Great audio performance, size.

positioning requires much trial-and-err

After reading all the reviews here about these speakers, I had mixed feelings about buying them. That is, until, I heard them demoed in the store. There is no comparison to these speakers for the price. They sound fantastic. I was more concerned about music rather than Movies and it really works for both.

I'm using them as the front channels and surround system. I find it funny that ALL the poor reviews for this product were posted by people as they might never had a chance to even see this speakers.

My HT system:

Onkyo TX DS 575X Receiver
Onkyo Equalizer.
Onkyo Cassette Deck
Onkyo CD Player.
Yemaha YST 150 Subwoofer
Bose 301 Front Speakers.
Bose 301 Rear speakers.
Bose ACS-10 Center speakers.

I love my HT system.

Similar Products Used:

JBL

Recognized Name, Price, Looks, Good Sound For The Size

See Below

I've used a pair of 301s for mains for years with no problem. Bought another pair of Series IV 301s for rear surrounds, along with a Yamaha HTR 5460 receiver. Immediately after hooking everything up, cranked the system to concert level with some fairly nasty alternate music and promptly developed a "night light" in one of the new Series IVs. It never really burned up, but it did have a really nice glow visable deep inside the port. A wire was burning like the filament in a light bulb. Took the new set back to Best Buy, which they replaced after mild hassle. Connected replacements, and they just sounded weak. Moved the new 301s to the fronts, and they played just fine. The old 301s played poorling at the rear, just as the new ones. Concluded there must be a receiver problem after continued playing, because the rears eventually wouldn't play at all, after a few hours. Took the Yamaha back, and Best Buy did replace it with a new one, after 2nd minor hassle. Now, all is well, and all 5 Bose speakers (also have a Bose center speaker) are working beautifully. I think the fault was in the Yammy. Sorry to disagree with Bose Bashers, but my 301s do very well (now)in the sound department. They will play loud, with low distortion. A subwoofer is required to round it all out. I wish Bose made a respectable sub. My old Pioneer is due for upgrade.

Similar Products Used:

Bose Loyal

it is amazing bose speakers are the most populur products, but get the worst rating from this board.
so I get conclusion that people are very supportive to bose,
even they can spend $330 to buy a pair of jbl $380, 4.8 star rating.
Mr Bose, you are great.

smooth, non fatiguing sound.

they irritate bose bashers

ok, rather than make a big fuss, let me say that more bose speakers are kept long term than most other brands.

forget specs,what i know is bose speakers are easy to listen to for long periods, for almost all people.

i've got other speakers that i like just as well, but when i want to just listen to music, for great length and not the equipment, the bose are what i choose.

paper cones are not a bad thing. bose has engineered a specific sound and stuck with the formula. many other brands sound quite different upon model changes. not bose they have been quietly refined. they don't need to re-invent themselves. sorry bashers but all the other high profile companies of the past that went astray are gone. ie advent,allison acoustics,klh. klh actually remains but is a complete joke. yes other brands of speakers will jump out at you much more on initial listening, but that same extra sizzle and boom wears thin in a hurry for long term listening. bose is about musical enoyment..................

Similar Products Used:

many

None

Flat bass, too high treble

I brought the speakers home to compare with my existing Yamaha NSA636 speakers, which are 1/3rd the price.

The Yamaha actually sounded better.

You just don't get the value for money with Bose.

Similar Products Used:

Bose 201, Yamaha NSA636

I don't want to hurt anyones feelings.

So sorry if I made anyone feel ignorant or bad with my last review. I wasn't going for that. I just wanted others to know that I didn't like what I got for my money. I thought these reviews were for people who were looking to make a purchase. Not just so people can look at them and be vindicated. If they sound good to you, buy them. Just don't expect everyone else to love them. If it makes Tom feel better, I'll give them a 2 this time. For the record, I like Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordan.

Nicely balanced/distibuted sound that is pleasing and makes me want to sit and listen to music for hours...vinyl,CD,DVD,.wav files, mp3's, whatever.

Apparently they've been advertised! OMMIGOD! IN AMERICA! I can't believe it.

I am amazed at the emotion and combativeness I see in these reviews. It reminds me of the chat room for my favorite NASCAR driver, Tony Stewart. People who are fans of Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordan...whoever...come in there and leave nasty offensive messages about Tony Stewart. Makes you wonder.....

Anyhow, I just got these speakers today, along with a JBL 3 way studio series center speaker, and a couple of KLH 911b speakers for the rear. After adjusting my Sony STR de945 110 watt A/V reciever and moving things around in my smallish listening space I found myself being very happy immersing myself in sound. I don't claim to be an audio-file, but I have always been very enthusiastic about my music (52 years old) and always find ways to make my systems sound good, if not always great, through mixing and matching in ways that may make a true "audio-file" cringe.

This set-up sounds really good! I imagine if I had the time and nothing else to do in my life, I would scour the audio world for speakers/recievers/DVD players that would make this system sound like crap, and go buy all that new stuff, then come back here and write nasty notes about a product that lots of people are really enjoying, just to make them feel bad or ignorant, under the guise of a consumer critique.

I think I will be able to put up with the "cheap" appearance and lack of audio-file appeal, while I happily listen to all my old albums, blast away my Santana DVD in DTS 5.1, bask in the lovely sounds of my Mozart Piano Concertos #23&27 CD, and generally enjoy the well rounded, concise and (with my sub-woofer) rich and deep audio presented through my brand new Bose 301's.

If you're not concerned about snobbery, want a really nice sounding set of bookshelf speakers for a reasonable price, I highly recommend these speakers.

