Small Footprint, good for tight areas

Everything! Poor Bass, Very "TIN CAN" sounding, Crackling tweeters.

After all of the BOSE hype I decided to give them a try. I especially liked the small footpring since I had limited space. These (and MOST BOSE speakers) are best with Jazz types music (although the Bass is lacking). If you listen to POP and Heavy music STAY AWAY! You will BLOW a tweeter in a SECOND!

Similar Products Used:

Pioneers, Cerwin Vega...

Size and look kinda' cool

Everythings made of cardboard! Sound is mediocre.

It cracks me up that the people who love these have all been using Radio Shack or Techniques and call this speaker "high end"! Everything's relative, I guess. Yeah, they're better than Radio Shack stuff. But the drivers are made of paper, the enclosure is particle board with stick-on wood grain. Even the bass reflex tubes in the back are just cardboard toilet paper tubes. All for the low low price of $500+!!!!!!!!

They really have it backwards, too. The tweeters are 2 1/2 inches... big compared to other tweeters. That's why they are rather mid rangey and not nearly as clear as they could be. The woofer inside is 5 1/4 inch.... barely a woofer. The bass rolloff is high and boomy without any low bass.

Stereo imaging is, of course, unfocused. The speakers don't point at the listener!

All in all, these would be pretty cool if they cost $150.

Similar Products Used:

Polk, sony, Boston Acoustics, Acoustic Research

footprint, stereo "sweet spot"

price

I was unable to compare these speakers to anything else when I bought them. After having them for over a year I have come to realize that they do not list some of the specs. of how well they perform, such as sensitivity. This does not make sense after they advertise so much. I wish I would have realized this before I was so quick to buy. If you have nothing to compare them to they sound good. But that is not satisfying, especially when you hear others perform. They are also about $200.00 over-priced.

i have no #$#ing idea why people are giving this speaker a good review. these are one of the WORST speakers i have ever heard (next to AIWA Speakers) these speakers are crappy the Sound Imaging is bad and so is the Spacious Effects the speakers are called Direct/Reflecting cause the sound is being Directed to you and at the same time is being reflected then sent to your ear. These speakers are the true definition of S**T. if anyone even thinks about getting these speakers than look at the Cerwin-Vega, KLH, JBL speakers first. they are alot better (for the price range). Bose technology is not even that good. all there technology is is 2 speakers put together one of them turned a little bit and 1 sh***y full-range driver. (which they do not quote the frequenct response due to the fact that it's 10khz-19khz for the tweeter 1khz-9khz for the midrange and 70hz-250hz for the dual woofers. now tell me what speaker takes 250-.9khz?? NON) if you want to test whatever speakers you have for the frequenct range than go to a Audio Store and get a PNT. due to the fact that i can't give these speakers a 0 star i have to give it a 1 star. you want to buy speakers for the technology than get Eosone Speakers their Speakers have one of the best Sound Imaging. they have loud speakers sub/satellite systems (which totally sounds like a full floor system) their subwoofers are louder than bose and has a Crossover, Phase, and a High Cut and a Low cut Input

smoothness

bass not always in line

i use these in my den for listening to all types of music, and they're not perfect. no speaker is. what they are is smooth and easy to listen to. yes, on some music the bass is not in-line with the rest of the spectrum. the pare cone tweeters are used because bose speakers are not designed to be (point source) but instead choose to diffuse the sound, which can often sound very listenable. seems like the site is full of bose haters. to those that are about to make a purchase, use this site wisely. it's great for finding out if a certain piece is failing too often and what not. but with speakers more than anything, let your ears only make the decision. you are gonna live with them and no one else.
bottom-line, listen long and hard, if they please your ears get them. the people at bose are always friendly and helpful. by the way mine can handle all the power i can stand and not break-up at all.

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many, many speakers

very smooth, never strident, great bass for size

none that I've found so far

I always get a positive comment from friends and family who visit- they remark how great the bass sounds and are amazed at the small package the sound is coming from. My brother ( who's a classic Jazz nut) bought a pair for himself after hearing mine. People who make it their mission to trash BOSE speakers should get a life (and a job- maybe then they can actually afford to buy BOSE). I hear defaming BOSE doesn't pay much these days.

GOT TO AGREE WITH THE MAJORITY. THESE SPEAKERS ARE NOT THAT
GOOD. VERY HARSH. ACTUALLY HURT MY EARS

SOUND AND BUILD QUALITY. THE REAR BASE PORTS APPEARED TO BE MADE OUT OF CARDBOARD. SOMTHING LIKE A TOILET PAPER CORE.

