Spacious, Punchy, sound without spending over a grand.

They are picky about where you place them.

Wow! Most of these posts are totally full of it! Thank you to all the posts who like to brag about spending over $1000 on something besides a house, car, or engagement ring. And then get all pissy about a $318 pair of speakers that many people happen to enjoy. Ignore the hype and all these biased reviews! Good or Bad. Go listen for yourself! Everyone hears things differently and you should buy what your ears like and what you can afford. Not what somebody else wants you to buy. I'm the electronics guru amongst my friends and I help them when they're looking for AV equipment. I've had them listen to speakers in Circuit City, Best Buy, and Audio King. I have them listen to the other brands to get a feel of what they like to hear without even telling them which ones they are listening to. They usually choose the 301's. I've seen 3 pairs sold this way, along with 2 pairs of 501's. I find them to sound very spacious and they also bring out a lot of detail in the music. They will give you punchy bass, although it's not very deep. I recommend adding a powered subwoofer for watching DVD's and listening to Hip Hop or Rap. The mid/tweeter on the 301's I own from 1975 is very tame and sounds natural and somewhat crisp, although it's not the brightest sound I've ever heard, the newest models sound much better. I like to compare them to a pair of Boston Acoustics for the same price. The Bostons have a brighter sound, but not as spacious as the 301's. It's up to you which your ears like better. My experience with the 301's I own has been pretty good. But, I will tell you about the problems you may run into. I've had to replace the foam surrounds and covers on them because they deteriorate after 15 years just like all foam surround woofers. So I don't recommend buying a second hand pair of most any speaker from the 70's or unless you're planning on replacing the foam. (Replacements can be found at Parts Express) Also keep in mind they are meant to be placed on shelves or bookcases at ear level 1' or more away from the wall in order to properly bounce the sound around the room. They won't sound quite right if they aren't. Maybe that's the source of some of the bad reviews. Overall you get a lot for your money, if you're willing to place on the wall or stands properly. Otherwise, listen to others such as Klipsch, JBL, or Boston Acoustics.

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AR, Sony, Technics, Infinity, Pioneer.

there are cheap and the box is well sealed for air

well before i installed the new subs the mid range sounded very very high pitched

Well a few years ago one of my good friends gave me there pair of the bose model 301 from 1977 my amp blew out the flex coil in the woofers so i went to radio shack and bought 2 5"7 optimus 100 subs and place them in the cabinet the fit perfictally i still kept the mid range speakers and now to my amasement they sound great (Concidering i have them hooked up to a kenwood krx-793 witch gets music from my computer.

Similar Products Used:

optimus 100 watt subs , pioneer speaker, kenwood krx 793

None.

Sound quality, built quality.

Bose 301 series III. I bought it for FM radio listening with my Fihser tuner. At about the same size, price for new and power, I have been using near-field studio monitors, which are perfect with on-axis response. I need another set with wide dispersion characteristics for off-axis listening, and 301 came to consideration based on their so called "direct-reflecting technology and room filling sound". 301s are overall the worst sounding speakers of their size/price I have ever listened. High mids are unnaturally exaggerated (too much 's' on vocals and then true high frequency is abruptly rolled off). There is no true bass response; only thing you will hear is loud, artificial and airy loose "boom boom" from its slot type vent, which is a misguiding trick for untrained ears. It is not a surprise to be sounding that bad, because it is very poorly made for its price. The Jensen C-Jr sold at Circuit City for $15/pair on discount is made better than 301. I disassembled and looked inside the speaker. 8 inch LF driver has the smallest magnet I have ever seen. The crossover is also made of cheap components. So called tweers are not true tweeters; should be called hi-mid drivers. The worst thing is paper cones, which are 1960's technology. Those drivers definitely will not tolerate their rated power of 75Wpc in the long run. The cabiet is also poorly assembled with the cheapest veneer I have ever seen.

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Event 20/20

Price...and they're so ugly that they are a conversation piece.

They're so ugly that they are a conversation piece. These are not the top quality sound as advertised.

I bought these because they were $32 and I needed to fix or replace my beloved Celestion 3's. Not totally impressed; they certainly don't live up to their hype (by Bose). Still they can handle the juice of my bridged NAD 2100 and the sound IS reflected nicely around my small living room as advertised. Unfortunately, the well reflected sound is not that impressive. Still, I don't think I coud have gotten a better pair of speakers for less than $40, and they beat alot of the junk I listened to in the 200-300 range. These may be the ugliest speakers ever. The sound does not even come close to my Celestions, which cost much less when new. The low range is weak at low db, even with lots of clean NAD power...luckily, I have another 2100 which supplies a sub. The highs are also weaker than I'd hoped, but not bad considering there's no tweeter.

