I found that the separation and 'realism' in the type of recorded music that I listen too was enhanced with these speakers. I have read about the pros and cons of the BOSE approach to speaker making. I like the fact that these lightweight speakers can be wall mounted. I am a musician and an 'ear' player from way back. I think my aural capabilities can recognize all of the tiny nuances in many of the speakers that you might find available. These are not amplifier or monitor type speakers. They are very musical and do well with vocals and acoustic instruments including guitars and pianos. Try a nice Sinead O'Conner song through here and find out how these BOSE perform. I have always wanted to own a pair of BOSE ever since I heard them play a little jazz over at a friend's house in grad school. These are true to the tradition of the nuanced sound and the 'imagery' that is BOSE.

They should publish their freq. responses and provide more information about the latest materials that they use to make the speakers. We all like gadgets and new alloys (etc) so satisfy that need and quiet some critics.

I like these speakers and compared them to other models that I own. They have a unique sound to them. On many recordings these sound simply amazing.

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I own and compared these with: Mission 2-Way, JBL HLS410, Infinity Floor Speakers, Infinity 2-way bookshelf. I also heard some Polk Audio in the shop. These were the leader in their price point. I am not an expert on speakers, but think most people will find these to be great for music listening.

produces sound reproduction you would hear in a bigger speaker

hard to get good imaging

fills a medium size room with sound. great sound for music dvds and concerts (dolby digital and dts). a bit lacking in imaging for movies (this i think is because of the sound every where design). and bad imaging for games using prologic format. but over all has very good sound

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201

Pretty strong bass for a bookshelf Mid-range and treble is bright and respectfully bright from the one front and rear firing twiddlers.

None heard nor seen

Great sounding bookshelf speakers that sound good on Classic rock, some Modern rock, Spanish & Spanish instrumental music.

Look Good

Bass, treble, imaging

Bought into the Bose hype. Brought speakers to replace my 10 year old Klipsh bookshelf speakers (yeah I was that dumb). My 10 year old Klipsch outperformed these speakers in just about everything (low, mid, hi, imaging ... you name it). The "direct reflecting" technology while giving you a "stereo everywhere" feel completely kills the imaging and soundstage. Impossible to pin point every instrument, which was so easy to do with my older klipsch. DefTech and Mirage have mastered the art of bipolar/omnipolar technology. Listen to those speakers and you will realise what sort of garbage Bose is selling in the name of "direct/reflecting" technology. Bass is inaccurate. Snare souds like a bass drum. Treble is muddy. Mids are just about OK. Klipsch, Polk and Mirage are much better buys in the same price range. The only good thing about these speakers is that they really look good. Now if only Bose spent equal amount of time making sure they speakers sound as good as they look....

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Klipsch, DefTech, Mirage, B&W, Polk

Pleasant if unrealistic sound. Make for acceptable background listening speakers. Bass can shake the room

Too expensive for what you get. Distorted tonality hurts sonic realism. Only a few bass frequencies will shake the room. The rest get lost in the shuffle. “Direct-Reflecting” sound destroys imaging and sound stage. Fit and finish is only OK given the price. Again, many better choices at the price point.

