buying them used,they are ok

not very good sound

I bought them used back in 1989--they were 1977 models--at least the cabinets were rock solid as all speakers had back in those days.I kept the 601's for 5 years and they served me well in that time--it was all I could afford back then.It would not be fair to Bose for me to compare them to what I currently own,however,I would tell anyone to look elsewhere instead of buying these new or whatever similar model Bose is offering now.If bose would possibly upgrade from paper cone tweeters and upgrade the crossover network I would imagine this would be a resolution to the 601's muffled sound.If you buy them used on E-BAY--then, I would recommend them for the under $200 bids,but, I would not recommend one to purchase them new.Many other brands in the same price range offer better sound and better grade components these days due to Bose still staying behind the times on this particular model.My ratings for them is applying to the speakers as a new product overall and not used ! I listened to the 501's new about a year ago and was not impressed either considering the price and this was similar to the 601 model

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jbl,klipsch,paradigm

Open detail warm highs. Clear, smooth deep bass. High power handling.

They are not made anymore by BOSE.

I'm the second owner of this unit bought through the news papers ads. I'm really searching for this speakers for he reasons that this was the best speakers that Bose have ever made. My father owns a Bose 501 series4, the bulky 501s not the new series. I've heard so many speakers from the british speakers (B&W, Celestion, Mission, Rogers, Tannoys etc.), Canadian speakers (PSB, Paradigm, Energy, NHT etc.) to the American speakers (JBL, AR, Infinity, Polk Audio etc.) so I know how they sounds but i've always comeback to the sound of Bose 601s. I think that it is a matter of taste and an objective opinion. I know that the 601s are not the best in the world of speakers, but I think it is one of the listenable speakers IMHO. Anyway I'm not an audiophile since they don't usually consider economic reasons(spending thousands of dollars on cables only). I'm just bug by the person who intentionally posted one star just to lower the rating of this model which I think is not right for an objective review. So to make this review balance, I will post this again.

The following are my a/v gears:

Yamaha RXV-795a - A/V Receiver
Denon DCD1530 - Dual 20-bit CD player
Hitachi F410 - MASTACS VCR
Bose 601 sIII - Main speakers
Yamaha NS10mm - Rear Speakers

note: still looking for a good DVD player and a center speaker.

IMHO this speaker far more exceeds my expectation espacially for the price. Anyway if you have any question or comment regarding my review pls. e-mail me at alvin_a_cruz@hotmail.com....

Sound qualitiy

Can't get the positioning just right

I'm a big Bose fan, because I like Bose. They're great. I went to their website and learned a lot about this company. Here's some general info about these fine speakers:

601® Direct/Injecting® Speaker Toaster

Product lowlights:

• Directing/Projecting® speaker technology delivers deadlike, cramped music.
• Stereo Nowhere® speaker performance lets you hear stereo sound almost anywhere in your house -- except the room the speakers are in.
• Hear deep, powerful bass with no audible distortion (from our competitors products only).
• Inept design takes up little floor space, since our speakers are plastered to the ceiling upside down.


Sleek and powerful, Bose 601 Inverse/Reflecting® speakers are available in any color you want, as long as its black.

20 years of non-audiophile fans inflating them to be gods greatest creation.

"Back when bose built with quality"... A scandelous comment indeed; as if anyone here has a clear grip on exactly when and why bose turneed into a "rape stupid people out of their hard earned money factory".

I truely dont think it was any different 20 years ago than it is now, bose had an inferior product that was supported by those ignorant background music fans who felt no need to put forth the effort to try and find anything better. 20 years ago B&W existed, and a pair of B&W DM 640s was waiting to prove the pathetic Bose 601s for the garbage that they where, but no one wanted to listen. Complacency is ultimately the fate of the Bose fan, to settle with a purchase and then, unfortunatly, learn that something far better can be had for the same or less money. Than they retort to negative comments angrily, blabbering things like "they sound good and thats all that counts". Hardwear inevitably makes up for any machines capabilities. If it was proven, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that a given specimen implemented shoddy craftsmanship and parts(hardwear) ; and you where even slightly in touch with reality, would someone saying " its just good" mean anything to you? That is essentially all bose fans ever say. To be frank, " the bose 601s are far better than the Martin Logan Statement, even if I could get them both for the same $$$$" being uttered in here would not suprise me a bit. To conclude my rantings, the 601s can be beat by ANY speaker from ANY time period of the same price, as long as there are people with brains participating in the search.

