ToxicAvenger2012

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I have read some interesting reviews, and every person is different in what sounds good to them. I purchased these speakers at an Army PX in Germany for about $560, and I had them conected to a Pioner VSX-D3S receiver that claimed 100 watts per channel for the mains. My room-mate already had bose 301's run off and ADCOM system and they sounded pretty good, so that clued me in about bose. So my 501's rocked nicely but semed to lack base, and cranking up base wih the receiver only made it warbly, but placing them farther apart helped and overal i was pleased with them. In the years since they have been in many different rooms with of diferent wall types. I CANNOT OVER-STATE THAT THESE SPEAKERS REQUIRE A HOLLOW FRAME WALL THAT CAN RESONATE!!! Masonry walls dont do that very well, and i have personaly seen the difference. It seems these babies need more power than I've ever given them, but can attest to their ability to sound great at low power. the pioneer died by developing a crackle in the left channel, repair was too expensive so i trashed it. well its replacement is an RCA bookshelf system that has 60 watts per channel and it soundsamazing. Yes there are speakers that are better than these, I highly rocommend thse because they last forever and they sound great with almost anything you connect them to. EXCELLENT VALUE anything

masterbeth

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
i had these 501's for quite a while... and it still satisfies me with its sound quality..
you need a lot of power and the right equipment just to appreciate these 501's.
a 16-band per channel equalizer and a 200W RMS amp will do the job..
(well, who owns these stuff nowadays?)

i had a hard time getting the right mix on my EQ on these speakers but when finally i made the right tuning...
voila! sounds amazing!

dont even try to put this on an entry level multi channel receiver that doesnt have a discrete customizable Equalizer! Preset equalizer settings doesnt do the job on these 501's...

speaker placement is important...

Knucklehead

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.88 of 5, 8.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
First off, I don't own, nor have I ever owned these speakers. However, I am familiar with them.

A friend of mine bought a set of these in 2000 or 2001 and hooked em up to his old school Kenwood 6600. Puts out a claimed 80wpc if I recall, conservative by todays standards, and probably is closer to 100wpc.
Anyway, he always thought cds sounded 'flat' in the house, as compared to his Explorer with the JBL sound system. No matter what he did in the way of speaker placement and equalizer adjusting, he couldn't get the flat sound out of those speakers.

Page forward ~3 years, and I'm upgrading my sound system from an old 2 channel Sony, and I've just bought a Harman Kardon AVR520 along with a pair of Infinity IL40 floorstanding speakers. Well, Pat comes over to take a listen to what I've got and starts doing some thinking about what he has. Next thing I know, he's bought another receiver from a guy at work, a Sony AV970 I think it was. Results were pretty much the same. He finally concluded it was the speakers. He bought a pair of Infinity IL60s. Awesome bass on those things. Anyway, the comparison was no comparison at all. The Bose 501s stink compared to the Infinitys. I know, price wise, its a bad comparison, but after bringing them over to my place and hooking them up to my AVR520 and comparing them to my IL40s, he decided to sell them to the first sucker that came along. That didn't take long at all.

Bottom line is these are a flat sounding speaker. If thats your cup of tea, then these are what you have been looking for. But just like the 901s, they are more marketing hype than rocket science.

Flash forward to today and I'm still listening to these great IL40 Infinitys, but I now have a Harman Kardon 3480 120wpc pumping them, along with a very nice JBL sub, and I'm listening to classical piano music. Sounds like that Grand is right here!

Oh, and the 501s? Pat sold them to a guy we worked with back then. He had them for about a year and could take it no longer. He sold them. Don't know to whom they were sold.

Strengths:
They'd make a great door stop.

Or a boat anchor.

Seriously, if you like loud mid range tones, or have a sub, you may get to like them. But do yourself a favor and shop around, always!
Try to remember what you heard and how it sounded, and take your favorite cd with you when you do.

Weaknesses:
No high definition, no bass, just a rather muddy mid range.
They require a lot of power to get them going. You'd better like your music loud.

Similar Products Used:
Infinity, JBL, Polk, Advent, Speaker Lab, even Radio Shack, way back in the late 60s! So many I can't remember anymore.
Never owned a Bose speaker!

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Price Paid:  $250.00

Summary:
Its interesting that people rant like Bose is the devil or something.

Anyway, I find the 501 Series V speaker to be quite adequate. The mid range is a little muddy and in an unaltered state, the bass is somewhat lacking.

These speakers really like power though. Running around 150watts and equalized to taste, these speakers kick out some very pleasant sound. Bass is deep and rounded, and the highs are sweet without being too overbearing like some other high end audiophile stuff. Even the mid-end comes out nicely.

Soundstage is nice and the image is clear almost anywhere in the room.

One thing about Bose speakers in particular. And this is very important. They emit a unique sound. Soft and surrounding. Realistic sounding but not "accurate" realistic. Yeah.. Direct/Reflecting and stuff. What it comes down to is if you like that effect or not. Some do, some don't.

Another thing about the Bose speakers in the demo room. Its not going to be representative because most listening rooms don't do the reflective part of direct/reflecting so its going to sound really different in your house.

901's are still definitely better though.

I would rate these at three to four stars, but because of all the Bose Bashers, I'm going to rate them at five stars to try and balance out the overall rating.

Strengths:
Size, pleasant sound when set up with a good amp, nice imaging.

Weaknesses:
Quality of parts are not up to the retail asking price.

Similar Products Used:
There are other products that use Direct/Reflecting technology?

