I have heard an endless amount of extreme praise and ridicule and nothing in between for BOSE. So I decided to get off my lazy duff and find out for myself how good these speakers realy were. I am not an audio expert but I have had the oportunity to listen to wide variey of equipment in various settings. I have heard Martin Logan, Magnepan (my personal favorites), Thiel, Vandersteen (I own a pair of 3As), B&W, Klipsch, JBL (kinda crappy but cheap) etc. and have firm impressions of them all. Well to put a long story short I went to the only place I could find BOSE which was Best Buy and listened to them with an honest ear. Well...um...quite frankly they suck so bad that I can't believe anyone in their right mind would like them. To beakdown the differant areas that they suck at would be pointless, they suck accross the board. They are muddy, highly colored worthless pieces of absolute and unredemable crap. BOSE has purchased its reputation pure and simple because their products certainly don't warrent the slightest amount of praise. Enough said. Please don't waste your hard earned money on this stuff. Too bad I can't give it zero stars.

I don't know what all the fuss is about these Bose speakers. They are not a piece of junk, they are part of my HT system and perform the job very well.

I recently purchased a pair of the Bose 301 Series IV speakers, and I must say that they are some of the best-sounding speakers I've heard, for the prices. Currently I am using them for the front speakers in my system. The bass is full and rich, the highs are just right.I auditioned several other speakers from Cerwin Vega, Infinity, and many others. After lots of listening, I decided that the Bose 301s beat out several other speakers priced HIGHER than them. I feel I made the best choice for my taste and budget.

Are all of you people hard of hearing?? I compared these Bose 301's to the more expensive Polk RT35'S and the Infinity RS3'S that so many of you brag about, but guess what, the boses beat both of them. The polks lacked so much bass that I was disgusted. Then infinity's were better but still didn't have the warm sound that seemed more spacious as did the bose's. I really would love to sit in a room and compare all of these speakers with you people. Maybe it just has to do with listening preference. I happen to like BASS which is just not there when listening to the Polks or Infinity's.

I recently listened to a pair of the Bose 301 Series IV speakers, and I must say that they are some of the worst-sounding speakers I've heard, for the price. Currently I am not using them for the front speakers in my system. The bass is fowl and boomy, the highs are trite.I auditioned several other speakers from Cerwin Vega, Infinity, and many others. After lots of listening, I decided that the Bose 301s got beat out by several other speakers priced lower than them. I feel I made the best choice for my taste and budget by not buying Bose.

To Chuck from Michigan: You poor, poor misguided fool. Let me ask you this, are you deaf? You would have to be to love the 301's. I had a pair of 301's for about a week before I sent them packing. They sucked. They barely survived for movies and for music, they were simply horrible. So much distortion, I wanted to puke. So guess what I went with next? A pair of Infinity RS-3's, which are cheaper than the 301's even if you get them at Circuit City! My RS-3's would eat your Bose for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The RS-3's will blow your 301's away on every frequency level and with plenty to spare. I know that you got lured in by all the Bose hype. I was there. Please, if you can, return them. I'll be honest, I would buy the 301's, if they were about 99.00 per pair. I can't tell you what to do, so go ahead. Pop your wires in the SPRING CLIPS, put in you favorite 8-track, and sit back and listen to that 70's PAPER WOFFER magic! Enjoy.
P.S. I do not think you are stupid, I just think you are the product of mass advertising. You don't see Infinity, Klipsch, Polk, Paradigm, NHT, etc. advertise that much? They don't have to. The sound speaks for itself.

Creates a spacious sound stage. Good Highs.

Overall construction quality, including drivers and cones. Placement restrictions

There are several things about these speakers that I do not like. First off they are not very efficient. They require more power than my Cerwin Vegas. These are definitly not the best home theater speakers, and the construction is questionable. These speakers do not seem to preform that well with material containing deep bass, such as electronicia types of music. The mid-range is a little lacking when it comes to rock music. I am also not very happy with Bose's policy on not publishing specs.

But, most of the difficulties you will have with this speaker, from my experiance, can be overcome with a graphic equilizer. The thing I really liked about this speaker is the spacious sound stage it creates, even in small rooms. When listening to classical, jazz, or opera these speakers really preform. I also found that with tweaking with the EQ I did not need a sub to get good bass. A lot of people my think I am deaf, and from the amount of music I listen to I might be, but I like the overall sound of these speakers. I also think they are a good value, but unfortunately you not find any deep discounts becuase Bose keeps tight control on the prices of their speakers. And another big plus is that they will fit easily into a dorn room or a room that is cluttered.

I am using these speker for music only with the following equipment.

H/K PA 5800 Power Amp
H/K PT 2500 Pre-Amp
Sony CDP-CE525 CD player
Sony 200 disk changer
Yamaha EQ-70 Graphic Equilizer
Plus other assorted Tape, MD, DVD, and video equip.

To note, the entire system is wired with Monster Cable Interlink 400 cable, including the tape loop to the EQ.

Similar Products Used:

Cerwin Vega, Infinity, other Bose

compact

nothing drastic

About 6 months ago I found a pair of Acoustic Research 226PS speakers on clearance at Sears. I had not tested any of their recent products so the salesman offered to compare them to the Bose 301s which he claimed to be comparable. It was hard to tell whether or not he was pushing either model in particular but I listened to both. The Bose 301s had powerful sounding bass through the Technics reciever the setup was hooked up to. The ARs sounded thin and lacking bass. The Bose sounded more powerful overall but the ARs seemed to have better treble. I decided upon the ARs partly because they were half the price of the Bose. I took them home hooked them up to my stereo and they then sounded far superior to the Bose 301s I had compared them to at the store. Eventually I went to a local Sears and Circuit City and again tested the Bose 301s. They sounded about the same as when I tested them the first time, which I thought was OK, but the ARs still sounded better. For the price I cant say they are anything spectacular, an OK speaker and a mid range price. The ARs I purchased would normally cost about the same per pair but I got them for 75% off. If I disregarded price, both costing the same I probably would take the ARs. Bottom line, an OK speaker and a mid range price, but nothing special.

Similar Products Used:

Acoustic Research 226PS

warm sound.works well with analog sources.good seperation for a two way speaker

bass response was a little weak on some techno cd's that were tested

all in all a very good value for the money, but keep in mind these are just mid level speakers for budget minded shoppers.

Similar Products Used:

polk,jbl,infinity,boston acoustics,pioneer

Not sure anymor...???

Sound, Look

Having them for almost a year, I always think that Bose speakers were good and sound good. Now that I more aware of what is good sound, I just want to sell them as soon as possible to buy far better speakers for the same price tag.

I auditioned to Polk Audio RT40 and JBL N26. Both were so much better then the Bose, it's almost a shame. The Bose sounds muddy and thin in comparison, just like if someone put a think paper layer in front of the spakers.

Like a lot of people here, I bought the Bose because of the name and the marketing stuff. Seeing them advertised on magazines with "dream houses" in it, it makes me think that they were good "hi-end" speakers.

Now I'm not blind anymore. I go out and listen to a lot of speakers and I don't care anymore with the name, but only with the sound.

Bose = Really really good marketing, but really really poor sound reproduction.

Similar Products Used:

Polk Audio RT40, JBL N26