Customer Reviews

Bose® Acoustimass® 10 Series IV home entertainment speaker system - Black

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I had bought this to be used with my new entertainment system comprising of Samsung HLT6187S 61" Slim LED Engine 1080p DLP HDTV, Sony STR-DG910 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver, Bose® Acoustimass® 10 Series IV home entertainment speaker system, Pioneer DV-400V HDMI Multi Region DVD Player, Rocketfish Universal Wireless Rear Speaker Kit and a custom HTPC.

The speakers are Bose satellite speakers. So they are very small, but they deliver excellent sound quality. You can swivel the top speaker to bounce the sound off walls to customize the feel you want for surround sound.

All connections are made from the massive sub woofer which then connects to your A/V Receiver. Too quite a bit of work to get this all working, but it was worth it in the end.

The speaker cable lengths are incredible. A little too long for what I needed. I ended up shortening and binding up more than 70% of the cable just so that I wouldn't have a crazy mess behind and around my HDTV.
If you plan on getting this system, save your self the trouble of dealing with cable mess and buy some Velcro straps for cable management.

This system works perfect with the Rocketfish Wireless speaker set.

The sub woofer is so powerful, at highest volume it shakes the entire house. You can feel the vibrations in the ground at the other end of the house.

Not much else to say. Setup was painless, just took some time, lots of cables going around.

Remember that the speakers are satellite speakers, if you get speaker stands, be sure they work with and fit with the satellite speakers.

Before buying this sound system, do your research and make sure you buy the right equipment!

I hooked up the acoustimass speakers to Harman Kardon AVR 154 receiver. If you are into audio, you will know that although this receiver is not very powerful, the sound quality it delivers is excellent.

Purpose: My purpose in purchasing this system was two folds: Music and movies.

Setup: Setting up this system is a breeze. All cables are color coded and there's plenty of it (20 ft for the front speakers and 50 ft for the rear or surround speakers). All you have to remember is that all the cables first go into the module, and then one single cable (actually a set of 5 joined together) are connected to the receiver. I think this system was up and running within 20 minutes of me unpacking it.

What's included: You will get 4 cube array (vertical) speakers, one center speaker (identical to the cube arrays, just horizontal) and one BOSE module which houses all the connections and the sub woofer.

Sound Test: I own an IPOD touch and a PS3. I do own a cable box, but that is not ideal to check a $60 AIWA system, let alone a BOSE 5.1 speaker set. I connected my IPOD using an RCA cable and my PS3 using an optical cable.

IPOD: This was an analogue audio test, and I knew that this system will not perform its best with this setup, but since this is how I listen to music, I had to perform this test. The bass was great. It sounded balanced and did not over power the other aspects of the song. The instruments sounded nice, if not great, and the initial impression was one of utter satisfaction with the sound quality. However, once I started playing a song where vocals were the focal point, the system really disappointed me. The voice of the artist was just not crisp or clear. When the bass module was allowed to contribute, the sound quality was decent, but a song where the bass module had very little to do, the system sounded almost like a boombox, which was really disappointing.

PS3: I tested this system with Dark Knight's Blu Ray disc. I wanted Matrix, but Blockbuster didn't have it at time. I am sure a DVD would have done the trick, but since I own a Blu-Ray player, I thought it would be a great test. In the beginning when the Joker started killing all his compatriots during the Bank Heist, the system astounded me. Not only could you hear the sound, but feel it. Every gunshot, every bang was distinct, crisp and clear. It was like being in a theatre and I almost forgave BOSE for not giving me my vocals during the IPOD test. But then I heard the dialogue, and I ran into the same exact problem. You had to turn the volume up to hear the dialogue, but then it was too loud during the action sequences. I even tried turning the bass way down, but then for some unknown reason whatever clarity the dialogues had, disappeared. Then I tried playing an MP4 file from my PS3, which had the exact same problem. For some reason, this system has trouble with treble or highs. I know nothing about audio, but I know what sounds good, and for the amount of money I paid, this was not good.

Troubleshooting: The room where I had placed the BOSE system is not very big. It is around 12x20 feet and I had placed three speakers on the tv stand and 2 right on the wall behind my sofa. I played for hours with changing the direction of the cube speakers individually and together. I also tried different sound settings (DOLBY, DTS, NEO etc) but the vocals and dialogues were just not there. In the end I just packed up the system and returned it.