Similar Products Used:

none...these are replacing my 1970 Sansui 2000's (4-way 6 speakers)and some Sony's that came with a $500 mini system 100watt CD/Cassette player surround sound. The 301's are now front speakers in a surround system.

Name, resale value

No bass, no highs, cheap paper cones, cheap unfinished pressboard cabinets.

Short and sweet - bought the 301's for name and prestige, did not realise how bad they truley were until I replaced them with some JBL's, I heard things I never heard with my Bose - MUSIC!! I couldn't believe all the sounds that were omitted when I had the bose hooked up, anyway I did sell them on EBAY for $250 after they were 3+ years old!!! Just upgraded to B&W 602S2's - ohmygawd I am in sonic heaven.

Similar Products Used:

JBL HLS series, B&W 602S2

Why is this here?

A lot of them

I love music. Music is my life. I play the piano, violin, and have been teaching myself to play the guitar. So when I want to hear recorded music I go down to my home theater, and listen.

I first heard Bose in it's store, and being young, I was completely amazed at the 'quality' of it's speakers, especially the Jewel Cube speakers that they offered. I fell into the pit of Bose marketing. So when I needed to replace the surround sound speakers I had, I turned to Bose. I bought these speakers thinking that they were the greatest thing in the world. Much better than the Canton speakers I was using for the front. I was badly mistaken.

It's a common quote. "No highs, no lows, must be Bose." It's true. Extremely, and sadly true. I am a big fan of classic rock. So, one day, I pop in The Who into the DVD player, and listen. Wanting to see how good these speakers are, I put my Onkyo Integra DTR 6.2 in All Channel Stereo Mode. I stand right in front of the Bose speakers, and fourteen feet across the room, I hear the Canton speakers, more loudly and more clearly. I thought, maybe its just the way the reciever is setup. So I change the settings so that the Bose gets +5 DB than the Canton. Still, I hear the Canton's highs and lows much more clearly, across the room. Fourteen feet across the room, I hear the Canton better, than I hear the Bose fourteen millimeters away. If you're out to buy these speakers, then I strongly suggest that you listen somewhere else, before you fall into Bose marketing.

System:
2 Front Canton Karat Line (Old Model From 1990)
Yamaha Center Channel Speaker (Old Model from 1990)
Bose 301 Series IV Direct/Reflecting Speakers
Pioneer DV-919 DVD/LD Player
Integra DTR 6.2 A/V Reciever
Monster Cable
Boston Acoustics Subwoofer
Some Crappy RCA TV

Similar Products Used:

None

Spacious, superb, clean sound. They sound awesome to me and sounded better than any other speaker in the Circuit City soundroom, even the MUCH more expensive ones.

Hmmm....the little clips that hold the speaker grilles on might break if you're too rough.

Some people love Bose. Some people hate Bose. Still others, like me, realize that Bose, like any other company, has its strong products and its weak products. For example, the Bose Model 100 speaker is a joke, as is the 501. Bose 301 series IV, however, are some of the best speakers Bose makes.
Some people shop around before they make their purchasing decisions. Some people listen to speakers before they buy them. Still others actually PURCHASE a product before posting a bad review on this site. I'd have to say the Bose speaker category has more non-owner published postings than any other part of this website.
It sure seems funny that, even though so many people claim that Bose speakers suck, Bose continues to be one of the most successful speaker companies around. If they offered inferior products, they would not survive with the reputation that they have survived with. Most people use their brains more for buying decisions than for any other type of thinking, and I seriously find it hard to believe that SO many people would buy these speakers if they were crappy. I know I wouldn't have. People still sell 301's on eBay that were made in the 70's. Those speakers are still around....still working.
To the reviewer who complained about the foam surrounds around the woofer...don't you know that foam takes longer to disintegrate than pretty much anything except some radioactive elements? These things will last for decades! The foam surrounding the woofers also seems to be some sort of foam-rubber compound, so really you're getting longevity without sacrificing whatever benefit you think you're getting with rubber.
Try to remember that these speakers are normally priced around 250-300. If you pay more than that, you're getting ripped off. For the price, the sound that they offer is unbeatable. The direct/reflecting setup can take some time to get just right, but I promise, once you get them positioned just right, you'll understand what the hype is all about.
These babies produce plenty of bass for most people, but if you need more, get your butt to the store and buy a subwoofer. Remember, just as another reviewer said, these are not floorstanding speaks.
Sure, a set of $1000 speakers from CV or or Polk will most likely sound better to SOME people. I say some people because sound quality is all relative. What may sound wonderful to one person could sound really poor to another (I learned that lesson trying to sell computer speakers at CompUSA).
Bottom line, if these speakers are within your budget, and you really can't afford to pay a substantial higher amount of money ($1000) or more, then get them.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction (Newton's third law of motion). The behaviors of humans can easily be described through simple physical laws such as this.
Action - Bose is highly hyped for its high-quality speakers.
Reaction - Some people try their very hardest to bash Bose in any way they can, even resorting to reviewing a product that they do not even own.
Isaac Asimov once wrote that the entire future history of the world could be predicted through mathematics...he called it "Psychohistory." It could have been so easy for someone to use Newton's third law to predict that there would be people who tried to bash Bose for no apparent reason other than to complain about something and possibly help their own egos because they own a different product and want to feel better about what they own. Maybe that's what I'm doing right now. Maybe not.
As for me, I predict Bose will continue to build high-quality speakers for the price-conscious consumer and it will continue to be successful in its endeavors.
Email me if you are someone who is considering these speakers and are looking for specifics.

P.S. The 301's 201's and CS-245i match very nicely.

Similar Products Used:

Bose 201 IV as surrounds
Polk Audio CS-245i Center
Sony SA-WM40 12" Subwoofer