Bose 901 Haters Debunked!

[Soldermizer]

I would like to offer my own experience with Bose 901 placement. Here is how to properly place them*:

1. speaker should be placed at least 18-24" from side walls. However, unless your hearth is unusually large, a few inches suffices.
2. It is important that the speaker be at least a few inches off the floor, so that air can flow into the chimney.
3. The stand is optional. Many users report balancing the speaker on top of rolled up newspaper (bottom) with small kindling (top) produced good results.
4. Make sure damper is open! This should not be a problem late in the heating season, but is a perennial nuisance for the first cold snap in Autumn and you're building a fire when you're s##tfaced

* A few weeks early

In all serousness, I like bose 901, own three pairs, but have moved on to other speakers. I wish they were as easy to sell as they were to buy cheap!!!

 

[Snow]

Yea.. I do have to agree with you the title is a bit clickbaity.. I just wanted to say I think the 901s are great & Bose speakers get a bad rap a lot of the time.

Part of the reason for that is the 901's are missing both the highs and lows that most full range speakers will provide I only noticed it after listening to a pair for a few days they sounded great but it just seemed something was missing then it came to me I was not getting all the treble and low bass I was used to hearing

 

[UncleBingo]

I never hated them, per se, but now I am wondering if I'm "Bunked" for lack of a proper de-bunking?

 

[Silentnet]

I never hated them, per se, but now I am wondering if I'm "Bunked" for lack of a proper de-bunking?

Totally bunked over here.

 

[Knucklehead]

You haven't debunked anything. Many years ago I auditioned speakers with a friend of mine who was shopping for new speakers. It came down to two speakers that had his interest, those were the Bose 901's and Large Advents. Both were set up in the same room using the same electronics. After a couple of listening sessions we both agreed on which were the better speakers. He took home the Advents. The 901's played louder, but other than that the Advents had it all over the Bose. As for hating a speaker? I don't go around 'hating' any speaker, That would be dumb.

 

[jcamero]

Here is some placement info for the Cerwin Vegas. They truly are a great "sleeper" speaker.

 

[Ibemiked]

So debunked was probably the wrong word choice.. Just to set the record straight I also own Pioneer HPM 200's, Paradigm 11SEMk3's, Polk RTA12c's, Cerwin Vega 15t's, Cerwin Vega 217r's, Cerwin Vega 211r's, TDL RTL3's, Rectillinear HiBoys, Paradigm Reference Studio 20v2's and about 34 other pairs of speakers. From my personal experience the Bose 901 Series II's if properly placed and powered are not crap.. There are definitely plenty of overrated Bose products but IN MY HUMBLE (unappreciated) OPINION the 901's are great speakers. I like them and would recommend buying them If you can get a good deal that includes the MUST HAVE EQ! To anyone who feels Bunked by my "click bait" post title, don't worry you will be fine. Even the best of us get bunked once in awhile. It's not how you fall that matters it's how you get up!

 

[Snow]

So debunked was probably the wrong word choice.. Just to set the record straight I also own Pioneer HPM 200's, Paradigm 11SEMk3's, Polk RTA12c's, Cerwin Vega 15t's, Cerwin Vega 217r's, Cerwin Vega 211r's, TDL RTL3's, Rectillinear HiBoys, Paradigm Reference Studio 20v2's and about 34 other pairs of speakers. From my personal experience the Bose 901 Series II's if properly placed and powered are not crap.. There are definitely plenty of overrated Bose products but IN MY HUMBLE (unappreciated) OPINION the 901's are great speakers. I like them and would recommend buying them If you can get a good deal that includes the MUST HAVE EQ! To anyone who feels Bunked by my "click bait" post title, don't worry you will be fine. Even the best of us get bunked once in awhile. It's not how you fall that matters it's how you get up!

Lmaoooo just because you like them does not make them desirable to others. Like virtually every other speaker they do some things very well others not so much, enjoy them if you like them just don't attempt to convince the rest of us it will be a losing battle

 

[Bill S]

I have no doubt that if they're set up right and EQ'd they sound pretty good. I don't think I've ever heard them that way though. Outside of an audio store back in the late 70s, my real listening experiences were derived from hearing them at a rock n' roll bar I frequented back in my early 20s. I'm sure I've heard many, many hours of 70s rock on those speakers and I never really noticed them and that tells me something. The sound was non-de script. They had a reputation of being a high end speaker but they did nothing to call that out. I wasn't impressed at all. It wasn't that they sounded bad, they just didn't do anything to distinguish themselves from any of the other speakers from back in the day. I thought back then they were bass shy and the treble didn't sizzle with the high hat, cymbal and snare that John Bonhem was putting out on Black Dog. They were suspended from the ceiling a good 2 feet from the wall. There were 3 pair of them in a bar that was probably 1200 square feet. It was a popular bar and often crowded on weekends late at night. The owner wasn't shy about given them some volume when the song and the mood called for it. I really never though of owning them after that but as I said, I didn't think they sounded bad. They just didn't ever make my list of, "someday I've got to own a pair." Some people like them though and that's why this is such a great hobby - there's something for everyone!

 

[Ibemiked]

Lmaoooo just because you like them does not make them desirable to others. Like virtually every other speaker they do some things very well others not so much, enjoy them if you like them just don't attempt to convince the rest of us it will be a losing battle

I'm gonna debunk the haters... You'll see I'll debunk the crap out of them! I'm gonna find a way. If it's the last thing I do. But seriously though In all reality I was just excited about getting the Eq back from the shop and hooked the 901s up last night and posted this thread. The response was not good. Not good at all. But hey.. What're
You gonna do..

