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Buy my single cabinet for $20 local pickup or $45 shipping anywhere in the continental U.S.
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| Stock photo from Bose.com |
This craigslist ad from Raleigh tell us that the Bose 201 Series II Direct Reflecting Bookshelf Speakers originally cost $200 new. Mesh covering over woofer and tweeter.
Each speaker (left and right) has one 6” forward-facing woofer, one 3” free field tweeter, nominal impedance 8 ohms, power rating is 5 watts minimum and 60 watts RMS maximum. Dimensions of each speaker is: 14 ½” wide, 7 ¾” deep, and 9” high.
Each speaker weighs about 10 pounds. The speakers are also built with a dual frequency crossover network, and automatic system protection circuitry.
You can download the manual here at the official Bose website, where they also inform us that they were sold from 1984 to 1991. The manual also repeats the specification information above about the components, and electrical and physical properties.
Checking Google Shopping here I see several false positives, but then also a pair for sale here on Ebay for $29.95, another pair here for $49.95, and yet another pair for $70.00. That's quite a range of prices.
I decided to research these (above) today, because I just picked up a single one (not a pair) at a junk sale for five bucks. It was a bit beat-up but I restored it, and am testing it now to make sure it's good. This unit was cheap because some complete bozo had glued the grill cover to the speaker, and then bozo two had later pried it off.
So the effect of two bozos was that one of the peg feet was broken-off and embedded with glue into the hole and the plastic frame of the cover was cracked through on two corners. Luckily I am very crafty at fixing just such errors and now the frame is restored to pristine condition. (I can't tell you my trade secrets.)
Sold! I sold my single cabinet for twenty bucks, local pickup.
Cool.
I dug up a pair of these in my basement. My dad had purchased them new when he was 23. So they seem in almost perfect condition. The harmen/karden receiver seems to be the source of our major problems, so I actually think these speakers are working well. Curious, the speakers in the picture are horizontal, but mine are in a vertical setup. Does it make a difference?
Ted Morin - 12 Dec 2009Either way Ted. It doesn't affect the sound quality (to most ears), it's more the aesthetics. That is, which way looks best to your eye.
Will Johnson - 12 Dec 2009