Reminising Bose 901's

geoff727

I'd love to do some upgrades to the equalizer, and see how things change.

avguytx

BrettT1 wrote: »

I agree.

I disagree. You need to hear them in the right set up first. Like AM radio? Well, I've got one of the loudest and decent f***ing AM radio's you'll ever hear. Maybe some of you need to make the trip to north Texas for a demo. Just remember that these aren't my main 2-channel speakers....the SRS II's are. But I like changing around things once in awhile.

(God that sounded like a CL35 quote....shoot me now)

RuSsMaN

dee1949 wrote: »

8 speakers foreward.....i had a pair...

If you had 8 speakers 'foreward', you were listening to your 901's backwards......

Cheers,
Russ

avguytx

And that sounds like ****.

George Grand

...in their day they were a part of the evolution of audio. Just because it is IN to be a Bose basher....at least know what you are talking about. The 901's were not the best, but far from the worst...... in their day they were a unique sounding system.....that provided many hours of fine listening, when set up properly with the right equipment....and for partying , only to be toped by the Voice of the Theatre speakers......the good old days....long gone but not forgotten.
My friends system at the time was a Thorens TT with a Mac tube amp and the original 901's.....and They sounded Sweet playing that ole Rock and Roll.[/QUOTE]

No need to justify your own opinion by accusing others of having opinions that you ASSUME are due to current Bose bashing trends. Those people seem to think the speakers suck, and you don't. It's as simple as that. I've had a few pair in here, and I find their most rewarding attribute to be re-sale value.

And if you're going to quote Stereophile, let's not forget they have been fairly uncharitable in their reviews of some highly regarded speakers, including Polks.

sucks2beme

[
No need to justify your own opinion by accusing others of having opinions that you ASSUME are due to current Bose bashing trends. Those people seem to think the speakers suck, and you don't. It's as simple as that. I've had a few pair in here, and I find their most rewarding attribute to be re-sale value.
QUOTE]

And boy, do I wish I had bought all the JBL L100's that popped up
about 8 or 9 years ago. I saw them in several garage sales.
They are selling for what I paid for a pair new over 30 years ago.
Pay $400-500 for an old set of speakers on EBAY? I never would.
I don't miss them anywere near that much. But what great fleabay fodder.

bhemistuc72

Way back in the 70s I went to a club in NYC with the absolutely best club system I ever heard. They had a row, at least 6 pairs, of 901s suspended from the ceiling (pointed down) with a 10 by 10 foot poured concrete horn at the far end of the floor. The horn was powered by 4 15" woofers. It even made crappy 45 records sound great.

virtualdean

dee1949 wrote: »

..

By the ways...still have the 901's with 18 rotted surrounds...great plant stands....but the speaker stands are a genuine collectors item

http://stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/425/

I still have a 5 yr old set of 901's series 6 w/equalizer and stands.
I will be selling them when I get back to Orange County.

My question:
Why are the stands a collectors item?
Thank you

virtualdean

BrettT1 wrote: »

No... and no eq on the SDAs, either. Everything running flat.

Ummmm..You HAVE to use the Bose Equalizer that came with the 901's or you are just wasting your time. You will hear squat without it. It is not an option.
Run the equalizer flat if you wish but it must be used. I was told once that it would like hearing regular speakers without a crossover.. I've not done that so I don't know.
When I first got mine, I did not have a tape monitor input to hook it up with.
So just for grins and giggles I tried it without. NFG..
I hooked the Bose Equalizer up through the cd input...Very good.
I have A9's now and the Bose's are retired for future sale when i get around to it.

renowilliams

I had a buddy back in the late 70's who bought a pair of 901's and was really excited for me to come over and listen to them. I don't recall exactly what his setup was but he was driving them with a pioneer amp. He had mounted them from his ceiling,which for him represented a lot of work as he was usually pretty lazy. Anyway, they didn't sound terrible but I couldn't put my finger on why they didn't sound right to me. I told him they sounded good as I didn't have the heart to say how I really felt.
I went home that day and listened to some floyd (same music we listed to on his rig), on my JBL 4311's. I loved those speakers. I remember thinking that maybe something about his setup must be wrong or maybe my taste in speakers is just different.

