Hz to give the illusion of full range sound. boomy, sloppy bass response of 50Hz-250Hz from the cheap sub housed in low-grade particle board with no internal woofer bracing, frequncy gap of about 200Hz between satellites and the so-called subwoofer, fixed-pricing, though every higher bose series costs hundreds more, you will find they are ALL built with the same components and materials.

any bose proponents feel very free to defend these or ANY bose speakers or system. these things are pure un-adulterated horse terds. i can build a complete system that will outperform the am15 at 1/4 the cost. the 2 inch paper cone satellites are too big to faithfully reproduce highs, and too small to reproduce mids, the paper cone sub is garbage that only reproduces 50-250Hz in a sloppy, noisy way as it is housed in perhaps the most cheap enclosure imagineable with no bracing of the woofer. all of bose's alleged prestige comes from its monster of a marketing machine who spend countless millions on advertisements and promotion rather than r&d and materials. this unit doesn't even deserve the ONE STAR that im giving it. my parting advise to anyone seriously considering buying this unit is: DO NOT BUY BOSE!

Similar Products Used:

similar? my 8 year old general electric alarm clock.

cubed-design makes for easy and non-space-consuming disposal in your garbage, subwoofer acts as boat anchor for small fishing canoes. bose vendors can be found in all acclaimed "high-end audio" stores including target, walmart, sears, best buy, fry's, and circuit city-- hah!

hmmm, how about the bio-gradeable paper-cone subwoofer with matching paper-cone tweeter/midrange-in-one satellites, the lack of bass extention in the woofer (roll-off at 50Hz), clock radio quality sound, inflated price tag, high frequency roll off at 12Hz (-3db) with strong emphasis on 7Hz to give the illusion of full range sound. boomy, sloppy bass response of 50Hz-250Hz from the cheap sub housed in low-grade particle board with no internal woofer bracing, frequncy gap of about 200Hz between satellites and the so-called subwoofer, fixed-pricing, though every higher bose series costs hundreds more, you will find they are ALL built with the same components and materials.

any bose proponents feel very free to defend these or ANY bose speakers or system. these things are pure un-adulterated horse terds. i can build a complete system that will outperform the am15 at 1/4 the cost. the 2 inch paper cone satellites are too big to faithfully reproduce highs, and too small to reproduce mids, the paper cone sub is garbage that only reproduces 50-250Hz in a sloppy, noisy way as it is housed in perhaps the most cheap enclosure imagineable with no bracing of the woofer. all of bose's alleged prestige comes from its monster of a marketing machine who spend countless millions on advertisements and promotion rather than r&d and materials. this unit doesn't even deserve the ONE STAR that im giving it. my parting advise to anyone seriously considering buying this unit is: DO NOT BUY BOSE!

Similar Products Used:

similar? my 8 year old general electric alarm clock.