Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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85 of 93 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Pleasant but over priced, September 21, 2004
Summary: A pleasant sounding speaker for back ground listening but over priced and out classed by the competition. Tonality is distorted to produce pleasant sound rather than accurate sound. Bass is loose and wumpy sounding. The 301's can shake the room but only over a limited range of bass frequencies. Direct-reflecting design hurts imaging. The combination of bad imaging, unrealistic tonality and loose bass make them a poor choice for home theater. Fit and finish are only OK for the price.
Background: My roommate has a pair of 301s set up in our living room. I have a more expensive "audiophile" type system set up in the side room. Often I think it's hard to get good product reviews off the internet. You either have the people who *hate* the company (pick one) and are out to trash the name or you have people who bought the product and are defending their choice. You rarely have someone who has spent considerable time with the product (not just 15 minute store demo) yet doesn't care if the product reviews well or poorly. As I had nothing to do with the purchase of these speakers I don't care if they are good or bad. I have put effort into proper setup since I do listen to them frequently.
Basically, they are not *bad* but you can do better for the same money. I don't expect these to match the various, more expensive speakers in my side room system while my roommate had these in the living room (Meadowlark Kestrel, Vandersteen Model 3, Magnepan MMG, NHT 2.5i, Pioneer HPM 100). However, I have heard similar priced models that I like better (PSB, Paradigm, NHT, Boston Acoustics, B&W). Many high end manufactures extend their lines and expertise into the Bose price range.
The sound:
Imaging: These really do not image well. As Bose says, these are sound everywhere speakers. That means you have a dispersed sound rather than tight imaging. An orchestra sounds wide and tall... so does a single guitar or the drop of a penny in a movie. This allows the speakers to sounds very big but, unlike some of the alternatives, you will never be able to tell the piccolo player is sitting just to the left of the first flute. This is not really a disadvantage if you aren't the type who sits in the sweet spot to listen for a while. But it can be a problem if you want to use these for home theater without a center channel. On the other hand, this is a reasonable trait if you turn on the music while walking around the house they will be fine.
Tonality: They don't have a very clean tone. Bose has tuned this speaker to make everything sound pleasant if not really true to the recording. Again, if you just want something nice to listen to in the background they will serve this function well. These speakers are excessively warm. They boost the mid bass and roll off the highs. Music will never become fatiguing but you traded realism for that tonality.
Bass: Several compromises were made here. Admittedly, the Bose can make the room shake with a moderately powerful receiver. This was great for college parties and OK for movies but it has limits. First, they have very limited bass range. These speakers do not go deep and they can not present all bass evenly. They favor certain notes over others (one-note bass). They excel at turning Watts into mid-bass but they just can't go really deep. I would guess they are done just under 50 htz. This is not shameful given the size of the speaker and /or price but people are often surprised when they learn how much bass is still left untouched whey they hear better speakers. Additionally, the 301's lack controlled bass. A tight thunderclap sounds like a suggestion of thunder. One of the true marks of a good bass speaker is the ability to *stop* producing bass in a heartbeat. That's what makes thunder clap and a kick drum kick (tight Bang! versus a loose wump like that car stereo next you at the light). The 301's wind up their bass then wind it down when they are done. The price competitive speakers from the companies above are far more nimble with the ability to start and stop quickly. Think of bullet train vs sports car. The bullet train Bose may be fast but it takes a long time get going (generate the desired frequency and amplitude) and a long time to stop. The entry level products from the like of NHT, PSB, Paradigms are like sports cars. Their top speed may not be as fast as the train but they can accelerate, turn and brake quickly (dynamics and transients). Which is better? Well if you just want to shake the room at one frequency go for the Bose. If you want to have tight, crisp bass, get something else.
Home Theater: Due to the warm forgiving sound of these speakers I found them OK for music. Two channel home theater is a different story. Without the center channel it's important to have good imaging. That imaging keeps the sounds on the screen rather than all over the room. The 301's poor imagining comes back to haunt. A single voice or clink of keys becomes the size of a full orchestra smeared across the room rather than staying in the TV where they belong. In addition to the poor imaging, the poor bass is also an issue. The loose wumpy bass does little justice to explosions and mechanical sounds. The "pleasant" tonality strips believability from every day sounds.
