Don't Flame- Bose Acoustimass 10 Question

There are plenty of Bose bashers here and elsewhere that will tell you to run away from that deal as fast as you can. But, you can't deny that there -are- certainly a great many satisfied Bose customers out there who will jump up and down and scream just as loud that their gear is every bit as good as some audiophile's speaker system costing many times more.

The chief complaints against Bose Acoustimass systems usually fall into Price and Accuracy categories. In your situation, price is mitigated because you're not going to be paying the astronomical retail price they ask for those systems. In terms of Accuracy, if it "sounds good" to you, then it's going to be good enough for you. Is it good enough for somebody who is not having a big frequency response gap between 80-200 Hz, above 14 KHz, and below 40Hz? No. But, they're not the ones buying it, are they?

You won't find a frequency response graph from Bose for their products, because it would compare unfavorably to almost every other manufacturer's product in the same price range. Don't let that scare you.

Greg

I have a Bose system in my 25x30x20 living room -- just awful. I also have one in my 20x15x9 office used for background music -- not great but not bad. I also have a high end HT with Revel speakers, JL f113 subs, etc. etc. -- unbelievable.

Point being, there is a place for everything and a price point for different applications and people. At $500, if you don't like the Bose, you can easily resell it at no loss on Craig's List, E-Bay, etc. And, you will not upset your neighbors with booming bass.

I had a Bose acoustimas set up in my first apartment. I thought it sounded great, untill I bought a set of Infinity floor standing speakers. I really enjoyed the Bose though, only problem I had was with the bass, but that is common with limited placement of the sub. I also liked how they didn't take up much space, at the time, 1994, there wasn't much else out there that competed with it.

I would say it would be a good system for an apartment, but not a dedicated theater room.

You've heard and read the pros and cons for Bose and I agree with all the above. Resale value is great if you don't like them.

Before my current Energy setup, I had the AM10 in a small room. I too didn't like the lack of bass so for a 100 bux or so on eBay I got another bass module and ran the fronts through one and the rears through another. Not perfect but a little more bass and WAF was still intact.

ok, my father has upgrade his home theater and is giving me his The Acoustimass 10 series 1 sub and some other smaller Bose sub. I know this is old and whatever but does anyone have the specs for this? i have a general "cable tv and crap dvd" watching area. I don't need anything big but I can't find any info like sub size and power, any help would be great, thanks.

Bose doesn't publish specs for their equipment. That's one of the rubs with many people here. The best you can get is the dimensions.

http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/...s_10/index.jsp

so does that mean the sub size has always been the same?

You can find the owners guide for each series of the AM-10 below. Download the manual for each series and look on the product information page for the dimensions.
http://www.bose.com/controller?event...ter_system.jsp

They're pretty much all the same size and shape from what I remember. Unless you're planning to put the sub in a cabinet it probably won't matter.

All Acoustimass 10 modules are between 14-16" high, 7-8.5" wide and 22-25" deep.

No.

I have owned the AM5 set and the sound is altogether thin and hollow. And as a non-bass junkie I never missed the bass the was also evidently missing.

For $500 there are a ton of reasonable and better options. TONS.

I would def not go with the Bose...they are many options in that price range that are far better

Polk Rti A1's with the matching center or the eD package builder most would consider better for the same price among many many others

You can get a 5 speaker plus sub ED package for $500?

the energy take series always comes on sale in the $500 range

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo...mber=ENTAKECLA

this the regular price but ive seen it for as cheap as 399

Some would argue that including a sub in a package alternative to an AM setup is not real comparison.

No, minus the sub but the bose bass module can hardly be considered a sub. I believe they play down to 50hz? Cannot recall for sure. I have heard bose on a few occasions and they sounded bad. If you get the 6T6 for fronts and center with the smaller bookshelves they are rated to 50hz but it would be just slightly over budget. If you went with the 5t5 all around you would be under budget but they are rated to 60hz. I would personally prefer either and save up for a sub in the future instead of replacing the whole thing. Just my 2 cents

I'm just trying to add some free rear bass is all.....

If you're gonna have to add a sub to your Bose AM-10 anyway, I'd just scrap the Bose system and get the Energy Take 5 setup. Either that or the HSU Ventriloquist system.

http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/performance2.html

The satellites are about the same size as the Bose cubes and the subwoofer is way better than anything Bose offers.

I tend to agree with going with these other options but won't the OP need a AVR with these? I don't he stated if he had one?

Buy
Other
Sound
Equipment

There are multiple multiple other sources for you to buy a complete 5.1 system that would blow away any Bose system.

He'll need an AVR with the Bose too!

The main reason to NOT buy Bose is not the lack of low end, but the lack of frequencies in general. If you read up about the real response of a Bose system it reproduces somewhere in the neighborhood of 2/3 of the frequency spectrum that humans can hear. Seriously lacking in low end, midrange, and upper end frequencies. The midrange to me is the absolute most important for music. If you plan to only use this system for movies, small size is a critical deciding factor, and LFE is NOT the deciding factor then I'd buy this system. Otherwise look elsewhere.

-Chad

Oh really I thought that was one of their big things, it's an all-in-one thing! I never really looked at one other than passing right by it at the stores

The Acoustimass-10 is just a sub/sat system. Okay more like a mid-bass module/sat system. The Lifestyle systems are the ones that are all inclusive and cost $2K or more.