Durability

Bass Response High's are not crisp Bose is a good "mid-range" sounding speaker only.

I have my pair of Bose 201's since 1989. These speakers LAST, most people hate the fact that they use paper cones, but i have never had to replace the cones in these speakers after over 15years of DAILY use, and yes, i do push these speakers to their limits weekly. These speakers are made incredibly well, and have good sound. The problem with these is the price (now currently going for ~200$ i beleive) I recently bought a pair of Pyle PHS78 which was MUCH cheaper, has much more bass, and much clearer highs. These Bose are excellent in the fact that they have been pumping out sound for over 15 years, without one speaker failing/having a problem.

Similar Products Used:

Complete line of Pyle home audio speakers, Kenwood, Pioneer, and Cerwin vega

Wicked, Clear and nicely balanced. Very affordable.

Lack that "Punch" that I desire.

I really do not like Bose, but I got these in 2000 to use as rears in a home theater set-up. In my experience, these are crystal clear and deliver much "bigger sound" then I thought they would. Normally Bose speakers sound very clear, but lack that punch and feel of higher end speakers. The 201's are typical Bose. I am a Cerwin Vega man. I've got LS-12's as Mains, LS-6C as Center, E76-C as rear-center, and the Bose 201's as surrounds, all powered by a Pioneer Elite VSX43-TX Receiver. I couldn't be happier with these 201's. I like the design of these with their direct/reflecting build. I have them wall-mounted tilted down about 10 degrees, tilted forward about 20 degrees, and placed about 2 feet behind main listening position and 2 feet above ear level. Home Theater has never sounded so good. I am impressed with these 201's.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity, JBL, Cerwin Vega

Very good sound for relatively few dollars.

Some cite the paper cones. True they will deteriorate faster than plastic, but they can also be replaced cheaply.

For the money, I don't think there is a better bookshelf speaker on the market. Many reviewers seem to have unrealistic expectations here. A 6.5" woofer is not going to give huge booming bass response. What you do get is a balanced, spacious sound that fills the room. The 201 is a 2-way inexpensive speaker folks. If you want audiophile quality, you'll have to pony up more $$$. I use 3 pairs of these (front A&B and rear surround) with a VCS-10 center and a Yamaha YST-SW45 sub in a moderate sized room. They work well for music as well as movies in 5.1 surround. At moderately high volumes, there is not much audible distortion. If you really push them, they will of course begin to break up. Highs are crisp and overall sound is quite good....not great but GOOD. Many have posted negative reviews of the 201 in favor of higher end equipment. That's fine, there is definitely higher quality stuff on the market. However, for the same money, who makes a better bookshelf speaker? I'll stick with Bose.

Similar Products Used:

Cerwin-Vega, JBL

Cost (eat your hearts out) Overall great sound, including BASS Well made Hell, their Bose don't ya know?

I only have two of them

All you Bose lovers are now probably creaming your jeans at the price I paid for these puppies! Now only are they BRAND NEW Looking, they sound great! I am currently using them with a 1975 Pioneer Receiver and a Sony CDP 110 CD deck. Man, do these babies rock!! Much more than I would expect from "Bookshelf" size speakers, (they blow away my high dollar RCA's w/liquid tweats). One "complaint" I see surfacing in all the reviews: No Bass...hmmm, mine seem to have all the bass you would want, if fact I had to crank up the treble a step or two just to EQ em'. For the money, new or used, you can't go wrong with theses speakers. I highly recommend them as main speakers on a small-medium size room, or as rear or high end speakers for a large room with some towers. Really Kickin!

-These speakers sound great at any volume -Make excellent rear speakers -They will fill any room with excellent quality sound -Good customer service -Bose will honor its warranties

-lack of bass, but if you want real bass, you should probably not be buying bookshelf speakers anyway.

I got the series V speakers not the series IV. These were the first speakers I bought and hooked up to a pretty high end onkyo reciever that I've got and they sound incredible for what they are. Currently they are my rear speakers and their direct reflecting design really fills the room with high quality music. Note - these speakers are made to produce clear and natural sounds, not exaggerated bass. If that is what you are looking for, look into cerwin-vega or another brand.

