The Bottom Line: These speakers will give you many years of enjoyment if you like them and will frustrate you if you did not take the time to compare them.

I have owned the Bose Acoustimass 5 speakers for 11 years now and I absolutely love everything about them. The pieces are small and disappear in the room leaving a custom look. I think the sound is phenomenal. There is excellent seperation, staging, and low end response. Bose acoustimass speakers have a unique sound that attempts to duplicate the sound of their professional speakers. Chances are if you have been to a nightclub or a concert you have heard Bose speakers in action.
My friend is a sound professional and is always telling me that I should get some "more acccurate" speakers. So we have gone speaker shopping multiple times. Every speaker he thinks is great I don't like. They all sound too shrieky and distorted to me when you turn them up. The Bose is a much smoother sound. I especially like them when company is over, because you can crank them way up for a party and still carry on a conversation. They sound incredibly good at high volumes, and low volumes too. I have not found a better satellite speaker at any price.
I have found through experience that speakers are totally subjective. Don't let your opinions of a speaker be swayed by someone else. You are the one who has to drop $500 so you better love what you're buying. One man's trash is another man's treasure. Some people don't like the sound of Bose and love to bash it because they spent a lot of money on them. Too bad for them, they should have done their research. $500 is a lot of money to waste.
So I would reccomend that you stop reading this review and all others immediately, get in the car and go listen to as many speakers as you can.