Rating: 
Summary: Bose 161's
Review: Bose continues to impress with these speakers. While a little weak in the bass area as it sounds sort of muffled, that could just very well be the poor quality speaker wires I have. Yet, when I lower the bass, I hear pristine clear quality music. I have not yet hooked up my receiver to my television to hear the sounds of a movie. Being a college student, these are an excellent buy for a speaker upgrade to a sound system, or being added to a work in progress home theater system. The only complaint I have besides the muffled bass is that the speaker wires tend to come out a lot and I have to keep putting them back in. Once again, this could just be the poor quality speaker wires I have. Once I purchase better ones, I will update my review as to whether the bass is improved or not. Overall, a very good speaker, but until I purchase the new speaker wires, I cannot upgrade the quality of the Bose 161's.
Rating:
Summary: Bose 161's
Review: Bose continues to impress with these speakers. While a little weak in the bass area as it sounds sort of muffled, that could just very well be the poor quality speaker wires I have. Yet, when I lower the bass, I hear pristine clear quality music. I have not yet hooked up my receiver to my television to hear the sounds of a movie. Being a college student, these are an excellent buy for a speaker upgrade to a sound system, or being added to a work in progress home theater system. The only complaint I have besides the muffled bass is that the speaker wires tend to come out a lot and I have to keep putting them back in. Once again, this could just be the poor quality speaker wires I have. Once I purchase better ones, I will update my review as to whether the bass is improved or not. Overall, a very good speaker, but until I purchase the new speaker wires, I cannot upgrade the quality of the Bose 161's.
Rating: 
Summary: The joke of the audio industry
Review: Bose is a fascinating case study of what the power of advertising can do for products that are acknowledged within the audio industry as being cheaply made and technically outperformed by all of its competiters. Based on audio theories from the 1960's and parts of lower quality than what can be bought at Radio Shack, Bose has built an incredible empire out of poorly designed products driven by a huge advertising budget creating an aura of "Bose".Consumers should do their research before shelling out money for Bose speakers. A google search will bring you to epinions or audioreview websites where you can find review after review, mostly negative, from buyers of Bose products. The commonly accepted wisdom in the audio industry is that Bose makes low audio quality products and sells them at very high prices. In other words those Polk, JBL, Wharfedale or Infinity mid-fi products you can find at Amazon are usually higher quality at much better price points. Compare the sound if you ever get a chance. Make sure you DO NOT depend on volume, in other words volume is a bad indicater of quality. Listen for the high and low notes and to the clarity of the music. Tough to do in a showroom at Circuit City or Best Buy, but even there the differences will show up. Bose attempts to prevent consumers from doing this by segregating their products away from the competition. After this you might look at online audio magazines (do a google search), Audioreview (one word) and Audiogon. You'll find whole NEW world of audio products such as PSB, Paradigm, Vandersteen, Quad, Sonus Faber, ACI and many more who's products will put you on a much higher level of audio than you'd ever imagine. Usually these speakers are SEVERAL times more electronically sophisticated than Bose at the same price! What you won't find in these websites of magazines are Bose articles. Bose just isn't taken seriously by the industry. Good luck and happy hunting!
Rating: 
Summary: Incredible how people rate without testing
Review: DO NOT listen to the 2 reviews giving these speakers a 1 rating. As you can see they aren't directed to this product, meaning those 2 dudes who claim to know audio greatly, haven't even tested these out. They say Bose is based on 1960 technologies and use cheap materials, but then tell me why people who have owned Bose speakers for over 25 years still have them and work like new? Tell me also why my 3 year old Bose Mediamates, my over 1 year old Bose Quietcomfort headphones, my less than 3 months old Bose Wave Music System, my less than 8 months old Bose Freestyle and Bose Companion 3, all sound like new and perform like new, even after I've pushed them way further than what they are meant to do with my A/V receiver. Also tell me if they use "cheap untreated paper" for their drivers, why did I look inside my Bose Freestyle's speaker and found an almost plastic material on the drivers? And if their sound is sooo old from the 60s, why does it sound so rich, full, clear, crisp, lifelike and bassy?
Outside of that, these speakers are great and VERY cheap in price. Anyone who says these should be any cheaper is insane. They do a heck of a job, and Ive tested them a couple of times in many stores. The only reason I havent bought them yet is because I dont have enough money to also buy the Bose 601 Towers, and the Bose VCS-10 Center Channel Speaker. For now I'll keep my Bose Freestyle, which is really a 2.1 but sounds just as if it was a 5.1 speaker setup. Also for the bass, I understand youd like more bass, but that is a subwoofer's job. These have nice and enough bass for their purpose and size. Anyway, you can't expect much bass at all from the Rear Channels, the bass is mainly on the Center, Left and Right channels. Remember Bose CLEARLY says these aren't main/front speakers, they are surround/rear speakers. You can use them as main ones but make sure to have a sub if you want deep vibrating bass, or get other Bose speakers such as the 301s. Bose, the best in sound.
Rating:
Summary: Hold your nose...
Review: I listened to these speakers at a Best Buy, and even the BB guy had to smile when he saw the disgusted expression on my face. Apparently it happens all the time---if you have ever heard half decent speakers (and by that all I mean is entry-level Polks or Infinitys which are far far from audiophile quality) you'll instantly hear just how much of Bose's name has been fabricated by a humongous advertising budget, i.e. HYPE HYPE HYPE.
