Bose 601 "owner" opinions please
- Thread starter Copa1934
- Start date
Copa1934
My ears are bleeding
Got to thinking, if the "amp" you are using (home, pc, portable, etc) doesn't function below, say, 20hz, what's the point? First you have to know if the system you have is reliably producing sounds that low, or high depending on the test. Otherwise what comes out of your speakers is useless. I'll have to test on my other systems. Just saying, not trying to ruffle anyone's feathers. I thought of this since my little RS amp likely is useless below 50hz or so.From this test...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS9d13zAN1k&list=PLZD0gzq4edIkdJ2BWnvmNJEI-jXSAGcO2&index=2
My power needles match what I'm hearing....after several sine wave tests vis YouTube (HD when available) all tests show my woofers start fibrelating at 30Hz....31Hz up is clean, its felt and its heard
Oh, I'm thinking that 301 drivers likely are NOT a good match due to the use of a paper cap as opposed to the fabric cap on 601 drivers. It's a know fact that the cloth type is a functional part of the driver, so a sealed cap driver will have a different sound quality. Will our ears tell the difference? Not sure.
Copa1934
My ears are bleeding
LOL. My daughter, who is 25, has developed an appreciation for my gear. It really has a lot to do with one's hearing. Some people just need background and for them a Bose Wave is perfectly fine. Then there are the addicts like ourselves.Guess I'm the youngster with the Bose here then lol. I was born in '76I appreciate quality built gear, and have had a soldering iron in my hand since I was 12.
Copa1934
My ears are bleeding
After reading more there is a solid caveat. While we certainly have the "up firing" woofer, the system is based on a signal dedicated to just that up firing driver. So it may be necessary for a mod to the speaker so that the signal for the up range isn't also coming out the front firing woofer. I'd need more time since there isn't a lot of technical info in the article. There are a number of articles on the internet on the subject. Guess it was first deployed in 2012.
HomeBody
Passion not Critisism
Yes, In the bedroom (15' sq), I use an HP desktop that feeds the signal to the EQ tape port....into the 2080. Listening tests conducted bypassing the EQ, and tonal controls set flat on the receiver. Your suggestion hadnt crossed my mind. The pc's deault audio is set at 16bit, optional up to 24bit. I think you have a point here-I'll rerun the test using the Mach to look for deviations... thanks
HomeBody
Passion not Critisism
Ran Sine Wave test via youtube again thru some Onkyo & Sansui speakers....same hickups starting at 30Hz....found the 30Hz cd and played it through the dvd, both EQ'd and tone flat settings....pure bliss. No stuttering or hickups whatsoever. Splendid massage to the tummy. So the puter can't handle it. The 2080, Onkyo, Sansui & Bose all passed the 30Hz test. Whew!
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Copa1934
My ears are bleeding
Good, glad that's confirmed. I'll likely look at a higher end audio card for my pc so that testing actually works like it's supposed to. Always have to look out for those weak links.
Copa1934
My ears are bleeding
Can all USP outputs be trusted? I've been of the mind that generally USB is pass through, i.e. it hasn't been corrupted (yet) by computer hardware. If so, then that sounds like a good option for my laptop, but for my desktop I'm wondering for general use if a good sound card would suffice.
Copa1934
My ears are bleeding
Did you paint the mid or is it just the lighting?
nclh77
Super Member
Wow, 19 pages on a pair of Bose 601's and it hasn't turned into a flame war. Proud of my breatheren here. The 601's are going for the same or more than the 901's on eBay. Big demand for the early ones in Asia which is where a lot of Bose stuff is going. Lot of my vintage stuff is going to clearing housed in California due to my unwillingness to ship directly overseas. Two 8 inch woofers is impressive and the 4 mid/tweeters do create a nice spatial sound.
Copa1934
My ears are bleeding
Cool.
Copa1934
My ears are bleeding
Naturally I'm pleased how this thread is progressing. It's possibly people are becoming more tolerant, or finding that people are tired of haters. Either way it's nice that a thread can be productive.
I've been reading a lot about vintage going to Japan, like AR speakers. I think whats floating the price for 601 speakers is lack of availability. I've seen this happen many times with other products. When people see there is a market, they want to jump in. When that happens the market tends to get flooded, or a glut if you will. That then drives prices down, though not always. L100, AR3a and others come to mind that seem to buck the norm. They tend to hold pretty solid prices.
I'm beginning to solidly believe that 301 drivers could work BUT won't be a proper match. Looking at images of woofers for both I've found that they have similar "casting" numbers, leading me to believe all but one difference exists and that is the dust cap, which is solid for the 301 and mesh (loose weave)/fabric for the 601. I haven't seen ALL the variations on the 601 so there may be implementations where the drivers may have solid dust caps. Time will tell eh?
Copa1934
My ears are bleeding
That wasn't worded correctly was it. I meant to say only one difference seems to be present, that of the dust cap.
Last night I spun Della Reese live on my modded MCS 6601 tt with Shure M97xe cart thru a Carver 90 receiver into my Bose 601 II's.
It is amazing how well this Carver plays with the Bose. And that Carver has one of the best tuners I've ever heard, so much in fact that I'm selling my excellent Pioneer TX-9500. Just stunning.
It is amazing how well this Carver plays with the Bose. And that Carver has one of the best tuners I've ever heard, so much in fact that I'm selling my excellent Pioneer TX-9500. Just stunning.
601 is a decent speaker
That's cos the 601 is a good speaker under most circumstances. Especially after a a few mods its a fantastic speaker.
901 especially the 1 and 2 can use and work well with similar mods, but under most circumstances it is terrible and when it is not terrible, like its in an acoustically favorable space, it is at best decent. I own 2 pairs of them 901's, a 2 and a 6, and have spent lots of listening time with 901's of late. In a non favorable space, they should be kept backwards, it works a bit better, and if they are hung from the ceiling they work a lot better 99% of the time. Now I dont know about everyone else, but floor space comes @ a premium in my living room. Out of the way is almost as good as invisible. I'll live with it, cos my other 1/2 is happy with it.
Yea they wont take the place of my EV's or anything else of that ilk, but as it stands they are OK for TV watching.
Cool.
Srinath.
That's cos the 601 is a good speaker under most circumstances. Especially after a a few mods its a fantastic speaker.
901 especially the 1 and 2 can use and work well with similar mods, but under most circumstances it is terrible and when it is not terrible, like its in an acoustically favorable space, it is at best decent. I own 2 pairs of them 901's, a 2 and a 6, and have spent lots of listening time with 901's of late. In a non favorable space, they should be kept backwards, it works a bit better, and if they are hung from the ceiling they work a lot better 99% of the time. Now I dont know about everyone else, but floor space comes @ a premium in my living room. Out of the way is almost as good as invisible. I'll live with it, cos my other 1/2 is happy with it.
Yea they wont take the place of my EV's or anything else of that ilk, but as it stands they are OK for TV watching.
Cool.
Srinath.
HomeBody
Passion not Critisism
The 901 in fact will give the listener extreme pleasure to jazz & classical sources. IMO, they arent designed for extremely low-ended signal sources. 901 placement is everything & the bigger the room, the better they work within their design. Its no mystery why the 901 has enjoyed such a long production run, with many more years to follow. All music material isnt created for all speakers just as all speakers arent created for all music styles. Its that simple. What is the 901 missing in your listening experience? I find that most all audiophiles judge speakers by classical recordings followed by jazz media. You cant tell what a speaker is not doing without decaying passages....
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Copa1934
My ears are bleeding
And the TX-9500 still fetches quite a price online. There's a great site with all kinds of awesome tune-up info to improve tuners. http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/ Should check it out.