Spacious sound, imaging.

won't quite reach up to the top, and doesn't really hit the lowest octave

I went to a local dealer that had these in a Full Bose demo. I sat for about 2 hours listening to various materials. Strings, vocals, percussion.
In each instance, the imaging was excellent, the bass was defined and instruments discernable.
I saw the sale price was $699/pair.
For that price, many other speakers either drill my ears out with cheap horns, have no bass, or have muddy bass.
The spaciousness was especially nice, because about 6" from the back wall, and everything was there.
The type of music didn't matter, everything was handled well without strain.
I am not going to lie and say they are high end, but for the price, they produce a highly listenable, entertaining and exciting sound.
They do not need a sub to be enjoyed, and the bass is quite full bodied. I never would have expected this, but I really enjoyed them.
I think that they fill a small room, and give a sense of soundstage better than a number of sub $1,000 box speakers.
The whole point: I got 5 stars worth of enjoyment from them, and that is what matters to me. I am now, and always will be an "Audio enthusiast" that is totally happy with my purchase, and not feel that I have to own the latest or most expensive even though my budget allows.
Give these a listen, I think they sound superior to the 2x as expensive 901.

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JBL, Energy, Polk, Klipsch, Boston

Considering the degree to which a pair of paradigm Monitor 90's will utterly shame these, there are no strengths to speak of.

Fake sounding. "Exagerated Highs and bass of normal speakers"? How about inadequate dull sound of cheaply manufactured bose crap? hows that sound you fanatical Bose-jockey's?

The reviewer below me makes me laugh a great deal. He castigates NORMAL speakers in a feeble attempt to show how bose does justice to some sort of "live sound". Gene obviously works for bose; its the only way to explain his lack of details and corny catch phrases.

ANYWAY! To all of you who came here looking for an objective review, here it is. These contain extremely cheap paper drivers to the beat of 2x8" for bass, 6 1/2" mid range and 2x2.5" alarm clock grade tweeters. To all those who wouldn't like to believe me, just take one apart and tell me what you see; you'll realize that I'm right(I usually am). Freq. response would be great to know, but Bose feels consumers don't deserve to find out. The low-excursion 8" woofers are seeled inside a band-pass type enclosure and ported out the back with a toilet paper tube. There is no port flaring so the bass will "chuf" noticably at high volumes. Paper tweeters where retired about 15~20 years ago due to poor resonance properties @high frequencies. Bose speakers produce "soft treble" due to the fact that the more sophisticated dome tweeters are expensive to manufacture and dont offer the same HUGE profit margin that super cheap drivers will yeild when you squeaze them into $20 worth of LDF and make it pretty-looking. As with anything in life, cheap materials are indicative of performance, and these perform VERY poorly as compared to the referance representation of a recording. Bose has tricked the average public into believing that they've have made revolutionary leaps in speaker design, when exactly the opposite is true. They cannot defeat the laws of physics and outperform "conventional loudspeakers" with horrible build quality and cheap parts to boot. If you care about sound, don't buy these. And direct-reflecting is a marketing scam as well. If you want more ambient sound, there are a # of manufacturers that offer rear-firing tweeters that quench that need in a more accurate way. I have said enough, If your new to this, don't be fooled by the ludicrous praise some of the "reviewers here give these; I have a hunch that at least 1/2 of them work for bose. I welcome any questions people may have.

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B&W DM series (all) Paradigm monitor and reference series (all) B&W Nautilus 801, 802, 803, Revel Ultima Salon. Vienna acoustics Beethoven, and Mahler.

CLARITY.In one word CLARITY.When I first got these speakers I would hear things in my music I never knew was there like the tom tom drums that come out of the left speaker at the end of Vasoline by the Stone Temple Pilots.

i would say with the dual 8 inch woofers and the bass chamber i was disopointed by the bass with these speakers

I have had these speakers for a little over a year and i use them to listen to music as well as watch movies.I drive them with my Sony 555ES at 120 watts per channel it does the job.These speakers need power you can't have a 80 watt amp or reciver and expect to get the performance promised by the manufacture.You also must READ the mannual and adhere to the manufaturs suggested placement.As far as the bass goes it is not really that much at all I went and got a subwoofer not to long after i bought these speakers becuase there wasn't enough bass.I suggest to the guy in Austraila to move them out from the wall slightly and listen again. these speakers need room and power if you don't have both you would be better served buying something else

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the rest of my speakers are Bose as well with the VCS 100 and 201's in the rear but my sub is a Klipsh

Kinda nice look, predictable sound that is never too wrong. Must admit it is entertaining.

Lacks sounstage, presence

These speakers are a bit of an enigma for me. The really don't do much right or wrong. They play at low volume without much notice. The same can be said for loud. They just make sounds. They don't distort much, but they don't bring anything to life at any volume.

Some systems I have heard bring a recording to life at low levels, but sound absurd at high levels.

Some bring reality at a high levels but sound dead at low levels.

A very few components can make the music real at both.

This speaker has no gross distortion at either low or high levels. Its just kinda blah across the spectrum.