Conclusion: The system is barely ok for the movies, and horrible for music. I actually went to some independently owned audio stores and heard some other speakers. Before I bought BOSE, I hadn't even heard of companies like Mirage, Paradigm and KEF. I always assumed that BOSE was the best, but after buying the system realized that BOSE is the only one saying it. Even CNET doesn't have an expert review of this "excellent" system. I ended up buying KEF 2005.3 5.1 speaker system and couldn't be happier with it. The vocals are crystal clear, sound is crisp, and dialogues are powerful. The bass is great and does not interfere.

IMHO, please go and listen for yourself to other systems before you buy BOSE. Ask the dealer if its at all possible to play BOSE and another comparable system next to each other. Try listening to the speakers without the bass module or the subwoofer. Take your favourite CD, IPOD or a DVD with you and listen to the system at low, medium and high volumes. Don't let the salesperson blast the manufacturer's CD or DVD in your face while you are standing 2 feet away from the speakers. It's just like singing in the shower, everyone sounds good.

In the end, BOSE was really disappointing for a system that claims to be the best. I did some research and found out that BOSE sued Consumer Reports and eventually lost because Consumer Reports criticized one of its systems. Also the lack of expert reviews on the BOSE systems should be a clue that there is something fishy. To me BOSE is all marketing and not a good bang for your buck.

Also go the AVS forums or any other audio video forums and read about BOSE and other speaker systems. You will be shocked as I was. And if you are a BOSE owner, and in love with the sound quality, I am very happy for you. I just couldn't spend that much money and not be happy with my system. I work very hard for my money.

Bose are like the Toyota of speakers. If you ask the most elite professionals if they are the best, the answer is no. There are much better speakers to be had, just like there are better cars than Corollas, but there are tradeoffs. Size, price, appearance, and personal tastes should all be considered. Just because a Mercedes is largely considered to be better than an inexpensive Toyota does not mean someone should not consider buying a Toyota. It may be the perfect car for them. Also, just because you can get a less expensive Kia, that is similar in many ways, does not mean you should buy the Kia. Bose speakers are extremely compact, setup is quite simple, and while they do not have a perfectly linear response curve, they are quite loud and distortion free at high volumes. Very few speakers of this size can be used at such high volumes without causing damage, and the others that can cost as much or more. Of course with unlimited money and unlimited speaker sizes you can make something that sounds better or has a more linear response curve. However, if someone wants a very compact speaker system to mount on the wall away from children, has a relatively modest budget of $1,000, and isn't worried that a clarinet may sound eight to ten decibels quieter than a flute in an orchestra, by all means they may want to consider this Bose system. Don't believe all the haters. Bose speakers sound very very good for their size and price. In response to the statement, "They're not the best." I say, of course they are not the best! In a world with million dollar home theaters, who would think that $1,000 is going to get them the best system in the world?! If you bought this system only to later rant that it is not the best, you are clueless. Compare apples to apples. Don't compare large $10,000 systems to tiny $1,000 cube systems. They do not serve the same market segment. For people who just want to have a nice out of the way system, this is for you. For those who want to sit in a sound booth and spend hours comparing response curves and tonality, obviously you should get something else. These are the Toyota Corolla of the speaker world. Not the cheapest, not the best, but very nice for the money and they will work just fine.

I spent considerable time researching and visiting places I could hear what I wanted from a sound system. The BOSE Acoustamass 10 series IV Home Entertainment System was, by my understanding the best there is; but, I wondered whether that was hype and the publicity machine doing what it was supposed to do. I also purchased a Pioneer VSX-82TXS-S ELITE Receiver to compliment and complete my sound system. (The list price is $1200 but you can use this site and get it for $800)Well,I bit the bullet and made the decision to buy the BOSE Accoustamas: WOW, it surpassed all my expectations and any doubts I had about the hype were blown away. This system is fantastic in every way, easy to set up and add to the receiver. The quality of the reproduction is superb in all areas of sound reproduction from listening to a movie on THX to a song. You will not be disappointed in this product. It looks good, not intrusive and the price is worth every $.I would most certainly recommend that you also invest in a quality receiver to go with BOSE. Again buy this, you will not be disappointed. (A note: I wanted to put my rear speakers on a stand and I found the BOSE stand to be too short for my location, but, you can shop around and get a stand of the same quality which gives you a little more height).

