clear and natural sound, non fatiguing. great for all genres of music - vocals, acoustic, pop and rock. bass is tight and accurate but not strong. midrange is excellent, the speakers are surprisingly big. the speakers need some space to sound best not too close to the walls. matched well with older nad or rotel integrated amps.

highs are not pronouned enough. it depends on the recording but in general they are less bright than modern b&w, it seems the company made radical change to the tweeters because this older model is not bright at all. i like it because you can listen to them all day without edgy or shrill sound

I've had this v201 with me since my college years. It did everything from being a stereo CD speaker, to gaming speakers, keyboard monitor, served as rear surrounds and went into hiatus for a few years. Now in the 21st century, I've woken it up from its deep slumber and pair it with an vintage amp for stereo music duties.

Still sounds just as it was back in my college days without missing a beat. Of course it is not as robust as my newer B&Ws. But it still held its own. This pair is older than my kids! ... and even older than my marriage! LOL! Many speakers came and went, but somehow I kept them around. I feel it's best is at low to mid level volumes. Nice musical speakers. I have thought of replacing it with something more modern. But so far nothing within the $200-300 range bests it emphatically. So the v201 remains. It may turn out to be a family heirloom someday!

Realistic vocals and solo acoustic instrument reproduction.

Not much bottom end and distortion at higher volumes.

This is a slightly different review of the B&W 201. I found that the top end was a little harsh and bright for my tastes in jazz and classical. As an experiment, I replaced the tweeter with one from an old pair of Braun L100s (soft dome fabric) that I had not been using. I also rewired the inards with Kimber Cable. It''s not a complex job, although I did have to make the opening for the tweeter magnet a little bigger. The result was an incredible surprise! My little 201s suddenly had a beautiful sweet top end. They do very well with solo acoustic music and vocals. The bottom end is lacking a bit, but I''m using them as a second system in a small room. At higher volumes the replacement tweeter shows it''s deficiencies, but it''s fabric, after all. After, about five years of lackluster performance out of the box, my 201s have served the last seven very well with only about an hours labour.

I have a pair of B&W 201's (V-200 series) I find that they are a pretty good pair of speakers. They reproduce sound quite accurately in the mid and high reanges but are
slightly lacking in the low end although a sub would solve this problem. For now
I am enjoying them but in the ( hopefully ) near future I will up grade them most
likly to another set of B&W's although I will give some thought to Paradigms. I would
really like other opinions on the B&W 201's just out of curriosity.

Good value; decent highs

Lack of bass; deficient sound definition for classical music

For the price, these speakers are pretty good. For pop, rock, and the like, sound clarity is good, the highs I have no problem with, however the bass is lacking (even my boom box has more!) but hey, what do you expect from small speakers...

For classical music though (which I listen to once in a blue moon) you need speakers with better sound definition. The speakers don't handle complex instrumentation well. They muddle it. Jazz doesn't sound bad at all, though.

Mine have celebrated their 10-year anniversary this year, and although I'm thinking of upgrading (to the 601 S2 perhaps) the 201s are still showing no sign of croaking.

I have the B&W 202i front speakers which are the big brother to the 201's. I must say that I have enjoyed them tremendously. For the size, they fill the room with a full sound, and produce a respectable amount of bass. Once I trashed the monster cable and upgraded to the Audioquest hyperlitz cables, I noticed an increase in bass re-production and overall dynamics. Even at all levels of volume, they deliver a "live" sound.

I've had a pair of V-201 for a while now...I really like them. They are good choice for the money. Good clean sound on a budget...perfect for the second system. In my slightly acoustically live room they really shine...great low to mid-bass and highs.

For the money and size, these are an incredible set of speakers. The mids and highs are crisp and clean, and there's enough bass for casual listening.

I like my 201sI use them as my rear speakers,although befofe I had large front speakers,I used them on stands as fronts.O.K. so a little bottom octave bass lacked for this purpose,but overall the sound was tight,and pleasant to the ear.I wonder if this means they are a little in-accurate?.Regardless they sound good,and handle a good deal of power for the size,plus good sensitivity means good bang for the buck.

clear sound, great midrange

they start to echo when you want to play them rather loud

These speakers don't have a wide frequency range and they won't shake the room, but they produce a very clear and tight sound and have a fantastic midrange. It seems like every instrument has its own speaker. Great speaker for casual listeners!!!

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philips FB691