Speakers Reviews

This thing blows, I have it hooked to my Sony Mini system and it makes more bass w/o it. The bass is not clear, distortion, its all there. DO NOT buy this garbage. If you want a real test to see what a piece of garbage this is, play number seven on the Matrix Soundtrack, it is Prodigy, Minefields. To bad I cannot rate it zero stars, cause it is that bad!

This subwoofer kicks fine but if you wanna FEEL your bass this is not for you, the bass rings in your ear rather than rumble your body. Even on a ministereo (panasonic) it distorts badly when you turn up the volume. I ordered a different subwoofer the next day!Take my advice, this sub will hurt your ears more than it will entertain you. Consider something else.

I recently purchased a JVC FS-SD5 compact stereo component system (executive microsystem) which delivers 19 watts per channel. This mini system is an excellent product which I installed on my desk in my 11 foot by 11 foot office at home. This mini system has a subwoofer output jack. Since I never owned a subwoofer before, I searched for a small subwoofer for this JVC mini system. I soon learned that most subwoofers are too large and too expensive for an economical mini system in a small room. The AudioSource SW300 appears to be the only "compact" and low priced subwoofer available. This unit is excellent for my small 11 foot by 11 foot office. The amplified power output is 50 watts and it has a 6 1/2 diameter driver. It is 13 3/4 high, 8 1/8 wide, 8 1/8 deep, and weighs 11 pounds. It fits perfectly under my desk. For a good test of this unit, simply play the song Migra (cut number 8) from the Carlos Santana CD titled Supernatural and you will easily see the great performance of this economical, yet quality, space saving unit.

For everything you get, it's a great deal. The CD player has no skip protection at all, but it can take falls and beatings very well. The mini speakers are good to have around and they, too, stand up to beatings.

I bought it to take to Europe w/ me on a trip. Needed something small and not real expensive if I lost or something. I'm really happy w/ both the player and speakers. Has no skip protection but it doesn't claim to. Speakers are much more powerful than they look. I say it's a great deal!

this is the best cd player money can buy. As soon as i bought it i knew it would work fantastically. With the fm tuner and the cd player together this is the best you could buy. And with the mini speakers, you get a surrond sound from this little piece of heaven. I urge you to buy this cd player if you are serching for one. And it doesnt eat up batteries like other cd players.

This is one of the [worst] boomboxes ever! This thing will just refuse to play most cd's. I've only had this boombox for almost a year and now already it acts real weird. Now when I put my disc in, turn it on, it spins my disc a little bit, it makes a weird clicking sound, the speakers make a strange buzzing sound, and then it stops spinning and says no disc. What the heck is with that! So then I thought maybe the disc was a little bit dirty (not even a scratch) wiped it off just to make sure, then I put it back in the system. It did the same thing (and these were regular store bought cd's!) Then I thought maybe it is just my disc or something. So I tried another one and the same thing happened. I tried reloading it about 10 times and then it started playing (thank god!) Then I walked over to it and pressed the next track button and their it goes spinning full blast, not playing right and then displaying "no disc" After about a month of putting up with this [junk], I sold it to my friends grandmother who mostly listens to the radio. She is happy with it because she likes how she can control it with the remote. Other than that the radio works pretty good and the tape decks work pretty good, but I still would not reccomend this product to anyone... If you want to get a better boombox, get a Panasonic, JVC, or something better. I'd hate to see someone put up with [what] I did with this [Boombox].

If you want to get a good boombox, take a look at one of the Panasonic ones. They are much more reliable and they sound even better.

Pro:

1) Doesn't look flashy and wierd like a lot of recent boom boxes.
2) Still working after 2 yrs. - nothing has broken (no CD playing problems).
3) Does a basic job of making sound.

Con:

1) Turns on mysteriously at night probably due to a neighbor's remote controller on the same frequency as my boom box or being triggered by some other random radio wave. (has freaked me out at times causing me to wake up in the middle of the night and get out of bed to turn it off - really freaky if the CD is playing my daughter's nursery songs.)
2) Setting radio station presets is not intuitive and simple.
3) Lacks decent bass sound relative to my Magnavox boom box, even with the "Mega Bass" activated.
4) FM and AM radio reception is mediocre. I live in Los Angeles with a lot of strong radio stations but some local stations just don't come in clearly without static.
5) Lacks the Sony quality feel that I used to know.
6) Price to high - should cost around $60 for what you get.

Bottom Line: I expected better from Sony given my past experience with their products.

this cd boombox is very nice and has a good sound system!