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Celestion 3's, 5's, and various Polk bookshelves.

good looks, great sound.

speaker connections are not binding posts.

I recently purchased the Bose 301 series V speakers along with the 201's for surrounds and the VCS-10 for the center. I also purchased the Infinity Entra Ones, Two's and Sub at the same time and listened to both extensively. Honestly, I had planned to keep the Infinity's after reading about the lack of highs and lows with Bose, but I really liked the Bose a lot better. They really projected across the soundstage more naturally than the Entra's. Both music and movies had a warm and realistic sound. The surrounds (201's)were not as nice as the Entra One's, but they work great for movies. I rarely listen to music in surround, so it wasn't something I worried about. Also the looks of the bose fit into my living room alot better. They were a litle cheaper than the Infinity's as well. I have these speakers hooked up to a Harman Kardon AVR-225.

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infinity entra twos jbl scs150si surround system.

Value (USED) Pretty compact for the bass they put out. Overall decent sound.

Cheap materials and construction (ecspecially the grills!) Need some DSP for speakers to sound decent.

This review is for the Bose 301 Series II. For the $83 I paid for the pair they are a tremendous value. I bought them to use for a background system in another room. All music is run through computer and a Pioneer receiver. Out of the box they didn't appeal to me very well, but with the help of SEVERE DSP (31 band EQ, and some additional enhancers). I managed to get the speakers to sound pretty good and I’m satisfied with the sound. The sound they produce before any DSP is very flat sounding lacking in the highs and harsh on the mids. The lows 63 Hz - about 200 Hz need to be turned down a few octaves. I also dipped them a little bit at the 4 kHz range and boosted the highs from around 8 kHz and on. I have to agree that the looks of the speakers are very ugly.

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Yamaha bookshelf, many JBL Professional speakers, and various speakers that i've owned.

read abouve

none for over 10 years

Point blank the best out there with a very very large and accuratesound in all the ranges.

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JBL, BOSTON ACOUSTICS, PIONEER

Price and a nice mellow sound.

No high end! Flat Sounding. The ugliest colored grills known to man,woman, or beast(even for the mid-80''s)

This review is for the 301 series II. I purchased them new in 1988 and have used them ever sense. They started off as my mains, then surrounds(and they made a damn good surround),and finally as part of a second room system.Although I don''t use direct-reflecting speakers anymore I do think that this was one of the best. For the money this is one of Bose''s Best. Good mid-bass thru upper midrange. Really throws the sound around the room. There''s no REAL tweeter to speak of, but the high end is OK!

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Bose 701,B&W 603,CC6,LM1,605-II

Good sound for the money, excellent small room choice for those on a limited budget

not exceptionally crisp treble/midrange

Reading some of the other reviews, I felt like I should throw my two cents in. I will admit that the picture Bose & Co. paint of themselves in the minds of consumers is a little inflated, it's hard to fault them for what are actually brilliant marketing moves. They advertise through mediums the average person is exposed to. They're plugged by Paul Harvey, and the only "Bose" stores I've seen are in outlet malls--hardley the places that ultra premium audio equipment should be found (no disrespect to P. Harvey--I'm a huge fan). What they've done is to place themselves at the top of the heap in the mind of the average consumer rather than middle-of-the-road in the niche audiophile market. If you think about it, it's a masterful way of advertising. So naturally, when I (an average consumer) was going to purchase decent stereo equipment, Bose was my first thought. Now, about the speakers...
I bought these during my first year of college on some what of a restricted budget. I bought my 301's after having compared them to what would be typically found in the chain electronics stores. I thought they were in the top 5% of what I had listened to and for the same money, I might as well have the Bose reputation. They've spent the last five years in a small bedroom being drive by a 200 watt reciever and for what I've asked of them, they did a splendid job. I realized early on, that they did have deficiencies, but it would be a modest step up in price to get to the next tier of performance. Would I buy them now on my new budget--No. My upgrade will take me to the genuine home theater level, where these speaker DO NOT belond, but with my budget and demands, the 301's are an admirable choice--hands down.

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Infinite, JBL, Paradigm

Lot of clean sound from a small speaker

none

I have owned these series two speakers since 1984. I have had to replace the woofers due to surround rot. They still have a great sound and are now relagated to a secondary system in one of the bedrooms. I find their sound to still be quite good.

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none