Inexpensive, great sound, look cool.

bass

I don't know why people write bad reviews for this speaker. For the price this speaker puts out great sound. I could turn my stereo all the way up with NO distortion. It puts out clean sound. It may be these so-called ''audiophiles'' who write bad reviews have crappy stereos or are using bad cables. My experience with Bose speakers have been great I don't get why people bash them. The only bose ad I've seen was for their wave radio. I'd recommend getting the 301's though because they can take more watts and they have more bass

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301's

Size? Looks?

Sound Quality, Price, Value

I just don't get it, some of you seem to be blinded by marketing, and care nothing about the sound. That is fine, sound is subjective, and I cannot tell you what sounds good or not. However, most of you know nothing about the electrical and mechanical properties of a speaker, yet you say things such as "paper cones suck for bass" and "titanium cones blast the bass great!". Sorry guys, you have quite a way to go... And for Adam, I don't even know where to start with you my friend. First of all, the bass does not start rolling off at 100hz, it begins rolling off in the khz range, due to the size of the front baffle. This can be avoided by placing the speakers near the back wall. Perhaps your speakers are in the middle of the room, or maybe outside? Freespace, yes these speakers are going to be very poor in the bass region, but in a room I do not see that as being a problem. They sounded like they extended below 100hz to me? Also, your comment towards 6.5 inch woofers not able to extend below 100hz is laughable. My main speakers have usable output to 40hz or even lower, and they too have a 6.5 inch woofer. They have more low bass output (when unequalized) than my cousins JBL speakers with dual 10" woofers per speaker. You could call me a Bose hater. Would you care to debate the merits of the statements you made? Please explain the advanced technology to me. I have in fact visited the website, and their "technology" is marketing drivel. First the parts you pay for are trash. The crossover network consists of a single 5 cent electrolytic capacitor in series with the tweeter. Is that advanced technology? The direct reflecting is a really bad idea. I cannot understand how you think the imaging is great due to the HF drivers firing into the walls? Your ear is off axis from the center of the driver, and with a 2" diameter diaphram, the extension is TERRIBLE. Not to mention, the LF driver is radiating in a different direction! This probably causes a hole or peak in the "crossover" region. I have heard this with my own two ears. The only technology I can see is the DSP features they incorporate in some of their integrated solutions. But I personally do not care for it. So in conclusion, these speakers ARE NOT WORTH WHAT YOU PAY FOR THEM! If they cost around 50 dollars a pair, they might be decent...

Good-looking, small, inexpensive. Good highs, decent mids, and has the ability to handle treble-heavy recordings with ease. The "stereo everywhere" technology works well, and they do fill the room with sound (if it's a bigger-sized room with high ceilings). They are unmatched in their price range if you don't care about bass.

NO BASS! Paper cones doesn't help this problem either.

I reviewed these speakers after first getting them about a year ago, and since then I have learned A LOT about audio, so I felt I should review them again. Ok, so firstly, they are Bose. No, I'm not a Bose hater, but they do charge a lot of money for products that aren't exactly made with the greatest materials. For example, the 201 speakers, as many reviews have pointed out here, have paper cones--this severly limits the response of the lower end, making the bass lacking. I've found that these speakers only bring out their full potential once they are connected with good-quality cables to a decent system. I've got a Harman Kardon AVR 110 receiver and an FL 8370 hdcd player to match, with Monster coax cables connecting the two, and Monster cables connecting the Bose speakers. And for the price, the speakers sound great with some recordings. Again, the problem is the bass. These speakers handle "treble-heavy" recordings wonderfully, so if you listen to jazz or classical look no further. But, for most of us, who listen to rock (or rap or dance or whatever), bass is a key in audio enjoyment. But it's really hard to get good bass in a compact, good-looking, and most importantly, cheap speaker. I'm considering up-grading slightly to the JBL N38's or possibly the JBL s310's. These are both floor-standing speakers that are in the same price range as the Bose (retail that is), but have received fantastic reviews on this site and have titanium cones, to make the bass deep and tight. When I have the bass turned up to about a 7 out of 10 on my receiver, the Bose become on the border of acceptable, but turn the bass up any further and it will muffle the sound, and drown the mids and highs. So, in short, don't bother with these if you have a crappy set up, or only listen to bass-dependable music. If you have a good set up and really only enjoy jazz (not blues), or classical, than these are fantastic speakers for the price. I also reccomend getting stands for these to make them ear-level, which increases the sound staging tremendously. And if you are determined to give Bose a try, don't bother with the next model up, the 301 series. They are nearly $100 more but don't increase the quality of the sound that much at all. And by the way, don't bother getting these speakers for $200 or $250 in a store--you can easily buy them for $100 on ebay.

