Name: Bose 161 Speaker System, Black
Brand: Bose
SKU: BOS161B
Price: 158.00 USD
Availability: Discontinued
Rating: 4.33 (30 reviews)

Bose 161 Speaker System

Bose 161 Speaker System, Black

Bose

Adorama

Home Electronics

Home Theater

Home Theater Systems

Bose Home Theater Systems

Bose 161 Speaker System 

Top Rated Gear: Bose 161 Speaker System, Black Channels: 2.0

I had a pair of these speakers already, being used as satellite speakers in a 5.1 system and I thought they worked will, so I got a second pair to work as the main speakers for a receiver in the kitchen. The problem is they are not strong enough to be the main speakers. So I got different speakers for the kitchen and now use the Bose speakers as satellite speakers in a different system.

good looking speakers work best as satellite speaker

i had these 161's since 2013 and never had any problems. they are excellent speakers

absolutely great sound for years

I bought these 8 years ago to improve my Bose lifestyle system. I love the look and I love the sound. Lifestyle system is 12 years old and both are still going strong

Fantastic addition to lifestyle system

I bought this speaker 5 years ago to use it with my workstation (computer). It is just great. Sound fidelity is the best.

Outstanding Performance

I own 4 of these and use them in my 7.2 home theatre set up. They work very well and have no problem delivering the full home theatre experience! I also use two round built in Bose speakers in the ceiling for rear speakers. The combination is terrific!

Home theatre surround

I bought a pair of 161's in the Summer of 2016 to use with a Grace Satellite Radio. I have this setup in a spare bedroom that's about 15 X 16'. Initially, I was skeptical about how they would fill the room with sound. But after almost 2 yrs, they're doing the job great... Like all Bose products, they are well made, well engineered and perform well. Yes, it would be nice if they had a little more bass, but then again, I had $$ and space constraints and these speakers addressed this. It's also possible to mount them on a wall using the supplied brackets.

Very happy with these speakers

I got these as my rear surround and they work great

work great as rears

I bought these as a side surround to my other Bose 301's and 201's they sound great and are easy to mount out of the way.

Great, small speaker

I got the 161 speakers for Christmas this year and I love them. The sound quality is fantastic and I have the hooked up to my fisher CA-270 integrated stereo amplifier. I also have the 201 series V direct/relflecting speakers and I love them too.

Great Speakers

My father had received these as a gift for Christmas and was very excited to hear them hooked up to our home stereo system. Unfortunately, the first thing I noticed when I hooked them up was that there was virtually no bass and the mid was very weak. The highs however, were clear and crisp making them good for a home theater setup, but not so much for a home stereo system. I have a lot of experience with fine audio equipment, and these did not make that grade.

Weak mid and low

I Bought that for use as main spakers in my small room, powered by a vintage Kenwood amp. The result couldn't be worst, the sound too bright, sounds like a cheap plastic speaker and medium frequencies around 200Hz-350Hz sound too much. Really, I expected more from them...

Worst Speaker

I've used these pair of speakers for some time now, and I have used them as stereo as well as surrounds. Currently it is stand mount and meets my surround requirement. 
The set up that I currently have is a Yamaha RX -V673 receiver with a Yamaha bluray player. Speakers are Front Right, Left : B&W DM 603S3 Centre B&W LCR 40, surrounds are 161(why ? because i needed them compact as there was no room to accommodate larger speakers), and front presence speakers (which are a feature of the Yamaha receivers) are Bose 201, Sub is Velodyne CHT 10. 
I have to say these 161 make an impression of their own, they stand out. 
The 7 channel stereo option of the Yamaha when listening to music brings the best out of these 161's.
As I mentioned Ive also used these speakers as front stereo coupled with my Velodyne sub, as the bass is lacking (understandable), but you need to set the crossover right or else the bass of your sub will overwhelm the highs and mids. For that you would have to place your sub and speakers properly(lots of trial and error) till you get what you want.
Once the system is set you will not be disappointed, these little beauties sound very balanced and the soundstage is also great, your sub will provide for the bass and you will enjoy the experience. BTW I was using a YAMAHA AS 500 stereo amp to power them. I was really enjoying my experience, then I upgraded my stereo speakers to Bose 301's and moved the sub and 161's to my home theatre setup. 
In conclusion
Pros :1) Compact and easy to handle.
 2) Durable.
 3) Easy set up
 4) Balanced sound, very good mids and highs.
 5) Value for money.
Cons: 1) Wire connection is the spring loaded type instead of banana clips.
 2) Lacking in bass
 3) Cannot be placed on a flat surface, designed to be wall mounted or stand mounted.

Balanced mids and highs

I bought some 161 speaker 8 years ago when i was in middle school dropped them a couple of time and they still work well to this day. I love them very clear for gaming can hear everything. Awesome.

