Bose 701 Main / Stereo Speaker

Before we get started, if you couldn't already tell by the title and by the pros/and cons (or should I say mostly CONS) this review is going to sound ALOT like my Bose 601 review:
http://www.epinions.com/content_71569870468
Except, thse speakers are more expensive, equally poorly constructed and thus even more dissapointing. Bose is really done...I couldn't have been more surprised with the lack of quality.

The Older, better Bose 901s were discontinued and replaced by new-generation 701 and 601s. Actually, just prior to this move, Bose had offered an old series 701 which utliized a very similar rear-reflective technology like the 901s - they even looked similar. These speakers were pretty solid - much closer to the 901s, which are excellent speakers, and if you insist on using Bose, I highly encourage you to look for USED OLD BOSE 901s...STAY AWAY from the new gen. stuff, it is really overpriced garbage. It's really sad that Bose has completely turned around and ceased producing quality product and has chosen to cater to the mass-produced sub-standard poor-product/namebrand-marketing approach with their recent offerings. THe 701s are far more horrendous than the 601s, specifically because of the price. Don't be fooled; These speakers may cost about as much as the older 901s (completely unjustifiably BTW) but they aren't even in the same universe in terms of soun quality and performance.

The 701's are the big brother to the 601, it stands 7 inches taller than the 601, at 39" and looks nearly identical- except for the size obviously. power handling on the 701 is 100 watts greater, at 300 peak. One of the
main differences between the speakers is the presence of the 701s integrated bass ampifiers (no present on the 601s) regardless of the self-amplified woofs on the 701s, bass response is still not up to par, and although perhaps there is a little more extension and kick to the 701s, the sound is still muddy and not very exciting or crisp - and this is in light of the added expense of internal amplification! At 900+ a pair, these speakers are nearly double the price of the 601s and just as bad - I think overall this makes them a far worse buy considering the price.

As far as the "reflective" properties go on these speakers, the 901s started with a great idea and through good engineering and careful construction, Bose was able to take quality sound to a new level through a revolutionary process of rearward-reflecting technology. The 701 is another cheap attempt to utilize this concept - but due to the cost-cutting cheapness and poor construction employed by current Bose, they've failed miserably -- instead of crisp reflection you get a confused sound stage with non-existent imaging.

Sound quality wise, I can't stop repeating mud mud mud... The sound is sloppy - and even worse than the 601s, the 701s internal amplifier makes things more confusing and dilapidated because adding power to an already sloppy paper woofer means even sloppier bass....These drivers just ooze cheapness - which is one of the issues I addressed on the 601s.. You don't even need to hear these speakers before you suspect something, just by seeing the cheap paper cones on the woofs, however your ears will surely confirm the fact that these are terrible speakers.

Spatially, the sound stage is simply not existent - the speakers just aren't able to resolve the combination of sounds from multiple instruments in different parts of the virtual stage, and therefore your ears are simply bombarded by "patches" of sound with no spatial relationship and thus no soundstage whatsoever -- Very much like the 601, only worse because of the extra watts pushing the bass (still muddy). The overall suond is very "confused" because the lakc of staging and because the overall lack of clarity and crispness. Just a total dissapontment.

I cannot help but draw a refernce to a comparably priced set of B&W floorstanders, the 603 S3 speakers. Priced at 1000.00 per pair, they are just a few dollars more than the 701s and literally WORLDS better and THEY will demonstrate what reall soundstaging and real imagery is in a pair of speakers. I strongly suggest bringing at least a dozen listening CD's of various genre (mine go from Miles, to acid jazz, to pop, to techno to trance) just to see how a set of speakers will resolve and "illustrate" a sonic picture of the music you are listening to. I expected so much more out of the Bose since the 901s are really geat speakers - but BOTH the 601 and 701s demonstrate that they are truly NOT worthy predecesors of the 901 - It is a shame Bose named them with the "01" series denomination and truly a shame that Bose has tried to pass them off as new generation younger brothers to the legendary 901 speakers.
I highly discourage you to even bother looking at these speakers - it is waste...If anything, listen to them as a good example of WHAT NOT to look for in any speaker.