I read dozens and dozens of reviews before deciding to submit my own, and in doing so I have to come to several conclusions. First, to those who complain about the 301's lack of bass and distorted high end, I only have one comment. The 301's are BOOKSHELF SPEAKERS! They perform like bookshelf speakers, not huge 3-way towers. Next to those of you who claim that they sound horrible all the way around, LEARN HOW TO SET UP YOUR! Very few speakers sound great right out of the box, without adjusting parameters on your reciever. Now, on to my review:
First, I purchased the Bose 301's to be part of my home theater system. Not to be the only speakers, but part of a surrond system. I am currently building my first home entertainment system, and these are great entry level speakers. They're not the best speakers on the market, but for the price they are quality speakers.
When I first hooked them up, I thought I had wasted my money. They sounded terrible. I then realized that I needed to change the set-up on my reciever(Sony STR-DE835). Also, for the record, I used Monster speaker wires, and everything is hooked up to a Hitachi 60EX38BA 60 inch rear projection television and a RCA DVD player. After adjusting the set-up, my opinion totally changed. They sounded great! Yes, the bass was slightly muted, but that is why I will buy a seperate sub-woofer. Yes, voices and some high end sounded distant, that is what a center channel is for. Mid-range was perfect, and that was what I was looking for in my front left and right speakers.
If you only listen to music on your system, stay away from the 301's. If you have the money, buy all means, there are better speakers out there. If you're on a budget and want a quality home theater system, then the Bose 301's are a great starting point. Know your needs, know your equipment, and know your limitations when it comes to budget.

UM..... WELL ... THEY UH... HMM .... STRENGTH? OK, I KNOW , WAIT, OH YEA! THEY HAVE THE NAME "BOSE" PRINTED SOMEWHERE ON THE FRONT OF THE SPEAKER. ....AND THAT BEAUTIFUL AUTHENTIC FAKE WOOD GRAIN (GARBAGE) FINISH THAT WILL LOOK LIKE HELL IN ANY DECOR OTHER THAN A JAIL CELL.

LACK OF CLARITY, PERFORMANCE, BASS . ETC. ETC. ETC.

WELL, MAYBE THEY WILL BE O.K. AS A SET OF REAR SPEAKERS IN MY MODEST H.T. SET-UP. MAYBE NOT.

FOR ANYONE REVIEWING THESE SPEAKERS WITH A FAVOURABLE REVIEW , HERE'S A HOT TIP. "COMPARE THEM TO SOMETHING (ALMOST ANYTHING) ELSE."

IT'S O.K. - REALLY DON'T BEAT YOURSELF UP IF YOU PURCHASED A PAIR OF THESE DOGS. REMEMBER, WE LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES, I DID.

SO DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR SELL THEM, OR MAYBE GIVE THAM TO YOUR GREAT AUNTIE (YOU KNOW THE ONE WITH THE HEARING AID AND THE YANNI CASSETTE COLLECTION ) THEN GET YOURSELF DOWN TO A DEALER OF FINE AUDIO PRODUCTS - NO, NOT CIRCUIT CITY OR TARGET, GET OUT THE CHEQUE BOOK AND TREAT YOURSELF RIGHT. YOU WILL BE HAPPY YOU DID.

I THINK MAYBE I'LL JUST GIVE MY 301'S TO MY TWO YEAR OLD SON, ON SECOND THOUGHT, MAYBE NOT. I KINDA LIKE THE KID.

Similar Products Used:

NHT SUPER ZEROS + NHT SUB
MIRAGE OM-10'S + OMC-3

Bose name.

Speaker clips, no midrange, unclear sound.

These speakers are good for hometheater. Currently I have them as the surround speakers of a HT and they performing well. They're not made for playing music, at least this is the opinion I got and my wife (who is the best critic, because she's not taking into consideration any technical suspects) confirms the same. The music doesn't sound clear, it's like a good boombox. I'm not an audiophile but if someone describing himself as one, prays to these speakers - then I don't know.
They're good overall and I think that the problem is also that Bose has a name and people who are buying speakers for $318/pair (again - which 'audiophile' buys speakers in this pricerange???) want to compare them with others costing at least twice as much.
When you're looking for good inexpensive speakers, go for the AR 318 PS - 3 way, 175 W, no paper, floor standing, great sound for $200/pair (original price $600) at Netmarket.com.

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AR, Jamo, JBL, Magnat, Infinity

Bose name

Just about everything.

