nice clean sound,looks good too.

haven't found any yet.

well i find it realy good and for the price''i think it's a bargain. note to all the readers; out there b 4 buying any thing''try & compare similar products'''so don't regret what u buy ;;;;enjoy'''''''''

Similar Products Used:

AR,boston acoustic,paradgm.

Small, looks good, plays full range of sounds

cheaply made, weak imaging

I got these speakers from Bose as a replacement for an old pair of 301's (the tweeter blew on the old set - my fault - and Bose didn't have a replacement). I got the IV's for the cost of shipping if I sent Bose my old set (around $100 altogether). I used the old set for background music in a small office type room (about 12' x 12') and they did a good job for my purposes.

The IV's are cheaply made. They feel like they belong in a car, not in the home. They are light and tend to want to buzz if not securely mount on a wall - add something for dampening between the wall and the speaker if this is your plan. They sound better with the grilles off at high volumes (maybe the grilles, which are plastic, are resonating - I'm not sure). It might be a good idea to coat the inside of the cabinet, as well as the cages on the speakers themselves, with a 1/2" of plastique molding clay to cut out most of the resonance these produce (don't laugh, it works!).

At lower volumes (I used them for background music), they are passable, although I think they are not as good as the old set. They might work well for rear channels for surround sound or a system in a small bedroom. At $160 ea at Best Buy, these are a dissappointment as a main speaker. I don't think that they are complete trash as some would tell you, I just think you can find better.

I have not listened to many new bookshelf speakers recently so I have nothing of a current, different brand to compare these to.

I have replaced these with a pair of Dynaco A-25's (the A-25's can be found on eBay for about $125.00 a pair - real wood with solid construction, very durable and GREAT sound for such a small package).

I suggest you shop around or, better yet, check out other brands review here to narrow your choices.

My ratings are based on IV's as bookshelf speakers, not against floor standing models

Similar Products Used:

Dynaco A-25, "old" large Advent

Good wide range, acceptable bass for a bookshelf speaker.

None

FYI:

I don't actually own the Bose. I auditioned them in a Bose factory outlet in a local mall. They had 2 different Bose 301 Model IV's there (one about $100 cheaper than the other!!).

They explained that the cheaper ones were made for Best Buy, while the others were for their "normal" outlets. I suspect that the BB units were really older model 301's.

I liked the cheaper ones better, but this is obviously a matter of personal taste. I found them to be much fuller sounding.

Overall, I liked the sound. I am still deciding whether I like them enough to part with $258.

My rating refers to the cheaper model.

Similar Products Used:

AR, Sony, MCI (old JC Penney), Scott

Great bass, midrange, and Highs

none really

Don't like the highs that high?? Buy an EQ! Everyone has their own taste and I didn't like these speakers flat either but once they are EQ'd properly they are beautiful! To those that say these speakers don't put out enough low bass I have one thing to say.... SUBWOOFER. These speakers are exellent for PUNCHY midbass. Buy a sub if you want below 60hz. The average joe probably won't even need a sub. I think 99% of the complaints on here would be recalled if the complainers had a good EQ and knew how to use it.

Clear vocal reproduction, stereo everywhere, excellent quality

does not have bass, sounds harsh with rock & roll

After listening over a year these small spekears have left me a so-so impression. They are great reproducing any acoustical music, vocals and classical music. The only thing I do not like it's how they sound with Rock, because they lack any bass puch. Even in the store you can realize that. Choosing them is really a matter of what kind of music you hear. If you like classical music and acoustic guitars I'm sure you're are going to love it. But if you expect to feel the kind of bass of a live Rock and Roll concert, you will b very dissapointed. What I will do if get a pair of Paradigm Monitor 90 as front speaker and test how is the bose 301 IV matches as rear surround.

Bose has a very strong push in marketing, and it is very well know in the audio industry. This probably makes people to love or hate their products. To me, they just make speakers and try to sell them as much as possible. To me, they are middle-performance speakers. A good speaker should perform well regardless of the music you hear.

Similar Products Used:

Polk, Infinity, Paradigm

clear & even sound & does not hurt the ear

perhaps the wire clips (?) but it works o.k. with me

I have listened to the above mentioned brands a lot of times, & i cannot really say that they sound "better" than bose's 301 IV. My friend has teh series III but he says he likes the IV's soo much better. *shrug* I can't complain because I have the series IV *L*.
Anyway, these 301's sound very good, lifelike if u ask me. Also, they sound quite sharp & the bass is just right. of course, u need to add subwoofer. Anyway, the thing i like aobut 301 is the sharp, & soothing sound it produces, it makes u want to listen to music as soon as u get home. It's quite inviting. Try it ! by all means.

Sorry if u disagree with me, but that's how I like my speakers.

Similar Products Used:

JBL, dynaudio, B&W, B&O, acoustic research

good looks

listened to these speakers at my pal's room. it's got clear highs...vocals are very sharp & crisp. Bass is good, though not the best. Imaging is good. Wide stable stereo sound. That's all I have to say.

Like anything else, don't get over enthusiastic about anything...go to your local retailer level headed...don't expect miracles...& u'll be surprised. they actually sound good.

Don't be swayed by all those Bose bashers/fans..use your own judgement.

As for me, I give em a 4

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dm302, audience 60, energy 2.5

Tweeter,advertising

a whole bunch

People get offensive when they are told that the system that they have put together is a waste of money so I want to offer an alternative to these speakers at a lower price and I will not be a person who leaves a bogus review and no email address.