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Price Paid:  $700.00 from Musics at Guadalajar

Summary:
Tengo estos bafles desde 1996 y ciertamente la posición de los mismos es escencial, para una buena escucha.

A menor distancia a la pared suenan mas graves, pero inciden en la alta frecuencia reflecciones cercanas fuera de fase al sonido directo provocando un filtro de peine en la zona de agudos. (demasiada interferencia y coloración destructiva en la zona de agudos)

La mejor posición que me ha resultado, es poniendolos a 20 cms de la pared posterior, a una distancia no menor a 1 metro de las paredes laterales y una distancia entre bafles no mayor a 2 metros. En habitaciones pequeñas y bien amuebladas el impacto dinámico en el rango completo de frecuencias es impresionante. En habitaciones de mas de 50 mts2, se tiene que tener tratamiento acustico, (por lo menos una alfombra y cortinas para tener un grave firme y seco)

Estos bafles se tienen que adaptar al amplificador cerca de unas 15 horas continuas de funcionamiento para el acoplamiento de impedancias, el cual resulta un poco complicado pues la impedancia de los bafles es de 6 Ohms y la mayoría de los amplificadores, o son de 4 Ohms, o son de 8 Ohms. (hay que poner el selector del amplificador -si es que tiene- a 8 Ohms) Una vez adaptados y acoplados realmente se vive una experiencia muy agradable y gratificante en la escucha de Discos de Jazz, Pop, Salsa. Estos bafles no funcionan bien con Rock, por la falta de presencia de medios graves.

Estos bafles ocupan un buen amplificador. 120 watts por canal mínimo, a 8 ohms. Yo tengo un Onkyo TX-8411 y estos bafles Bose 501 series V, suenan bien definidos, muy solidos y tienen buen impacto. Ciertamente agregan color a la música no son muy planos en su respuesta de frecuencia, la zona de medios es unos 6dB abajo de los agudos y graves. Los agudos son claros y cristalinos, agradables al oido pues es el cono es de carton el cual es suave al oido con los agudos. A los medios les falta algo de prescencia aunque nada desagradable si no se es muy estricto. Los graves requieren un posicionamiento cercano a paredes para obtener el ¡Punch! necesita el cuarto una alfombra para obtener rigidez.

Las Bose 501 series V, son mejores que un equipo "sony" comercial de "alto desempeño" (aunque suenan igual de fuerte) pero creo este par de bafles son el primer paso para quien realmente quiere ingresar en un audio mas fino. No son calidad de audiofilo, pero tampoco son comparables a los audios comerciales que venden en tiendas como walmart, radioshack, etc. De hecho son superiores a la gama inferior y media de polk audio que suena muy "plastica", debido a los conos hechos de polimero de baja calidad.

Sabiendolos colocar y usando un buen amplificador de entre 400 y 600 dolares de yamaha, onkyo o denon, obtendrán un desempeño equiparable a equipos que se encuentran en tiendas como Liverpool o Palacio de Hierro por precios mayores a 1000 dolares. Es por eso que recomiendo estos bafles de rango completo (si es que los encuentran pues son algo raros en México).

En EUA se obtienen por 1000 dolares, bafles de calidad tremendamente superior a lo que por ese mismo precio se obtiene en tiendas departamentales en México.

Estos bafles no son para quienes quieren sonorizar una fiesta casera, el volumen que alcanzan es solo "alegre" (unos 90dBSPL) para un cuarto alfombrado de unos 70 mts2 y si lo que quiere es realmente "sentir la música", (Unos 105dBSPL) esto será posible solo en una habitación amueblada de unos 25 mts2. (El grave y subgrave, en cualquier condición siempre califica solo de suficiente). La principal característica de estos bafles es definición, control y también impacto en el rango dinámico, pero siempre a moderados niveles. Definitivamente destaca la suavidad y resolución de los agudos. Estos bafles son un buen comienzo para los adolecentes y jovenes interesados en la alta fidelidad.

Strengths:
Suavidad de agudos y respuesta hasta 18Khz!

Graves firmes y solidos siempre y cuando se tenga una habitación alfombrada.

Gran definición en todo el rango de frecuencias.

Buen balance de sonido directo y reflejado

Impacto dínamico.

Causan mucha curiosidad y asombro entre los amigos por su diseño de torre muy delgado y la relación asombrosa de potencia-tamaño de los pequeñisimos conos.

Una vez bien colocados y adaptados a un buen amplificador, la músicalidad de estos bafles y su aplomo en general es muy gratificante y equiparable a equipos de mayor costo (800 dolares hasta 1700 dolares) en tiendas departamentales de México.

Weaknesses:
La zona de medios es muy comprometida debido a un diseño de crossover que no acopla del todo bien las fases de los 2 pequeños conos con el cono de graves, sin embargo nada desagradable al oido.

Los medios graves tambien son muy moderados, debido al mismo problema de acoplamiento de crossover.

Los graves son moderados.

Poca presión sonora en general, (no sirven para una fiesta)

No recomendables para música Rock

Falta un desacople con el piso (spikes)

Similar Products Used:
Sony Ssmf650h, Klipsh RF-5, Cerwin Vega VE series, Yamaha NS 125 FP y NS 555, Alesis monitor one mkII, Missión, JBL E100 y Balboa 30, Polk Audio R series, Infinity Beta y Primus, Celestión F series.

Mis referencias: B&W serie 800 y Martin logan

Profesionalmente: Meyersound, JBL, EAW, Dolby Lake, DIGICO, Yamaha, etc.