Bose Acoustimass 5 – Speaker System, ideal for stereo or home theater use – White
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A revolution in speaker design and thinking was launched with this speaker system from Bose. The two satellite speakers are so tiny they fit in the palm of your hand. Perfect for any room in your house! They may be small but will still provide the famous Bose Direct-Reflecting M-^Y sound. The Bass Module will fill your room with deep, rich bass, while staying out of sight. Invisible sound! Color: White
Features
- Versatile bookshelf speakers for music and movies in smaller rooms
- Direct/Reflecting® speaker technology
- Stereo Everywhere® speaker performance
- Dimensions (W x H x L): 3 x 6 x 5 inches
- Weight: 32 pounds
Try before you buy!!!
Buy these if you must, but before you spend $400 on them, please visit a local stereo shop and hear how much better $400, or $300, or even $200 spent there will sound. Really. I bet you’ll find that any decent independent stereo shop will have a multitude of options superior to Bose for equal or less money, and you’ll be supporting a locally owned business that will almost certainly offer you vastly better service and advice than that you’ll find in a big box store.
no impressed with the acoustmass system
I figured that anything from bose would be excellent but I have to say that this product is an exception. I have it hooked up to my samsung 55″ flat screen lcd tv. One of the most annoying things about this product is that the remote has to be pointed directly at the receiver for it to pick up the command. The bose wave system picks up remote signals from a far wider angle range and you dont have to be right on it but the accustamas isnt made the same way; unfortunately. The sound quality of the speakers seems average but the sub woofer is excellent.
RonL
The speakers came with plenty of info for install. Adequate speaker wire. Installation was a snap. And you cannot beat Bose for sound quality.
Ideal for Sailboats too
Vesta and I lived for ten years on a sixty-foot sailboat in the Caribbean. For the first couple we had a Sony ghetto blaster for a sound system, but with over three hundred CDs aboard we decided we needed something better, so we bought an Acoustimass 5 Speaker System, which we ran from a twelve-volt Alpine car stereo with a 12 volt Alpine amp. We put the subwoofer behind a curtain in the back of the main salon in front of the extra sails and the two speakers on the left and right bulkheads and for eight years we had the best sound system in the Caribbean from St. Martin all the way down to the Spanish Main. You can’t go wrong with Bose, you really can’t.
Awesome speakers, but poor subwoofer
I have a receiver, and was wondering why the sound was so poor so I connected the speakers to the receiver, and took the subwoofer out completely which makes the cube speakers sound awesome, and louder.
Just get a powered subwoofer, and you have an awesome system. I bought this setup for a new years party, and it came a little late due to weather issues which I am kind of glad for or my friends might have been more upset.
Acoustimass
I’m a speaker lover, and not a Bose-hater. Bose makes some incredible speakers: like the 901, some of the best I’ve ever heard. The Bose Acoustimass series are not very good, frankly, but obviously fine for most people. Missing a significant portion of the midrange is OK, apparently, if they look cool enough. The bass is one-dimensional. If it weren’t for an advertising budget, I’m certain no one would own an Acoustimass, since they will lose any head-to-head challenge at almost any price. My sister-in-law gave me her system since she knows I like speakers. I very quickly gave this system to my son for college, since it won’t matter if it gets stolen.
Pretty good, in context. The little engine that can.
I tried the Acoustimass 5 on the optional stands, mistakenly I had a pair of Klipsch Heresy III’s in the room, as expected, the Heresy III’s toasted them, but the Heresy III’s are $1600 a pair, so was this a real comparison. No, it was a pair of professional sound reinforcement speakers v. home stereo speakers. I wouldn’t dream of comparing them to the Forte II’s or any of the large Klipsch systems. The premise that a person can slap together a horn and a bass driver in a ported box and compare them to the Acoustimass 5’s is a joke. I love good horn loaded speakers, and I have heard bad horn loaded speakers that drive holes in my ears. Efficiency is not the only criteria in an era where power output is cheap.
So I went to the bose outlet and heard the Acoustimass 5’s along with the VCS-30 center and surround speakers, a total of $650, not bad for real 5.1. As a less than emphatic person for Bose, I had to admit, these little guys really did the job, I could close my eyes and hear some pleasant sound, which is what most people want. Specifications don’t take into account speaker personality, which all speakers have. The Bose system was nice, easy to listen to and all in all, darn good. Directionality and cacophony were minimal.
The little $650 speaker system is truly spectacular, in both movies and music they are really good. The Bose store was nice enough to set this up for me. There are things that well, are not Klipsch, all of my Klipsch is made in the USA, but only because they are all Heritage series stuff. These little guys (Bose A 5’s and VCS 30) filled the room with good sound. The surround package added on really made them quite spectacular for $650. They have an exceptional spatial quality and are easy on the ears.