cnh

sucks2beme wrote: »

I listened to them quite a bit at one time. There was a dedicated Bose
demo room outside the base in Okinowa. They didn't sell Bose, they just demo'ed them.
They had a whole wall of albums, and we would just go down and sit in the room to listen for hours.
I went for JBL L100's. Great rock speaker and much easier to place and
use than Bose. And much better than many of those Pioneer and Sansui
speakers guys were buying. High end, hell no. But at the time I was 19
and they seemed like the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Add a reeel to reel, and you were set!

My experience was very similar, though, I was a lot older than 19 at the time. Maybe 34 or so. Anyway, I demoed both the 901s, properly set up in a good audio showroom with the equalizer and a pair of L100Ts (JBLs with that titanium tweeter upgrade from the 100s--it makes a 'difference'!). I was actually surprised by the bass the Bose speakers put out, and they certainly 'filled' the entire demo area with decent sound especially for rock and music with a lot of SPLs. The L100Ts had no problem keeping up with them on almost all levels though, at least as far as I could hear. And had a bit more articulate high end because of the new 25 micron diamond etched patterned pure titanium diaphragm. The long and the short. I still own the JBLs, another not so favorite at CP. But to tell you the truth, the highs on the JBLs are superior to the SL2000 and SL2500 Polk tweeters. I have not heard the replacement RDOs yet so no comment here.

Back to the Bose. They were 'good' for what they do! And can really pressurize a room!

cnh

ricohman

901's are an aquired taste. I recently traded a pair of series II continentals for a pair of Altec M19's.
I had a lot of fun with the 901's though and after they were set up they sounded pretty good.

[Deleted User]

I remember, many years ago, going to a Bose sales training conducted by the company. One of the demonstrations was the guy plugged a single 901 into an AC wall outlet. Yep, 110VAC straight into the speaker! It was a loud 60Hz, but the speaker was undamaged.

steveinaz

I saw that same demo Ken, when the Bose semi-trailer expo was in Germany.

steveinaz

I had a pair of 901 series VI from 1988 to 2001. I ran them with 2 bridged Soundcraftsmen PM840 amps for 600watts/rms @ 8ohms. They were the light teak wood with sand colored stands. I enjoyed the hell out of them, and when I sold them in 2001 (to the Hershey factory in Penn), I got nearly what I paid for them 13yrs earlier ($799/pr new). With proper placement, in a big room with plenty of power, they were a ton of fun.

For years an audiophile bud of mine had 901 series IV, but they always sounded too nasal and distant to me. The series VI had a much improved sound, and better efficiency rating as well.

[Deleted User]

They definitely were fun. We used to sell them with a Crown IC150 and a DC300 amp. Thorens TD125 with SME3009 and an ADC cartridge that came with three replacement styli. Some owners chose the H-K Citation preamp over the Crown. The placement was easy, just take an lp and hold it behind the speaker against the wall. That got them 12" out from the wall and the Bose stands were the right height. I remember using Emerson, Lake and Palmer as demo material.
The perfectionist would have two pair, one set facing rearward the other forward. Each pair had a separate power amp driving them.

nclh7

I've got a pair of V's in my garage. I never thought Bose could compare to JBL and Polk but have been happy with my V's. I attribute it to a few things: older, hearing not as acute, don't have time to sit down and listen to music much any more, hanging from the ceiling in the garage has hit some kind of sweet spot for them.

They are power hogs and will drink all the juice you can give them.

gfong

Back in 1981 I ran Bose 601's in a quad set-up, then switched everything over to 901's. I was running everything through them, amp. pre amp, Pioneer dynamic processor, equalizer.
They worked great for rock and piano solos! I actually liked the 601's in quad better than the 901's.
Went to 15 inch Cerwin Vegas , can't remember the series and then settled on Klipsch La Scala's. The LaScala's did everything right.

