Home > Consumer Reviews > Bose Acoustimass 5 - Speaker System, ideal for stereo or home theater use - White

I was having issues myself with sound quality with these speakers until I went to Bose.com and read the user guide. These speakers are meant to produce sound both directly and reflectively. If you have all of the elements pointing forward with no surfaces to bounce off of the experience is not satisfying. You need to tuck the sub away in a corner (to reflect off the walls) and the smaller speakers I find work great with one element pointing directly and the other pointing at a wall (each speaker has 2 elements). The sound with the reflection is much richer and satisfying than when everything's pointed directly at you.

Bose seem to elicit a passsionate response whenever their name is mentioned, and I will try to elaborate on my experiences and let the reader decide if these speakers are right for them.

I currently own a set of Bose Acoustimass speakers that I purchased from a friend. The speakers were in excellent shape and I felt lucky to be able to afford Bose a few years ago on my meager salary at the time.

The speakers are definitely room *friendly*, they blend in easily as their size is unobtrusive. That said, after investigating speakers recently for a planned theater upgrade, I now feel that they are lacking.

When I first got my speakers I compared them to a pair I had purchased back when I was in high-school. I didn't know anything about those speakers at the time but was happy with their sound as well(AR Holographic M1's). The results of the comparison left me thinking my ears were deceiving me "my old speakers sound better?" Anyway, I put those thoughts away thinking that I must not understand because "obviously Bose were the best."

Fast forward a couple years, all the while the Bose were up front in my surround system with the old speakers in the rear. That whole time I had no issue with the Bose, they performed well enough. After buying a new TV, I thought it might be nice to upgrade the speakers so I would have the same brand in the front and back. And so began the research.

I spent time listening to number of speakers, including high end and mid level brands at custom shops as well as entry level speakers at Best Buy and Circuit City. I have now come to desparately desire replacing my Bose speakers.

They just sound *thin*, which oddly enough was my initial impression, the one I thought I must not understand. That is the best I can describe it, music on the other speakers just sounded *fuller*, like it had more body.

I will freely admit I did not know what I was missing until I sought it out, but now that I do I feel that my Bose are no longer good enough. I will also say that this is not based on cost, I listened to a number of speakers that sounded much better at the same price, although they are NOT the same size.

In conclusion, I was looking for that fuller sound, willing to devote the floor space to much bigger speakers in order to get it. Some people might not be willing to make the trade of size for sound but for me it was worth it.

Pros: High and mid-range sounds from the cubes are very crisp, especially during gaming. System has a good all-round sound for the xbox 360, dvds and for music but fall short of excellent. The cubes deliver an amazing sound volume for their size and look great on the top of the piano.

Cons: Bose should make it clear that the bass module is not a powered sub-woofer. It does not deliver any where near the lows of a powered sub. This did not matter to me because I planned to add a sub anyway. Bass module is not all that easy to hide.

Other Thoughts: I've read many negative reviews about these (positive as well). I would rate them an 8.5 to 9 on a scale of 10. I played with these quite a while during set-up. Wiring, placement and amp quality are huge variables with this system. If the buyer expects subwoofer lows from the bass module, it won't happen. The bass module is not easily driven, a weak, low current amp won't adequately drive it. I replaced inferior speaker wire with high quality Monster Cable and it made a significant improvement. Lastly, the bass module provides PLENTY of (non-sub) bass when wired and placed correctly.

Several years ago when these first came on the market they were totally novelty priced, ie. more expensive than warranted. But now at 399. they are a great value and I say this not only because I own them and I'm thrilled but also I know several people who have them in various sized rooms and varying placements, and these speakers simply kick it!! With all due respect to the naysayers, unless you're an ardent audiophile, these speakers will make you very happy.

I am not an audiophyle, just a music lover. My main system consists of Proac 140 speakers, MF x 150 amp and XRay cd coupled with PSU and MF DAC. I have a Michell Giro turntable. Whats this to do with Bose? may you ask. Well just intended to say that I am used to a middle range audio equipment with pedigree. It hapens that I spend many hours in a private office home, crowded with shelves, books and papers, so that I have no space to position box speakers. Recently I decided to purchase a Bose kit. My amp is a old Pioneer A 400, and a Marantz CD 76 MkII is my source.
My previous speakers were a Solid Ovale set built by B&W. It produced a boxy sound without live or body. Then the Bose kitt was seted up. WOW...WOW. Now my office is full of a rich and involving sound, realistic and detailed. I can�t undestand why are people saying there is no bass.... Well I have ears, and years of music listening experience. The results are amaizing. The most impressive is that I have the sensation of presence of musicians performing in the room. Probably stereo image is a bit confusing as is the sound stage in the classical sense of stereo speakers. However is what we got when listening music live. Can someone in a concert hall define the exact posittion of musicians while closing the eyes????. This one is a great speaker set. I can�t talk about buid qualities or engineering. Honestly I do not care if this set is based on cheap componets as some argue, since I am much more concerned about its sound, and it sounds lovely