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.

Size, looks, ease of setup

Sound quality compared to other similarly priced satellite systems

I first heard the Bose AM 15''s at a local dept. store and thought they sounded awesome, so I went down to my local stereo place (I know one of the owners there so I could get a little discount) to pick up a set of AM15's. The salesman (not the guy I knew) asked me if I was sure about the AM15's, and if I had tried other brands. I hadn't, but I had my heart set on the AM 15's because of the demonstration at the department store. He demoed the Polk Rm7500's and Energy Take 5's for me at the store, and I thought they sound better, but I thought he might be getting a bigger commission for them and had the Bose setup wrong or at some sort of disadvantage, and was still asking for the Bose. He then let me take all 3 speaker packages home to try with my reciever (Sony STR-555ES) and my gear. (He did this only after I mentioned I knew one of the owners and he ok'd it) After taking all 3 systems home and placing them in the same locations, and using a A/B/C speaker switcher, I was amazed at the difference. These same Bose that I thought sounded so good at the dept. store, suddenly didn't quite match the performance of the Polk and Energy. The bass was not as distinct, nor were the trebles as high. The midrange was OK, but at times were a bit muddied/muffled. Most noticable was the lack of distinction and preciseness in the subwoofer, especially compared to the Polk RM 7500's. A few buddies of mine had come over because I had told them I was gonna pick up some AM 15's, and they wanted to hear them also. They too were amazed at the difference in sound quality. They didn't think the AM's were bad, but the other 2 were so much better. One of them, who already owned AM 15's (and was the one who initially encouraged me to get them) was floored. He was actually going to try and return his set. I ended up going with the Polk RM7500's. My friend (the owner) later told me the salesman got a lower commission with the Polks than he would have the Bose. Thank goodness for honest salesmen.

This is not a bash at Bose, because they do sound pretty good, but compared to some of the other comparably priced systems, they really don't compare, especially for the price.

Try different systems before buying the AM15's. If you think the AM15's sound better, than you've made the right decision for you. It's all subjective. But I think you may be surprised by similarly priced satellite systems.

Similar Products Used:

Polk RM7500, Energy Take 5

This is an informed opinion on these. I have used these or variations of them for over 5 years now. I used to think that they were the neatest thing out there and sounded so cool. And yes the fact that they were almost invisible was nice and all the bose hype from their marketers filled my head with fantasies. Well along came Polk with their award winning RM-series, Infinity HTS series, Boston, Paradigm and many others. Needless to say, I recommended either polk system arrayed around these speakers in terms of price at $999 or $1499 and even the $500 Infinity set. Why? Clarity, Bass, Impact, and just better sound. Everyone who I ever talked to that initially wanted Bose, came in and heard them next to the Polk's and said "give me the Polks." Why? Bose was tiny sounding, and not has much range. Sure they have good depth and soundstage, but that is not enough.
Now I go for bigger speakers, or towers, or anything else. Because I like the look of well made large speakers and they are worlds apart in sound. Of course this is all my humble opinion, but all they people who turned away from Bose when played side-by-side with others that were cheaper even, cant be totally wrong.

Sonically capable, fits into a living room well

Its not perfect

The Bose AM15 speaker system

Requirements
-------------------
1. Price bracket 1000 pounds.
Talking to the Bose dealer this is a starter home cinema system and not a money doesn't matter system. Why so expensive. Because you are buying 5 speakers and 1 bass speaker
2. Look good in an average size living room
When you look around your living room - do you want to see a great big speaker sitting on the top of your television and 2 floor standing speakers beside the TV. Then another 2 large speakers standing somewhere at the end of the living room?
Or do you want to see small cube speakers mounted on elegant stands that blend in with your tables and pictures and look like something you would see in a cinema but are completely small ie a few cm's high and wide?
3. Sonically capable of playing music and dvds in an average size living room
Obviously you want the speakers to provide good sound for watching DVD movies. But also now you have bought the speaker system - you have an expensive speaker system as there are 5 speakers - it would be nice if they were capable of playing music cd's also
4. Capable of directing sound in multiple directions - like a cinema does
Conventional speakers can only point in 1 direction. Each Bose speaker is capable of been directed in 2 directions thus filling the room with more dispersed sound

Competition
-----------------
Sony DAV-300 small speaker package, Sony Pascal speaker system, Panasonic, Pioneer, JVC, JBL and Acoustic Energy small speaker systems, Mission flat NXT speaker panels

After visiting the Live 2000 Earls Court exhibition I have sampled the above systems. I also own a Bose AM15 speaker system

Does Bose AM15 win - my personal opinion
------------------------------------------------------------
YES. It provides more detailed DVD playback and can play music with a sonic ability that the other manufacturers of small speakers or lifestyle system ( flat panels ) cannot

For example -

I have listened to the Sony DAV-300. Listening to music on this system is not good - there is no musical ability that the speakers have - the sound is flat and muffeled

I listened to the Mission flat panel speaker system ( 800 pounds ). Again the music reproduction is the same - slightly better than the Sony - but still dull and lifeless

I listened to a JVC small speaker system - at the start of the Matrix where the lady runs across the roof. There was a whole section of sound that was missing - that the Bose gave me

I listened to the Acoustic Energy small speaker system. It sounds good initially but after longer listening you can hear vocals becoming tinny

I listened to the JBL small speaker package. The Ronin car chase - the sound was just all treble

Lifestyle systems
-----------------------
It seems interesting that other speaker manufacturers are now producing systems like Bose have been doing - but can't seem to do it ie they have cottoned on to the idea of making small speakers and directing the bass to a separate unit like Bose does
They don't have the Acoustimaster technology that Bose has or the composition of the small speaker design that Bose has and therefore their attempts are no where near Bose. Bose technology beats them

A note on listening to music on the Bose speakers
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I would just like to remark finally on CD music playback. Listening to Genesis Suppers Ready live CD. The Bose system re-produces this in a way I really like - its full of energy and spark. I think conventional speakers could not re-produce it in the same way as they tend to clean up all the sound and make it into clinical and sonically perfect sound

Bose haters
----------------
Why do people actual hate Bose. If Sony produces a system that is lacking - say the Sony DAV 300 - should there be Sony DAV 300 haters?

