Looks good for cheapos. Smooth mids inexpensive. Listenable

Needs treble boost and bass help. Not for highly critical listening. Stigma of single driver but no in actual performance

I have two pair, each connected to a home made sub, in the workout room and sewing room. With the help of a SW the 141's sound very smooth indeed and very listenable over extende periods to my old ears. Tweek the treble a bit and expect them to be beamy and not spray the sound like other Bose products and for the money, they are my favorite and most used speakers. Great on vocals with radio and background music. Everything inteligible at low volumes, can't say that about all speakers this cheap. They will play much louder than you would expect with clarity.

Customer Service

None needed

Similar Products Used:

AR,Boston Acoustics, Velodyne, MCM components, Bose 201's, Lifestyle 48 sytem

Full range sound (limited) out of that little 4" star speaker.. amazing. Fairly loud without distorting.

Not very attractive. Not efficient. Poor upper frequency response. Plastic cabinets. Wimpy speaker wire connectors.

I bought these several years ago while on a tight budget, to round out my Bose system. I already had the 301's and the VCS 10 center channel. At the time, I just wanted to have a matching set of Bose all the way around. For the last 8 years, this speaker set-up has served me well. The 301's have played well for the $300 they cost me, the center I purchased for $50.00 from my cousin and the other $90.00 was spent on the 141's. For less than $450.00, I had a very nice first surround system/home theater. Now.... I've outgrown them and yes, even though I dont bash Bose, after listening to some real speakers for probably twice what I've paid for these... I'm convinced that I'm ready for something better. Bose isnt bad, not for the price. But believe it... they are not a high end speaker manufacturer. Materials they use are cheap, lots of plastics, paper cones, and subpar cabinets. They tweak the sound by way of crossover and cap manipulation, which isnt necessarily a bad thing, but there is so much compensation going on for shoddy materials, that you dont get full frequency response. Like I said, I'm not ripping them. They have there market and appeal to a particular crowd and I really enjoyed my Bose experience, but when you outgrow yours and decide that you have the ways and means (money) Go audition the next level up.... Polk, Klispch, Boston Acoustics, KEF, Definitive Technology... and run them through the paces. For an audiophile, the difference is night and day. So if you cant tell a difference between a quality speaker system and an entry level system, stay with Bose, they are decent and sound o.k....but if you can.... well, you know what to do. BTW... my 141's are power hungry, inefficient and rather "flat" also. But for $90.00 that's what I would expect. They're great for surrounds or background bedroom speakers, or for a garage... and that's where there usefullness ends.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity, Polk Audio, Cambridge Soundworks, Klipsch, Advent, Yamaha, JVC, Technics..... too much to really list everything.

Price. Size. Price. Good Sound. Price. Bose name. Did I mention price?

They do require quite a bit of power to sound good, and need bass and treble boost on the tone controls. They are for smaller rooms only. Bose stopped making them.

First off let me tell you that there are better speakers out there, but for the money these are the best bookshelf speakers you can buy. Period. Don't let the puny one little 4.5" driver fool you, these speakers can produce plenty of bass and treble for a small room. Here's is where most people get tricked though. You must turn up the bass and the treble on your amp to get satisfying sound out of the 141s. I know, I know the audioplies out there are screaming that you shouldn't mess with the tone controls for a good speaker. However, these speakers really do require you to boost the bass and the treble. Then they start to sound more natural. Also, you must have an amp with enough power. My 60x5 Denon doesn't cut it. It was only when I used my 120x5 amp that the speakers really came alive. Don't get me wrong, these are not audiophile speakers, but you would have to spend $200-$300 to get the same or better sound. So if you are looking to fill a bedroom or office space with clean sound on a budget get these speakers if you can find them. They have been discontinued, but you can find them at a few of the Bose stores or online.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity, JBL, Energy, Paradigm, Klipsch, Martin Logan, you name it.

single 4.5'' star shaped driver plays mid and treble beautiful

bass doesnt really effect me i'm using a polk psw10 subwoofer with the bass turned down im more into highs and mids

i'm reviewing these again because i didnt have my bass and treble set right, i didnt have the speakers positions right either and i should have let them break in before reviewing them. i was just happy to recieve them so i did everything in a rush typical 17yr old.

