need to know fascination w/ 901s

leftwinger57

I knowthat here these speakers are like saying dirty words to kids. The list I have come away with is ,they
are extremely finicky even critical about placement and even in their own manual there are pages of absolute do's and don'ts.2. you need their proprietary equalizer. 3. If raised off floor they suggest their tulip stands.4.First few series
surrounds would rot out.5. if hung from ceiling again placement is away from corners and length of drop is also
a measured amount.Then you generally need a really powerful amplifier to make them work right if all the stars are
aligned.So with all these draw backs and it seems that there are others, and here they are universally panned
how did they sell so many units to continue the line into series 6 some 40 years later? It's not the same as Klipsch
who are still at it and their original designs for the most part were all winners.I don't buy into marketing alone
there was ample competition out there on both coasts.
Some might goof on me for resurrecting my 601s but they are not nearly the same speaker.1.you have 2-8''
woofers instead of the 9 drivers,tweeters are arrayed so they both face you and also towards the wall if you need
that stereo every where sound .2. placement is not so critical, if indeed you want to bounce the sound around you
can with the use of a switch on the back plate.I do not 3. no equalizer is needed 4.while a wimpy amp/receiver
would work it does like a more powerful amp.5.decent walnut cabinets and grill covers.(not plastic and vinyl like
series)

zane77

Heard a set about 30 years ago, with the stands and the equalizer, they had that enveloping sound that it seems like the SDA's have (never heard them). They sounded pretty good from what I can remember, but you are right placement was very critical.

soundfreak1

In a nut shell (used to sell them new in 1977/79) everything said is true yhe biggest thing i can say is for the same money it costs to buy today you can get a multitude of other speakers that will blow them away by far!!! RTA 12'S for one and so many others. And owr techs (that would set them up for customers) hated them!

monepolk

Although I never bought them, my fascination with them was the small size.

monepolk

Disregard, I was thing of the Acoustimass system.

xftman

I had the 901 for 2 months. sound great with any reveiver hook up to. Reason let go is having problem setting up with 5.1 7.1 unless receiver has loop back monitor feature but most new receivers out there don't have this feature any more (H/K 3390 or 3490 has but they 2-channels only). Can a set of rti12 or A9 hook up to a 50watt/ch receiver and still sound like Bose 901? A good receiver or a seperate amp could cost you another set of 901.

mhardy6647

They are perfectly decent loudspeakers when fed with adequate power - and the idea of full-range (or, at least, extended range drivers) works for me - even if the idea of electronic EQ of them doesn't really float my boat.

Probably the single most interesting thing about the Bose 901 loudspeaker from the context of the Polk forums is that Matt Polk and his colleagues got their start in the consumer loudspeaker business (the Monitor Series Model Nine) as a direct consequence of Bose's proscription of their intent to sell 901 knockoffs. Search "Bozos" on this site and you'll find tidbits of info.

hochpt21

Was just at my sisters for Christmas, and she has a pair of 601 series III in her basement. She said she got them from someone who owed her money and had them hooked up and worked fine. When my life settles down a little, I'm hoping to grab them for a few weeks just for fun.

deronb1

Years ago, I had a pair of 501 series IV for a while. Really not a bad speaker ( (1)10" woof; (2) 3" tweets). I had a 25wpc NAD integrated, a portable Technics CD player and a JVC cassette deck! Thinking back, it was good enough to keep my interest and was capable of "Rocking Out" when needed.

leftwinger57

My own resuscitated Bose 601s for the price I got are fine even in my living room. $20 to buy then $30 for the surround kits some of my own labor and we have speakers that are not all that finicky about placement, can take large amps pushing them and the option
of bouncing the sound off the walls if you need or desire that is there also with the flick of a slide switch on the terminal plate.901s
while if placed right and driven right will work, I think it's just not worth the effort at the prices they are asking for both new and
used.

Toxis

I've only heard 901's once and it was a perfectly setup room and he only had a nice turntable and MacIntosh tube amp driving them. Can't remember what pre. They sounded amazing as I remember but that was 13 years ago.

cnh

I heard a set properly set up and equalized that sounded fine back in the day. That was over two decades ago. I auditioned them and some JBL L100ts and L80ts. I still own the L80ts. But the Bose were actually a close second, hard to believe, but true!

Of course 20 years later, they're a bit "long in the tooth" whereas I've found a "new life" for the JBLs on "tubes"!

cnh

ErasmusBDragon

Very slick marketing and promotion.

Amherst

Had extensive time listening to 901's at a friends house in the 70's and early 80's.
The most I can say about them (mostly already mentioned here), is they play much larger than their size. Back in the day the only thing that could play as big had cabinets multitude of size in comparison.
Did they sound great to my ears? Short answer is no.
The speaker is completely incapable of reproducing the sound as heard in live music. That is my criteria for acceptance of a speaker worthy of my time listening.

Polkie2009

I too_ am old enough to remember the 901's when they first came out. Had a couple of friends who bought them and they sounded about as good as they could , since none of us knew anything about room acoustics. I'll give the company credit, they had a pretty good run for a while and people bought them. And yes, as HT, pro logic, DD 5.1 became more popular ,the 901's just didn't fit in with the HT scene.

zingo

Big sound from small speakers because of the reflective design. I think there is also a novelty to them with so many drivers and the fact that they are so unconventional; "They're so unusual they must be good!"

I don't think they sound bad, just not great for detailed listening, and the market on them seems to be higher than it should be.

bear549

Back in the early 80's I was in the audio/video retail business. Whenever the Bose rep came to pay us a visit we would turn away from him and face the wall to talk, using our own relective technology. Used to really make him mad! We sold quite a few 901 systems. Great marketing on the part of Bose.

skrol

Back in the day, I actually liked the 601's over the 901's. Call me crazy.