4 Of The Most Overrated Speakers, According To Audiophiles

Audiophiles tend to be an opinionated bunch, but with decades of speakers out there, it's a good thing too, because some of the more famous audio brands could easily be misconstrued as always being excellent. However, there are some speakers that audiophiles find overrated, including the Bose 901, B&W 800 Series, Klipsch Heresy, and JBL L100. Typically, criticism thrown at these speakers is usually in the ballpark of how it sounds, over how anything looks. Audiophiles generally have an ear and understanding of how these speakers operate.

They're great when you want to know which Bluetooth headphones to steer clear of or what the major audiophile headphones are. Opinions often stem from those who have used a product actively or have brief access to them to test. Audiophiles are deeply connected to their setups; some members of online forums and creators across social media have spent thousands on acquiring the best sound. Speakers come in all shapes and sizes and styles that can be appealing, but as good as their marketing might be, not every speaker is going to live up to the hype.

When Headphonesty surveyed its audience about overrated speakers, the largest percentage of the vote went to the Bose 901, at 37.77% of the vote. Elsewhere, the Bose 901 has gathered criticism since being introduced in the 1960s. The Bose 901 has its haters, as it requires a very specific setup to get anything decent out of it. On Reddit, one user said, "If set up properly, they create a huge 3D soundstage. But only if set up in a very specific way." Otherwise, they don't sound great at all.

Another chimed in saying that it's a "demanding audiophile product," meaning that if you don't know what you're doing, it's going to perform poorly. So, how did the Bose 901s get popular enough to warrant an overrated label? Well, it sold quite well. Produced between 1968 and eventually discontinued in 2016, the Bose 901 was a near-permanent mainstay on shelves, with the Series VI being the last edition made. In a review of the VI model, noaudiophile called it a "timeless middle finger" to expectations. A 60th anniversary edition was made, but it was limited to 12 units and given to friends and family.

It didn't take long to find those online bad-mouthing the Bowers & Wilkins 800 series. In a 14-minute video, Audio Excellence Canada, with experience selling speakers, claims that the 800s have found a lot of success by getting into the general consumer mind through their brand awareness. However, the host, Adrian, thinks they're overly expensive, as they sell for around $45,000 new. A common thread of thought through all the discussions is that these speakers are especially expensive. Bowers & Wilkins even recently announced a new edition of the 800 Series, with many complaining about the pricing.

In the AVSForum, a user posited that the B&W 800 series speakers, like the 801 D4, "never really disappear into a coherent soundstage." Headphonesty's audience voted that it was the second most overrated speaker available, with 14.46% of the vote. The audience said that the woofer, tweeter, and midrange components sound like individual parts, not a unified soundstage.

With 10.54% of the vote on Headphonesty, it was relatively easy to find people dunking on Klipsch Heresy. One of the first searches on YouTube for an audiophile's opinion was a video titled "Why Klipsch Heresy is crap." In the video, Rossi Audio reasons that the Heresy speakers "only reproduce half the recorded music." One Reddit user found that after two weeks, they simply hated the sound.

According to them, playing the Bee Gees sounded a little like "white noise." Another chimes in saying that they should modify the speaker, with another responding to that by saying, "So they're great if you basically make an entirely new speaker out of them?" Meanwhile, Erin's Audio Corner said, "Look, the simple story here is I do not like this speaker." Reasons why include vocals sounding thin at certain frequencies, as well as "poor directivity control." The more Erin looked into it, the worse the speaker became.

With a legendary design, the JBL L100s are often discussed when it comes to overrated speakers. Skylabs Audio on YouTube states that some audiophiles might not enjoy the sound they produce, as JBL designed them for rock, rather than everything. With that in mind, it means they're quite inaccurate when it comes to other forms of music. Headphonesty found that 6.18% of its survey takers thought the L100s were overrated, and this mentality continues elsewhere online.

On the AudioKarma forums, one user states that, "On the internet, people like what they think they're supposed to like." This was in response to a thread defending the L100s. In the same thread, someone points out that the L100s were originally built off the back of studio monitors. It's likely that some more attentive audiophiles aren't happy with the sound, due to studio monitors bringing out the imperfections for mixing purposes. The L100s have a huge fan base, but some still see them as overrated on parts of the internet. JBL is now owned by Samsung, and in the years since, has reissued speakers with the L100's design.