Great sound for front or suround in gaming.

These speakers sound hollow, tinny and lacking in detail. I returned them for a refund.

Terrible!!

I have the black 161's as rear surrounds in my 5.1 system, which consists of: Pioneer Elite Receiver, Bose 201 Mains, Bose VCS10 center, Bose 161 Rear, Klipsch Synergy 10 Sub. They are seamless, sound great with movies and music, and are quality built. I have owned the whole set of Bose speakers for 10 plus years, often thought of upgrading for something " new", but there just really isn't a need to because these things just produce day after day....

Quality Sound

I purchased 4 pair of 161's in 2009 = 3 pair (with 2 Polk Subwoofers) for my theater and 1 pair for my dining room (with Bose Accoustimass 5 Series). Bose Only = Since 1979 Bose 601's 2 pair, Bose 301's 1 pair, Bose AM 5'system, Bose AM 3'system, Bose 321's 2 systems, Bose Soundlink II's 4 each, Bose Soundlink III's 4 each. Great gifts! Ready to deck out the mancave/lounge. BOSE-BOSE is what Chose!

BOSE for LIFE!

It can be a good satellite speaker. Don't have much bass by them self. The bass output start rolling off at about 100hz. Looking at the impedance curve, there seems to be capacitors protecting the twiddlers from deeper bass. So, they should be combined with a SUB crossing at 80hz. If you are looking for a small desktop stereo speaker, I suggest Bose Companion 2 instead since they have fuller bass. With a AV receiver, the 161s can play much louder, though.

Small speaker, good vocal but little bass

I bought 4 of these for side and rear speakers in my 7.1 surround system back in 2009. Clear, crisp sound and still going strong after almost 8 years! They are paired with my Bose 301 Series IV (still going strong since 1998), Bose VCS-10 center speaker, and Yamaha subwoofer on an Onkyo 100W/channel receiver.

Great surround speakers

I bought these a few years ago for front height speakers and recently moved them onto the ceiling to use with my new receiver that has Atmos and DTS-X sound. It really spreads the ceiling sound around the room and works great.

Great as Ceiling Speakers for Atmos and DTS-X

I bought these speakers around two years ago for my PC. I've them powered by a 2x90W stereo reciever and coupled with a 10" subwoofer. I'm very satisfied with the sound. Good clarity and awesome stereo feel. But keep in mind that if you want powerful bass, you'll need to include a subwoofer. On a side note, this speakers are very useful in my particular application, because I was able to easily mount them on the wall with the included bracket, clearing my desk space.

Great for a PCaudio system

I bought a pair to use as surround speakers but ended up using them as my L/R front speakers. Great size, great sound - we have a vaulted ceiling so the smaller speakers actually seem to work better than the 201/301. bought a second pair to use for surround. next upgrade will be the center speaker.

Great little speakers

I bought a pair of bose 161 speakers 8 years ago & I really enjoyed the sound quality but it still works for me. Thumbs up!

Excellent features

I regret, I have bought a bad sound and bass is weak Not recommended buying bose 161 and I want to return the amount

very bad speaker

Quality speakers for relatively low cost...can hear more of my music than ever before!!!~

Quality Speakers

I brought year ago and I set up with zone 2 and work is great and great sound I play all day sound like big speaker easy to install and I highly suggest to buy this speaker because bose is brand name. ...thanks....jaspal

161 bose speaker

Bought the speakers a couple of months ago. Good product and good sound. Bass is OK for the size of speaker.

Great set of speakers

Bought more than a year ago. First connected to a Marantz PM5005 amp and now connected to Marantz Melody stream(MCR510) Excellent sound quality. Only draw back is it is bit fiddly to connect the cables into the terminals.

Excellent sound

I use a pair of black 161's for left and right surround speakers in our home-theater set-up. They are outstanding in this function. I needed my surrounds to be quite compact in order to sit on top of my CD shelves in the rear of the room and these fit perfectly and still deliver full bodied sound. I have them crossed over to my subs at 110 Hz. Something that I really appreciate about these speakers for surround duty is the "articulated array" design, which gives broad, even coverage without the high-frequency beaming that often occurs in more conventional speakers. On the down-side: I wish Bose made more provision for shelf placement. The speakers seem to be designed almost solely with wall-mounting in mind. The little rubber footers provided are not adequate to level the speakers on a shelf. I had to provide additional support to keep them level and solid. A little shelf stand that would allow adjustable tilt would be ideal. I can't speak from personal experience, but I suspect a well-placed pair of these would also sound very nice in a traditional stereo set-up when used with a good sub or two and crossed over appropriately.

Well-balanced Versatility

Nice set of front speakers if you do not want a big set of tower speakers. The mounting brackets came with the speakers which was nice. This gives you two options, mount them to the wall or set them on your TV stand.