I have compared side by side with some other brands. Bose 101 produces more crispy, clear, and louder sounds compared to other due to its 4 ohm impedance. It is designed for patio's evening music enjoyment, definitely not for a party as it carries only up to 60w RMS with simply not enough low frequency or bass. I must say it produce better sounds than most others If you need some bass, just add a sub woofer. The material design is durable for the outside use regardless any weather condition.

Lack of bass or low frequency. Mount not included.

First of all, I'm a pro with 50 years on symphony violin as well as professional experience in folk-rock, country-rock, and improvisational music performance and recording.

MyBose 101 Monitor Speakers came with my home--they were mounted for outoor deck use. I never had much use for that, and only when repainting the deck and back did I have the opportunity to take them down and test them out.

I was amazed. Indoors or out, these are a great buy for the money. The response is, I believe, flat (which you want)...meaning that you will want a subwoofer to completely enjoy what these speakers can do. However, I would rate them favorably against speakers costing 4 to 5 times the cost--and you can get them cheaper on ebay....

I have tested them with a wide variety of music from LP to CD to DVD and from foreign MP3 discs to audiophile CDs.....there's nothing lost in these speakers. In fact, I might prefer them to the best headphone monitors.

These would also function superbly as studio recording monitors. With the various inputs (2 per speaker) for normal photo-tripod mount screws, you've got a lot of options.

As I mentioned, mine were with my purchase in 2010. Whether Identical to the 2014 "speaker of the year" I can't really make a comparison, but could the 2014 be even better?

I'm bit of a pest when it comes to music, I like it loud so me and the rest of the word can hear it too lol. Recently I was forced to downsize my speakers due to noise complaints however, and at the time I happened to come across these bose speakers. After some research I found them to be rather rare these days as they're now discontinued, and even more so my particular versions, (rated 10-80 watts @ 4-8 ohm with the more durable stardriver design rubber full range drivers), so couldn't resist buying them. I hooked them up and I was pleased. Not too bassy obviously, but respectable for their size, good midrange and impressive treble considering they use no additional tweeters. With a good amplifier you can definitely squeeze out a volume that certainly doesn't have much in common with the physical size of these speakers. I have to say, if I came across another pair of these anywhere in the future, I would buy a second pair to hook up as my B speakers.

Good for what they are;small, one driver, inexpensive speakers that work well in small spaces. The problem I have is with the Bose corporation and their policy on repairs to their products. The speaker wire terminals on one of my speakers broke when the speakers were dropped. I called Bose to get a replacement speaker wire terminal and they won't sell me one. Their POLICY is that they WON'T sell parts for their speakers. They did OFFER to repair the speakers for $75 plus shipping!
The Bose representative said they would look at the drivers and if they had problems with the surrounds, they would replace them as well for that price. Considering they have the weather proof Star drivers in them they shouldn't need to be replaced. So in essence they want me to spend at least $100 for repair and all of the shipping costs to replace a spring terminal that costs all of 50 cents. Something they should have just sent to me free considering I buy their products.
I would not recommend anyone buy their products because of their terrible customer service. So I give the product a three star rating but only a one star for value because of the terrible customer service. I will not in the future and recommend that you not, buy their products because of their awful after purchase service.

Very crisp clear sound. They are great speakers for some aplications.

The 101s are limited by aplication use as they have absolutly no bass what so ever. They could be used a 2nd room main speaker with a small soft sub.

The 101s have very nice mid range and trebble. No bass what so ever. I don't recomdend them for main speakers. Maybe for a back room. I use them to back up my polk audio speakers because they do have a wonderfull sound for the range they do produce. They can produce very nice clear highs and I can hear notes out of them that don't come from my main speakers.

durable crisp sound

damn 4 ohms

These are great speakers. Nice clear and crisp sound, good bass for their size. Very very durable. I took one of them to be used at a conference I was holding and i forgot these things were only 4 ohms. my amp was set at 8 so yeah.. i smelled the speaker burning. it didnt work after that day. the other day i took it apart and checked and nothing seemed wrong except for some burnt cotton so i hooked it back up and lone behold the speaker worked again.

Handle a lot of power! 1/4 jack! Durable. Very smooth sound in the Vocal range.

Could use more versatile mounting capability. IE: Side mounts as well as bottom mount.

I'm a musician playing a variety of gigs and needed a small, sturdy, vocal monitor with a 1/4" imput jack for my small gigs. I took a chance on these as they were considerably less than traditional "Hot Spot" monitors. These work GREAT for vocal monitors! I don't know (or care) how they would sound for a stereo system.

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You name it, I've used it for live performances. Mostly EV and JBL larger monitors.

Tough case. small enough to work when others are too big.

Sound bad They say Bose, and everyone with a tin ear for half a mile thinks they are wonderful. Ugly.

boomy yet honky, with a clipped upper register and distorted bass below say 200Hz. However, they were quite a bit more practical to bring into a dorm room than three-way speakers with 12" woofers. So I used them. I will not be using them again - ever. I will say that the sound did clear up some when I hooked them up to my subwoofer. One driver trying to reproduce a full range isn't going to cut it.

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I have a Yamaha Sub/Sat system hooked up now.

Strong, natural sounding.. espcially for "sweeter" music.

Not very clear - can hide some of the details due to the coloring.

I love these... and they have a suprising special use- as a live sound speakers. I used 4 of them for a church, and the sound is AMAZING. I think it has to do with the coloring of the sound... and the strong mid range that somehow does not sound harsh. The effect is that you can NOT hear the speakers... instead it sounds like you are hearing the people speaing - and singing, etc. It is a VERY natural sound... you only notice that theyare doing their jon when a mic gets turned off, then you hear NOTHING! I would highly recommend these for doing sound in smaller spaces where you want a natural effect. I wouldn't put stuff like allot of base in them though... but they have plenty of bass to make an accoustic guitar sound very full and life like, etc. They are strong as hell, I have used my pair for over ten years!!! I treat them hard too... they are all dented but sound and work perfectly still. Stick them on a stand and use them for stage monitoring, sweet! These are a CLASSIC IMO :)

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Boston Accoustic

Large sound from a 4.5inch driver

Not too great with bass. Finding a good way to mount them somewhere can be a problem.

These speakers are really great if they are combined with a nice sub. I have been using the 101 Music Monitors for over a year now and I am completely satisfied. The produce great Mids and Highs and don''t distort when I pump 600watts of the hardest rock around. A great buy if you catch a deal like me.