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Are these little free Bose worth refoaming?

staceygraham

staceygraham

Member
I just got these Bose 301s for free, and have never really listened to Bose or any direct-reflecting speakers but are fully aware of what the general opinion is of them, so I'm kind of disinclined to even bother spending the $20.00 to refoam the woofers and also to deal with who knows what other problems they may have.

What do these really sound like? Are they so horrible-sounding that it just isn't worth it, or are some of the negative opinions just a reflection of the Bose image and marketing schemes and such?

Conversely, is the cabinet maybe nicely-designed enough to be able to be swap in some nicer drivers and wiring. They feel kind of cheezy, like they are made of hardboard.

Any advice or opinions would be appreciated. I see so many people really slam Bose badly in reviews but I've never actually heard them so I'm trying to stay unbiased about them.

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Those are the older ones.I had a pair.A very good sounding version.I would go ahead if the cost isn't too much.
 
Those should be either Series I or IIs. They're nice little bookshelf speakers - and kudos to you for wanting to make up your own mind.

These and the 501s of the same series were pretty nice speakers, actually. The 301s produced quite good sound - not necessarily up to audiosnob leves - but most folks would be happy with them.

Pull a woofer to get an idea of the cabinet quality. Its your standard pressboard of the late 70s but the sides and back were mitered in order to fit together. At this age, I'd suggest some caulking around all the seams you can get to to account for moisture getting into the board material - a common problem with laminate kitchen counters, BTW.

While you're in there, swap out that capacitor in the crossover on each one and solder all the wire-wrapped connections as you work your way back out of them.

Cheers,

David
 
These are series I. series II used twin tweeters, and got rid of the directional vent.

I've kept a pair here for backround music- really does a good job of it, and they sound nice.

now, i've never used them for serious listening- they just don't cut it for me, but I enjoy them as rear HT surrounds, or as dinner backround music, or if I'm milling around and can't sit still to really listen.

A refoam is worth it, in my opinion, and if you don't like 'em after that, they sell for around $50 and up or so at auction.
 
I see another avatar there for Analog Addict...

I'd spend the time and money on them and use them for a nice sounding garage sysytem..
 
A friend of mine used to have a pair just like those, coupled to a Yamaha R-700, did a pretty decent job...

So I say yes.
 
I say go for it I have a pair just like them and use them every day, of course mine are supplemented by dual woofer Wharfedales.
 
Go ahead and fix 'em. I did the same thing out of curiosity once, and if you don't like the way that they sound (I didn't), they are very easy to sell for more than you'll have into them. :) They are a very easy refoam to do, BTW.
 
Yessir, fix them. Someone in your family will need them if you don't . I have the series IIs, with the twin tweeters, in my bedroom. Nice sound for the space they take up.
 
To properly setup BOSE 301's place the speaker on it's side witht he tweeters towards the wall. The wall should be no more then 12" away from the top of the speaker. The speaker should then be placed 18-24" below the ceiling. These are afterall purpose designed bookshelf speakers.

If you do this exactly as I have laid it out (the spec's are from digging through the BOSE web site a few years back trying to find anything on them) They will provide you with decent sound for your background system.

Parts are preety easy to find on ebay.
 
I have mine a bit closer to the wall , around 6 inches and are more like 12 inches from the ceiling because of space limitations and room aesthetics . They put out a nice sound stage from nearly everywhere in the room. That is what I liked about them from the beginning. Placement is a bit forgiving with these speakers and that's a bonus for me . :smoke:

Rebel
 
For the price (FREE!!) how can you go wrong. I like some of Bose products and these are one of my favs. Like it has been said, refoam them, then if you don't like them, sell at double your investment.
 
Done!

New Avatar uploaded....

Speaking of free Bose. I met a fellow last night who offered me a free set of Bose speakers he said are just sitting in his garage.:thmbsp:

Talk about a coincidence! They are 901/series II, the exact same ones I just bought. However, these also come with the stands! (and Eq) I'm looking for someone on Central/Northern FL who might want to pick these up for me until either I can get down to FL in Feb/March, or arrange for a Pony Express ride...

I've PM'ed CentralFlori, but have not heard back from him...Maybe I'll try Tedrick and see if he's heading to Orlando in the near future....

Of course whoever stores them for me is welcome to audition them until I get my arrangements made....:thmbsp:
 
analog addict said:
New Avatar uploaded....

Talk about a coincidence! They are 901/series II, the exact same ones I just bought. However, these also come with the stands! (and Eq).
Click to expand...

Cool, now you can set up all 4 since you've got the equalizer. I did this in a number of doctor's houses back in the 70s - their game rooms, actually.

What you'll want to do is have a L and R along one wall then the other left right along the side walls - if the room's big enough, you'll be surprised what kind of sonic image this will throw. Most of the installations I did involved hanging the speakers from the ceilings in this arrangement along with a set of Crown DC300s to drive the pairs. The equalizer was placed between the preamp and the Crowns. I did a few discos that way, too, but used more 901a/Crowns depending on the size of the bar and the typical patronage. Never had a problem with the 901s, too.

Cheers,

David
 
David...

Was thinking about the garage ~37' x 21', and possibly hanging them from the 12' ceiling. Got a Flame Linear 400 collecting dust, although I could juggle my systems around and use 2 'sui 9090db's. How many WPC do I really need to make this work? Tell me again how you'd position the speakers? I figure one set on the back end of the short wall, the other set with it's right channel speaker next to the front right???:scratch2:
 
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