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phillips, rc, klipsch

Good value Good sound Warranty (5 year)

Low end lacks Not video shielded

By themselves these speakers leave a lot to be desired (especially at the low end). BUT coupled with a sub-woofer I think these speakers sound great. Currently I have them hooked up with an Infinity BU1 that I purchased a while back. Its a weak sub but it was the right price, its a 50watt amp to an 8" woofer. I compared these speakers to a LOT of JBL/HK/Infinity speakers. I have not listened to other speakers than those listed. I used the warranty service once, a tweeter blew, but the warranty is 5 years I believe and it was covered. They even keep track of your purchase in their computers if you don't have the receipt.

Better than the junk that came with your stereo. They look alright.

Expensive, relative lack of bass.

These speakers will blow away any speaker that came with a rack system. That is why I bought them several years ago. They are not the best deal out there. I read one reviewer that said a 6.5" driver will roll off at ~100hz. My Polks with 5.25" drivers roll off at about 50hz. (RT-15's, $140/pr, and they sound great) It's all a matter of tradeoffs. The tradeoffs that bose makes are for looks, and manufacturing costs. That's why their 6.5" driver rolls off at 100hz. Also, it's usually harder to cross over a large woofer to a tweeter, so who knows what they had to do to get the crossover right. Don't buy Polk, don't dismiss Bose, just listen to several speakers untill you find one that sounds good to you (bring your own music)

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Polk rt15 bought in 2000

Highs Mid These speakers also have EXCEPTIONAL imaging and definition for the price.

Bass... This is an problem best fixed with a subwoofer.

This is to everyone that gave these speakers a bad review: Your full of crap! These speakers are amazing for the price. I agree with people when they say they don''t produce a lot of bass. But they have a 6 1/2 inch woofer in them USE YOUR BRAIN!... They will die off at around 100hz but a sub fills it in nicely I use them as my mains on my HT and they SOUND GREAT. One other thing I found out about these speakers is that placement is key. In other words people that are too lazy to read the 15 page instruction manual will not get the best sound they are capable of. Buy these speakers... If you are serious about even better sound get a GOOD sub (10" +) it fills in the bass you miss out on nicely. To all the Bose HATERS: People also say that Bose is not worth the money. I feel this is also a load of crap. They put a lot of technology into their speakers that is what you are paying for. Bose® Direct/Reflecting®. Look what these guys have come up with goto www.bose.com do some looking into the stuff before you bad mouth all of Bose.

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Bose 141

Great voice production, Wonderful Range.

Alittle weak on the Bass, but hey what do you expect from a bookshelf? Get a good sub, and set your crossover on the the reciever to 80 HZ and you will be amazed.

Now for all you that can''t stand the name Bose.. This isn''t for you... I''ve owned many speakers, and my father is a audio guru. From owning everything from Polk,Klipish,Infinity... I must say these 201 series IV are by far the best speaker for what you get... Now lets look at this from a practical way... 2 way speaker that gives the range of a 3 way, great voice definition, and plenty of highs (if you are lacking highs, maybe you need to turn them up on your reciever)... I think that those who (try) to find something wrong with these speakers need to get rid of thier 1978 dolby B reciever and step up... These speakers are wonderful, and even though I am not a great fan of paper cones... Bose knows something I don''t and they are backing it up with a great warranty, which is something that many companies will not do... I''m am very happy with the performance, and are a great addition to a home entertainment center, or listening room...

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Onkyo TX-DS898, Bose - 161 & VC10, Kenwood SW-505D-W

Small, well-built, cheap, easy to hook up, good-looking, and most importantly, very good sound especially for the price.

For $200-$250, there really are none. If you want really great, high quality, audiophile speakers, than be prepared to spend a lot of cash. But for a casual listener to audio enthusiast, for the price, this is as good as it gets.

