Product Description

The world's best loved bookshelf speaker / Now redesigned, with even better performance / For music or home theater

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2984 in Consumer Electronics
• Color: Black
• Brand: Bose
• Model: 29297
• Dimensions: 13.00" h x 23.00" w x 23.00" l, 23.00 pounds

Features

• Each 201 speaker includes a long excursion 6-1/2 woofer and a highly sensitive 2 Stereo Targeting tweeter
• Proprietary Stereo Everywhere technology combines direct and reflected sound to deluge the room with beautiful sound
• Unique port geometry for clean bass
• Compact size and horizontal for flexible placement options
• Perfect as front or rear home theater speakers, along with a BOSE VCS-10 center channel & BOSE 161 surrounds ? or a second pair of 201s

Amazon.com Product Description
The trim, stylish 201-V speakers from Bose are ideal for your den, dorm room, office, or small-scale living room. Their sleek design makes them welcome in any décor. Sold in pairs, the 201-Vs work well with either your stereo components or your home theater, elegantly handling either front- or rear-channel surround sound (use 2 pairs for both).

You'll enjoy lifelike, spacious stereo sound from these compact yet versatile bookshelf speakers. In a concert hall, listeners hear a mix of direct and reflected sound arriving from different directions and at different times. Bose's proprietary Direct/Reflecting speaker technology uses the walls and flat surfaces of your room to more closely approximate the sound in a concert hall. From cutting-edge DVDs to your vintage records, you'll enjoy larger-than-life spaciousness in nearly all you listen to, thanks in part to Bose's precisely angled, 2.5-inch proprietary Stereo Targeting tweeters.

The speakers' broad-dispersion Stereo Everywhere design lets you enjoy full stereo sound throughout the listening area, no matter where you sit or stand. Instead of concentrating the stereo effects into a single "sweet spot," the 201 bookshelf speakers are engineered to deliver realistic performance almost anywhere in the room.

The speakers each use a single 6.5-inch woofer and a flared-slot port--a specially engineered design wherein woofer and port geometry complement each other to reduce air turbulence. The ports ensure clean, deep bass, particularly when you're listening at high volumes.

What's in the Box
Two speakers, self-adhesive rubber feet, a user's manual, and warranty/registration information.

Customer Reviews

Disappointed really
I was THIS close to ordering the 201's online, but I'm glad better sense prevailed and I went down to the local Circuit City with a few CD's of my own for a little "test-drive".

I am not a serious audiophile, and having been fed on media propaganda, I thought Bose were the ultimate. I guess I was wrong. Even to MY untrained ears, it was quite obvious that the Bose didn't sound half as good as they're cracked out to be.

Now, they're not completely worthless, of course, but hearing them side by side with similarly sized (and lower priced) speakers from Polk Audio, Boston Acoustics and Infinity, one could tell that they were a bit out of place.

Sure, they can get loud, really loud, but if loudness is all you want, I'll have my neighbours pay you a visit.. ;-). Compared to other good speakers, the Bose lacked the richness and fullness of sound. You couldnt "feel" the music. The sound was "weak", and at higher volumes, just felt out of place (think Rick Moranis jumping up and down, thumping his chest trying to scare someone.. kinda funny though), and after a while "annoying" (think Rick Moranis jumping.... get the picture?). I also tried the 161's... same result. The sound was clear and crisp, with no distortions, but just not "satisfying".

With the same CD's I also tried Polk Audio RM101, and Boston Acoustics Micro120X, half the size (and price) of the Bose 201's, and even the store associate was surprised by the difference in sound quality (before we started testing, he couldn't talk about anything but Bose.. just like me.. :P).

I finally decided upon the BA Micro120X, probably one of the "ugliest" speakers you can find... lol, but with a GREAT sound. Plus it has a great deal going on at BUY dot COM, where a PAIR (usually it is sold in eaches) is avaiable at ridiculously low prices [Can not state actual price since that is against Amazon's review policy and will get edited out, but think 85% lower than MSRP, not gonna last at those prices for very long though. So if you're looking for one, hurry.]

To be fair to Bose, if I had not heard any of the other speakers, and straight away purchased Bose, I would have been very happy with my purchase and would probably have rated them 4-stars (like I said earlier, they are NOT absolutely worthless). But when you compare them to other good speakers, they just fade away, and the fact that they are so much more costly than other better speakers makes me think they deserve no better rating than a 1-star. Probably a bit harsh, but then, so was the difference in sound quality and listening experience.