Look it bothers me that Bose doesn’t publish technical specs for anything but professional products. The thing is when you are listening, with your eyes closed, just enjoy as I did. People complain about the price, well from where I sit, the combination of the VCS 30 and A 5’s are a bargain.
Great quality…
i got these for $4 (not a type-o, $4) at my church treasure sale. Didn’t really know what to expect, but HOLY COW, I put them through tests with my iPod, whatching tv, and even playing video games, and each time, it was like you were right there, in the action or at the concert. So weather you get them for $4 or $400, you should still buy them.
Make good surround Speakers
I have these in the back and Polks up front with a sub and they sound good. I did a test hooking up the Bose on “A” side and Polk on “B” side of the reciever and tested each set, granted the Polk do sound better but they are larger and more expensive. For the size the Bose are amazing. Very happy with the Bose in the back mounted on the ceiling, they look good too.
Awesome sound!
I was very pleased to see the price for this sound system affordable. I really enjoy the sound when watching movies!
Piece of crap
I can’t believe I bought this piece of crap. I thought Bose was good by their reputation. I bought this system and called a couple of friends to show it off. My friend Carl called me over and put on some music on his home built system. I was totally blown away. He put on Genesis “The Lamb” And my hair stood up. The detail, the highs the lows, he poured me a glass of single malt and it danced off the table. Like my $1,000 Bose system could do this? Not! He put on some organ music and I seriously thought the building was going to come down on us. He laughed like a mad scientist. My $1.200.00 Bose system sounds like a toy compared to this. Tinny, no midrange, deep bass or high trebles. I’m either taking it back or selling it on eBay. Carl says he will build me a decent system in his cabinet shop. Sometimes one needs a good short, sharp shock. Oh yeah, listening to Pink Floyd on Carl’s system is like dropping acid and he says he can put one together for me for under $1,000.00. Everyone should have a friend Carl and everyone should avoid Bose.
A bit under-rated (an unbiased review)
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.
Consumer Reports Correction
Another reviewer said: “Consumer Reports who compared Bose with other products that it sued (and lost)”
Bose won… the ruling said: “The District Court found that Consumer Reports “had published the false statement with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard…”. The ruling was later overturned only because the higher court did not find “actual malice”. [In short the courts agree with Bose but didn't award any money because there was no proof that Consumer Reports did the report to be mean.]
Reviewers don’t like to be sued. Every since the law suit, reviewer tend to be bias against Bose.
With that said… Bose aren’t worth the retail price but are great speakers when you can get them on sale.
I think I know why opinions differ on these speakers
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.
Go with a powered sub…
Nice mid range and highs however I quickly found that I will need an “extra” amp to power this sub to levels that seems decent
Limited Appeal
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.
these sound so AWFUL it HURTS!
I just started dating a woman who owns this system, and she was so proud of it that I simply didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth. On our third date she took me back to her apartment where we watched a DVD: beautiful plasma TV, horrendous Bose hunkajunk. The only reason I kept my mouth shut was because she’s incredibly hot and I wanted to be there for breakfast the next morning.
But it took a lot of drinks for me to sit through this audio nightmare: male voices often came out of the so-called “bass module” instead of the tiny and tinny little satellites, and those voices were mixed in with the smeared, flabby mid-bass coming out of the box…totally localizable mid-bass. The music (we watched “Amadeus”) was completely hollow-sounding, like listening to a boombox. During a few musical peaks there was even audible resonance coming out of the pseudo-sub…no surprise since it’s just a cheap plastic enclosure, not even MDF like you get with even the cheapest REAL subwoofers.
Mama mia, the things a guy will do just to get some play…
For four hundred bucks these days you could actually get a pair of real bookshelf speakers (Infinity Beta 20s, Polk Monitor 30s, Hsu HB-1s) and a cheap sub (Dayton SUB-100 from partsexpress dot com) that would effortlessly destroy this Bose junk. Granted, it won’t be in such a tiny and dainty-looking package, but it will sound a million times better!
I think I’ll have to break the news to her on our tenth date or so, it actually makes me feel DIRTY not to, heh.
Crystal clear sound
Great speakers, don’t know why are there some Bose haters, but are there really listening to them? buy this speakers, perfect match for any stereo receiver.
Lot of Sound!
This set of speakers are great. I never knew so much sound could come from such small speakers. I like the way the top and bottom of the speakers swivel to get sound from almost every direction. No regrets here.
I like what I hear….
I bought the Bose Acoustimass 5 for a friend in Korea to use in his flat screen TV. Once we set it up the sound transformation was phenomenal–it immediately gave the small room a big arena quality to it. Now I have his friends asking me when I am coming back to Korea so I can bring back another one (these are terribly expensive in Korea, btw).