Budget equivalent for Bose Acoustimass 5 Series 3

[pauljoseph]

I'm not much of an audio guy, always been more into the video side of things and just used whatever came with the TV. Currently running a BenQ GV50 portable projector in my bedroom and have been living with its built-in speaker.
Recently started looking at fixing this. As a kid I remember walking into a Bose showroom and being amazed by the Acoustimass demo, that memory has me eyeing the AM5 Series III on the secondhand market right now at around ₹20k.

Yes, I know Bose gets a lot of hate in AV circles. But I want something small, sounds good out of the box, no fuss. The Acoustimass tech seems genuinely different from a regular 2.1? the bass module design doesn't just seem like marketing. Something that can pressurize the whole room?
Anyway, plan is to pair it with a Fosi Audio BT20A amp (https://amzn.in/d/0a7EilbL) and connect the GV50 over Bluetooth. Looked at the Logitech Z623 but feels like a step down.

Budget is under ₹30k all in including the amp. Is the AM5 the move, or is there something else at this secondhand price point worth considering?

 

[Passive_audio_enthusiast]

I'm not much of an audio guy, always been more into the video side of things and just used whatever came with the TV. Currently running a BenQ GV50 portable projector in my bedroom and have been living with its built-in speaker.
Recently started looking at fixing this. As a kid I remember walking into a Bose showroom and being amazed by the Acoustimass demo, that memory has me eyeing the AM5 Series III on the secondhand market right now at around ₹20k.

Yes, I know Bose gets a lot of hate in AV circles. But I want something small, sounds good out of the box, no fuss. The Acoustimass tech seems genuinely different from a regular 2.1? the bass module design doesn't just seem like marketing. Something that can pressurize the whole room?
Anyway, plan is to pair it with a Fosi Audio BT20A amp (https://amzn.in/d/0a7EilbL) and connect the GV50 over Bluetooth. Looked at the Logitech Z623 but feels like a step down.

Budget is under ₹30k all in including the amp. Is the AM5 the move, or is there something else at this secondhand price point worth considering?

I think you are asking a question about a product which is on sale on the classifieds here. Mostly people refrain to provide you a reply on this as it may boost or negatively affect the sales.

 

[square_wave]

Just a heads-up on that Bose AM5—I’d actually suggest skipping it for your movie setup.

The problem is that the little cube speakers are too tiny to handle the 'middle' part of the sound where people’s voices live. This creates a literal 'hole' in the audio. Because the cubes can't keep up, the bass box on the floor has to try and fill in the gap. You end up with a weird effect where a deep voice sounds like it’s coming from your floor instead of the actors on the screen!

A much better (and likely cheaper) way to go:

• For the Wall: Grab some Polk OWM3s, the TAGA TOW series, or JBL Control 1s. These are solid speakers that actually have enough 'meat' to handle dialogue properly.
• For the Bass: Pair them with an Edifier T5 subwoofer. If you can stretch your budget a bit, the TAGA TSW90 or Mission MS200 are even better.

These speakers and subs 'overlap' perfectly. The sub handles the deep thumps, and the wall speakers handle the voices, with no awkward gap in the middle. Everything will sound like one seamless wall of sound, and the dialogue will be way clearer.

Trust me, this combo will completely outclass the Bose system for movies.