Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
When I was selling in a single location store in Knoxville, TN, we had a few different brands of speakers and I enjoyed listening to most of them. The brands and top speaker at the time were Bose 901 Series III, Dahlquist DQ-10 (with a sub or two), DCM Time Window (with the Time Bass subwoofers), Epicure 3.0 and the Magneplanar MG-II. I've written at length about the sonic differences between them, without much discussion of the Epicure because I don't accurately remember its sound, just the fact that it is one of 3 speakers that left a permanent impression of great sound when I first heard it.
In those discussions, I mentioned why I bought and kept the DCM Time Windows, sans subs, as my main speaker for the ensuing decades until Craigslist came along. In the past number of years I have been lucky enough to find some nice Magneplanar MG-IIIa speakers, Dahlquist DQ-10s (2 separate pair one with electronic crossover and a sub) and recently I answered a CL ad for a pair of unk-series Bose 901 w/stands shown in the ad. I asked about the existence of the crossover and the series. Answer was Series V and yes, with crossover for a great price.
I grabbed the remaining funds from selling my Paradigm Titan/Atom/C170/PS1000 surround system to a friend and arranged it so I could maybe get a deal just below the hundreds total plus a twenty of the speaker asking price. I had another bill to make up the difference, if I needed to. Got to the location and the speakers were hooked up in the hall with the receiver, non-working CDP, EQ, and timer. We chatted for a while, a couple selling off storage unit stuff to downsize, wanting to motorhome around for a few more years, they have Bose small gear. Great, so you want to sell all of this gear? How much for all of it but I don't think I have the money needed. Marantz timer, Marantz 4400, Pioneer PD-M600 and the speakers. I finally got a price on the 4400 and knew the price of the Bose. I offered everything in my wallet and took those with me and the CDP was thrown in since it did not work. It still does not work, won't spin the CD.
I'm not a Bose fan but I understand what they are trying to do and I am more than willing to buy them when the price is right. I may even have a friend that needs these in a couple months as he is building a 30 x 40 foot personal auto workshop garage on his property and hanging 901s will be great background listening and some nice party speakers when that time comes. This gear is in great shape, all but the lights on the receiver work just fine. I have the 4400 out for a good going over before I play with it a bit to decide what to do with it. That scope should be fun to mess with and see what the Marantz sound is all about. I have only had a 1030 and 2238B here previously.
Anyway, back to the speakers. The 901 have a special place in my listening experience. First time I heard Pink Floyd's WYWH was when a friend brought it over and said "This is Intense." I had a pair of 901s, don't know why, maybe swapped for stacked Advents or the pair I got for cheap with Bose points when I sold the speakers. The turntable was a TD-125II/SME 3009S2 Imp/Empire 4000D/III. Amps were I believe a Citation 11 driving my DC-300a. Plenty of power and a nearly square room, 12x12 or something, middle room of a shotgun house, Bose set up right to do the direct/reflecting. The turntable was on a board that was C-clamped to the fireplace mantel in the room. Cleaned the record, dropped the needle and cranked the volume.
It was Intense, sounded great, will never understand why the tt did not offer any feedback what-so-ever. Amazing. This was the most memorable introduction to an album I have ever heard. I will remember it forever. Unfortunately, my friend died in an unusual car accident a few years later. So being able to hear the 901s/WYWH is going to be something. I'll be unboxing my current Crown amp to do it and raise a glass for him, too.
I have already cleaned up the speakers, stands, eq and checked the foam. I have seen so many pictures of bad foam in Series V speakers, I was worried. Not these. They are in great shape. Bose apparently changed foams for the Series VI (I've read) and maybe these have those longer lasting surrounds.
I've made this such a long post, I'll continue.
The Magneplanars are keepers. They were in the system for years after I got them. Love the sound they produce, need more sound power at times. The DCMs provided that back then and can again if needed, but a pair of ads towers now supply the rock volume needed occasionally. The DQ-10s were a pleasure to rebuild recap and set up as 4 across the front of the room. Thain was surprised with different sounds coming for the two left speakers. He says the imaging was reinforced by that second pair. Interesting for sure. Currently there is a single pair of DQ-10s with the single sub that will give way to the 901s. Then I'll have Chris over to let him get an idea of what they might do in his new shop/garage/storage building.
I think I have given up on the Epicure 3.0 as there was a pair here for 275 that I didn't respond about a couple years ago. Sure not common and sound great but they are big and heavy, something I don't need in speakers but have some like that already. The Time Windows were a nice speaker to travel around with since they are easy to move and easy to place. They worked great for decades. Glad to be experiencing some of the other top models from back then. Do not think I spent normal prices on these speakers. All were very well bought. When you deduct sales of other gear bought when a pair of speakers were bought and include a set of Time Windows bought new, I have only a couple/few hundred in each pair soon to get even cheaper with more extras sales.
I see SoCalSam in a target rich environment having put together an amazing collection of amplifiers that he probably has very little in since he has moved a bunch of receivers and other gear. I've been fortunate finding speakers in my area. Sure the deals are harder to find but they are still out there.
