small footprint; spacious,good soundstage.good value

bass is weak,need a decent sub;placement can be a problem also

very good deal for the price.not audiophile stuff,but not nearly as bad as some reviews would have you believe.

Similar Products Used:

magnat speakers;ar speakers

Small and discrete.

These speakers sound awful.

I have been a long time fan of American made speakers, loud and clean, (Klipsch, some JBL and Infinity, you get the point) able to produce all types of music with great accuracy. Bose does not accomplish this. What type of music are you forced to listen to during a Bose demo? Most always it’s some very conservative jazz with 100Hz bass and no rim shots or other audio extremes. Movie demos? Some action scene with lots of hissing and screeching. Sometimes, like at Fry’s, a 15” sub will be behind the 120” “distraction” screen (at one of the San Jose Fry’s, they really did have a big sub in the front in the Bose demo room) What I’m trying to say is that Bose demos are almost rigged. You are hearing the speakers in lab conditions. You will be disappointed when you get them home. It’s not my money being wasted. Good luck and ALWAYS listen to music you’ve heard before.

Similar Products Used:

Aiwa bookshelf speakers.

Nicely styled speakers

Cannot push them too far

The specs say it is rated 100W and support from 20 - 200W amp. I am pushing these with a second hand Yamaha R-V905. Certainly it doesn't give you a lot of bass even when i set the receiver Main to Large. At high volume, I hear cracking noise from the tweeters. No good. But for causal listening, this is a decent pair of speakers, just don't turn the volume too high.

WARNING!!!
If you are not an ardent BOSE proponent, and you have posted a negative review of a bose product, you may be subjected to the wrath of an individual who goes by the moniker "Mr. Bose". He will come to you in stealth, with a foul tongue and an equally lacking vocabulary totally void of any degree of usefull coherency. This person is evidently either retarted or perhaps a crack adict.

Mr. BOSE: We know your out there, however your cowardice is evident in the fact that you don't give anyone the opportunity to respond to you maniacal ravings. This will not be tolerated. At least When I write a to reviewer I give them a chance to retort. Mr. Bose, it is well that you are devoted to your cause, nevertheless, it is unfortunate that you lack the intelligence to convey your ignorant beliefs. It is advisable that you consult a dictionary which, just in case you weren't aware, is a book which may bestow upon you startling revalations about the mechanics of intelligent expression. I await your response.

For some inexplicable reason, I found myself in the ownership of a pair of Bose 501 speakers. It might have been the weather that day or the slick manipulative advertising from Bose that swayed my judgement. I have to admit that I liked these speakers at first. I was lured by their sleek design and their small footprint. I still like their appearance, but I wouldn't recommend these speakers to anyone. My reasons are these: the 2 inch "twiddler" drivers are incapable of anything over 16~18 kHz, and the wind noise from the rear port is extremely loud. The bass is muddy and has no super-low frequency extension, but you wouldn't expect that from a 5 and a quarter inch driver. There is one thing about these speakers that I did like, however, and that is that I thought the stereo imaging was impressive.
With so many bad characteristics, this speaker does not deserve a rating of one, but I give it to commend the brilliant advertising that Bose puts out to make people spend $600 for a speaker that should cost $100.

The reason these sound so bad is because they are Acoustimas speakersin a floor standing format. The port in the rear of the speaker
"launchs" low frequencies so that all you hear is room filling bass.
How can that be? Bose used to make good speakers. (about 10 years ago)

501 with deep bass? OHHH..you mean heavily exaggerated MID bass! This little overpriced BOOM and sizzle box is just the thing to demonstrate distortion of the audio spectrum-ok part of it. Because it's sharply cut off above 14.5 khz, and below 40hz. Very bad in between. Only the hearing impaired, and I find CHILDREN like this. If you want to be prevented from experiancing clarity, detail and a wise purchase than get this product. Bose is for the hearing challenged and taste impaired. (usually children and k-mart afficianados fall into this category)
The only speaker brand in the world with a website against it. "Bose sucks"

is it my imagination, or is this another way BOSE can pump out a product-for more money, made from even cheaper parts! The older series 501 (the cube shaped predecessor) had two tweeters, and a 10" woofer that had alot more guts.
Now, basically a pared down version, they charge more, with less output.
I am glad I am not a BOSE lemming that follows thier products with my wallet.
P.T. Barnum basically had a BOSE customer in mind when he said "There's a sucker born every minute."
As long as there is poor taste, Bose with thrive on the income of the dull minded.

none

everything

I believe that the critisism of this junk is genuine. Even when I listen casually, I could tell they were the worst at every price.
I think anyone who dislikes Bose is pretty fair and objective because without being tone deaf, it's pretty plain: no highs at all. The bass is just boom.
One star.

Similar Products Used:

n/a

powerful, booming bass (no need for subwoofer with these things)

perhaps a bit sloppy because of the boominess

I concur. Most of you people suffer from "the alternative syndrome," which forces you to hate anything that is mainstream or popular. At the price I bought these at ($260/pair through a factory outlet) these speakers simply CANNOT be beat. I do agree that at the $520/pair price you can do better than the 501's, but that still doesn't make these 'crappy' by any stretch of the imagination. Everyone I've ever played music for has been impressed with the large sound these puppies output. The bass is so good I haven't felt any need to purchase a subwoofer.

So quit your whining and learn to be a bit more objective.
The 501's do not deserve to be in the hall of shame.