I have been around audio for quite some time and I have never bought a pair of Bose speakers but I have listened to many.The fact of the matter is I am going to tell you of a speaker that will outperform the Bose 501's and costs $300 canadian.Bose speakers are basically tweeters and they spend lots of many on advertising and that means that the money that would be going into components,quality of construction and many other things is being wasted on trying to build a reputation on advertising and hype rather than word of mouth.I have many friends in the audio world and some work in places like Futurshop or Hi-Fi shop and it is awful to see people who sell the products laughing at the term Direct Reflect and really the quality of the speaker you buy should be a direct reflection on how much money you spent but it is not in many cases.The speaker I am going to recommend is called the Axiom M3Ti and it is made by a Canadian company that produces speakers for many companies like Onkyo,PSB,Cerwin Vegas and many other companies.It only seems logical that they would be able to produce a higher quality product for less money because of their knowledge and resources.The owner of the company was one of the people that worked at NRCS though the 1980's and met a standard as too how we measure sound.I suggest that you go to axiomaudio.com and read the company history and also go to soundstage.com and read the review it got from the proffesionals (not salesman) and this speaker actually won the bookshelf of the year from soundstage.com and it didn't buy it.The speaker they tested is not quite as good as the newer model because it didn't have a crossover when they tested it.It doesn't seem logical that a $300 speaker will outperform a speaker that costs over $1000 like the Bose 501 or the Paridigm Studio 20 but it does and even the Hi-Fi shop that I deal with carries the whole Paridigm line and they also felt that the M3Ti's outperformed the Studio 20's and during the demo's that were done it was done as a side by side comparison with very high quality equipment and also budget qulaity equipment.The amps used were Jolidas,Yamaha,Cambridge audio and also some recievers like the H/K AVR 310 and the Denon 2801.I was very amazed at the quality of Axioms speakers and that is why I pass the message on too many people and even people who have been around audio for quite some time are amazed at the performance of these speakers and their abilty to outperform speakers costing 3 times the price that are made from popular companies and I started working when I was ten so it really ticks me off when I see people wasting their money.

I AM NOT AN AUDIOPHILE AND I WOULDN"T PAY $500 FOR A POWERCORD AND REALLY PEOPLE LIKE THIS RAISE THE PRICES OF ALL AUDIO EQUIPMENT BECAUSE COMPANIES KNOW THEY CAN CHARGE ANY RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF MONEY FOR SOMETHING THAT COSTS 10% OF WHAT THEY CHARGED.Think about it a Bose 501 would cost about $140 to make and then they charge the stores $574 to buy it and then you pay over $1000 for it in Canada and if you think that is not robbery WHAT IS.

The reason why I chose this page to do my posting is because many people buy Bose 301 speakers and I thought I could reach the most amount of people and I KNOW Bose is one of the most expensive brands for the quality that you get.

I hope people really take my advise and at least take the time out to demo these speaker because you will be sold on the spot and go home with some money in your pocket.

IT REALLY TICKS ME OFF WHEN PEOPLE HEAR FROM THEIR FRIENDS THAT A SPEAKER IS GOOD AND THEN THEY GO BUY IT WITHOUT DEMOING IT OR ANY OTHER SPEAKERS AND THEY BRING IT HOME AND BREAK THEM IN AND THEN GO TO A SITE LIKE THIS AND TELL EVERYONE THAT THEY ARE THE BEST SPEAKER AROUND BECAUSE IT CAUSES PEOPLE TO THEN BE SKEPTICAL WHEN SOMEONE IS OFFERING AN OUTSTANDING PRODUCT.

Axiom is known mainly in Canada and is just becoming more well known because this is a new millenia line but the company has been around for 20 years but their products have never been this outstanding and some people I talk to in the states know of them but they are very experienced in audio so you probably have not heard of them but look over to the right and they are listed on the right in the booths or hotlinks and I don't work for Axiom and I am not a salesman and dont care for many but I am an honest person that hates to watch people throw cabbage in the dumpster.

Anyways I have said enough and email me if you have any question and I will help YA.

Happy Listening Miller

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Axiom,Paridigm,Klipsch,PSB,celestion,and many others

Excellent power handling for a speaker of this size! Great sounding speakers!

None to speak of.

When I purchased these "little monsters" I couldn't wait to hook these bad boys up. Had them first on top of the entertainment center, where they sounded.....ok to good... The bass was a little lacking... to say the least. THEN I mounted them on the wall (used BOSE mounting kit) HOLY COW! The bass went from ok to WOW! With a little more separation and proper placement, these speakers ROCK. Dont listen to the negative idiots, BOSE is a speaker of great quality.

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JBL

look cool

sound

The speakers look nifty, and the packaging and brochures are very glossy and sound authoritative. I've had the speakers for a year in a dorm room most of the time and they definately crank out some serious volume, although I blew the low-tech tweeters twice. I thought the blah-blah sound was due to placement, the room didn't allow for any options. However, when I got them into a normal setup, they sounded even worse. No highs, bass sucks. I traded them in for some Klipsch speakers (which are extremely loud) and there is simply no comparison. The Bose name and marketing convinced me to get the speakers initially, but looking back, the design has not changed in the last 10 years....and it kinda sucks. I would recommend getting anything else (at least if they are cheap thet will be cheap).

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Boston Acoustics, Klipsch, Snell.