Well for the last reviewer, there is such thing as perfect pitch. I have perfect pitch like Mr. Dickens. I play guitar and don't need a pitch pipe. Yet when other guitar players have played my guitar no one has ever complained it being out of tune.

Anyways about the 301 series III. Cheap parts and horrible sound. Harsh highs and no bass, and the bass there is is bloated and boomy.

I can't believe anyone who has anything to do with music liking these speakers. They are so inaccurate in the sound they reproduce. Save the money and get real speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm

deep base. clear voice.

lack base defination

An ok speaker for av but not very good at all for music. It lacks deapth and defination for base. Good surround sound if your are using it as a av speaker. It will create a sort of a sound sound with only a pair of front speaker. It projects the sound to the rear creating a sound effect.
Very good response for action movies.

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Mission 771e

decent overall sound

-overpriced for what you get
-lack of midrange

I had these speakers for about 5 years until I recently decided to upgrade my system for home theater. I was generally quite satisfied with the 301's. They put out decent bass (which is important since I'm in college and like to crank the AC/DC and Metallica at parties sometimes) and are compact enough to easily fit into a dorm room. However, after recently purchasing the Paradigm Titans (at only about half the price of new 301's) for my new fronts, I find that I was missing a lot of what my CD's have to offer in the midrange. The difference is also clear in movies, especially with the voices. Not to say the 301's are bad, but for the price you can do much better. And I'm not an audiophile by any means--just a poor college student-but I can still hear the difference. Please, if you're just getting into audio, don't be sucked in by the Bose hype without visiting your local audio-only (not Best Buy or Circuit City) store and auditioning other great brands like Paradigm, PSB. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Titans & Atoms

relative to what is important to the listener...still have great bass, clear highs

a little on the midrange when listening to acoustical pieces and jazz

A great pair of speakers to have while in college. I still have it and still is in service for the last 10 years without a hitch or a hiccup. (there is no place to write a review for the series II)

It had been paired up to a great natural sounding amp until recently, when stepping up to the realm of "Dolby Digital" receivers. It has a great bass response that I never had the need for a subwoofer (when paired to my NAD amplifier)

This is Bose direct/reflecting technology, designed to create the feeling of natural sound. It may not be as accurate but that is how sound would travel to a listener's ears.

For the money I paid for these speakers ($150/pair then) has been well its worth (a 5 star rating here). Because of the lack in the midrange response compared to other "direct" speakers, I give it a 4 star. Overall, it is a good speaker, if you know how to setup/pair your Bose with a good amplifier.

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Infinity bookshelf, Technics floor speakers(what was i thinking of!)

compact size,tight,fast speaker,quite dynamic

none to speak of

Having them mounted on 40 inch stands seems to make them sound crisp and clean.I do run my treble up a couple of clicks.The bass is fast but not much below 80hz,but it doesn't matter as I have dual 12inch sub's taking over at 100hz.I got them for 200 dollars a pair.For my set up,they sound very nice.There is just somthing about them that I like.One on One with the Lx-8's[without the sub's on]I'd take the Lx-8's]but with the sub's on,I take the 301's.They also seem to match up well with my pro C5 center speaker.People who rate them so low must have ear problems or hear alot different things then I do.Sorry,I just like them.

Similar Products Used:

Optimus Lx-10's [have Lx-8's in back for surround's]

I auditioned these speakers with a friend - this was before I really got hi-fi, and I had heard that Bose made good speakers. Simply put, these speakers aren't good. I remember telling my friend that Bose were supposedly top-rated speakers, but when we were auditioning, I couldn't believe how bad these speakers sounded. I looked over at my friend and he didn't look impressed either. The midrange was too forward and the treble/bass was too recessed. I can understand that these speakers wouldn't have much bass (afterall, they're small bookshelf speakers), but the lack of mid/upper treble was dissapointing. They lacked definition and detail, and sounded very harsh on the ears. The midrange was ragged, and it sounded like the frequency response was not very even. However, we're not talking about super-expensive speakers, and so, I guess some of it is excusable. Overall, a very dissapointing speaker.

I don't suppose anyone noticed the difference in misspellings and grammar mistakes between the rave reviews and the bomb reviews...I did. My brother has the 301's because I sold them to him after I bought them from somebody who didn't like them either. Yeah, I feel guilty. For bookshelf speakers, my Klipsch 1.5's sound awesome and didn't cost too much more.