Strong seamless sound.
Price was right

None

I recently added the Bose 161 speakers as surrounds for my home theater. The rest of my system is comprised of Bose 301 mains, a Bose VCS 10 center and a Yamaha SW 305 sub. The whole thing is powered by Onkyo. I have tried several different speakers for rear surround including Bose 201's. I was never really satisfied with the sound until I hooked up the Bose 161's. These are very strong but almost go unnoticed since they seem to disperse the sound seamlessly around my listening area. I love what they add to my system. These speakers are here to stay. I have no need to look any further.

Versatility, design, compact, smooth unabtrusive sound with enough detail. Sturdy containers, Play loud enough. Could sub as a Center channel in a pinch. Excellent dispersion. Did I say they were versatile ?

Need lots of help on the low end if run as mains. Sealed grill, though maybe good thing for butter fingers.

Pretty good limited range speaker. Used for a while with home made 8" sub crossed over at 150 hz. Did not do as well with a 12" sub; to big a "hole" to fill. Decent sound and played louder than you would expect. They now serve time as the side speakers in 7.1 Onkyo set up. One mounted vertically, one horizontally because of space retrictions. Look good and sound good in both. Versitility is a strong point. Have dropped them several times...can't imagine a wooden box holding up as well.
Overall, not a great speaker, but can fill a lot needs with good solid sound

Customer Service

None Needed

Similar Products Used:

Bose 141, AR, Boston Acoustics, MCM drivers cross overs, Velodyne

Small, easy to place, good looks, nice sound dispersion (wall of sound effect), Good, clear highs and midrange.

No bass, not as good in the store listening room as other speakers...

I've heard a lot of negative comments about Bose and in some ways I was ready to believe them, even though I've owned and own Bose products. I needed an option for a music system because my Bose Lifestyle 12 system took a dump. I tried using the Bose cube speakers with my Yamaha 100 watt 5.1 receiver even though people told me that it would not work... Sure enough, I hooked them up and the Yamaha was promptly destroyed :P I have a large room in a loft so it has lots of hard surfaces and high celings, etc. It's avery challenging room for a sound system. I also want small speakers which makes the problem that much worse... However, I do have a Yamaha powered subwoofer and I'm prepared to purchase another so I can use small, wall mounted speakers. I used the Bose Lifestyle 12 with some success until it failed so I decided to find some "high quality" speakers to replace the Bose cubes. I tried a variety of speakers including 4 Sapphire bookshelf speakers which sounded great in the dealers listening room where I compared them against Infinitys, Polks, Boston Acoustics and others. Unfortunately, at home they just didn't even come close to the sound of the Bose Lifestyle 12 even with one channel out... Out of desperation and frustration, I grabbed some Bose 161 speakers I had in used for front speakers in my surrond sound and a pair of Bose 101 shielded speakers I had in a corner gathering dust... I placed those speakers very close to the Bose cubes and compared them with various types of music I like.. Much to my surprise, they actually sounded good. I also compared them against the Sapphires placed right next to them and the combo of Bose 161 and Bose 101's were clearly better. The sound definition, lack of sweet spot, clear highs and mids were amazing to me. Used with a subwoofer they seem to be a good solution to my problem. However, make no mistake, these are not the best speakers I've ever heard, not even close.. The thing to remember for me is that they work as well or better than anything else I've tried in that room except the Bose Lifestyle 12 or my old Bose 901 series 4 which I regret selling tio this day....

Size ease of mounting. SOUND price

none that i can think of.. you have to know what your doing and what to expect out of a speaker before you buy

I hear evey kind of speaker that is made..I setup up peoples stereo systems of all price ranges. I bought the Bose 161 strickly for my rear surround speakers..I can honestly say they set my system off for that true surround sound that i was looking for..they are very easy to mount..And they sound superb for the price and small...I went through alot of buying and selling to find that one of a kind sound..And I can tell you that I am going to keep these..They have a very realistic sound..and the low end really suprised me when i heard them..I highly recomend these for "the surround " speakers..but like everyone else says they need to be added to an existing system that already has good sound..these will make it sound that much better..