Bose 201 A Great Value
Moving from a large home into a smaller one it seemed the right time to set the huge twenty-six year old quasi-wood enclosures in the car, take them to Goodwill and buy something of current technology yet in a smaller package. After researching big and small and a dozen brand names we went off in search of the right speakers for us in our smaller setting. Most we listened to were terrible. Inaudible, booming with no clarity or tinny, even the names of note. Then we met Dr. Bose's collection of speakers. We were used to our 12" woofer, a couple of tweeters and a bass that boomed until our chest vibrated. Though we didn't get the booming chest, we got clarity and sound that was true to the instruments and the voices. My receiver is twenty-six years old too and is screaming to be replaced but even with it and it's limited ability to equalize, the true sound we hear from the set of Bose speakers quickly grew on us and proved satisfying. I do miss the ability to go for the booming subwoofer sound when we wish and may buy a small unit to fill the gap. But....if we don't add to this set, we are well satisfied with the Bose speakers and feel fine about spending a few dollars more for a quality sound. So far I haven't found a way to distort the sound and am also happy that we reach a nice volume level without pushing the slider.

I have read mixed reviews from "uch" to "the absolute best" and wonder how so many mixed expectations can precede the purchase of a set of speakers. We, as life long lovers of music and musicans ourselves, are seriously pleased with the Bose speakers even with the slightly less "boom" to which we are accustomed.

BOSE 201V with a new look for 2004 &Klipsch SC5
#1 BoseV301
However, when comparing the 201V with the 301V it is night and day difference. The 301V is on average $100 more then the 201V no matter who you buy it from and for good reason. As its 8" driver and 2 (yes 2) tweeters front/rear this unit flows in a harmony like no other. I am highly impressed with its ability to accurately reproduce voice and other sounds. Someone singing at 4dB can still be comprehended at 4dB even when the receiver is cranked to 60dB. These speakers are excellent as a pair. So much so I wondered about well they get alone with a 5.1/6.1/7.1 system and to my surprise it gave me a competing impression. After hearing them as a pair and listening to them with a system you know they can do more if not better then the center making for a difficult setup after shelling out $320+ for these puppies. The 2 (yes, 2) tweeters front/rear are what set this shelf speakers from the rest. The harmonics, octaves and range are out of this world. Let me explain, a woman singing at 3dB w/o a microphone is heard and processed at 3dB even if you turn the volume up from lets say 15dB to 60dB you can still tell that person is singing at 3dB and not yelling at you. (Although most don't know what 3dB are unless told when you hear it. You can recognize the pitch, tone and octave enough to know if blind folded your ears will know if it's live or a recording). It's sleek design was more to my liking even though the Polk RTi4 sounded just as good (even though the highs were a bit flat) for $260 the large rectangular shape was left to be desired.

#2 Polk RTi4
In 2nd place is the Polk RTi4. I would have to say that for the price of roughly $260 and with sound as good as the Bose V301 for $320 and up. The best feature of this unit is the driver in which produced a more subwoofer level of sound then the Bose 301V. The combination of the tweeter and driver produced Octaves, Tones and Bass giving you the impression that you were there live (I listened to mostly Jazz). These speakers performed good as a pair and excellent with a 5.1/6.1/7.1 sound system. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase these speakers but the rectangular bulky shape was more of an eye sore for my needs. Yes, the quality of sound is just as important I need a more sleek design and I want to place them in front my TV. You simply can't do that with these speakers..


#3 Bose V201
Coming in 3rd place is the Bose 201V are the best speakers I have invested to date. These speaker set have a excellent range, distortion undetectable by the my ear and it's octaves are lively (with a bit more mid range then the V301). I believe the reflux of the bass (at deep, shallow, sharp and soft) and overall combination of how this unit performs very well together for the price offered. Overall tones, bass, octave and balance are excellent and for the price & design well worth the investment. I decided on a pair when listening to music from a CD, HDCD, radio or watching a movie as these speakers were better then other bookshelf speakers such as Klipsch SB-1.& SB-2 (this unit have little bass), the Athena ASR1 (this unit has noticeable distortion at any volume level) and the JBL E30 (nearly tied for the V201 if it didn't require so much volume just to hear it from a 100watt per channel receiver, making for a horrible experience for some low volume jazz).

Radio stations come in with a more lively octave to it and sound reproduction can be mistakenly taken from a cd instead of radio. This unit is excellent as a 5.1/6.1/7.1 system and is great as a stand alone set. I did notice that my Sony STR-DE885 Receiver was having trouble supplying the necessary power as I had to crank the volume from 11 (from 5.1 setup) to 34 (2 channel setup) to reproduce similar sound (except for the base).


Klipsch SC5 Center Speaker
Is by far the most impressive center speaker I have heard to date. It has a perfect combination octaves, range and bass making for a level of realism that can't be beat for it's price of $150. I did compare this unit to the Klipsch SC-3 (was simply louder to me and the JBL EC25CH (excellent sound reproduction but for $250+ it was out of my budget for 1 speaker),

Music of Choice Jazz
Movie of Choice Matrix Revolutions
Receiver: Sony STR-DE885
Speakers currently in use: Klipsch .5 center, 2-Bose 201V, 2-Sony Satellites, 1-Sony 150watt subwoofer