Ultimate quality and sound

NONE

Well, not on my main home theatre system, but on a basic bedroom set up consiting of a onkyo reciver. I have to say these are the best book shelf speakers i have ever heard. Everyone thinks Bose just has a good name, but thats not true. Yes they have a good name, one of the best, but that is for a reason. For 6 1/2 inch bppkshelfs they have the best bass output i have ever heard along with mid and high. I am not a huge fan of bose subwoofers but if you use these speakers with a nice sub you can not go wrong.

Similar Products Used:

Cambrige, sony, infinity, polk

Good reproduction of mid and high ranges

No bass. Hight distortion.

"Wheres the bass?" I am using the 201s as the rears in my HT setup. An Onkyo THX receiver and Paradigm Titans as fronts round out the package. I will say that these speakers pack a good punch in the mid and high ranges. But they have very low bass response, even when placed next to a wall. Another thing I notice is a high distortion level - just put your ear to them. They are easily out performed by my Paradigm Titans, which were $80 more (but worth every dime). I bought these on brand reputation, and am very dissapointed.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Titans, Yamaha

I recently made a purchase of Bose 201 120watt speakers. They cost me around $120 for the pair. These Bose speakers have an enequaled sound in this price range-heck even in the $200-$300 range I haven't heard anything more balanced, more refined than these 201's. An excellent upgrade for someone strapped for cash, looking for something in the 100watt area.

Great sound, NO distortion at high volume

Great so far

This is an awsome set of speakers, for a great price (I got mine for $89 each). Ive read a couple bad reviews, 'n I say they don't know what their talking about! These speakers ROCK!

Buy this if you want great sound and a small price.

These cheap little boxes made with the absoloute minimum quality parts are so poor there should be a negative 1 star category. The whizzer cone that acts as a mid/tweeter is pathetically grainy, with a low rolloff. How sad this is for it's price. Signet, Polk, Infinity, Boston Acoustics and many others make a FAR superior speaker in this price range (With REAL woofers and tweeters). Bose and HI Fidelity are mutually exclusive terms, an oxymoron to say the least.
The utter lack of presence or resoloution here is somwhat like a large AM radio. I think there used to be a $29.95 kit made to build these or the equally appalling 75 watt 301 (Oh boy, an EXTRA whizzer cone!!)
Calling these speakers even 'good", would be like putting a kenwood integrated amp in the same league as a Mark Levinson. If you havent heard of Mark Levinson, it's like saying a YUGO is a car with the same quality as a LEXUS.

Available everywhere, sensitive, flexible placement

They color the music more than most other speakers.

First of all, I know these speakers. I have used them on and off for 5 years in 4 different rooms. I have also listened to them side-by-side with other units, including the old AR's which I have had in another room.

These speakers have a narrow frequency range and add a lot of their own resonance to the overall sound. If you like these additions to your music you will like these speakers... if you want hi-fidelity look elsewhere. Some people really like the sound, but I do not. If you play a system test CD it becomes obvious that this is a "one-note" bass speaker. It has a big boomy hump at 90 Hz and drops like a *stone* below that point (I would guess in excess of 24 db per octave). I suspect this is due to port design and cabinent resonance.

The other knock against these speakers is that they age very poorly. Don't expect them to last more than 6 years even at moderate/low volumes. This is a particular problem in high humidity environments.

On the plus side, they are very sensitive and will work well with low-power amps.

I didn't buy these speakers and would not buy them given a choice. There are a number of more impressive speakers near this price point, such as the SuperZero's mentioned above. (Of course there are also some much worse designs at this price point.) Listen to the speakers carefully before you buy and make sure you don't confuse "louder" with better... you can almost always turn up the volume if you want louder, but you cannot easily get rid of the colorations produced by this speaker if they are not to your liking.

Similar Products Used:

AR 4x (25 yr old); NHT SuperZero ($50/pair more expensive)

They work as rear just fine

Price, but I got with employee discount

People say everything sucks with the 201, and if you believe everything you read, I'll sell you swap land. They work for me, and in the end you just need to ask yourself "does it suit me?" Don't take random advice, typically pissed off people have a lot to say and satisfied ones are quite.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch

Dolby Digital, Pro Locic, Stereo, Mono, Crisp highs,Cant blow the Tweeters, Music (Rap)(Rock)(Classical)

Placement

I have used these speakers for about a year now and i have to say, these arent the best speakers I have ever heard, (the best is the Bose 901 VII) but certainly the best music, surround sound and studio imaging that i have ever heard for the price.These speakers are capable of producing sounds up to 135db for any length of time, with the bass all the way down, of course. Come on 120watts Peak 65rms for a 6 1/2 in woofer and a 2 1/2 tweeter is pretty good compared to some other brands that peak out at 75watts.I give these speakers 5 stars for the quality and Better Sound Through Research of Bose.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity

Good value sounding bookshelf speakers.. for those who are limited in space..

none

Enjoy listening to Jazz Music, and also watching DVD movies with DTS sound..I run four of these Series III & IV. Never gave me any problems with distortion, when volume is turned up. You can't beat the value..Series III, I have owned it for over 5years, decided to buy another last year when upgrading my receiver to dolby dts sound..enjoying watching movies now, in sunny Hawaii.Aloha

Similar Products Used:

A/R, Cerwin Vega

Put any Bose product in a side-byside comparison with a good B&W, Mirage, Paradigm, or PSB system (since they're in similar price ranges, save B&W) and Bose is clearly sub-par equipment. I've looked into buying Bose products a few times on account of there advertising savy. Each time I've been dissapointed (I don't know why I kept going back - probably to see if they got any better; but, like the last 15 years, Bose never changes anythign!).
I'm happier with my Cerwin-Vega's! Cerwin-Vega is not quite an audiophile's speaker I know, but they're far and away much better than Bose.
Later!

mike s
v7q2@unb.ca
mjs@nbnet.nb.ca