Bose Acoustimass 6 Series III Speaker System

To start, I?ll have you know that I have owned about 10 different surround sound systems in the last 9 years. Some of the brands to name a few are Harmon Kardon, Cerwin Vega, Polk, and Kenwood. Etc. To this date, I have never heard better sound then I have with these little cubes (except perhaps the NEW Bose speakers out today).

With that said, I?ll start with the review:

I went shopping for a good surround system to input in my new house. Having just bought a 50" HDTV wide screen TV and knowing my living room is more on the elegant side, I wanted something I could hide on the ceiling or somewhere inconspicuous. After buying that TV my budget was running thin, so I began looking at different speaker setups. I listened to several systems, which all sounded quite well. Then the salesman told me he had 1 more system on sale, however a little more expensive the others. So I walked into the sound room and he popped in "Pearl Harbor" on DVD. He then told me to get ready. So I stood in the middle of the room, not knowing what to expect, but the thought of some huge floor speaker booming my ears off came to mind. The movie began, and it absolutely blew my mind. The sound was RICH and non-distorted. He handed me the remote and he said, "Turn it up". At this point it was quite loud, and I told him I was afraid of blowing up the speakers. He told me "Trust me, turn it up". So I turned the volume up another 10 notches. The sound get crisper, clearer, and it was like I was sitting in the middle of a symphony! Well, I asked him about the floor speaker set, since I assumed that?s where the sound was coming from. He laughed and said "Look up into the corners of the room". I looked and barely saw these little cubes pointing down at me, and I said. Nawwwww couldn?t be. Then he turned up the volume again and said, "Go stick your ear to the floor speakers". So believe it or not I DID! I kept thinking how are these little speakers putting this sound out. Nonetheless, I bought the set and then he said. Ok, do you have a receiver? I told him I have an older receiver, etc. He said, "You absolutely must have the proper receiver to get the sound you just heard, let me show you" Then I thought, oh great, more money gone. He pointed a Kenwood unit out to me Model 6050, and I bought that with it. So, I left the store with the Acusta-mass 6 speakers and the Kenwood receiver. ** - NOTE: You do NOT need speaker wire it has a TON and its special for the set.

Opening the Box:

I open the box to find the instructions on top and all the speakers in its own little box. The instructions were easy to read and clear, and all the wires (TONS of extra wire) were labeled, easily and clearly. I mounted the speakers exactly like the sound room, running the wires through the ceiling and into my media niche where the big screen is. The wiring could NOT have been easier, the wires are clearly marked, and the plugs cannot be placed in the wrong ports since the plugs are all kind of like unique Lego's, they only snap in the correct place. Once I got everything wired, I hooked the receiver up to the TV and then read the manual on wiring the receiver. Now, here is a TRICKY part of the Bose speakers. The manual has you set the receiver up so no subwoofer is present and the surround sound thinks its on 3 channels, I don't know why, but I followed the directions and hooked it up as stated with no problems. 2 Thumbs up on EASE of Setup, very good directions to follow even if you?re new to audio.

Sound Quality:

I adjust the receiver as stated in the Bose manual and then pop in Pearl Harbor (I own it too). At first the sound was odd, all speakers were working just fine, but it didn't sound correct. I made some simple adjustments on my receiver then the sound came alive. AMAZING! I thought to myself, as I sat on my couch in the middle of the room. Those little speakers made my living room a movie theater! In depth, the Bass notes were clear and carried, very rich and fulfilling, not just a simple boom and stop, the bass actually carried itself with the music and dialogue, amazing stuff. The midrange was also quite amazing, it flowed and carried the notes to its fullest, which also is intriguing, its almost like the speakers think about how to put the music out before it actually plays the music. The highs are the most impressive part of this system, I can ACTULLY hear the actors talking over music, and it gives a new name to tone. The Surround is the only thing it lacks in, due to the less focus on background sounds and more focus on reproducing the more apparent sounds. Overall 2 Thumbs up on sound quality, I haven?t heard anything non-Bose better yet.

Watching TV / Listening to Music:

Let me tell you, the system was NOT made to watch TV with it. I have dish network, and the speakers HATE it. Here?s the reason why, the speakers pick up every single little detail in the sound, and the problem with normal TV, is the line noise and the poor sound quality put out by the stations. I would NOT suggest you use the surround system on normal channels. HOWEVER, the digital channels like HBO, Showtime etc, sounded wonderful, not quite as good as DVD but quite good. So 1 Thumb Up on TV sounds

Music:

The system is NOT great for radio sounds; the surround receiver picks up distortions from the radio and you can hear it in the speakers. I suggest using 3-speaker mode on your receiver for the best results, but the system wasn?t designed for radio sound. However, CD's sound wonderful, just like a movie they are crisp and clear and the system sounds again amazing! So, just say no to radio, and say YES to CD's. P.S. - The digital sound channels on my dish also sounded great! 1 Thumb up on music, if it wasn?t for the radio it would be ok.

Overall:

The sound these little speakers have is amazing. The sound they reproduce for their size is a technical marvel. They were not built to be boom boxes nor were they built for listening to the radio in your dorm room. I see some others on here talking about the poor sound quality and how they were a waste of money. Let me tell you people something, if you do not get a GOOD receiver with good Dolby II and dts sound, the speakers will suffer. The receiver is a HUGE part of the system, and if you go cheap, your sound quality will be cheap. That said, these speakers are worth every penny I have spent on them, they put out sound beyond what I had expected and beyond what I thought was affordable. For the price, they are easily the best set of surround speakers you can buy. Don't get me wrong, there are better speakers out there, but I can tell you this, the better still carry the name BOSE.