Bose cube speakers have a fundimental sound..the cubes contain a tiny speaker, essentially a tweeter, The subwoofer box contains a 5.5 inch woofer.. bass below 120 cycles is no directional, so the sub can be placed almost any where.. but the cubes only have a low frequency of 200 cucles leaving a big audio gap not covered..right in the middle of the speech range.....
A 5.5 inch woofer can deliver low frequency when paired with a large amplifier.Usually 200 watts rms or more..Bose has never posted its amplifier power outputs...(top secret)
If you play hiphop or rap and loud action moves the bose will sound fine...
If you play true music look for a speaker with a minimum of a 4 inch woofer and a 8-10 inch subwoofer.(this eliminates the bose and sony cubes)..Yamaha, klipsch and onkyo still make some of the best systems and for not much more money

I'm probably like many of you -- I didn't know much about television audio but wanted something better than what came with the television. Initially, I was thinking about one of the Bose Cinemate products, but I realized after a little bit that DTS-HD Master Audio (the Blu-ray sound format) wasn't supported by this product (it supports solely DVD quality sound). Since I was planning to use my PS3 as my Blu-ray player and saw another review on here chastise the vocal quality with PS3's, I was pretty scared to make this purchase.

I did end up buying this product and absolutely love it! If you are planning to use this with a PS3, make sure to go through the PS3 Sound options and enable all the sound formats. If you don't, it will be transmitting the sound at 44.1 KHz which won't sound very good. One of the other reviews said it sounded terrible with his "Harman Kardon AVR 154" receiver, but that is because the "Harman Kardon AVR 154" only supports sound formats such as DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital (which are all DVD sound formats). Basically, he was popping in a blu-ray and his receiver was doing its best to convert it down to DVD quality sound, so of course it is going to sound terrible! WHEN BUYING A RECEIVER, MAKE SURE IT SUPPORTS "DTS-HD MASTER AUDIO" IF YOU WANT TO PLAY BLU-RAY MOVIES WITH IT!

I'm using the Bose Acoustimass 10 with an Onkyo TX-NR809, and boy is the sound incredible! My neighbors probably hate me (I live in a 650 square foot apartment and also recently bought a blender), but I'd definitely recommend this product! I've always played music through the tv speakers or through computer speakers, and the first thing that hit me is that there is a fair amount of lower frequency sounds that I was missing out on.

A few tips that I have to pass along after my 3 months of tv audio research:
1. I got my Bose Acoustimass 10 new for $899 instead of $999. I found out that sometimes between the hours of 11:30pm - 2am, the price on this Amazon site drops $100. If you aren't in a rush, wait a couple days and see if you can save $100 :)

2. One of my biggest questions was what to do with the middle speaker? Most diagrams have it above the television nailed into the wall, but I live in an apartment and can't do that. The solution I used, after talking with a myriad of people, was to place the speaker on the television table-top (so it sits just below the tv) on a piece of black felt from Walmart. This solution worked for me!

3. Pick a receiver with a low THD and higher power. The THD is a level of distortion, so the lower the percent the better. I heard from a representative at Best Buy, although I don't know if it is true, that the higher the Wattage of the receiver (90W, 135W, etc) the better you can hear vocals at lower sound levels. Again, I bought a Onkyo TX-NR809 and it has been great! I'd recommend buying either an Onkyo or a Dennon.

4. Another concern I had was that I didn't want a massive cord going down the middle of my living room from the acoustimass module to the back speakers. The only HD solution that I found was the "Rocketfish HD Audio Starter Kit". Best Buy sells these for $200, but just buy it online and get it for substantially cheaper. You should be able to get it new for around $100 or a little less.

5. I was debating between table-top and floor stands for the speakers. I went with the floor stands and would definitely recommend those as well. If you decide to go with floor stands, buy them on Amazon because they are about 50% off.

6. The acoustimass module is deceivingly long -- make sure to do a few extra measurements :)

I hope this review has helped answer some of your questions.

Unfortunately, these speakers did not live up to my expectations. I think they are halfway decent speakers, but for the price I expect them to be something to be proud of.

