nucleus76
Member
First off I'm a little apprehensive about even asking because I know these are truly a love/hate speaker (mostly hate it seems).
None the less, I have a set of these.
Before everyone jumps in to tell me how much they suck, or how much I suck for having them or how I should replace them with this or that, first know that I found these in great shape with all 18 drivers in absolutely perfect condition for the hefty sum of ......wait for it....90 bucks EQ included.
So in my opinion.... for a $90.00 set of speakers, they aren't bad and that's good to me because I simply don't have a lot of money.
This particular pair are series V, circa mid eighties and came with the later series VI EQ which is compatible with the series V speakers.
I picked them up about 4 or so years ago after having a set of 301 III's
that I bought way back in the day.
At first I paired them up with my old NAD 7100 receiver, threw each one on the end tables beside my couch and was sorely disappointed. Actually that would be an understatement. Man... they really sounded like sh*t.
The Bose 301 III bookshelf's I was limping along with were walking all over these "flagships". :screwy:
Then I started reading about how finicky they tend to be regarding proper placement. I have a pretty large and very solidly damped living room so I started moving them around. Then I figured what the hell, I'll call Bose USA directly...give them my room dimensions and see what they have to say.
I talked to a real friendly and knowledgeable (at least about his product) fellow.
He asked about room size, how much furniture I had, where it was, what the walls were like, was I also going to continue to use the 301's etc. As far as customer service goes, this guy was wonderful and worth mentioning. :thmbsp:
After hanging up the phone, I spent the afternoon hanging the 901s 18 inches from the ceiling, about 9-10 inches out from the wall/large glass windows, and maybe 4 or so feet from each side wall. I hung the 301's on the opposite wall about 8 inches from the ceiling for use as "rear" speakers.
By themselves, the 901's sounded vastly different in their new placement. I also ditched the receiver about the same time and went separates, throwing a 150wpc dual mono-block amp at the 901's.
With the new placement and clean amplification, the bass that was non existent before, is now very tight, solid and almost feels like I have a hidden sub somewhere in the room. The highs are much more detailed also, probably because half of each speaker now reflects off of a huge thick window. All in all I have been satisfied enough as I have been slowly upgrading other things. I have a tonearm re-wire/RCA interconnect project that is next on the to do list, but after that... I thought about looking at my speakers as the next tweak. :scratch2:
Sooooo, I am hoping for some opinions and thoughts from others who have been in similar position with these speakers. I like the wide soundstage. I like the feeling that the music is wrapping around me without that "surround sound AV feeling" if you know what I mean. I feel the 901s accomplish this nicely, but...to be honest, I really have no other reference aside from my 301 III's and some old BIC Venturi speakers I had back in the late '80s when I was 14-15 years old.
I have read a few posts here and there of people upgrading the caps in the Bose EQ and being rewarded with a significant improvement in the sound of the 901s. Anyone with experience upgrading internals in their EQ care to share their thoughts?
I figure this might be the best experiment with the least cash output.
OR...lets say I was to begin to consider saving for replacement speakers. Where do most Ex-Bose people .....and I mean the ones who set them up correctly, gave them plenty of clean power and enjoyed them for the most part.....tend to go speakerwise after moving on from 901's without spending thousands? :headscrat
Other background: I listen to 85% vinyl, 10% radio and 5% CD/Mp3. I enjoy a wide variety of music but probably lean most toward blues, indie rock, alt-country, new-grass and folk-rock stuff the most with the occasional hip-hop/electronica every once in a blue moon. My equipment is listed below in my signature. Aside from purchasing a second used amp at some point in the next couple months to power the rear speakers, this gear won't change any time soon unless I win the lottery.
Thanks all for your input and hope everyone is having a fine weekend!!
-Ray
None the less, I have a set of these.
Before everyone jumps in to tell me how much they suck, or how much I suck for having them or how I should replace them with this or that, first know that I found these in great shape with all 18 drivers in absolutely perfect condition for the hefty sum of ......wait for it....90 bucks EQ included.
So in my opinion.... for a $90.00 set of speakers, they aren't bad and that's good to me because I simply don't have a lot of money.
This particular pair are series V, circa mid eighties and came with the later series VI EQ which is compatible with the series V speakers.
I picked them up about 4 or so years ago after having a set of 301 III's
that I bought way back in the day.
At first I paired them up with my old NAD 7100 receiver, threw each one on the end tables beside my couch and was sorely disappointed. Actually that would be an understatement. Man... they really sounded like sh*t.
The Bose 301 III bookshelf's I was limping along with were walking all over these "flagships". :screwy:
Then I started reading about how finicky they tend to be regarding proper placement. I have a pretty large and very solidly damped living room so I started moving them around. Then I figured what the hell, I'll call Bose USA directly...give them my room dimensions and see what they have to say.
I talked to a real friendly and knowledgeable (at least about his product) fellow.
He asked about room size, how much furniture I had, where it was, what the walls were like, was I also going to continue to use the 301's etc. As far as customer service goes, this guy was wonderful and worth mentioning. :thmbsp:
After hanging up the phone, I spent the afternoon hanging the 901s 18 inches from the ceiling, about 9-10 inches out from the wall/large glass windows, and maybe 4 or so feet from each side wall. I hung the 301's on the opposite wall about 8 inches from the ceiling for use as "rear" speakers.
By themselves, the 901's sounded vastly different in their new placement. I also ditched the receiver about the same time and went separates, throwing a 150wpc dual mono-block amp at the 901's.
With the new placement and clean amplification, the bass that was non existent before, is now very tight, solid and almost feels like I have a hidden sub somewhere in the room. The highs are much more detailed also, probably because half of each speaker now reflects off of a huge thick window. All in all I have been satisfied enough as I have been slowly upgrading other things. I have a tonearm re-wire/RCA interconnect project that is next on the to do list, but after that... I thought about looking at my speakers as the next tweak. :scratch2:
Sooooo, I am hoping for some opinions and thoughts from others who have been in similar position with these speakers. I like the wide soundstage. I like the feeling that the music is wrapping around me without that "surround sound AV feeling" if you know what I mean. I feel the 901s accomplish this nicely, but...to be honest, I really have no other reference aside from my 301 III's and some old BIC Venturi speakers I had back in the late '80s when I was 14-15 years old.
I have read a few posts here and there of people upgrading the caps in the Bose EQ and being rewarded with a significant improvement in the sound of the 901s. Anyone with experience upgrading internals in their EQ care to share their thoughts?
I figure this might be the best experiment with the least cash output.
OR...lets say I was to begin to consider saving for replacement speakers. Where do most Ex-Bose people .....and I mean the ones who set them up correctly, gave them plenty of clean power and enjoyed them for the most part.....tend to go speakerwise after moving on from 901's without spending thousands? :headscrat
Other background: I listen to 85% vinyl, 10% radio and 5% CD/Mp3. I enjoy a wide variety of music but probably lean most toward blues, indie rock, alt-country, new-grass and folk-rock stuff the most with the occasional hip-hop/electronica every once in a blue moon. My equipment is listed below in my signature. Aside from purchasing a second used amp at some point in the next couple months to power the rear speakers, this gear won't change any time soon unless I win the lottery.
Thanks all for your input and hope everyone is having a fine weekend!!
-Ray
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