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B&W Matrix 803.

My friend Sergei had purchased these speakers when they were still in production. I went over and checked them out. I'm not really that knowledeable when it comes to audio equipment. Despite this, I knew that Bose was a respectable name in audio equipment.

My friend popped in a classical CD by the great Mendelssohn and I was saddened. The sound was not what I was expecting. I thought there would be good levels of bass however it wasn't audible nearly to the degree I would have presumed. Nor the highs, which were disappointing. For the price he paid I just thought that they would be excellent. Sergei seemed to think they were decent speakers but that he probably paid too much for them.

I've been getting more into audio equipment of late since my family is looking to make the upgrade to the home theater experience. I'm not looking to buy Bose, unfortunately. They seem to be overrated. I am surprised how many good reviews are at this site for this speaker. I found them less than outstanding (5 star) and that was with minimal outside experience.

Make sure you listen to other speakers before you go ahead and buy these. I think you will see what I am referring to.

very dependable! Quality sound!

None...... If you're in touch with reality!

I have two pairs of the Bose 601 III I would buy many more If I had room for them! They are quite old, but they have excellent sound quality, and tons of bass!

My first hi-fi purchase after graduating from university was a pair of new 601 II (cost A$1850) - that was way back in 1986 and I have not had a problem with them for the past 15 years. The sound quality is still like the first day I brought them - very good. The only problem is they are beginning to look old.

Since 1986 I have up-graded my amp twice, replaced my turntable & tuner, brought 2 new CD players and installed stereo surrond for the TV room. On each occasion my intention was to up-grade the speakers, but I couldn't find anything that sounded as goog as the 601's. I realize that there must be better speakers on the market, but I was still happy with the 601's. Isn't that what counts!

Now I am again on the market for an up-grade. This time I need to find new speakers to blend in with rest of the new/ modern furniture in the living room. My first port of call was to purchase a Bose 901 Lifestyle system which sells for around A$10,000 in Sydney. But it just doesn't sound right to me. The other Bose products also left a lot to be desired.

I have tried products from B&W, JMLab, Mirage,JBL,Tannoy etc. and found them all to sound great compared to new Bose speakers, but I still preferred the old 601's.

Unless someone can give me a better solution, I am going to move the 601's into my study and purchase a set of B&W CDM7 NT speakers coupled with a new amp/ CD player for the living room.

This way, I still keep the 601's and my wife will also be happy with the 'look' of new speakers in the living room.

None (seriously)

Muddy overall sound. Overpriced.

This is a follow-up to the agree with the comments Kevin stated below. Let me fill you in...

As much as I have been dissapointed with the Bose 501 V (they are simply the AM-5 as a tower pair after all) - they still would be a shoe-in for a quirky location I have. Being discontinued and reduced in price - I had been considering breaking down and buying a pair if the closeout price was right.

Imagine my surprise to see and hear it's replacement - the 601 IV and the new 701 II. My first impression? Before hearing them, I thought "gee, maybe Bose is actually building something new for a change!" (thinking of how little Bose speakers actually change). Then I heard them - EGADS! Let me state that I don't bash Bose like so many posters do in these pages - but these are absolutely dreadful!!! They are extremely muddy across the midrange, with terrible bass. I am not kidding when I say that the 301 IV sound better - the old 501V sounded better.

Like Bose or hate Bose, they definitely missed the mark on these.

