Buy BOSE 201-V Stereo Loudspeakers (Pair) - BlackBOSE 201-V Stereo Loudspeakers (Pair) - Black Product Description:
- 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
Product Description
The world's best loved bookshelf speaker / Now redesigned, with even better performance / For music or home theater
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
33 of 38 people found the following review helpful.
Bose 201 A Great Value
By R. L. Johnson
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.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful.
Fantastic speakers for stereo applications
By BillJitsu
I recently decided to set up a small, but decent quality stereo system in my office so that I can listen to CDs and the radio when I feel like it. I had a Sony STR-DE197 stereo receiver, which worked fine...but the tiny Yamaha speakers I had hooked up to it didn't do my music justice.I purchased these speakers after looking around a bit. I auditioned them briefly in the store, but knew that the true test would be come when I got them home and hooked them up.Well, right out of the box,these speakers performed beautifully. I dialed them in a bit by adjusting the bass and treble on my receiver to my preferences. I also opted for the high-end speaker wire (Monster cable) because I wanted to make sure that I was getting the best sound that I could.The Bose 201 speakers do a great job for small-medium spaces, and have sound that belies their relatively small size. The bass is something you hear more than something you feel. For the type of music I generally listen to (blues, rock, acoustic, pop) they are very good. The highs are clear and the middles and lows are right where they need to be.These are probably some of the best speakers I've listened to. I'm not an audiophile, but I do know what I like. I have no doubt that there are better speakers out there, but for a couple Benjamins, these may be one of the better values out there.The only potential negative I can think of is that the speakers are designed to sit horizontally because of the direct-reflect technology. Oh well. They're a little bit different looking, but I am very pleased with them, and would recommend them to anyone looking for great sound.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.Nice speakers but NOT for high volume!
By Rick Devore
Back in the 1970s, Bose came out with their world-famous 901 series speakers. They could get extremely loud and produced thunderous bass and a big, wide room-filling soundstage. However, they were around $1000 a pair with the equalizer and stands. For the masses that couldn't afford the 901s, Bose released their 501s and 301s. The 301s produced a sound that was similar to the 901s at lower volume for about $200. They were, and are, great sellers.This review is for using the speakers in a stereo system. I haven't tried them in a home theater setting.There are a few major differences between the 301 speakers and the lighter, cheaper 201 series. (I've listened to both extensively.) First, the 201 is not really a direct reflecting system. It lacks a second tweeter that fires toward the walls in the corner of the room that creates the large soundstage of the 301 series. 201s only have a front firing 6" driver, a bass port and one angled tweeter that helps to produce a more spacious sound. They are not direct reflecting however.There are pros and cons to the 201 design. The cons are that they can't handle half the volume of the 301s, they don't produce a full direct-reflecting sound, they can't produce the deep booming bass of their big brothers and the trebles aren't as smooth. That's a lot of cons but the 201s are for situations where music is listened to at very moderate volume. With the 301s in my living room, I tend to crank up the bass and volume on my 100 watt per channel JVC amplifier because they don't sound right at low volume and you need to get that rear-firing tweeter cranking to bounce the sound off the walls to enjoy the full Bose experience. The 201s don't need as much volume to push them and they can't handle nearly as much volume. Getting down to the nitty gritty, if you play your music at fairly high volume and like deep, strong bass, the 301s are for you. Of course, they must placed very precisely to make the direct reflecting technology work in your listening area. If you listen to music at lower volume and don't want to hassle with the specific requirements of placement, you can enjoy a replication of the Bose sound in a small room.If you pump too much volume into these speakers, they will distort awfully. And, being that the treble response can be tinny, you want to keep the treble knob on your receiver cut back more than you would with some other speakers to acheive a more natural high end. Another advantage to the 201s is that they are quite efficient and don't require a powerful receiver. I laugh when I see them listed as "120 watt speakers". Realistically, they are rated to handle 60 watts each before blowing. If you actually pumped 60 watts into each speaker, they would sound atrocious. They sound best with about 10 - 25 actual watts into each, so you could use a receiver rated at anywhere from 25 - 60 watts per channel, whereas the 301s require a mimimum of 60 watts per channel, and ideally 100 watts per channel.So, if you want some small speakers that put out a nice sound at low to moderate volume from a lower powered receiver, I highly recommend the Bose 201. They sound best mounted on a wall but don't have the strict placement requirements of larger Bose speakers, or you could put them on a bookshelf. They could be superb out on your porch but you wouldn't want to leave them out there. There is a cult of Bose-haters who will say don't buy Bose, get Infinity or Paradigm speakers. Such "high end" speakers in the same price range may have a more articulate sound but they are small and thin sounding with little bass. I say "Go for the Bose".
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