Conclusion
---------------
Personal opinion is what counts. Listen first before buying. If you want a starter speaker system that can fit nicely into the living room - perhaps the Bose AM15 is a good system for you compared to the competition

Similar Products Used:

small speaker packages or flat panel speakers

Size; looks

PRICE

Bose Acoustimass was my dream system before when i was still studying. I used to go to Bose listening room and be amazed how "relatively" good sound it produces with tiny cubes and bass module but can't afford it. Used to listen to portable stereo and mini-components.

When i finally can afford to buy Hi-Fi and HT system, it's good that somebody told me to listen to other systems first. It turn out to be that there are lot more better sounding speakers that are much much cheaper than bose. They just do not have the strong marketing of Bose.

In my entry to Hi-Fi world last year, i decided to go with Energy take-5; energy exl-S10; and pioneer 515 all for $1200. It sounds much much better than Bose in music in HT but slightly bigger.

Now that my ear are starting to ask for more specially in music, i invested to a Denon Amp; B&W602 fronts and B&W Matrix 800ASW. (All for only $1800).

Now that i'm visiting back Bose listening room, the acoustimass 15's sounds like a mini-component and even the ultra expensive 901's doesn't sounds better than my B&Ws.

So, what i could really say is that Bose Acoustimass is not really bad as a speaker because considering its size and not using any tweeters, it could still sound "relatively good". But they should be prized half their cost right now so it could be justifiable to buy them because there are just too many speakers that will sound better than the AM-15s at half its costs.

But i guess Bose need some money to pay all their marketing initiatives. So if you have the money, likes good music and have a thing for cute things then go for AM-15s (and contribute to the money that bose needs for its marketing)

Similar Products Used:

Energy Take-5; B&W602; 601; etc.

Good sound, small size, good looks

price

I admit I am no audiophile, nor do I claim to know a lot about speakers, but these little cubes sound great. I am using a Onkyo TX-DS777 A/v receiver and have the front speakers on stands and the rears mounted on the wall about 8 feet high. The 5 channel stereo is great and dvd movies sound fantastic. They are a little expensive if purchaced in the local audio store but if you look around on the internet you can find a better price.

Give many options for placement, because of the direct reflecting speakers, excellent sound for both movies and music, easy set up, speakers are small and very much out of site, module provides bass for both the rear and front channels, very low distortion, excellent mids,remains full in sound at very low volumes.

could use a little more clearity in the highs

I have chosen the AM15's over quite a few other reputable speakers for a number of reasons. The price of the AM15's were really not much higher than the other products that had close to the same features or performance. The Polk and Boston Acoustics I thought sounded good, and I would probably be happy with them in my home. It was not until I looked and listened a little closer to what was offered with the AM15's. I strongly advise others to check some of these features/demo's out. (1) after listening to the explosions and screaming of a movie..bring in your favorite CD and compare the performance differences. I did not find many sub /sat systems at all that did well in this area. I almost found myself wanting only tower speakers. However, I thought the Bose AM15 was able to give a good balance with both movies and music. (2) Do find a clip in a movie that has plent of bass or signal transfer to both front and back,see if you don't find an easy bass location with the other products. the AM15's provided a very food balance of bass for both front and back channels. I found the majority of other sub/sat systems very localizable when it came to the bass. There were others that had much louder bass, but you could tell where it was coming from. The list does go on. Listen at low volumes, Bose AM15's sound good at all levels, others dropped out or had to much bass at the low levels and had to be adjusted. It's your choice of course. You can either educate yourself or jump on a bashing bandwagon.Good luck and enjoy!

Similar Products Used:

Boston Acoustics, MK, B&W, Polk, HK, and many more!

Attractive design, damn good, clear sound

relatively weak in the baritone vocal range and bass

It's meaningless to compare Am15 with some huge tower speakers, so apple to apple comparison between these two similiar ones will make sense.

Here's my comparison between Polk RM6500 & Bose AM15

Bose sounds way way better and CLEAR. hands down.
Bose has weekness in bariton, but Polk is not better at all.
Polk has better base, but boomy.
Design? can't even compare. RM6500 is ugly.

Bottom line: If you are an average user just like me, just
ask for demo in your local dealer! Just don't listen to some people who compares Miata with Blazer. If you think loud boomy sound is all the speakers are about, forget about AM15.

Better shop around! Good proce range is between $950-$1050.

Similar Products Used:

Polk RM6500

Size

Harsh sound. No midrange. High price.

I listened to the AM15's in several in store HT demo rooms and found them harsh, brittle and unpleasant.And at$1300 for the set over priced. A 2.5 driver can only do so much.Do not fall into the BOSE trap.Listen for yourself and take demo software that you know well. I saved myself $500 and purchased the Polk RM 6500 system.

Similar Products Used:

Polk RM6500,Hales,Martin Logan