Similar Products Used:

jbl klipsh theater research

good mounting good imaging small size

for $100-150 you can find much better surround speakers need a sub to compliment

Good surround speaker if you have a sub. I can't figure out why some of the people that reviewed these were trying to use them as mains. Or people that are mad that 2 2.5" drivers cant put out any bass. If you need a small speaker for a surround these would work fine. If you're buying them because of the bose name then do yourself a favor and get the 301's for $50 more. If you're looking for the best dollar/value deal then don't buy these, there's plenty of other great speakers in the same price range that outperform in every catagory (except maybe size)

Similar Products Used:

jbl, polk, klipsch, pioneer, bose

sound size look outlet stores

People not reading reviews on items before they purchase.

I'm surprised, thinking someone taking the time to write a review, would have taken the time to research their purchase here also. People, these make great surround speakers!!!! If your looking for cheap front speakers, buy something else. 161's are reasonably priced, good looking, small, great sounding only if adding to a already good system, and can really add to a front bose system.

Above average rears

Not for the front or, if you must, not for the front without a woofer.

I am not a Bose advocate, but these speakers are getting a bad review from people who expect "Satellite Quality" speakers to produce base. People need to look at hte product and do research before they buy or write reviews. They make GREAT little surround speakers, sound above average in that role, and perform well. As far as the "plastic" comments, I challenge any of you to tell the difference blindfolded!

Similar Products Used:

JBL Infinity

Highs are exquisite mids are decent bass is respectful full two 2'' drivers that play the full sound range

bass

I must say these are pretty good sounding rear channel speakers. Bose got some pretty good techniques to produce such rich natural room filling sound from small full-range speakers and small enclosures.

Perfectly balanced mids and highs. Stereo-everywhere technology fills the room with sound...erasing the common "sweet-spot". Captures the true feel of the rear surround channels. Mounted easliy, and is very stylish...blending in with all decor.

Not to be used alone, or as mains.

Extremely wonderful rear-surround channel for a 6.1 or 7.1 system. The styling is impeccable, and the stereo-everywhere technology leveas you enveloped in sound. It is nearly impossible to locate the source of the sound comming from these speakers. They really caputure the "ambiance" of what the rear channel is utilized for-background. These speakers are not made for that of a main speaker of for a booming 3.1 channel stereo used for mainly music. For those complaining about the lack of bass in these speakers, you obviously don't understand the Bose system. These speakers will not have bass alone...they need to be used with Bose's Acoustimass module...which is much more than a subwoofer. It will provide as much bass as u need to back up your other speakers. Bose speakers are made to work as a system. When a bose system is installed, wired, positioned and configured properly...it is superior in all aspects of home audio that there is.

Similar Products Used:

Bose Acoustimass 15 7.1 channel system

They aren't ugly, this suggests they'd make decent paperwieghts or door stops because they'll serve much better there than hooked up to any audio equipment.

Muddy muddy sound. Irritatingly erratic highs. Ridiculous Price. They make you sad you could have fallen for the death trap that is Bose's marketing machine

These speakers are absolutely horrible. I bought them about 3 years ago due to friends raving about them and I needed speakers for rear surround. Unfortunately in the last 3 years my tastes have matured to the point where I require sound better than a clock radio to be satisfied... sadly, the Bose 161's cannot deliver. I have a pair of Tannoy mX-2's hooked up to my reciever on speaker set A, and the Bose 161's set up on speaker set B. Playing right now is Death on Two Legs by Queen and it frankly punishes my ears to hear it over the pathetic little Bose. Not that I expect any sort of soundstage out of these speakers but the go even farther in the other direction and even manage to make stereo sound like one large muddy squeal. I know these speakers are typically used in 5.1 surround set ups for home theatre and that was their intended purpose for me but the were just too distracting for me too let them remain and ruin the movie for me and any guests. The frequency response obviously doesn't go low (they're attempting to be surround speakers) but what portion of the frequency curve they do cover is shaped sort of like the Appalachians with some frequencies fading out and making you strain to hear just so a slightly higher frequency (say as the car comes closer to the camera on screen) can jump off a monstrous spike in the graph and land harshly on your timpanic membrane. The bottom line is the only reason you would buy these ridiculous speakers is because you're going purchasin with your friends impressions in mind versus the health of your inner ear. Please please please don't make the same mistake I did go out and listen to something, anything else (I'd say compare but Bose doesn't get put in comparison rooms with other actual quality brands) to prevent you making the biggest mistake of your audio life.

Similar Products Used:

JBL Klipsch Tannoy