Bose Acoustimass 5 Series 2 Redline Soundsystem

The Bose Acoustimass 5 Series II speaker system is despite its age still a popular soundsystem. The newer  systems have 5 to 7 speakers, which is the reason why many owners of the older series are looking for an identical acoustimass set. In a home theater component setup, the Acoustimass 5 speaker system is then used as a choice for the surround speaker system rear channel.
Each cube array is composed of two small cubes which can be swiveled. Each cube contains a 2.5" Twiddler cone driver. The two satellites are video shielded to prevent interference with TV signals.
Wires are run from the left and right speaker output of the receiver to the bass module which has two spring clip speaker inputs.

What about the price?
Interestingly, you can buy the Bose Acoustimass 5 without any closer specification of the series. Bose spends a comparetively high amount of revenue on marketing, which strengthened their brandimage among the public, but hurt its reputation among professionals. The company is also often criticized for recycling old audio concepts and claiming innovations to be there own, even though they are years old. In audio forums, such as audiokarma , you will find people talking rather negatively about Bose speakers, not at last because of a general perception that they are bad in performing lows and highs.
Overall, I have to agree with the criticism. The Bose Acoustimass 5 definetily look great, whether it is the "redline", the normal black or even the white version of the system. My ones also sounded nice and clear. However, I was missing some depth and warmth when listening to them. When watching movies, I can imagine the Acoustimass are quite appropriate, not at last because of the woofer, but when listening to music (which is what I did), the sound was noticeable shallow. I would assume, for the usual auction price of $120-150, there are better speakers out there. Find them!

Dimensions (WxDxH):
Satellite speaker : 3.1 in x 4 in x 6.2 in
Subwoofer : 18.9 in x 7.5 in x 14 in
Enclosure Color Black
Speaker Type Passive Input
Recommended Amplifier Power 10 - 200 Watt and 4-8 ohms output
MSRP $749.00 in 1990.
Current price: $100-140


SEE THE ORIGINAL REVIEW HERE

Day 239: Bose Acoustimass 5 sold!

Income: 215.35 $
I posted the Bose soundsystem I bartered for my free vintage speakers in fall 2011 again on craigslist and lowered the price from $150 to $135, but excluded the speaker cable. I also changed the description of my post and kept the whole ad very short and clear. I have the impression that this made a big difference, as I received 4 serious requests within 2 days. Instead of including the cable into the overall price I added it for 5$ extra and it worked out. I thus received 140$ for the soundsystem and cables.

For the coming days I will spend my time working on an art project, which will be subject of another blog. Let´s see how that works out!

Day 98: Vintage Speakers traded for... Bose Soundsystem!

 Income: 00.18 $
Finally some post-worthy content and progress! During the past week I returned another 74 cans (3,70$) and I had a bankroll of 60,18$... at least for a few days.

After refreshing my ad on craigslist and offering to trade my speakers against anything of higher value, I received an email from a person who was already interested in them several weeks ago. He offered me a variety of things (such as vintage shaving gear ), but I was most interested in his  Bose Soundsystem (Acoustimass 5 Series II ). We agreed that I´d have to pay him an additional 60$ and that I would receive some wire cables.
I hope the Bose Soundsystem is easier to sell or trade than the vintage speakers, as I was quite lucky to find someone who is interested in such old speakers. Ebay.com price for the soundsystem is around 150$. Currently it has a few drops of wall paint here and there and some resistant dust. I´ll clean them now and see what I can get for them on craigslist as soon as possible.Maybe I can make some additional dollars with the unused speaker wire. There should be around 30 feet left, 100feet are worth around 30$ at bestbuy.

 Bye Bye 50 year old Vintage Speakers:

Welcome 20 year old Bose Soundsystem (and 60 feet of wires):