Customer Reviews

Bose 251 Environmental Speakers, premium outdoor speakers - White

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

got these a couple of weeks ago from the bose store. they installed super easily, brackets sturdy and easy to place. the sound is phenomenal. very crisp with adequate bass, best appreciated at higher volumes than you may want inside but very good @ any volume. didn't feel like the cost was too prohibitive in comparison to other outdoor speakers, the sound is just that good. also looked @ bose 151's and although they sounded pretty good, there was no comparison to the 251's. highly recommend these if you barbecue a bunch, are in the yard a lot, or entertain outdoors often. we no longer have to blast our indoor klipsch speakers while gardening outdoors.

I had a pair of Bose 101 speakers outside for almost 10 years mounted on the deck, they performed perfectly, unfortunately being outside through Rain, Snow and summer heat took its toll and they were DOA in the spring. I wanted another pair of equally good sounding speakers to replace them and have been a Bose fan for a number of years. My expectations were set by the previous pair, and knowing the the open landcape of a deck is an acoustic challenge for any speaker. I ordered the Bose 251 speakers expecting the same or better sound quality and an easier mount/removal, as I will probably pull these in for the winter months. The 251's are perfect. The sound is crisp and even in an open landscape there is sufficient bass to my ears. I like the hand tightened method for securing the speakers to the deck mounted brackets, which will make removal and remounting a snap. All in all I'n very satisfied with this product, its a winner.

I purchased these speakers to replace some junky AudioSource speakers after about 10 years. The sound quality from the Bose 251s is incredible. When I go out in my yard, about 40-50 feet from the speakers, they sound like a professional sound system. The sound quality is incredible. These speakers face West so their durability will certainly be tested. They are in the middle of their first winter and so far, so good. Fortunately, I picked these up on Amazon for a measly $198 for the pair. Mistake? Maybe, Good Luck, Definitely. Even at the standard $398, these are still well worth the money.

I have had these speakers for 8 years. I leave them outside year round. I live on Illinois where temperatures range from over 100 F in the summer and below zero in the winter. Great sound across all ranges. I have sprayed the hose directly on these speakers and it does not affect them.

The 251's build quality is great, they mount nice and look good.

The true benefit of bose is the "jedi mind tricks" they use to create acoustic chambers inside an enclosure to expand bass. They don't use high spec components but instead high tech design to maximize what they use. These 251's are made of a high quality rigid epoxy type enclousre with its 5 inch bass/mid cone mounted sideways INSIDE firing sidways into a chamber. You don't see it. Bass when compressed and ported thru a chamber gets exaggerated. Thats how bose sounds bigger then they are.

When we moved I took my 4 251's with me and installed them in a new 16 x 20 screened in patio using two volume switches hooked up to my 65per watt old Yamaha INtegrated amp from college. Nothing fancy using decent speaker cables to them makes them sound great. Certainly you don't need 4 of these for such a small space but I had them anyway and Overkill is part of the sterophonic/home theatre fun! If you go to fine restaurants with great accustics you'll notice you can talk at your table without lots of noise and the music system is very effective. They do this by having many speakers with the idea of having flood quality sound at low levels. This is what I can do in this space and it sounds great. Sure I can play it loud and it sounds great but at low volume the speakers design works to acomplish my goal. They don't use fancy tweeter, just two in an array to widen the sound stage. I have my speakers at the corners with the tweeters on the bottom (closer to the ear) but the bass end in the corner using the wood ceiling as a sort of additional base chamber with further warms the sound. I tried different placements and like this set up best.

There are "better" speakers with better components with better names on them and perhaps with a lower price but sound is subjective and everyone is going to mount them in a different place so its impossible to directly compare. Also music sources, music types and the components driving them are all going to be different for everybody.

In my old house one pair was mounted on the second floor to flood the deck and back yard. They amplified well and created a very wide soundfield using the tweeter array design. IM glad I got to harvest $700 worth of speakers and move them with me.

Some folks love bose and the bose name. They use their expertise in automobile applications and they are good for creating a nice ambient sound field. Bose has a mixed reputation. "Audiophiles" or ones that aspire to be one don't like them which I can also agree with. Bose for my home theatre and for my two channel critical listening room is not gonna happen for me. But I own bose headphones, clock/desk radio, sub/sat computer speakers and had cars with them and been happy enough with those products.

I gave these speakers a 4 star rating as I believe they are high quality and even at the price provide high value. Five stars are rare and for products that blow you away. Don't get me wrong, I am happy with this purchase! These puppies cost $350, if they were $200 I'd give them 6 stars!

I bought these speakers for my backyard as the previous house owner had this model of speakers installed previously (he took them with him when he sold the house). I figured that the installation would be easier if re-installed the same model of speaker. As it turns out, a new installation would only take about 10 - 20min anyway as the bracket assembly is four holes and comes with simple instructions to mount the speakers to different surfaces. Speaker wire was already located, so it literally took about 10 minutes to install these speakers at my home.

The sound is good - as you would expect, not as much bass as equivalent 100W floor-standing speakers, but very good when you consider that these speakers are designed for all weather conditions.

That being said, at $358/pair, these speakers are not cheap and I am sure there is a significant portion of the price in the Bose name.

Bottom line: I'm sure you won't be disappointed with the performance, but I'm not sure they are the best value for money.

These are really great speakers. I use them in my work van. I have them on a 200 watt amp with a powered subwoofer. they sound great. Anyone would be satisfied with these speakers in car or home.

This product was compared to the Bose 151, by far, it is superior in sound quality! Without doubt, I am glad that I payed the extra $100, and took the time to exchange the 151's. Both speakers were very easy to install, less than 30 mins.

I replaced my JBL Studio speakers with the Bose 251 and heard such a big difference in sound and clarity.
You can't go wrong buying these speakers.

We've had these speakers for almost 10 years, and they sound as good as the day we bought them! My husband installed them around our pool, so I can't say how easy that was... except I don't recall a lot of swearing. Anyway, they truly are all weather as we leave them out year round. Living in the midwest, we get every kind of weather you can imagine and these speakers hold up to it all. The sound is excellent, the base is great. Make sure you use a heavy, good quality speaker wire and you're good to go! I'm purchasing a pair for my daughter for Christmas today!