Overall I can see people saying they like the speakers because they sounds pleasant. They really work well as relatively low cost background speakers. The problem is they can't deliver anything more when asked. I accept that if they were $150 a pair but given the good choices for the $300+ asking price... well Bose is lucky most consumers don't bother to cross shop or that fewer stores sell the other bands I mentioned.
If you are seriously considering these speakers check out Audioreview dot com. They have good reviews of similar priced products. It's OK to buy them, just cross shop first.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for some forms of music, good for others, December 6, 2007
Two things I need to share up front: first, I have widely diverse musical tastes. Second, what I don't know about acoustics would fill multiple volumes of encyclopedias. I tell you this up front so you'll know the perspective this review is written from.
We ordered these speakers after listening to them at a major electronics retailer I don't think Amazon will let me mention by name. Delivery was super quick. Be aware that these are large and heavy by bookshelf speaker standards. Setup was a breeze; I'm using an older JVC CD player/receiver we've had stored for years.
The first music I played on them was a duet Jazz CD from Boney James and Rick Braun. I was just a tad disappointed. Don't get me wrong: sound was full and quite crisp, but the stories about Bose products being heavy on the bass are definitely true.
The second CD was a greatest hits collection by BB King. This time the speakers KICKED A**. The sound was powerful yet absolutely pure.
Next came a classical CD. I listened to a piece by Bach. Believe it or not, I think the speakers played it better than the other forms of music! My ignorant layman's guess is that, since classical has almost none of that "bass" sound common to Rock, the speakers couldn't emphasize that aspect of the music over the others.
In any event, the piece was delightfully reproduced in the small room, the individual instruments both making themselves known while also blending together very nicely.
Right now I am listening to "Peace of Mind" by Boston and, with its strong bass beat and electric sound it's like being at a live concert. This is how Rock should sound!
A word here about volume: if you plan to put your speakers in a small room you might want to check out the more compact, not to mention cheaper, 201s instead. These 301s are rocking the house right now even though the volume isn't set very high. Sound is clean and distortion-free, however.
"Do Ya" by Electric Light Orchestra just started. Very nice!
Bottom line: I recommend these speakers for good all around use. I put in a Jazz classics CD a little while ago and it sounded fine, the sound was very "full," and that's the only word I can think of to describe it, but I liked it and that's all that matters.
I think I understand why Bose products are so polarizing: these are speakers for "the people," not audiophile snobs. They are designed to excel with the most popular forms of music. So, if you like Rock, hip-hop, even Blues - or, weirdly enough, classical! - then you will probably like them.
If your taste runs more towards, say, flute musicians from the Andes, you may want to look at Tivoli or Boston Acoustics instead. Overall, however, I am quite pleased and would give these speakers a glowing recommendation.
"High on You" by Survivor just kicked in. Man, that song brings back some memories...
UPDATE ON THIS REVIEW: I originally had these speakers resting on a fireplace mantle about five feet high, well above my head when I am sitting in my recliner. I recently moved them to stands that are about 30 inches high and pointed them directly at the chair I sit in. The result is greatly improved sound quality with ALL forms of music - just thought I should toss that in.
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16 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE BEST bookshelf speakers ever made. PERIOD., April 17, 2005
The Bose 301 Series V Direct/Reflecting bookshelf speakers are quite simply the BEST bookshelf speakers available for less than $400.00. Before buying them, I checked out and listened to several models from other (more expensive) brands and found them to be exceptional. The bass sounds deep but natural , the midrange is very clear and smooth-sounding while the treble (highs) does not sound shrill or fatiguing. Most of the 20-bit and 24-bit digitally remastered CDs in my music library sound exceptionally realistic and lifelike through these speakers. Believe me, this is the best speaker system currently available at its price.
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