Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Picked a pair up at a pawn shop for $20. They were basically straight. I had some high end Optimus book shelve speakers on my back channels of my 7.1 surround.

Relatively speaking, they bring volume and a warmer tone than the Optimus in a bookshelf. In my house, the front speakers are the drivers and the rear speakers for effects. If you look at a $4K Bose system with those little 4" midrange for surround, they are okay but lack the full thrust of sound as a 7.1 swooshes through your home entertainment system.

I run 3 subs. One with the sub out, one with the 7.1 fronts and one with the two back centers. the two back sides need some bass to fill out the low response. I also run on a separate amp some Bose 901's to augment the front channel Optimus speakers. It's a much better "warm" sound, not brassy or crisp like horns give, but more like someone actually talking in front of you.

I'm a amateur musician but a overly zealous audiophile. I've got to say that the more I listen to Bose, they more I like them. I've owned pretty much every major brand of equipement out there. I think they think things through versus just heart pounding bass and screaming highs. There's a quality of sound, like a good wine, that only a person who listen to a lot of systems can appreciate.

Price Paid:  $40.00 from Craigslist

Summary:
Bought these because they fit perfectly mounted below the cabinets in my kitchen. Without running my receivers 'Auto Setup' they sounded really flat (huge middle and no highs). After running the Setup they sounded just OK.

In general, I'm sorry that I bought them. The Bose 301 Series IV is just a little bigger and cost about the same on Craigslist. So, the old saying is true: Buy in haste repent in leisure......

Strengths:
Size and cost

Weaknesses:
Limited highs.

Similar Products Used:
Klipsch RB-5, Cerwin Vera LS-8

Price Paid:  $45.00 from ebay

Summary:
I won these on ebay with a 45 dollar bid which really surprised me because most of the 201s on there were selling for much more. I have always teetered on liking and hating Bose speakers in the past. My barracks mate while stationed in Korea had a pair of 301s and they sounded good but I dont like the AM or lifestyle sound at all. After they arrived I hooked them up and was quite surprised at their pleasant sound. They are very easy on the ears and have enough volume and imaging for most listeners. No they dont sound as good as Paradigms or NHT's but if you just need a decent set of speakers for casual listening and can pick up a pair cheap I would more than recommend these. They sounded great with my NHT subwoofer. I am using them as my rear speakers for my home theater system and am more than pleased. I would not buy these unless you have a midrange control on your receiver or preamp because they are midrange heavy but sound great when I turned the midrange down . When I upgrade my rears I will probably keep these just because Ithey are cool and the growing stacks of speakers in my closet is really making my wife insane.

Strengths:
Very pleasant sound and easy on the ears. You can get them cheap on the used market.

Weaknesses:
I would not pay the new price for these because there are better speakers out there for about the same price. A little weak on bass response . You need a good subwoofer to make these sound good. Cheap push open connectors on the back which I hate. Midrange heavy. Dont buy unless you have a midrange control on your receiver or preamp.

Similar Products Used:
Soundwave metronomes ( The best sounding speaker ever made )
Polk audio RT7 ,

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Price Paid:  $225.00 from best buy

Summary:
Speakers are easy to listen to over an extanded period. Ran them with a frequency test disc and sound pressure meter and guess what ? Midrange +_ 2 db and frequency responce to 16K was right on. Only dogs and kids under 5 can hear much more than that you Bose bashers. Limited low end as expected but as main speakers I cross them with my Onkyo to a Velodyne CHT 12. I really couln't ask for a more satisfying, for my taste, system at a reasonable price. I chose the 201's over the 301's because of the smoother midrange. When I made my own speakers years ago, I always settled on paper drivers, after trying and testing many others, with their more tolerable coloration......all speaker cones add their own sounds, and paper is the closest we can get to the human ear.
For the money, I liked the Yamaha line as well......it was a toss up when buying. Salesman said Bose tend to be more reliable, that sold me over the Y's.

Strengths:
Inexpensive, smooth not brassey or overly bright. Easy to listen to for extended periods. Look good on speaker stands, if looks matter at all. Will play loud with little audible distortion.

Weaknesses:
Low end limited, needs SW help. Doesn't have cool factor with the in crowd. Didn't cost enough to impress anyone.

Similar Products Used:
AR,Boston Acoustics, Velodyne, MCM kit sub. Bose 161 remotes

Price Paid:  $0.00 from craigslist

Summary:
Tonight I went to demo a used hi-fi. Sweet componentry, with a top of the line Nakamichi receiver. To make a long story short, the speakers that come with it are Bose 201's. When tested, they sounded much too midrangy and had little to no transparency. I'd probably have trouble spotting the difference between a 128 MP3 and the original source on these puppies. I tried tweaking the amp's audio settings, but to no avail. Bass was subpar, even allowing for their 6 1/2" woofer cones. Most will want to augment them with a subwoofer if used in a stereo system. The sound reflection technique seems little more than a gimmick, albeit a very marketable one. In addition, it has the effect of making speaker placement much more important than with a typical loudspeaker. Expect to budget extra money for stands if you buy them.

I'm not comparing these to pie in the sky audiophile equipment. Frankly, these "speakers" sound little better than my 25 year old pair of Sears LX floorstanders. Yes that's right, Sears, the department store! With plastic dust caps, a half-inch thick particle board cabinet held together with penny nails, and standard Phillips screws for binding posts! Come on Bose, that’s not hard to trounce. If you haven't guessed, I find it quite hard to recommend these speakers... to anyone. Better sounding bookshelf units can be found for a third the price at any mass-market electronics chain. For the 218$ these sell for new (V series) one would be getting close to the price of a boutique bookshelf systembotique bookshelf speakers. I will admit they look pretty nice, but ultimately it’s the fidelity that matters. If you buy them as mains, expect to get upgrade fever soon. I know mine are going right back onto Craigslist.

Strengths:
only 218 new$ (for their succesor)
Small and elegant

Weaknesses:
overemphasis of the midrange
lack of lowend authority (even for their class)
dull and rolled off highs
little transparency
finicky soundstaging
No binding posts (use spring clips like the mini-systems)
close in price to entry level botique units

Similar Products Used:
Kenwood and KLH (vintage) floor standing units
Sears LX series with 8" woofer and 3" tweeter
Bookshelf units by Infiniti and Axiom