Repost of my 301 review. Holds true of the more recent 301's to which I have heard. Summary: A pleasant sounding speaker for back ground listening but over priced and out classed by the competition. Tonality is distorted to produce pleasant sound rather than accurate sound. Bass is loose and wumpy sounding. The 301’s can shake the room but only over a limited range of base frequencies. Direct-reflecting design hurts imaging. The combination of bad imaging, unrealistic tonality and loose bass make them a poor choice for home theater. Fit and finish are only OK for the price. My roommate has a pair of 301 series III (I’m not certain of the series but they were new in ’96). Here’s my take: They are not *bad* but you can do better for the same money. I don’t expect these to match the various speakers in my side room system while my roommate had these in the living room (Meadowlark Kestrel, Vandersteen Model 3, Magnepan MMG, NHT 2.5i, Pioneer HPM 100), but I’ve also heard similar priced models that are better (PSB, Paradigm, NHT, Boston Acoustics, B&W) Many high end manufactures extend their lines and expertise into the Bose price range. The sound: Well we can forget imaging. As Bose says, these are sound everywhere speakers. That means you don’t have a dispersed sound rather than tight imaging. This is not really a disadvantage if you aren’t the type who sits in the sweet spot to listen for a while or if you don’t care about home theater. If you turn on the music while walking around the house they will be fine. Tonality: They don’t have a very clean tone. Bose has tuned this speaker to make everything sound pleasant if not really true to the recording. Again, if you just want something nice to listen to in the background they will serve this function well. These speakers are excessively warm. They boost the mid bass and roll off the highs. Music will never become fatiguing but you traded realism for that tonality. Bass: Several compromises were made here. The Bose can make the room shake with a moderately powerful receiver. This was great for college parties and OK for movies but it has limits. First, they have very limited bass range. These speakers do not go deep. They excel at turning Watts into mid-base but they just can’t go really deep. I would guess they are done around 50 htz. This is not shameful given the size of the speaker and /or price but people are often surprised when they learn how much bass is still left untouched whey they hear better speakers. The problem is the 301’s lack controlled base. A tight thunderclap sounds like a suggestion of thunder. One of the true marks of a good bass speaker is the ability to *stop* producing bass in a heartbeat. That’s what makes thunder clap and a kick drum kick (tight Bang! versus a loose wump). The 301’s wind up their bass then wind it down when they are done. The price competitive speakers from the companies above are far more nimble with the ability to start and stop quickly. Think of a bullet train vs a sports car. The bullet train Bose may be fast but it takes a long time for the driver to get to speed (generate the desired frequency and amplitude) and a long time to stop. NHT, PSB, Paradigms are like sports cars. Their top speed may not be as fast as the train but they can accelerate, turn and brake so much faster (dynamics and transients). Which is better? Well if you just want to shake the room at one frequency go for the Bose. If you want to have tight, crisp base, get something other than the Bose. Home Theater: Due to the warm forgiving sound of these speakers I found them OK for music. Home Theater is a different story. These were used in a 2 channel set up with the living room TV. For home theater, I agree with Richard Vandersteen, if your funds are limited, buy a good two channel home theater rather than a so-so 5 channel. The 301’s poor imagining comes back to haunt. Voices and sounds are smeared across the front of the living room rather than staying in the TV where they belong. The loose wumpy base does little justice to explosions and mechanical sounds. The distorted tonality strips believability from every day sounds. Overall I can see people saying they like the speakers because they sounds pleasant. They really work as background speakers. The problem is they can’t deliver anything more even when asked. I accept that if they were $150 a pair but given the good choices for the $300+ asking price… well Bose is lucky most consumers don’t bother to cross shop. The current series V are pleasant looking but their fit and finish is only so-so when compared to the previously mentioned companies

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See review

cheap loud but clear can take a beating and keep on truckin' they look cool

there shape is pleaseing to the eye but anoying for set up.

These are the speakers you need! 8 ohm resistance with watt ranges of 10-150. 1 eight inch with 2 super tweeters. there awsome hands down. Of course you could get better speakers for your system but the cost would be insane if you try to beat the 301's. Now if you want something that lasts along time too, i also own a series III thats still knock the beats and hitting them notes like crazy, its crazy crazy fun.

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bose series III

Paper cones, thats right paper cones. A well designed unit can sound good no matter what driver material. I've heard speakers with state of the art cone material that sounded bad. One important attribute on a cone is smooth frequency roll off, esp at the cross over point. I'm guessing Bose woofer,tweeter roll offs and dispersion are correct for the application. Highs are better than one would think with a paper cone tweet, no a tweeter does not need to go to 50Khz to sound good to the human ear. 17KHZ with good dispersion up to that frequency is all that is required. Bass is very good, this thing can shake the room at high sound levels. Imaging is very good, the rear tweeter provides some spatial information, I tested this by putting a cloth cover over it. BTW the well sought at for Spica TC50 uses a paper cone woofer.

The cabinet is a bit small for the woofer as tom drums are a TOUCH on the boomy side, not worse than other box speakers in this price.

I've owned the Bose 301V for little over a month now. To me they sound great, not fatiguing. Good highs, mids, lows. Highs are not shrill, bass is deep. I have a finicky ear, I also own SpicaTC50, Dynaudio Twynn , AMV 2030 tube amp,Crate preamp and Sony DVD-CD. The speakers do require thought out placement to sound their best, mine are placed on concrete blocks 24" off the ground.

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none

decent sounding speaker for its size

not much depth in the sound

These speakers are quite difficult to setup for good sound, but once you have found the right position, they deliver decent sound for the price that you pay.

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B&W 602s

GREAT BASS & CLEAR HIGHS!!!!!!

PAPER CONES OTHERWISE FOR THE PRICE AN EXCELLENT VALUE!!!!!

These speakers in my opinion sound better than cambridge soundworks m60s which I returned. I like the bass of the Bose 301s and they are very crisp and clear.

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CAMBRIDGE SOUNDWORKS M60S, RCA