The speakers looked excellent, and still do, now that I have bought them, but looks are deceiving. I can honestly say that I wish I had never bothered to buy them, since they are badly made, and are more trouble than they're worth...

these speakers are good looking but their sound is really bad they do give excellent surround and can be useful for decorating your home but not listening the woofer is really really horrible it is worst than any other woofer i have ever seen the woofer doesnt at all give bass if we incease the volume to a certain level the woofer starts distorting a lot the remote control is also not comfortable IN SHORT THE SOUND SYSTEM IS NOT AT ALL WORTH BUYING IF YOU DONT HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO SPEND UR MONEY ON U CAN AS WELL BUY THIS SYSTEM JUST FOR THE SAKE OF DECORATION BUT I ADMIT THE FRONT REAR EFFECTS ARE GOOD SO 2 STARS FOR THAT

While the price is right, and they look pretty cool, you'd be better served spending a few more bucks and get something better made. While this setup is servicable in the mid range, like others have said the sound gets unbalanced at low volume and you don't have to pump them up too loud before the bass gets distorted. Another thing that niggles me is that the remote only allows you to change the volume of the front and rear speakers seperately, so if you get the prefect balance between them, if you want to lower the volume you have to readjust them. Don't nickle and dime your sound, spend some more coin and really rattle your neighbours.

Bought these two days ago and was very dissapointed. Very poor bass.....trebles too high and no mid range at all. Do not even sound good down low. Do yourself a favour and spend the extra cash on the 2100's. I did after returning them and was much happier indeed.

These are speakers for people who just like to listen to music and is not all caught up in the bass and trebles and all the technical stuff. They have good clarity, but really not much bass. Which is ok for computer speakers, especially if you already have a stereo system or home theater system in your home. For 22 dollars,these speakers are a great deal and I recommend these, unless you want to pay the little extra money to get the 221's.

This is the best low-priced speakers I ever had. It's truly a mighty midget.

I got these speakers today and they are going back tomorrow. The sound quality is quite nice, but there is always (ALWAYS) a hiss sound coming from the two desktop speakers. Even when the line in to the speaker system is actually PLUGGED OUT, even when the volume is set to zero etc.

The only solutions are
1. Plug out the two speakers out from the amp box
2. Plug out the AC input wire out

And you have to do this EVERYTIME you want to silence the hiss (stepping out, sleeping etc)... muting everything etc will NOT work. Imagine now if those wire are behind a table. Even if the wires are accessable, pulling them out i.e. using them as a primitive switch is such an ugly solution !

Plus the noise is always constant. So at low volumes you can actually hear it/get bugged by it. At higher volumes, its simply masked out by the song you play.

Another VERY weird thing ... when I plugged in the two desktop speakers in I could hear one particular _FM_ channel (yes ..._FM_ channel !!). At the same level as the hiss itself, but I could clearly hear the jockey and songs softly when I mute my volume/plug out the audio in of the speaker system. I have _NO_ idea how the set is able to accidently demodulate an FM signal (assuming the wires were acting like antennae), but if I hadn't heard it for myself I'd not have believed it. It does it, and its a big PAIN. Imagine a car which can never (NEVER) stop, u can only change the speed at which you go ahead !! Exactly ... weird and worthless !

The bottom line - do NOT waste your money on this. This shouldn't have even passed the beta stage (leave alone the commercial market) 'cos its a massive design flaw. Had expected much more.

I was very pleased to hear this unit after I received it. It was much better than expected and I was truly amazed that I could get this much sound for the price. It far surpasses the sound that I compared to some of it's riveils. Great value!

I bought these because I loved the look along side my flat panel LCD and expected them to sound OK. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that they sound great. Good looks and great sound!

Since I am the one who rated the Bose 301s earlier and have been accused of rating Bose in general rather than 301s in particular I'll answer that.

Only the foolish would choose the Bose 301s. I've owned the 301s, 201s AND 901s. Before I really sought out other speakers and ACTUALLY compared them, I was drawn into the Bose mythology.

For the same price as these piles of junk one can purchase EPOS, Klipsch, Triangle or Infinity speakers of vastly superior construction and, more importantly, design. I seriously doubt the previous poster has ever seriously compared Bose vis a vis quality speakers.

I've now built my own set of speakers, and while doing so, brought out my old 301s and tore them apart. What a shock, cheap, cheap, cheap. A cross-over that looks like it was built from a Radio Shack circa 1970. I can only shake my head in wonder as individuals "claim" they've compared Bose 301s with others in their price range and the Bose come out on top.

Oh, the power of advertising on weak minds.

While it may be true that some other products out-perform Bose products (such as: Cambridge Soundworks 'Radio 740" vs. Bose 'Wave Radio/CD'), but not in the case of the Bose 301 Seres V Speakers and most of their other speakers. The other reviewer rated this one 1 star because of a few of the Bose products are not as good as other alternatives, but his/her judgement over these "few" maKe his/her decision/epinion of all of the Bose products.
If anybody were to put any other products in the same arrangement and of similar size as these pair of Bose Series V 'Bookshelf Speakers', those products could not reproduce the same Soundstage (Live Atmosphere / Spaciousness) as these. AND I'VE TRIED HARD, but cannot be done with a similiar pair of bookshelf speakers! Not Going To Happen (so far :) :) !!!!!
Thus I have selected these pair (over careful research) as front and rear speakers for my Home Theater System [with my Polk center speaker & Bob Carver Subwoofer and my electromagnetic shaker The ButtKicker (mounted underneath the couch!!).]
I wish others shall be able to come to the same conclusion as my careful research has concluded. And for the intelligent people to choose these Bose Series V speakers, the best of happiness and enjoyment as I have.