It doesn't really do anything wrong, it just doesn't do anything right.

If you like something that doesn't cause a problem no matter what material you listen too - this is the Speaker for you. I would say that this is a speaker that might really be built just right for the masses.

I have always hated the BOSE legacy and my hatred of the older 901s is only surpassed by my loathing of the modern cubes.

But this speaker has gained a little respect in my book. Would I buy it - no. But I would listen to it and not complain about it.

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Best matches I can think of are early 80s JBLs and Yamahas.

Attractive design, good bass

Direct/reflecting not always a good thing

Just got the new ones. Great speakers. I agree people shoudnt bash them. Dont get mad at Bose just cause they know how to sell speakers better than anyone else. Take your rage out on something else. Placement is key with these speakrs.

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Bose 4.2 bookshelves, Klipsch RF-3, BA VR970

SUPER EXCELLENT SPEAKERS, GREAT FOR MOVIES AND MUSIC, CLEAN SOUNDS, VERY CLEAN SOUNDS.

NONE

THESE ARE GREAT SPEAKERS. WHY? BECASUE THEY SOUND GOOD. THAT IS REALLY THE BOTTOM LINE. CLEAR, CLEAN SOUND. IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO BUY SPEAKERS, BUY THESE. GREAT FOR MOVIES AND MUSIC. USE A POWERED SUB AND THE SOUND IS AWESOME (ALL SYSTMES NEED A POWERED SUB TO SOUND "AWESOME" IN MY OPION).

lETS FACE IT, ALL PEOPLE WHO HEAR THESE SPEAKERS THINK THEY ARE SOMETHING SPECIAL. IF NOT, THERE WOULD NOT BE SO MANY REVIEWS HERE. MOSTLY, I THINK THE BAD REVIEWS ARE FROM PEOPLE WHO BUY SPEAKERS THAT DO NOT SOUND AS GOOD, THEN HEAR THE 701'S AND GET UPSET BECAUSE THEY SOUND BETTER THAN WHAT THEY PURCHASED. ACTUALLY, THIS IS JUST HUMAN. PEOPLE THINK "IF I DIDN'T BUY THEM, THEY COULDN'T BE BETTER." SO, NO MATTER WHAT, THEY MUST NOT BE AS GOOD AS WHAT THEY PURCHASED. WHY WOULD ANYONE GO TO SUCH LENGTHS AS IN SOME OF THESE REVIEWS IF THEY WERE NOT TRYING TO CONVINCE THEMSELVES OF THEIR POINT? THINK ABOUT IT!

ANYWAY, THESE ARE THE BEST SPEAKERS IN THE PRICE RANGE THAT I HAVE EVER HEARD. AGAIN, WHY? BECAUSE THEY SOUND GREAT. HIGHS, MIDS, LOWS ARE SO CLEAN.

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BOSTON A'S, JBL, POLK

Sound bounces off walls

Just read the review

Bose should pat themselves on the back for being able to get the 800 duckies that these speakers command. The bass is sloppier than ketchup on white bread, I mean the bass lacks any sense of control and tightness. The highs are like Rosanne Barr garggling hot buttered glass, oh I mean shrill and Piercing to the point were listern fatigue is pulling your hair out and screaming. The midrange is as uninviting as a stay at the bates motel, or should I say lifeless and very colored. That about sums it up as far as how they sound. The 701's are going to be replaced with something else as I was told, maybe the Bose people got wind of the lackluster reviews and thought it might be a great idea to make a real speaker, but then again... Better sound through marketing....

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none like this except a set of Kraco speakers in a truck.

I think Audioreview should require some proof-of-purchase before people can post reviews of Bose speakers. Yes, I prefer the sound of traditional speakers over the Bose reflex design, but I think Bose speakers have their merits.
Don't bash the speakers unless you own them.

Everything

Nothing

I now own a pair of acoustic Research S40 speakers and I am very, very happy with them. I previously owned a pair of Bose 701s and the experience I had with them was incredible! This is one great speaker! In some reviews, people have said, "even the guy in the store told me the other speakers were better". Duh! Of course they will tell you that because they can make a profit on more expensive speakers. There is no real test for a speaker except actually listening to them, and this is exactly what Bose will tell you, and thats why they don't publish specs. If you haven't listened to these speakers in your home in the right place, don't say anything. The stores are the worst place to test a speaker because of placement and acoustics. The other speakers in the room will also absorb some of the sound, particularly with Bose producs because of their direct-reflecting design. Which happens to be a brillient idea. So go see for yourself what the Bose-bashers are missing. You will probably take a pair home.

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Almost no speakers are this good

Can bench press 300 lbs. ten times in a row while juggling 3 chef salads

Despite what you may have heard, these speakers can't swim. Aw, shucks.

Old McDonald had a Bose

E-I-E-I-Oh!


And on his Bose he played some songs

E-I-E-I-Oh!


With no highs here and no lows there, here a mid, there a mid, everywhere a mid mid


Old McDonald had Bose

E-I-E-I-Oh!

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