They make great wheel chocks for my truck.

The dog refuses to pee on it.

These blow me at high noon. Only an ill-informed boob would buy this junk.

Unique design. When properly placed, an illusion of a more "3 dimensional" soundfield is percieved. Especially good with some live and more open, acoustic recordings.

Unique design. Sensitive to placement. Hard to judge accuracy of sound because of quasi bipolar design, although the perception of a quality musical experience is there. Not a speaker to buy if you are looking for "exact" replication of the recording.

I bought these a good 15 years ago at an upscale department store on discount. My wife liked how they looked (they have a walnut finish) for our living area, and the sound was acceptable at the time and did well in our living space.

These are an unusual speaker, and I seem to have an attraction to differing strategies for speaker design (I have since shuffled Maggies, Def Tech, Klipschorns and now the Vandies through my listening areas). I am in search of an open, life like sound. The Vandies are definitely the best I have found in this search, but I still have the 401s in a library area...and have since dispersed the Maggies, DT etc off to the after market.

The 401s can sound quite good in a properly set up room. As others have said, they need to have some distance from the walls. Every room is different, obviously, so it takes some experimenting to get them right. Also, I would recommend getting a set of those corner baffles that round out the corners. Proper placement helps provide the direct/reflecting "sound" they are intended to give.

Is this sound "good"? Well, it can be good, and it can be a bit irritating. Just depends on what you are listening to and what you expect. It can sound quite good with live and more "open" type recordings. I have enjoyed many a great classical and jazz recording on these speakers. If you are looking for an exacting, linear sound, these definitely are not the speaker for you. There are some rock recordings that I prefer to hear on the more traditional 2 or 3 way speakers. There are other speakers that can also provide a more dimensional sound, and do so with a quite different strategy then the 401s. Magnepans, for instance, do this much better (and differently of course). However, they are quite power hungry, even more sensitive to placement then the 401s, and lack dynamics needed of most quality rock records. The 401s are dynamic enough for rock records (even though the design lacks an "in your face" sound), and 50 to 100 watts of quality solid state (that handles the 4 ohm load these speakers place) amplification is plenty. I have tried these with some moderate powered tube amps (Marantz 8b and HK Citation 2 and A500 integrated) and they do well with tubes...in fact the 3-D, live effect is even more evident!!

This speaker is definitely not for everyone. In fact, they probably will do well in few rooms, and for few tastes. For those of you who enjoy dimensionality to your sound, and have a listening area that is a fit for these speakers, I would recommend you give them a listen. Do yourself a favor, and try before you buy if at all possible.

I would not pick up the ones that at Sam's Club etc. But, if you can find an older set (there were some better finishes with these in thier original presentation as well as better detail to quality) used, say for between $200-$300, you may get yourself a speaker you will really enjoy. Also, I would recommend getting these at leat an inch or two more off the ground with speaker spikes or an open type stand...this will alow more sound to escape from the surrounding walls (again, more of an open sound) and put the direct firing front tweeters more in line with where you are sitting in your room.

Similar Products Used:

Various 2 and 3 way speaker systems, ported and sealed encousure--Large Advents, B&@, Energy, etc. Also, previously owned Magnepan's, Definitive Techs and currently use Vandersteen 2ce's as mains.

I'm submitting this review to counter the poor review given by "A disturbed citizen." Either disturbed continued to buy every Bose product even after he decided they were crap or he's rating something that he doesn't really own. I'd advise him to stop posting falsified, biased reviews and to break out that dictionary he talked about and learn how to spell retarded and addict.

Thanks
Daniel

Size, Decent sound, work well as Surround speakers in Home Theater

heavy, not too good for front left and right speakers

I bought these speakers at Sams to replace a set of Pioneer 3 ways. BIG MISTAKE. I failed to read reviews and listen to these speakers first. I was taken into the Bose advirtising trap. Since then I have gained much knowledge in the audio world. As for these speakers, I used them for about 2 weeks as front left and right speakers, the sounds was NOTHING compared to my pioneer speakers. So I tried them as surround speakers and they work much better there. As for front speakers, I am still looking for a new set. Not sure which manufacture to go with yet, shoppin around. But all and all these are decent speakers for the money.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer

It has crisp clear highs and tight punchy bass. Because of the shape of the box it is great sounding space efficient speaker

the box is not that strong at the bottom

This speaker is an overall great all purpose speaker. the highs are so loud that i cranked them up and heard them from down the street. i ahve these spakers hooked up with a set of JBL subwoofers and it is a great sound system

Similar Products Used:

bang and olufsun

Without question or further comment, placement is critical - and attention paid to experimentation will pay off, if you have a pair of these speakers. Having worked at Polk Audio's corporate headquarters, I have had a chance to listen to quite a few different upper mid-level price range units. Although there were certainly a number of great sounding speakers going in and out of the lab, I must say that I wouldn't trade my 401s for any of them. I might have _bought_ some other brand, but I'd want to keep mine anyway. I listen almost exclusively to music recorded in arena settings, (lots of Zappa), and the 401 sound, with it's built-in infinitely adjustable 'reverb' delay, (it's inherent coloration, in other words) adds something that I like. That and the fact that I've never come close to 'overpowering' these speakers leads me to say that I have no problem giving top honers to a pair of speakers that I bought 11 years ago.
If you ever see them at a yard sale, or advertised in the paper, don't let all the Bose bashing stop you from giving them a try - I'd _still_ buy them...

I having worked for Harman International got to hear systems upwards of $100,000, including the Genesis. Most of them are better than Polk products, all are better than any Bose product. You see, not only did I work there, I assembled speakers and helped test them.
I heard the Bose 401's demo'd in many different venues. I could tell that they lacked treble right off. In fact I though, well...these would be ok for about $250 a pair.
I saw the real price and almost defecated in my pants. I thought WHAT?!!!
How can such a cheap set of drivers in a mediocre sounding floor system cost so much?
Placement was optimal in each demo I heard, with a specifically designed acoustic environment. I still notice the extremly OBVIOUS shortcuts I.E. no treble, and exaggerated midbass that is supposed to be bass.
I was prepared to give the design 2 stars, but the price is absurd so I must rate these a 1.

good base

hard to set the speaker

good

I bought my 401's in the Summer of 1991, after my first year at the University of Michigan. At the time I had just enough cash for either a crappy rack system (I say that, because they all suck), or a decent pair of speakers and an amp. I chose the later, and still use them both. I'm not a true audiophile (dont have the cash yet, still paying off law school), and, to be honest, some of you are pretty damn strange.

Nevertheless, I love my 401's and wouldn't trade them for anything. Bose is not the same company today as it was when I bought my 401's, so I can't recommend the "new" 401's, but if you can buy used "old" 401's, do it.

Positioning of the speakers is very important, and it takes some practice to get it right. I listen to blues, the dead, jazz, and a lot of techno, and they all sound awesome on these speakers. For the money (I spent about $550), they continue to please me in all the right ways......going on ten years.

enveloping sound

hard to place properly, 4ohms limits choice of receivers

Bought these on sale for 50% off at Radio Shack in 1991. Paid $500 Canadian. I still use them today as part of my 5 .1 channel setup. I find they are perfect as fronts for home theater. Keep in mind that the fact that they are 4 ohms limits your choice of receivers. Semm better suited to home theater than music. They have held up well for over ten years. I wish they didn't have clips for the speaker wire though as the rest of my speakers have banana plugs. Overall they have served me well.