small size, cheap

sound; not nearly as good as others in the same price range

I have a pair of 201s in my house. They will one day give birth to demon spawn. The 45 degree angle trick is the worst gimick I've come across. Do not buy these.

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Compact size lets them fit into outhouses, etc. where a qualtiy speaker would be totally inappropriate.

In enclosed spaces, acoustics may make the speakers actually audible.

If you truly like these speakers:

1. Lay down the crack pipe. It's killing you and you don't even know it, and that makes me sad.

2. Lay down the ice pick. Pull it out of your eardrum and just lay it down. Sheesh...

3. Lay down the $20 at Best Buy that it takes to buy the KLHs that will soundly thrash the miserable Bose turds.

4. Lay down the hi-fi mags. You probably can't read the pictures, anyway, and the piss-poor reviews of your dog-doo Bose aren't gonna help your ulcer or get your money back.

5. Live long and enjoy the gear!

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The speakers that came with my sisters free E-machine computer.

agressive sound & presence, very efficient, great bass for the size

none at this price

I believe I have auditioned 100s or 1000s of speakers of all types. I have yet to find a speaker with better bass or midrange in this price range and speaker size. Very good for rock in a medium to small room. If you are looking for an inexpensive speaker with decent base (mid-base) run out and get these right now. The only other speaker that has a similar sound quality are the 301s which are just a hair better at $140 more. I actually prefer the 201 to the 401, 501 and 701 at moderate volume!

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any other speaker pair at $200

These speakers are the best i have heard and only need 15 watts to bring out absolute banging bass if you like thunderouse music with lots of bass then you will love these

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these speakers deserve a 5 star rating

Great speakers for the money. Much better than the 101 series, but very comparable to the 301 series. You need to upgrade to this one, but really not neccesary to spend the extra for the 301. Bose are the only speakers I allow to be in my system.

Ahhh the fallen angel. These speakers have fallen to mass production. I have read reviews of all of the Bose line in this web page and you people are really bitter about Bose. Don't get me wrong they are not the speakers they use to be, but they don't suck. I give the 501 the 201 and vcs-10 center 3 stars. They don't suck but Bose is not the speaker they use to be 10-20 years ago.
As for Dave listed below, before you give a review of a speaker and bag on noise from the speaker, consider this, the "noise" you speak of is not the speaker, Given that the speakers only pump what comes from the receiver. I assume you were talking about line noise and not turbulence.

The problems are not as simple as most outlined below. I agree, there is nothing wrong with paper cones. I also agree that these fall into a budget category. Paper cones in appropriate driver constructs are another animal entirely. These speakers use cheap stamped steel baskets with pathetic motor structures. The cabinets are 1/2" thick particle board wrapped in a horrid vinyl laminate. They utilize a paper cone midrange-tweeter thing in a sealed-back stamped basket (no surround either- the paper cone is just glued to the frame). The crossovers are first order on the tweeter (using garbage $.06 capacitors wired in with a festoon to keep knuckleheads from driving square waves into the speaker) and NO crossover for the mid. I'm sure there are plenty of bad speakers in this range to compare them to, but that doesn't mean we need to lower our expectations to the lowest common denominator. Now, some of you asked for examples of better in the same price range. I give you the Paradigm Atoms. PSB and NHT also have excellent speakers in this range as well.
These speakers perform deplorably- overlooking the sum of their parts. To have this proven to you, do an A-B comparison at home with them, making sure you can return them if you aren't satisfied. Don't take a review's word for it, use your ears.

Space savers, full sound for small area and moderate volume.

A bit weak in freqs outside midband

You have to bear in mind that these are $200 speakers. Driving a Lamborgini on a motocross track is as ridiculous as comparing a small pair of speakers against world class driver suites. If there is a comparable speaker in this price range and size I challenge someone to name them. This is the only area that Bose does well. Bose does not do high end drivers well, 901's being a possible exception (they must be positioned correctly, pumped adequately, and fed appropriately constructed tunes).
Back to the 201s...I'd say they are good but I would recommend moving up a notch, spend $400, and avoid Bose. They are very nice as rear speakers in a surround sound system but then they would be far too expensive as rear speakers don't need to be that sexy.

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Nice looking

Not much in this range

They are more then fine speakers for what they were made for. I used them as my rears in a very nice system. They are on some stands in the back of the room look very nice and sound fine for the rear effects.

You got what you pay for people. For any effect speakers they are fine ... I agree with a fellow reviewer they are just small bookshelf speakers not floor monsters.

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I am sure there is

Very Well Built, Great Sound for the price, Nice Looking, Easy to Use, Small

NONE

I bought these speakers to replace my HUGE bookshelf speakers from the 60's, and because I had heard great things about Bose. And let me tell you--they are not rumors. These are incredibly solid speakers. They sound just as good as the Bose 301 speakers, which are $100 more (I listened to both extensively before buying in a private area in the store). They are small, easy to use, good looking, well built, and have very decent sound for the price. Older, remastered stuff only sounds average, but with digital recordings, these things are INCREDIBLE! I can't believe I paid so little for these, and I will be sure to support bose in the future.

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Too many to remember