 

[bruhl001]

The response was not good. Not good at all. But hey.. What're
You gonna do..[/QUOTE]
Stop worrying about what others think and enjoy your music.

 

[Zonker92]

I actually think there were some good constructive responses, and I don't really blame the "haters" for piling on a little bit; your thread title kind of invited them to do so.

But on topic, I'm glad you're enjoying the speakers, and I admit I've always kind of wanted a pair; no need for any Hatorade. I especially like the looks of the early models like yours.

 

[JimPA]

I don't think anyone on an audio forum is going to change the mind of any listener's choice of speakers.

I have heard the 901's and they are not me.

 

[drumbum]

I just got back my Bose 901 Series II Eq from the tech!
Luxman C-1010 control center
Technics SH-8055 EQ
Denon DRA-435R Receiver
Sony CA7ES cd
Technics SL-QX300 Turntable
QSC 1400 Amp
I have all components fed to Luxman out to Technics EQ to Denon receiver. The Denon is powering a pair of Cerwin Vega 217R's the Denon has preouts sent to the 901 Eq which feeds the QSC 1400 Amp. The 901's are powered by the QSC Bridged @600WPC! If you really want the 901s at full potential you have to feed them serious power! This setup sounds amazing! I was initially a little pissed off thinking the tech pulled a fast one on me because the Eq sounded scratchy! But.. it was the rca cables I was initially using. You really need to use vintage RCA cables with the 901 eq. The monster type cable ends will touch. After switching the cables out the scratchiness was gone and I'm impressed! Especially with the 901 217r combo! The Denon receiver is only rated at 50wpc but it's a solid 50 and these 217r's are super efficient! The 217r's have incredible Bass and the 901's provide top notch mid and highs! I'm happy with the result!

Still confused on the 600w bridged 1400?

 

[Snow]

I'm gonna debunk the haters... You'll see I'll debunk the crap out of them! I'm gonna find a way. If it's the last thing I do. But seriously though In all reality I was just excited about getting the Eq back from the shop and hooked the 901s up last night and posted this thread. The response was not good. Not good at all. But hey.. What're
You gonna do..

Carry on if you wish

 

[Ibemiked]

The response was not good. Not good at all. But hey.. What're
You gonna do..

Stop worrying about what others think and enjoy your music.[/QUOTE]
this was me being sarcastic.. what people I don't know and probably will never meet In my life think about me and my opinions mean very little to me. I was trying to ease the tension by being sarcastic.. guess I should of threw a lol or some emoji in there.. lol

 

[Ibemiked]

Carry on if you wish

Me and my 15 month old son Mikey are coming up with the evidence as we speak. If anyone can debunk the haters it will be this guy..

 

[Ibemiked]

I actually think there were some good constructive responses, and I don't really blame the "haters" for piling on a little bit; your thread title kind of invited them to do so.

But on topic, I'm glad you're enjoying the speakers, and I admit I've always kind of wanted a pair; no need for any Hatorade. I especially like the looks of the early models like yours.

Hindsight is 20/20.. lol I've learned (the hard way) that people take things really serious on here.. sarcasm is hard for people to detect online.. I should probably throw an lol at the end of my sarcasm to save myself from getting piled on in the future.. you're right though I did set myself up with that title.. again sarcasm on the internet needs reinforcement (lol or emoji).. lesson learned.

 

[Bill S]

Hindsight is 20/20.. lol I've learned (the hard way) that people take things really serious on here.. sarcasm is hard for people to detect online.. I should probably throw an lol at the end of my sarcasm to save myself from getting piled on in the future.. you're right though I did set myself up with that title.. again sarcasm on the internet needs reinforcement (lol or emoji).. lesson learned.

So my count puts you at 43-44 pairs of speakers. Quite an impressive collection. Not sure where you have them all but I'd think that even if you only have a few pair in service, you'd need quite a storage space to house 35+ pair, even stacked. Then again, with a 15 month old son, you can't be more than 30-40 so you've amassed quite a collection in a relatively short time. Cudos to you! Based on your inventory, you have a wealth of speakers to compare to the Bose. Given you're still convinced they're great tells me you're rather fond of them - that's good!

 

[Ibemiked]

So my count puts you at 43-44 pairs of speakers. Quite an impressive collection. Not sure where you have them all but I'd think that even if you only have a few pair in service, you'd need quite a storage space to house 35+ pair, even stacked. Then again, with a 15 month old son, you can't be more than 30-40 so you've amassed quite a collection in a relatively short time. Cudos to you! Based on your inventory, you have a wealth of speakers to compare to the Bose. Given you're still convinced they're great tells me you're rather fond of them - that's good!

Fortunately I have a large (climate controlled) basement to store the bulk of them in. Have the 7.2 setup in the living room 8 speakers hooked up in the dining room and a 7.1 setup In the bedroom also have a tube setup with 2 mono amps one powering a Vintage University Speaker (not sure of the model) but it has a C-12HC woofer & Mid-T tweeter, the 2nd tube amp powers a Altec Lansing 824a iconic. Have some nice tube consoles too.. The wife likes those.. Nice MCM furniture, The Fisher 801 Comtemporary I think it's called, a super clean Philco tabletop Stereophonic HIFI unit, A Zenith LPM-95 Suitcase type unit & a Curtis Mathes Royal Dane 72" wide! All tube units, all serviced and working and all hooked up around the house.. My wife puts up with me and I'm lucky for that.. I tell her it's inventory for the store I'm gonna open someday.. It would be a decent inventory to get started. Hopefully someday it will happen. And yea I do have an attachment to the 901s.. I definitely opened up a can of worms with this post!