The Bose Acoustimass 6 Series V home theater system features five satellite speakers and a subwoofer that serves as the main hub for the entire home theater speaker system. The satellite speakers are small cubes that are about the size of a baseball. Regardless of the small size of the speakers, they produce big and full audio for your home entertainment center.
This was the best-performing surround sound speaker system in our comparison. Our listening panel felt submerged by the audio during the testing. For our testing we had a panel of reviewers watch a scene from a movie and compare the sound quality of all the home theater speaker systems we reviewed. There is a part in the movie where the main character is surrounded by motorcycles. To our panel's surprise, the small cubed speakers produced the full and dynamic surround sound to make them feel as if they were surrounded as well. While we tested sound systems in the past, this is no longer something we do, so consider our list of the best soundbars instead, if you need something more modern.
Along with surround sound prowess, the system produces above-average dialogue clarity. To achieve this, though, we had to dial back the bass on the subwoofer hub to find the sweet spot. Without a little experimentation, the highs would be too bright or the bass overbearing. Once we found the sweet spot, the speakers' natural tonal quality was on display. Many of our panelists described the sound quality as sharp and natural sounding, meaning the midrange and high frequencies were not overemphasized, which can make speakers sound shrill or boxy.
The subwoofer is not one of the home speaker system's high points. To get good rumbling bass from the sub, we had to crank the volume dial up almost to its max, but this would flood the audio with bass, making everything sound muddy and dull. Finding the right amount of bass is essential to the overall quality of the entire system.
The subwoofer is the central hub for the entire system. Unlike other systems we reviewed, like the JBL Cinema 610, the satellite speakers don't have typical +/- connectors located on the back of the speaker. Instead, they have a specially made connector unique to this system. All of the speaker connectors are color coded so you know which speakers go where in your home. All of the satellite speakers then connect to their assigned ports on the bottom of the subwoofer. Then, the subwoofer output connects to the receiver with a special speaker bundle of speaker wire. You can't use regular speaker wire to connect any of the satellite speakers to the receiver, nor can you use any of the satellite speakers without the subwoofer. The entire process to connect this system to our receiver was a bit of a hassle.
Since this system still connects to the back of the receiver with normal speaker wire, it can be compatible with other home audio equipment. For example, if you already have two floor standing speakers, you can use the Bose 5.1 system to turn your home theater system into a 7.1 setup. Just make sure that your receiver can support 7.1 audio channels.
This system does not feature a center speaker.
The overall sound quality from the Bose 5.1 surround sound speakers is great. Dialing in the bass on the subwoofer to optimize the entire system can take some time. Connecting all of the speakers to the hub and then connecting the hub to the receiver is also time consuming. However, if you can look past the setup and the optimization of the sound, this system ends up being one of the better-sounding home theater systems you'll find.