For me and BOSE, I got caught up in the advertising and seeing them on the ceiling at all the discos/club over in West Germany and Southern France in the 80's (Military). Even when I use to come back to Canada on leave, I would see 901's hanging from the rafters at most of the clubs.

They worked for what I wanted them to do, but in the end I think it was more hype then true sound. Unlimited remember those, theses things were unlimited! lol

leftwinger57

I do remember when they came out and a friend bought a pair, coupled w/a Marantz 2355 or some model, promtly drilled holes and then hung them from the ceilings. At the volumes we were getting who cared about soundstage and imageing. Then another friend got an insurance settlment and went out to get a set of McIntosh amps and pres and a set of ESS HEILS w/ the air transformer tweeters and they really put the Boses to shame . I think if you evened up the amps the Heils would 've won. The 901s certainly made that company some cash and prestige in the audio world for a minute or two.The biggest key to those speakers was placement and when they were sold nobody was told that and that the equalizer was very important.LW

helipilotdoug

Had a friend who had 901's in his house back in the mid 80's. Heck of a party speaker, that's for sure! He had them mounted to a cathedral ceiling. Don't remember what he was powering them with. For parties, they were great, but for regular listening I was not that impressed. He was a run it flat type of guy, no EQ, and my impression was they always sounded a little shrill.

straightshooter

If the 901s you heard TRULY sounded like "crap", then they were not hooked up to the active E.Q. This is a notoriously common mistake when hooking up 901s. I'm not an audio-file per se, but I've not encountered or should I say heard of other speakers needing a special EQ in order to work as designed. I experimented quite a bit with my 901s. I can say without exception that if you play them without the active eq they will indeed sound like crap. I invite you to read the following review, http://www.tonepublications.com/review/we-review-the-bose-901/ This is a very fair assessment of the 901s. In other words don't just take my word for it. I've never heard the speakers many of you are taking about on this site, but I have heard many very expensive systems. I have yeto hear any speakers that could deliver a large difference in total sound quality for the money than the Bose 901s. Now, if you were to say that you didn't think they met up with their advertising I could respect a comment like that as well as believe and understand it. However, to say that a CORRECTLY hooked up and PLACED set of Bose 901s sounded like crap is simply a load of hogwash. I used for many years Bose 901s as the front speakers for my surround sound system. I had many, many visitors over to watch movies on said system. Without fail, every visitor wanted to duplicate my system in their homes. I also find it very interesting to note that with the Bose 901s as the main speakers in my system, I had no need for a subwoofer. My bass which I believe was enhanced oddly enough by a leather couch with wooden frame, was simply AWESOME. During explosions or say earthquake scenes, it literally felt as if the couch was lifting off the ground. Remember, all bass came from the Bose 901s. "No highs no lows."? Absolutely! When you turn off the active EQ there are No highs and NO lows. With the active EQ though, the Bose 901s are capable of extreme bass.

Sorry Bose 901 haters and I know there a plenty of you in the "audiofile" community, 901s are simply the best bang for the buck. I know a lot of folks like to believe that the item with the largest sticker in the store is always the best. I'm willing to bet a tidy sum that for the roughly $1,400.00 that the Bose 901s will cost you, you would be very hard pressed to find speakers that can deliver better all around sound. I say all around meaning, highs, lows, mids, at all volumes, and what I think is arguably one of the most important categories, stereo imaging. The only speakers I've heard that somewhat rivaled the stereo imaging of the Bose 901s were a $5,000.00 pair of electrostatic speakers. I can not remember the brand. Possibly Klipsch but that's a vague memory. Oh I'm quite certain that if you have unlimited resources you find speakers that do make Bose sound less than fantastic. Face it though. Most of us have to operate on a budget, and being that it's possible to buy a used pair of 901s that have nothing wrong with them sonically that is for about $500.00, or brand spanken' new for $1,400.00, you simply can't go wrong. Except however ONE THING. 901s are really quite ugly and the necessary placement of 901s can be a royal pain in the ****. Especially if you're married and have a wife that likes to "fung shooey".