I have to say overall the sound quality is just about poor. The highs are not there, and neither are the lows. The bass module has the frequency set so high it seems the woofer is pointed right at me, instead of being an ambient rumble. I tried to check the frequency response but was disappointed to find that Bose doesn't release this information. After searching the web I found someone who said they tested it but it was so poor and since its only 1 guy maybe he was wrong. The bass module does produce considerable bass for its size (Well, highs at least), but sounds very muddled. On my test I had low bass lines I waited to hear that never happened. Also, replacing the sub only is not an option because the system will not work without it. Just the bass module's performance alone makes this product deserve 1 star.
The little cube speakers seem to have their frequency set too high, there is absolutely no bass coming from them, that means when someone is talking on a movie in a deep voice, most of the sound comes from the bass module and makes it sound very uneven.

It seems that the woofers are made of cardboard, not the kind of thing you would expect from speakers of this price. The speaker boxes themselves feel cheap but seem solid enough at least.

The setup is a little frustrating because its not setup like a normal set of speakers. They all have to route through the bass module, and due to this, whatever settings you have on your receiver will be overridden by the crossover setup by Bose.

Overall I think this product may have earned 3 to 4 stars at $200 - $300, but for this price, it feels like a rip off.

I recently spent some time auditioning this product (outside of a retail store in multiple placement configurations, which is a much different experience) and honestly none of that time was necessary for me to know that no amount of engineering or marketing is sufficient to ignore the laws of physics and still have a good product. My listening experience did indeed bear this out, for what it's worth.

Here's the plain facts: There's a certain point in the frequency spectrum below which the human ear can no longer discern a sound's directionality. This is why subwoofers can generally be put in a corner of the room and still integrate seamlessly with the other speakers. Those speakers must be pointed directly at the listening position because higher frequencies are very directional, but a well placed sub will trick your ear into thinking all the bass is coming from those speakers, and not the sub.

This principle is no different for the Bose system, as they themselves will tell you. But here's the fatal flaw: The vast majority of experts in the field agree that this "certain point" in the spectrum lies between 100Hz and 150Hz. For this reason the crossover point below which audio is handed off to the sub is generally either 80Hz, 100Hz, or 120Hz. In high level systems it's almost always 80Hz, or sometimes as low as 60Hz. Bose cubes, when taken apart, look very similar to clock radios, except the paper cone is thicker. They produce sound louder, more evenly, and with less distortion than a clock radio, but their frequency range doesn't go any lower than a clock radio. That bottom limit is around 250-300Hz, which means a lot of highly directional audio must be handed off to the sub, which is in the corner pointed at the floor. Oops.

What does all this really mean for the average non-technical home theater enthusiast? It means that the majority of movie dialog will suffer greatly because the fundamental range of the human speaking voice falls right into that truck-sized gap. You can turn up the Acoustimass Module until the dialog is discernible and sufficiently loud, but it will never give you a truly clear and distinct reproduction of that dialog. Also, the level you'll need the Acoustimass at to hear the dialog loud enough will make low frequency explosions and such obnoxiously loud, to the point where it's distracting and it takes away from everything else.

This is simple basic physics. No listening audition or high tech test measurements are required to know that this is what will result from a system designed in such a way. My background makes this stuff impossible to ignore, though it may go unnoticed by some, and I'm sure that for some people out there none of this matters at all. I tend to think that's a case of "listening with your eyes" however.

If you're already convinced, I'm not here to change your mind. If you've only heard how awesome they are and want to learn more, take heed!

I love this system! I've had it for about 6 months now and the sound is fabulous. The bass is deep and will shake the walls, and the speakers will blast crystal clear sound even when you turn the volume up to full blast.

I read a ton of reviews on different sites that have claimed Bose is just over-hyped junk, but I can honestly say that for this price range, this is a quality system. I currently have the system hooked up to a Sony receiver that puts out 110 watts per channel, and it can get L O U D! When watching concert videos and movies, you feel like you're there.

Obviously, someone looking to design a room totally dedicated to home theater use would go with a larger, more professional setup, but for typical living room style home entertainment, this system will do the trick.

I recently acquired the Bose Accoustimass 10 System for my den. I am totally satisfied with the system. It is exceptional for movies, sports, music, etc. Delivery was quick and set up was a breeze with all the color coded wiring provided. I would recommend this system to anyone looking for a quality surrond sound system.