Well, no matter what the ignorant say, I love these speakers. They are small, cheap, well-built, and look nice, not to mention that the sound is quite good. What more could I ask for for around 200 bucks? I went into Good Guys, and listened to basically every speaker in this price range, and the only other speakers that were even comparable were the Klipsch. But these were much more warm and balanced, rather than bright and thin, so I choose these. Let me also say that sound enjoyment is all about personal preference, not about brand-name reputation. Whether you''''ve heard terrible things about Bose or great things, what''''s important is that you listen to a wide range of speakers and decide what you like. And this concept goes for all electronics—headphones, DVD players, televisions, etc. Although reading reviews like this help, what’s really important is deciding what you think, not what others think. So, getting back to the speakers, I love them. I use them about everyday for around 45 minutes, and because I don’t use them for a home entertainment system, and because I don’t use them at high volume levels for hours at a time in a studio, these are basically perfect for me. With older, remastered recordings, the sound is basically you get what you pay for. But when you put in a CD that was recorded really well, or something that relies on digital recording and decoding to sound well, these speakers are simply fabulous. And it also seems that the high the volume is turned up, the better the speakers sound. At much lower volume levels these are only average, but when you get up into the higher volumes you won’t be disappointed for a medium-sized room. I only recommend these if you listen to certain styles of music though—basically the only musical style I wouldn’t recommend them for is hip/hop, rap stuff. These don’t have the thudding bass that many are looking to blast rap with; these are more the deep, tight, accurate bass production that audiophiles are looking for. The soundstage is quite good, and these really fill the room with sound. Blues, rock, or classical sound great. I also highly recommend getting stands for these so they are more level with your ears, not on the floor and spreading them out, and using them in a room with higher ceilings—all these approaches will increase the products ability to do what it’s designed to do—create a wide open l

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1960''''s RCA, Phillips bookshelf, Klipsch

attractive design, i suppose ive seen them for cheap recently

boomy midrange, really bad highs. i cant fault then too much for the weak low end response, these are bookshelf speakers after all.

well i bought these after i got my first "real job" not knowing diddly squat about home audio, and based on the reputation bose has i thought these would be awesome speakers. what i have found however is that the bose products i have owned (these 201''s and the 4way center channel) do not live up to the hype. i would call them "average" for home theatre, but i do not even consider them serviceable for music. while some recordings sound ok, others, especially albums which were recorded on lower budgets and older stuff sound somewhere between bad and "i have to turn it off." i dont want to sound like im bashing bose, i really wanted to like these speakers, but im just not happy with them. i wish i wouldve held out and done some more investigating, but the money was burning a hole in my pocket :-) well now they are the rear channels in my home theater, and they are better suited for that. in the front i have two jbl s38s and the jbl s-center, which while not perfect, are worlds better considering that they can be found in a similar price range if you do a little looking. if you arnt too worried about sound quality, then maybe these will suit your needs if you can find some for a good price. i personally can not reccomend them, and in fact have told more than one friend not to buy bose speakers. i like their alarm clock, but these speakers are not up to snuff.

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jbl, klipsch, advent

Not the worst speakers Ive heard...

Poor bass extension. Poor imaging. Poor high frequency extension. Sounds compressed at higher volumes.

I do not own a pair of the 201 IV speakers. My roomate however does. Therefore I feel as if I am qualified to review these speakers. I feel that the imaging of these speakers leaves much to be desired. Cymbals seem to be eminating from the walls due to the fact of the angle mount on the cone tweeters. At higher volumes I believe they also sound rather muddy. The bass response is weak in my opinion. And due to the nature of a 2" tweeter at least 30 degrees off axis, the extension of the tweeter is very dissapointing. I opened the enclosure and found a single electrolytic capacitor in series with the tweeter. I doubt it does more than protect the tweeter from DC current when the amplifier is clipped. That is the extent of the crossover network. Very Poor. Better sound through research should be changed to Better profits due to more advertisements. I can only imagine how long it took the "Bose engineers" to design such a complex crossover network. :-( In conclusion, I feel these speakers are a waste of money. I built a pair of speakers for 40 dollars that use a much more complicated filter network, and IMHO they sound better. They use a single 3" Tangband fullrange papercone driver. I have a zobel and notch filter installed to tame the response. I got the skematics from a fellow DIY''er. In conclusion, I must say that Bose is a very hyped up product, that costs much more than it is worth.

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Bose Acoustimass(even worse)