Great value Great overall sound field built well (open one up if you don;t believe me

not much deep bass but I knew that when I bought them

I can't possibly stand to read all these reviews on this product. I can't help but laugh at the fact that most people have very un-realistic expectatoins for a pair of $100.00 bookshelf speakers. I have owned these speakers for about 2-months now. I have a Pioneer VSX-45tx receiver and I needed a pair of surrounds to replace som cheap Pioneer surrounds that sounded horrible. These speaker sound great and I don't care how they are made or what the science about them is. These speaker look and feel solid, produce great sound, and are a great value. I personally don't care to hear much bass from my surrounds, thats why I have 2-front towers and a sub. I wonder how many people are expecting these speakers to fill in as mains? They will not do the job. Please remember everyone these are not considered expensive speakers but my personal opinion is that they are a great value is used correctly. I want to add that before I upgraded my receiver I was running DVD-Audio through and inexpensive 5-channel receiver and the sound through these speakers was so good that I swore I had 2-rear surrounds. I couldn't believe how good they sounded. By the way the rest of my system is comprised of Polk speakers and an Acoustic research sub.

Similar Products Used:

Polk rti-38's Polk rti-70's Polk csi-30 Acoustic reaserch sub

Reasonable price for very good sound.

Doesn't sound like a $1000 loudspeaker - is it supposed to ?

I have never seen so many audio lovers be so petty regarding loudspeakers. Bottom line - for small bookshelf speakers - these sound great. As one reviewer mentioned - we are not talking about $1000 loudspeakers here - but for a kitchen, spare bedroom, or den - these sound fantastic ! It's interesting too that Consumer Reports loved these as well in the yearly loudspeaker evaluations. Go Bose !

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch,Infinity, Yamaha

Love Bose Sound.

Don't allow to buy other products.

Most common Bose haters’ characteristics: -Some buy Bose speakers just to write bad reviews. -Some have girl friends who give them Bose product in gift to write reviews. -Some don’t have Bose speakers but open their room-mate’s Bose speakers to write bad review. -Some are just impressed lot by Bose advertising and buy them without listing any other brand and suddenly they find out lots of technical problems in Bose speakers and write review like they are expert in audio technology. -Some think that Plastic cone is very much expensive then paper cone. But they find paper cone in Bose over 200/- product and plastic cone in 10$/pair Jenson/KLH/Emersion products. -Some find no Bass, muddy mid range, poor highs, poor look, chip material, high price in all Bose product for years and still they dare to buy new Bose product and end up with bad reviews. -Some think that most people are stupid and they just buy Bose speakers because they like Bose marketing skill. Even NASA and US Air Force also like Bose marketing skill and that’s why they use Bose product. -Some think that only Bose has Great marketing skill and all other speaker manufacturers are Zero in marketing skill. -None of the bad reviewers say that they are sales person of other hi-end product and are sitting free due to Bose.

Warm sound, decent power handling, small size, good looks, reasonable price. FIVE YEAR WARRANTY

Lousy spring terminals for the wire connection.

To all you Bose haters out there.. Get over yourselves. I will be the first to tell you that I think Bose is over marketeted. I dont like the acoustamass systems, and while the 901 system can fill a house with sound, it is a strange airy out of phase sound. However, I have to tell you that I am a musician, and someone with a degree in audio recording. The sound of the 201 speakers is a welcome change after being exposed to the sterile sound of studio monitors for several hours in a day. When properly set up, these speakers simply sound fine. To all you alleged audiophiles who keep complaining... what exactally are you doing with a $200 set of speakers? These speakers are by no means audiophile quality, nor are they intended to be. My only complaint is that they have a throaty midrange, maybe even a bit muddy, but nothing an EQ wont take care of. They clean up nicely with an EQ. I dont use mine with a subwoofer, I think they have plenty of bass just the way they are. If you want to fill a room with sound, these will do it for you. If you are on a tight budget, I reccomend them 100%. Also, they are only a bit larger than a big shoe box. What more could you ask for? PS. The Bose system in my Pontiac Bonneville is pretty good too.

Similar Products Used:

Bose 901,Bose 301-- the 201 actually has better sound than either of these. Infinity bookshelf speakers... sound fantastic.. if you sit in one spot and dont get up.

sound staging if properly installed. compact and good-looking.

lack of bass.

I've used 201 with my creek5350 for 4 months. I listen to ranging from heavy metal, old rock, to standard pop. To tell the truth, I'm a bit surprised that there're so many negative reviews and so called 'Bose-Haters' here. Of course, I'm not a audio-phile but just music-lover. However I know what sound is good or not for this price range. The most critical point using 201 is where and how you place this speaker properly. If you do so, this speaker will put out better sound than you expected. But if not, this speaker may be the same as AIWA's mini speaker.

Similar Products Used:

other Bose products.