P.S. Sometimes "Simplicity outweighs Complexity" when refering to speakers of this magnitude!

I purchased BOSE 301 speakers and am thoroughly impressed with their performance. They are exceptionally clear and accurately reproduce the music. These speakers are an incredible price performance value!!!

Do yourself a favor and spend an extra $200-$300 and get higher-end speakers. You'll be happier in the long run. These are acceptable for watching movies, actually pretty good, but for listening to music, they outright .... I am no audiophile, and I can't stand them. The sound is flat and weak. I don't know how there could be so much of a difference between movies and music, but there is. I don't recommend these speakers to anyone.

I bought this speaker system along with the AVR 120 receiver. This speaker system is good for watching movie. Sound effect and people's voice coming from the speakers are clean and good; but not great. The subwoofer produces very clean and great powerful bass. However, listening to music is a different story. It is like listening to music from a clock radio. Music is flat coming from the speakers. I mostly listen to New Age music that has alot of bass guitar and saxophone. The 5 tiny satellite speakers just don't have enough power to produce the "bass" from the guitar and saxophone that are in the midrange I guess. The subwoofer can still produce very clean and powerful bass from low frequency. However, that is about it. Loud from low and high frequency but flat in the mid. The music from these speakers is so bad that I cannot stand it anymore. I almost bring them back to the store. But instead, I go out and buy a pair of bookshelf speakers ...to replace the two front speakers.

Conclusion:
Pros:
1) The subwoofer is one of the best
2) watching movie is good (but not great) with these speakers
3) [The price] is reasonable I guess

Cons:
1) The 5 satellite speakers are weak
2) There is no way you can enjoy listening to music with these speakers.

I do not recomment to buy this speaker system.

Now that the HKTS 6's are out, you can get the 5's for just a fraction of the price even though they are the exact same speakers. They just have different speaker wire set-ups according to Harman Kardon. So factoring in any discount, these speakers are well worth the price. It comes with a great sub, which is the building block of any great sound system. Plus, the satallites are a great buy. However, like the other reviews have stated they are not nearly as crisp as some of the ones that you will hear (Bose, higher end Polk Audio, ect.). However, I did not find anything in this price range that was nearly as good as these speakers and I looked everywhere and listened to a ton of different speakers. So if you can't afford to spend [much more money]on speakers, treat yourself to these affordable and above average speakers. The price you pay is worth the sub alone.

I've owned Bose 201s, 301s and 901s in my life. Then I began to get into speaker building kits. My eyes were opened. I began to learn about crossovers, tweeter construction, woofers and cabinet resonancy. I also began to seek out commercially sold speakers for ideas and for quality.

That is when I began to see just what a joke Bose speakers really are. For the same price, consumers can get better quality sound, build and design from Polk, JBL, Infinity or Klipsch. And they are the commonly available makers.

While the Bose 201s aren't as horrible a value as the 901s, you're still foolish to get these when much better higher quality speakers are out there.

An indicator of Bose priority is the fact that their advertising budget is higher than their research budget. Hey, its your dollar, if you want to waste it go right ahead, but done't fool anyone else about Bose 'quality'.

A lot of people think that bose is the greatest. But have you ever went to a place like circuit city or ultimate electronics and asked a sales rep. what they think of Bose? I used to think Bose was the greatest until I heard them and compared them compared them to a speaker company like Infinity, for less! Bose do have their fans but stay away from Bose you will be happier. The drivers ( the actual speaker inside) on Bose are made of paper. Bose speaker also rely on reflecting sound so, if you don't have a square room you will be digusted with the sound and not even hear most of it. They also sound distorted at low and high volumes. Do not buy this speaker, don't waste your money.

Bose is a good performing speaker all around. These speakers are no exception. I have had the speakers for awhile and they work great for all types of music. Keep in mind that these speakers are small they will not perform like large speakers. They will not fill a large room with tons of bass. They are bookshelf speakers, or small room speakers. For that they are great. For the money these speakers are perfect!! I highly recommend these speakers to people who want a good value but don't want to sacrafice quality and performance.

Not sure how this got 3.5 stars from the other raters.
I bought a set a few days ago for $30 and I think I'll have to throw it out.
The 60 Hz hum makes it sound like there's a motor big enough to lift an elevator in the room. It's hard to hear the music over the noise.
I sent customer support a note but no reply.

ok...i bought the same speakers like half year ago..at first i think it sounds ok...but when i listen to some hip hop or rap songs...the bass doesn't come out really clear when i turn the music up...and now..i'm trying to find another brand of speakers..since i want the bass to come out clean and smooth...but anyways..this speaker is good at price..

I like these speakers for two good reasons: The price is right, and they deliver really good bass, which is what I was looking for when I purchased these. The manufacturer was good enough to list some of the specifications on the package cover, which is really what helped me decide on this product. While the sub-woofer definitely delivers the bass, the two satelite speakers are a bit short on the higher frequencies, but still good. So take my word for it, these babies kick--and then some!