Screeching treble, non-existent mids, weak bass...I've heard better speakers at Radio Shack!
Rating: 
Summary: Over priced average sound. Civic speakers
Review: I strongly agree with the other reviewers that Bose's speakers are way over price. They are living off the hype of their success of the wave radio and their early surround sound system that were great theater quality. That is the only reason they have to justify over pricing their other not too hot products. I got these speakers 2-years ago and the price were still the same? Performance/quality:
These speakers are very clear and you get a good range of sound. High pitch sound can be heard, but there are no bass sound what so ever. If you have a receiver, a sub-woofer is necessary or these speakers are too boring to listen to. I would say the sound is dry/flat, not very special, but again are very clear. These speakers are loudspeaker (I noticed they renamed them multi-purpose) meaning they belong in a church, mall or other civic spaces that doesn't need bass, but have some clarity. The surround sound effect is a gimmick, they sound like any other above average quality speakers. They are bigger size then normal satellite speakers. They do have hanging bracket that can be screw to the wall. Are not weather proof. Price:
Why did I pay for overpriced speakers? I got gift certificate and needed to finish my rear satellites of my 5.1surround system. At Good Guys nothing was cheap and I heard of Bose before and the salesman said they were great (full of nonsense). At base price of $161 they are price at a low to average price tower speakers that will give you more bass. For being a supporting cast as the rear satellite, I think they should be priced under a hundred dollar. For multi-purpose or civic loudspeaker price should be no more then a hundred-twenty dollar for these guys. If you can find them on sale for under hundred they would be a great pick up, but otherwise past on these and Polk Audio, Klipsch are better price/performance.
Rating:
Summary: Over priced average sound. Civic speakers
Review: I strongly agree with the other reviewers that Bose's speakers are way over price. They are living off the hype of their success of the wave radio and their early surround sound system that were great theater quality. That is the only reason they have to justify over pricing their other not too hot products. I got these speakers 2-years ago and the price were still the same? Performance/quality:
These speakers are very clear and you get a good range of sound. High pitch sound can be heard, but there are no bass sound what so ever. If you have a receiver, a sub-woofer is necessary or these speakers are too boring to listen to. I would say the sound is dry/flat, not very special, but again are very clear. These speakers are loudspeaker (I noticed they renamed them multi-purpose) meaning they belong in a church, mall or other civic spaces that doesn't need bass, but have some clarity. The surround sound effect is a gimmick, they sound like any other above average quality speakers. They are bigger size then normal satellite speakers. They do have hanging bracket that can be screw to the wall. Are not weather proof. Price:
Why did I pay for overpriced speakers? I got gift certificate and needed to finish my rear satellites of my 5.1surround system. At Good Guys nothing was cheap and I heard of Bose before and the salesman said they were great (full of nonsense). At base price of $161 they are price at a low to average price tower speakers that will give you more bass. For being a supporting cast as the rear satellite, I think they should be priced under a hundred dollar. For multi-purpose or civic loudspeaker price should be no more then a hundred-twenty dollar for these guys. If you can find them on sale for under hundred they would be a great pick up, but otherwise past on these and Polk Audio, Klipsch are better price/performance.
Rating:
Summary: Just plain bad, even for Bose
Review: I watched Spiderm-man on a Bose set of speakers in 5.1. This consisted of the vsc-10 center, bose towers (i dont remember the model number, but its the one with the tweeter that point the wrong way and woofers in the backside), and these Bose 161 for surrounds.
The sound coming from the center speaker and these speakers was so unbearable at high volumes, that me and my friend agreed it would be best to turn them off and just watch the movie in stereo. They both sounded very muddy and resonance comming off the plastic construction was quite annoyting. Theyre both cheap feeling in construction and i would not be surprised if they both used the same woofers inside (the center and these).
When you are buying these speaker, you are basically buying from the bottom of the barrel of what Bose has to offer, which is really bad, considering how mediocre their more expensive offerings sound.
Rating:
Summary: Great surround speakers or stereo in a small room
Review: I'm not usually a huge Bose afficianado, but I use a pair of Bose 161 speakers as my rear surround speakers and they're great! I have much larger speakers for my L, R and center - and the 161s compliment them perfectly. I can hear very detailed sound coming from them - perfect for effects in movies.
I'm not sure I'd use these as my primary speakers in my living room, but for surround applications, or small stereo needs, they fit the bill perfectly. They're attractive, solidly built, and easily mount to walls using the included wall brackets.
Rating:
Summary: disappointment land
Review: Normally I stay away from reviews of products outside the realm of cds and books. Not this time! If your idea of fun is waiting on a customer service line with the words "Please wait for the next available agent" ringing in your ears endlessly, only to find out - after missing several important business calls - that you are being required to spend additional money (120 bucks) to get your problem resolved, then go through Bose. Cd players getting stuck and static on the speakers is not how I used to enjoy music when listening to Pioneer equipment. And I spent less money with Pioneer. This company (Bose) charges way too much money for original product purchases to justify the customer spending hours of his own time trying to fix a problem generated by lack of real ingenuity on the part of the company. In other words, they should build this stuff BETTER! One who can afford these products does not have time to re-enact choice product abuse scenes from movies like "Office Space" (i.e. in this case, hacking away at a cd magazine with an ice pick in order to try to remove it). So if you do want hassles and a company website that does not empower you to directly contact anyone with any power in the organization, go through Bose. They will not disappoint!
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