I really need to figure out what speakers to keep, I have too many. Probably would trade em all for a middle of the line current speaker of today like the tens of thousand dollar Magico 3 of some letter. Wow speakers sure have gotten a lot more expensive in the past 20 years or so. But for now, it's like I'm in the soundroom at the store choosing a speaker to play
In those discussions, I mentioned why I bought and kept the DCM Time Windows, sans subs, as my main speaker for the ensuing decades until Craigslist came along. In the past number of years I have been lucky enough to find some nice Magneplanar MG-IIIa speakers, Dahlquist DQ-10s (2 separate pair one with electronic crossover and a sub) and recently I answered a CL ad for a pair of unk-series Bose 901 w/stands shown in the ad. I asked about the existence of the crossover and the series. Answer was Series V and yes, with crossover for a great price.
I grabbed the remaining funds from selling my Paradigm Titan/Atom/C170/PS1000 surround system to a friend and arranged it so I could maybe get a deal just below the hundreds total plus a twenty of the speaker asking price. I had another bill to make up the difference, if I needed to. Got to the location and the speakers were hooked up in the hall with the receiver, non-working CDP, EQ, and timer. We chatted for a while, a couple selling off storage unit stuff to downsize, wanting to motorhome around for a few more years, they have Bose small gear. Great, so you want to sell all of this gear? How much for all of it but I don't think I have the money needed. Marantz timer, Marantz 4400, Pioneer PD-M600 and the speakers. I finally got a price on the 4400 and knew the price of the Bose. I offered everything in my wallet and took those with me and the CDP was thrown in since it did not work. It still does not work, won't spin the CD.
I'm not a Bose fan but I understand what they are trying to do and I am more than willing to buy them when the price is right. I may even have a friend that needs these in a couple months as he is building a 30 x 40 foot personal auto workshop garage on his property and hanging 901s will be great background listening and some nice party speakers when that time comes. This gear is in great shape, all but the lights on the receiver work just fine. I have the 4400 out for a good going over before I play with it a bit to decide what to do with it. That scope should be fun to mess with and see what the Marantz sound is all about. I have only had a 1030 and 2238B here previously.
Anyway, back to the speakers. The 901 have a special place in my listening experience. First time I heard Pink Floyd's WYWH was when a friend brought it over and said "This is Intense." I had a pair of 901s, don't know why, maybe swapped for stacked Advents or the pair I got for cheap with Bose points when I sold the speakers. The turntable was a TD-125II/SME 3009S2 Imp/Empire 4000D/III. Amps were I believe a Citation 11 driving my DC-300a. Plenty of power and a nearly square room, 12x12 or something, middle room of a shotgun house, Bose set up right to do the direct/reflecting. The turntable was on a board that was C-clamped to the fireplace mantel in the room. Cleaned the record, dropped the needle and cranked the volume.
It was Intense, sounded great, will never understand why the tt did not offer any feedback what-so-ever. Amazing. This was the most memorable introduction to an album I have ever heard. I will remember it forever. Unfortunately, my friend died in an unusual car accident a few years later. So being able to hear the 901s/WYWH is going to be something. I'll be unboxing my current Crown amp to do it and raise a glass for him, too.
I have already cleaned up the speakers, stands, eq and checked the foam. I have seen so many pictures of bad foam in Series V speakers, I was worried. Not these. They are in great shape. Bose apparently changed foams for the Series VI (I've read) and maybe these have those longer lasting surrounds.
I've made this such a long post, I'll continue.
The Magneplanars are keepers. They were in the system for years after I got them. Love the sound they produce, need more sound power at times. The DCMs provided that back then and can again if needed, but a pair of ads towers now supply the rock volume needed occasionally. The DQ-10s were a pleasure to rebuild recap and set up as 4 across the front of the room. Thain was surprised with different sounds coming for the two left speakers. He says the imaging was reinforced by that second pair. Interesting for sure. Currently there is a single pair of DQ-10s with the single sub that will give way to the 901s. Then I'll have Chris over to let him get an idea of what they might do in his new shop/garage/storage building.
I think I have given up on the Epicure 3.0 as there was a pair here for 275 that I didn't respond about a couple years ago. Sure not common and sound great but they are big and heavy, something I don't need in speakers but have some like that already. The Time Windows were a nice speaker to travel around with since they are easy to move and easy to place. They worked great for decades. Glad to be experiencing some of the other top models from back then. Do not think I spent normal prices on these speakers. All were very well bought. When you deduct sales of other gear bought when a pair of speakers were bought and include a set of Time Windows bought new, I have only a couple/few hundred in each pair soon to get even cheaper with more extras sales.
I see SoCalSam in a target rich environment having put together an amazing collection of amplifiers that he probably has very little in since he has moved a bunch of receivers and other gear. I've been fortunate finding speakers in my area. Sure the deals are harder to find but they are still out there.
I really need to figure out what speakers to keep, I have too many. Probably would trade em all for a middle of the line current speaker of today like the tens of thousand dollar Magico 3 of some letter. Wow speakers sure have gotten a lot more expensive in the past 20 years or so. But for now, it's like I'm in the soundroom at the store choosing a speaker to play