I ACTUALLY DIDNOT BUY THEM. I READ THE LESS THAN ENCOURAGING REVIEWS BUT AT $300 HUNDRED A PAIR I WENT DOWN
TO LISTEN. IT WAS THE SOUND THAT TURNED ME OFF. SALESMAN
SEEMED TO AGREE WITH ME. HE STEERED ME TO A PAIR OF AR S40
AT ANOTHER STORE. PICKED THEM UP FOR $300 A PAIR AND FIRST
LISTEN TELLS ME THEY ARE GOING TO FLY. WHEN I ENCOUNTERED
ALL THIS ANTI BOSE STUFF I THOUGHT THERE WAS SOME KIND OF
CONSPIRACY. HOWEVER, AFTER BRUSHING UP WITH THESE 501'S,
I AM LESS SKEPTICAL.

Similar Products Used:

BOSTON ACOUSTIC, KLH MODLE 6, AR S-40

Great all-around speaker, especially for the price.

Having to read and hear the ridiculous negative opinions.

I've been reading lots of reviews here lately, so I thought I'd contribute by adding one of my own. :)

I've owned my 501's since '94 or '95. They were my first significant audio purchase, and I can honestly say I've never been disappointed with them.

I don't know where the $599 list price came from -- I never saw them listed for anything other than $518 up until they were discontinued last year or whenever. The sold for $518 at the Bose stores, too... J&R was kind enough to give me $100 off simply for living on the west coast!

Anyway, I am continually amazed that such good sound can come from such a small package, and no one that's listened to my system(s) has ever thought otherwise. I've read all the theories about why Direct/Reflecting is no good or not transparent enough or too hard to place properly, but to me it just plain sounds good. In fact, I have to think it's easier to place Bose speakers than a truly transparent speaker, as the Reflecting aspect tends to envelope the room regardless of placement (within reason).

I got my first taste of the anti-Bose sentiment about a year or two after owning them. I visited a high end audio store to look around, mostly to check out their NAD receivers (my name backward, and they're made in Canada like me!). The lady asked me what sort of speakers I had, to which I replied Bose 501 V. She made no attempt to hide her disdain, launching into a tyrade about Bose being a marketing machine that made over-priced, poor quality products. She used the electronic overload protection circuitry as an example, saying it's little more than a lightbulb that draws excess power if needed. My response? So what, as long as it works... I challenged her to point out a speaker they carried for under $1000 that could compete, and she had nothing. Would I claim Bose to be the best? No, probably not. However, I find it very amusing that many of the "bose-bashers" claim Bose is over-priced, yet they list the rest of the components in their system (Adcom, Krell, etc.) that indicate either 1) they obviously have not added Bose to that mix and are making up non-sense for reviews, or 2) their system is severly mismatched.

To be fair, the owner of that shop is supposedly a very knowledgeable guy (I never had the interest in going back to find out). The lady (his wife, I think) struck me as the type that was simply regurgitating something she had read in a magazine.

So, the moral of that story is to let your ears do the deciding for you. Audio in general tends to be a very polarizing topic (think interconnects and speaker wire), but when it comes to Bose, it becomes incredibly personal for some reason. I'd almost say you have to throw out the incredibly negative and incredibly positive reviews (outliers) and make what you can of the middle of the road opinions.

As far as other equipment, I recently upgraded to a Bose VCS-10 center speaker and am looking to replace my rear speakers, either with Bose 301/401/501's or replace my fronts with 701's and move the 501's to the front. The 501's may be a tad lacking for deep bass, but a good subwoofer more than makes up for that and still costs you less combined than a comparable set of towers would. I picked up an open box Velodyne CT-100 at Circuit City for $280, and it blends seamlessly with the rest of the system.

Thanks for listening! :)

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Altec Lansing

tight bass, clarity,hi frequency is excellent

means????????

THE REVIEW IS FOR BOSE 501 MARK4
I BOUGHT THIS GREAT SPEAKER(USED) AFTER A DEMO WHICH WAS GIVEN BY SALES PERSON.I HAVE THIS SPEAKER IN MY HOUSE FOR THE PAST 3 MONTHS AND IT SOUNDS GREAT, THE BASS IS VERY TIGHT THE HI FREQUENCY IS VERY CLEAR AND THE TREBLE IS EXCELLENT.

I HAVE CONNECTED THIS SPEAKER WITH A BOSE AMPLIFIER WHICH IS 15 YRS OLD. IT REALLY ROCKS.WHAT ELSE CAN A PERSON EXPECT FROM BOSE.I HAVE ALLISON FOUR WHICH IS A GOOD ONE BUT NOT AS GOOD AS BOSE.I HAVE A PAIR OF JBL AND B&W BOTH TOWERS WHICH DOES NOT HAVE THE PERFORMANCE OF BOSE.

I DONT KNOW ABOUT BOSE501 MARK 5 , MARK 4 IS THE BEST SPEAKER THAT I HAVE COME ACROSS.
THIS SPEAKER IS REALLY A STEAL AT THIS PRICE.FULL CREDIT TO BOSE.

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JBL,AM5,ALLISON FOUR.

Good sound, perfect size and looks great!

Priced too high, can find better speakers for that much. Buying the Bose name....

Good sound, perfect size and looks great! However, Priced too high, can find better speakers for that much. Buying the Bose name....