Are these white van clones of Bose 901`s ?

[butch4695]

http://reading.craigslist.org/ele/2721699771.html

 

[cubby01]

They are not "white van" but are basically copies made by Linear Design Labs...

From the web:

In the early 1970's, a speaker company known as Linear Design Labs designed a speaker system that was identical to the 901. It was named The LDL 749 Direct/Reflecting speaker but offered no E.Q. One could buy a pair of these for less than half the Bose's price! But not having an appropriate E.Q. caused the speaker to have limited performance.

The drivers on the LDL 749 were laminated and each speaker had its front driver mounted in the center of the cabinet whereas Bose had the driver on the lefthand front of the Left speaker and toward the right on the righthand speaker. On later models Bose would eventually adapt the front and center approach of LDL.

All LDL 749's were sold with black grills and the cabinets had sharp corners. The fronts resembled the original 901 Series I & II models with the "straight" design. In other words...these speakers DID NOT sport the curved front look that later series 901 models have.

Evidently Bose sued LDL:
http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/467/304/154355/

Have fun.

 

[bowtie427ss]

Better than white van, good enough that Bose sued them.

Price seems too high, and you'll need a GOOD EQ along with beefy power to make them play their best.

From the web:..................

Too many obvious inaccuracies in the "epinion" to give it serious merit where the LDL's are concerned, IMO&E of course.

 

[butch4695]

Interesting. I just would not pay his asking price.

 

[Kahoona]

I know Gilbertsville. I once drank in the bar. They call bars hotels there. The white vans there have to be painted black and are horse-drawn.

 

[cubby01]

Better than white van, good enough that Bose sued them.

Price seems too high, and you'll need a GOOD EQ along with beefy power to make them play their best.

Too many obvious inaccuracies in the "epinion" to give it serious merit where the LDL's are concerned, IMO&E of course.

I had read elsewhere, here on AK I think that the LDLs were actually better in some respects, not that that means much if the EQ isn't right.

 

[kconnor]

I ran across an ad for these in an old Stereo Review magazine. They were very much like the 901 except they didn’t use an EQ. Linear designed the drivers to be used without one. I can’t attest to whether or not that limited the performance. Yes, Bose sued them cutting production short. They are pretty rare.

 

[audiomagnate]

They should have called them 1002's.

 

[1tumbleweed]

WHAT!?! Bose sued someone?

I'm shocked! Shocked, I say!

http://www.about-electronics.eu/2007/05/09/bose-loses-lifestyle-lawsuit/

 

[bowtie427ss]

WHAT!?! Bose sued someone?

I'm shocked! Shocked, I say!

http://www.about-electronics.eu/2007/05/09/bose-loses-lifestyle-lawsuit/

While it's not my intent to defend anyone, the design of the LDL's was a little close for comfort to the 901. IMO, the lawsuit was not without merit.

As business savvy as Bose has been over the years, it's a bit surprising that they didn't try to sell some form of licensing to LDL such that Bose would have received royalty for each pair of LDL 749's sold. Competition is always good for business where the competitors take a legitimate and constructive approach. I don't think selling license to EV ever hurt PWK.

 

[1tumbleweed]

While it's not my intent to defend anyone, the design of the LDL's was a little close for comfort to the 901. IMO, the lawsuit was not without merit.

As business savvy as Bose has been over the years, it's a bit surprising that they didn't try to sell some form of licensing to LDL such that Bose would have received royalty for each pair of LDL 749's sold. Competition is always good for business where the competitors take a legitimate and constructive approach. I don't think selling license to EV ever hurt PWK.

You're right on the LDL business - however, Bose has, over the years shown a propensity for suing anyone at the drop of a hat. The lawsuit referred to in my link was particularly egregious - they were suing their own trade organization (CEDIA). This dragged on for several years, costing CEDIA lots of money, and Bose ultimately lost. Not that they were particularly well-regarded by systems integrators to begin with, but this nonsensical attack on an organization they paid money to belong to, was kind of the last straw for many.

When I was selling retail audio, our standard comment if anyone asked about the brand was "friends don't let friends buy Bose"...

 

[Nat]

My memory of the High Fidelity review of the LDLs was that the magnets were laminated, not the speaker cone. This increased the efficiency (and there was a recent post linking to a 1979(?) BAS article that rated the efficiencies of a whole lot of speakers, and, as I recall, the LDLs were actually very efficient). But that doesn't mean they still don't need the EQ (and in fact, if the efficiency measurement was of the speakers without the EQ, they might be very efficient indeed, since the frequency extremes are at lower levels).

 

[psylocyber]

I know it's 10 years later and nobody cares but I just got a pair of these Linear Design Labs 749's and 3 (admittedly low end) nakamichi components, a DR-3, an MB-2s cdp, and a RE-1 receiver, all for $200.
Yipee ky yeh MF'r.

 

[psylocyber]

I'm not new dammit.
I've been here 10 yrs,
I've just been quiet
(and I post at the end of 10 year old threads) (where everybody hangs out)

 

[Blue Shadow]

Course you're not new here, you've reached the quarter-century mark in post count.

Enjoy your new found pile of gear. Post a pic.

 

[jberger]

I know it's 10 years later and nobody cares but I just got a pair of these Linear Design Labs 749's and 3 (admittedly low end) nakamichi components, a DR-3, an MB-2s cdp, and a RE-1 receiver, all for $200.
Yipee ky yeh MF'r.

I wonder how those would fare with a modern DSP added in place of the EQ.

 

[Nat]

Knowing little about DSPs, I assume they might be an improvement over the EQ (assuming that LDL ever actually made one for their speakers - they may have been forced out of business before they got there). I would assume a DSP would allow more flexibility in amplitude and frequency.

 

[psylocyber]

Wow, People are still here. Cool.
But I must apologize for my ignorance but I don't understand what an EQ is in relation to a speaker. I assume your not talking about a component(1980's style) equalizer? Or crossovers?
And I'm even less familiar with DSP, but I may go look it up.
I will post some pics shortly of my new acquisitions, because I saw a lot of parts (caps,resistors, trans (not that kind)) that seemed to be bent over. Probably just a result of being built on a Fri or Mon or an under age solderer.

 

[hnash53]

When it comes to reading legalese, I get lost real fast.
But when reading the findings of the suit, it sounds like (pun intended) Bose did not win the suit.
Is that right?

 

[psylocyber]

Hey,
I'm sorry if I go over any upload or picture limits,
I'll fix it this weekend.
Thanks

Those speakers (not yet uploaded until I learn my limits) weigh almost 38 lbs eal
Didn't see any way to remove the grill (besides ad hoc staples)