What Bose strives for a natural sounding speaker which they happend to be fairly successful at making. I normally judge a speaker by which I call CCR(clear,crisp,rich) so I would consider the 141's sound spectrum to be fairly crisp on the mid-range the highs aren't as clear as a bookshelf should be due to the 4.5'' wide-range driver which is used to produce the Highs,Mids and bass. Even though in a properly tuned enclosure a 4.5'' driver would be able to produce an adequate amount of bass, then again due to making the driver play the full sound spectrum a capacitor is placed on the positive lead of the woofer to block out certain amounts of bass without distorting the High-Mid frequencies.

As I explain a single 4.5'' wide-range driver shouldn't be used to produce full sound spectrum. Bose should of used a seperate tweeter and just blocked out the low frequencies(bass) to it by using a capacitor and allowing the woofer to play its full sound-range(spectrum) either or I just wanted to prove a fact.

There's a lot of talk on the web for sure about Bose products. Believe me there's way better out there, but for what Bose offers their products are designed for the average Joe something that is out of the box, ease of install and sounds good and that is like I said to the average Joe. And besides to the people that call them selfs an audiophile why would you purchase a Bose product knowing what you going to be getting. Besides being the name Bose I highly doubt that people have been buying Bose products since the mid 60's when they were founded because of the name. Even if your not an audiophile you know what sounds good to your ears and that's all that matters is that it sounds good to you.

Great Highs, Excellent Mids.

No Bass

I have been using these apeakers for about 4 years now. They arent the best speakers in the world but they are incredible for the money. I believe i paid about $80 for them at Best Buy. The mids are incredible and these kind of highs without a tweeter in unfathomable. The only thing these babies lack is bass. If you dont need that much bass and You are on a budget these speakers are absolutely incredible. P.S. - The guy who said these speakers are "FLAT" must have a very poor quality stereo or whatever he has them hookes too. His statement saying "im not an audio guy or anything" clearly admits his lack of audio knowledge making it safe to assume that he owns reciever of very poor quality that is "FLAT" in iself. These speakers are great!

Similar Products Used:

I dont use bookshelf speakers

When adjusted properly with tone controls,and yes audiophiles tone controls are very necessary because every room is different,every system is different and you need to make adjustments to correct for inadequacies, these speakers give very realistic sound. The reason audiophiles change systems so often is that they UNREALISTICALLY think they can correct for problems in their system by constantly exchanging pieces, in the hope that with the next change they will finally find the right match. Get an equalizer or tone controls and stop the Merry Go Round. Value rating 20!

For the price are you kidding me!

You can get these speakers for a very reasonable price if you check around. What they can do for that price will amaze you. Totally disregard the Bose hating loonies. I use them with an old Marantz 2275, I do some minor adjustments with the tone controls,and I get incredible sound. I've had very expensive and complicated systems that I've loved and that sounded incredible. But I have to tell you that no other piece of equipment that I have ever owned gave me the value that I get from these little speakers. Every time I listen to these I just smile and shake my head in disbelief that I'm getting so much good sound for so little money.

Similar Products Used:

Not similar but other products used are Theils,Vandersteen,Spica, Proac

Sound quality, durability, size

none considering the price

These speakers sound good for the money. I've been using them for 5 years as my main speakers.

Similar Products Used:

none

Clean, clear, and accurate sound reproduction. Good mids and highs. Can handle a lot of power!

Lack of bass, not to be used as main speakers.

I have had a pair of Bose 141's for over two years. They have clean and clear sounding mid's and high's. They sound like a bigger speaker, and can be turned up LOUD! However, they don't the kind of deep bass a bigger speaker would have.
I was so happy with them that a bought a second pair. I use one pair in a small bedroom. Compared to other speakers of a similar size, Bose 141's are a great buy! Paid $39 each at Circuit City.

Low price, very small and light, great sound - classic Rear Surround Speakers

needs a bit more power

I have used the Bose 141s as rear surround speakers since 1996. my reciever is a pioneer pro-logic 4x110Watts.
What can i say? these speakers rule. Don't be idiots and say that they lack low bass cos they are not meant to deliver that kind of frequency. for stereo speakers use normal, BIG speakers and tweeters and stuff. don't dish the 141s just cos you use 'em for the wrong purpose - they are *1-way* speakers. and they are the best 1-way speakers i have ever heard.

If you need rear surround speakers they are a good choice. if you need front speakers do yourself a favour and buy some decent 3-way speakers with a 10"+ woofer or a subwoofer instead.