O.K.! For now, and only now, I will stop with the 901 commercial. Sorry, I just hate you guys that talk smack about my beloved Bose 901s. "Sound like Crap". PAAALLLLEEEEESSSEEEE!!!!



QUOTE=riglehart;834336]I have owned polks since the early 80's. I looked at the 901s at one time, because the marketing was magnificent.

They sounded like crap. Even in the demo room set up especially for them with the streamers hanging from the wall so you could see the air move.

Gimmicks![/QUOTE]

George Grand

straightshooter wrote: »

Sorry Bose 901 haters and I know there a plenty of you in the "audiofile" community, 901s are simply the best bang for the buck.

For the $500 you state for a pair used, you can come damn close to a pair of Amazing Silver or Platinum. You wouldn't have to worry about using EQ, or ever having bad sounding speakers again.

halo71

straightshooter wrote: »

O.K.! For now, and only now, I will stop with the 901 commercial. Sorry, I just hate you guys that talk smack about my beloved Bose 901s. "Sound like Crap". PAAALLLLEEEEESSSEEEE!!!!

So were we bored this Sunday afternoon and Googling 901's? Did you really sign up here just to defend your 901's? From reading your post I can see you have not listened to many speakers besides the 901's? Welcome to CP. But I think you need to get out more, listen to some better speakers. That, I will add, can be had for less that $500 today and will mop the floor with the 901's.

westmassguy

I own Series II 901 Continentals, and many Polks, and appreciate them all for what they are, I also service both makes. Anyone who claims 901s have no highs or lows, has not heard them properly setup, properly powered, and certainly not with one of my custom rebuilt equalizers. It's easy to join the choir and just bash Bose, parroting what other have said about them. Let's not forget that Polk's SDAs were considered an abomination by some audiophiles when they debuted. Every mass-market speaker manufacturer gets criticized. Bose just happens to be the favorite whipping boy because of their sometimes dubious marketing, and their litigious way of silencing their critics.

TennMan

I don't want to get in the middle of an argument but... I demoed the Bose 901 Series IV when they first came out in one of the high-end hi-fi stores where they had the best of everything. I thought they were probably the best speakers I had ever heard at that time. Some things just stick in the back of your mind and for me that is one of them.

gdb

The 901s had/have the ability to either sound fantastic.....or, like absolute $h!te. It all depends on numerous factors, amplification quality and power are key. Placement relative to walls/seating area is big also. I bought and enjoyed some 901s back when I had a lot more money than knowledge or experience. If my surrounds weren't complete toast, I'd probably hang em up from my shop's ceiling and play em, they're really great for filling a large area with sound that doesn't require sweet spot/immobilized listening. I can't count how many niteclubs that've used 901s to play music through while the band was on a break. Try to get that many decibels outa' some similarly sized CRS-SDAs ! :eek:

westmassguy

"The 901s had/have the ability to either sound fantastic.....or, like absolute $h!te"
Couldn't agree more, and that hold true for most speakers, including SDAs

oldrocker

I have a new set of 901's and a pair of 1986 SDA SRS that are is less than perfect shape as shown in earlier "picture" posts. I run a 2 channel setup, parasound 2250amp and a parasound 2100 pre. The 901's never got a fair audition as I used the SDS's instead. Even though the SDA's are in less than perfect shape, they sounded very good. However, it is a shame that I am still having the tweeters on the SDS's clip and since service repair in my area for replacing the polyswitches "which I think is whats causing the tweeters to clip" is not an option, I just carted the SDS's back down to the basement and will try the 901's for a while

TennMan

Smallies wrote: »

Little River band
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voQWlL-jj5Q

That's good one but when I saw this tread started up again it made me think of the song "Diggin' Up Bones" You know, the part that says "Exhuming things thats better left alone". :biggrin:

zane77

tennman wrote: »

that's good one but when i saw this tread started up again it made me think of the song "diggin' up bones" you know, the part that says "exhuming things thats better left alone". :biggrin:

lol!