My father picked up his first set of Bose speakers (601s maybe) back in the 70s and they stuck around the house through the early 90s. Once when I was younger I pulled the speaker cover off and noticed that the foam all the way around the speakers was nearly gone (speakers hadn't seen much, if...
The Bose system that came in my 97 Acura CL actually sounded better than any other car system I had owned, but it still leaves something to be desired (and definitely hasn't kept up with other stock stereos I've heard). The speakers themselves handle decent volume and a fair amount of bass, but...
(Just lost a whole long post due to the inclusion of a URL - ugh) Long story short, I have a Marantz SR4200 and CC3000 and am finally getting around to getting myself some decent main speakers (music & movies). Unfortunately, I need to do this for less than $300. I know, close to impossible...