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You name it!

everything, they are perfect

what.....nothing!

bose speakers are the best in the worald period
boses cheapest speaker compairs or if not better than
worald class pro recording studio speakers.
601 are awesome MINDBLOWING!

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most everything

Great Dispersion for big room, equal sensitivity across the whole freq range. I hear parts of the sound in my CD's that I just can't hear when using my other stereo's (and I *DON'T* mean noise, I mean the mid range sounds in the CD)

upon close inspection the cabinets on these speakers looks a little cheap, we'll see how the hold up over time.

First off, let me say that I am not a big techie audiophile. However I am very technically oriented and spent several hours reading about speaker specs and technologies at several web sites. I think that speakers are largely a matter of personal taste in sound. Some people like light clear highs and other people like boomy bass. Me, I seem to like being able to hear all the music at medium volume/power levels and being able to distinguish the differences between bass notes. Although I am not a Classical Music nut, I do have dozens of Classical CD's and often leave them in the CD changer playing on shuffle.

After reading all the web stuff I thought that I would not like speakers with Bass-power-ports, because although they supposedly have strong bass they are less accurate. I was wrong. I also thought that I would not like speakers that had distortion caused by insufficient cross-over quality (I *guess* I was wrong about that too).

I spent about an hour at Meyer Emco and Circuit City listening to floor speakers to put in my living room. I have a 18' x 22' living room with wood floors (no carpeting) and a 10 foot ceiling. I really needed some speakers with good dispersion and a BIG soundstage.

I was convinced that although a lot of speakers might have overly strong bass or overly strong highs, but that the difference for most quality speakers was packaging and hype. Boy was I wrong.

When listening to known CD's on a wide range of speakers I was amazed at the differences between them. I tried to use the equalizer on the amp they had at the store to "normalize" the different sets of speakers I tried, and even got the salesmen to let me move the speakers around and check their wiring to get good "imaging/soundstage" comparisons.

I listened to Polk, Infinity, B&W, Bose, Pioneer, and some other brands that I don't remember and didn't recognize.

I was absolutely amazed at the BOSE speakers. They filed the whole 20x20 audio room at the store, (and they fill my living room too) with sound. The sweet spot for the sound is the whole damn room.

I was also astounded that when listening to CD's on the different speakers that it seemed that parts of the music (mid-range, lows, or highs) would disapear from the sound on certain speakers. When I listened to the CD's on the BOSE 601's I could hear EVERYTHING!!!! It was like the difference between listening to an AM broadcast station (with GREAT reception) on the other brands, and like listening to a DTS DVD on the BOSE speakers. I am not saying that they did "surround sound" or anything, I just mean it seemed like they were *much* more sensitive to small volume/freq changes, and they seemed to replay the whole freq range equally.

When I sampled the speakers I found myself turning down the treble and Bass on the polks and the Infinities, and then having to turn up the volume in order to even hear the midrange.

The BOSE speakers played with flat bass and treble knob adjustments and I could hear the whole range of sound frequencies in the music from very low volume all the way up to loud volume.

When I got them home I was equally happy with them. (Except that they seem to reproduce the background static when I am listening to broadcast stations very well!)

You might wonder why I give such a glowing review and then just give 4 stars for Rating. Well that is just because I have to admit that some of the speakers that costed 3 or 4 times as much sounded better, but not enough to justify the cost. Which is why I gave these a 5 for the VALUE.

I think these speakers are good for me, but recomend that anyone thinking about buying speakers understand what room they are going to use them in and how they sit/stand/walk around that room, and what types/volumes of sounds they want to listen too. They should also trust their personal tastes and therefore should go to a big store with a big sound room that has dozens of speakers with a wide range of brands and prices and listen to their own CD's on them.

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I have a pair of 1993 Bose 301 bookshelf speakers that are about 10 years old and they sound great for their size. I have a $900 SONY Home Theater system with an active Subwoofer a 3 driver center channel and 4 satellites, I also have a $200 Aiwa office stereo.