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Bose 601 series III...why so special?..

centsless

centsless

Super Member
Being newer to the vintage saga, I keep seeing the series III selling for more than the 901's and much more than the series I and II of the 601's. Each series is built differently but scratching my head on why the series III holds more value than even the 901's. I even see CL ads where people want to buy them. Any ideas? Thanks.
 
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centsless said:
Being newer to the vintage saga, I keep seeing the series III selling for more than the 901's and much more than the series I and II of the 601's. Each series is built differently but scratching my head on why the series III holds more value than even the 901's. I even see CL ads where people want to buy them. Any ideas? Thanks.
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I've actually seen the Series II bring bigger stupid money than the III's. Never having owned (or heard) either, I can only attribute it to overseas buyers possibly using domestic purchasing agents.

Dave
 
relaximus said:
I've actually seen the Series II bring bigger stupid money than the III's. Never having owned (or heard) either, I can only attribute it to overseas buyers possibly using domestic purchasing agents.

Dave
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I can buy 901's all day for under $400 and there is two sets of 601 III's on flea bay for $820 with 30 minutes left and another for $715 with two days left. Such a big difference, I thought maybe some would know here. Wish I could hear a set to see what I am missing. No agendas here as I have noticed this after looking at many speakers over the last several months and would to love to know why.
 
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I've owned a pair of Series IIIs since I bought them new in '87. Paid $290.00 apiece for them, overseas. I used them for years. If set up properly their not a bad sounding speaker. In '99 I bought a pair of Klipsch CF-1s. That was the end of the Bose. Why people are paying high prices for the 601s right now, I couldn't tell you.:scratch2:

S.J.
 
Here locally in the Austin area, I see multiple ads on CL "wanting a pair"..this has gone on for at least the past year, probably longer. I see on ebay they sometimes go for in excess of $600-$700, so figure this person must be re-selling these, most likely to overseas buyers. I have had a pair, but they did not last long in my "rotation"..I prefer the HPM Pioneers, and vintage JBL's by a wide margin.
 
I had a pair at one time too. I thought they sounded very good, but they must have developed a cult following to command those prices on the used market. I still have a pair of series 2 which I consider the better sounding speaker of the two. I had listed mine for 450 locally and was swamped by emails and people offering 200 more than my listing. I sold them to the first caller at my original price. I noticed the 301 series 2 following the same pattern. Could it be the two-tone grill?
 
Thanks guys for the responses. After almost 30 years away, I've had my 9090 redone and aquired a pair of DCM TF700's, Kenwood turntable, and some nice CS -88's for the looks. I still always seem to be looking around and have leaned much through this site.

I just kept seeing the III series at high prices and was scratching me head on why. I had the 901's in the 70's and they hung from the ceiling in opposite corners of the room and really liked them. Up out of the way from my heathen party friends and really could crank them. Why the 601's sell for twice the price seems to be a mystery to you guys too!..:scratch2:

The HPM's seemed really loved here. Never heard them played but hope to catch a pair someday or at least hear them..
 
im a big DCM fan, but the Bose series III keeps making its way to the top of my rotation. It was hard for me to admit, but the 601 series III has shot down my DQ-10's and my timewindow 3's! For a jazz speaker, they are excellent.
 
mapball said:
im a big DCM fan, but the Bose series III keeps making its way to the top of my rotation. It was hard for me to admit, but the 601 series III has shot down my DQ-10's and my timewindow 3's! For a jazz speaker, they are excellent.
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Your results definitely differ from mine and I actually think highly of the 601-III, but not enough that I didn`t keep them instead of my DQ-10s and 2 sets of DCM Macrophones (1/2 a TW1a each). So many speakers better IMO than Dose ones.
 
I still own a pair of 601 IIs they are currently on loan to a friend who is using them along with two pair of 301 IIs as his surround setup and i gotta tell ya they might not be considered audiophile quality but they do surround sound really well and are even listenable for music if paired up with a good source.
 
They sound very good and they look awesome. The high tech look of all those angled tweeters is got to be worth a couple hundred extra, at least.
 
I have a pair of the 601 II's myself. I have way too many speakers currently and am going to do a shoot out of sorts so I can get rid of some stuff. They do sound good but no idea why so expensive, lots of them out there.
 
Have had a pair of 601 series 3 for about 15 years. ( the only Bose I have considered to mix into any of my systems ) One thing they have going for them is they have 2 8" woofers per cabinet. Had to,( and didn't mind ) replacing the surrounds on the four of them. I've used them as extra L , R, fronts using a separate amp to power them, I've had Better speakers, Large Tannoy Ardens , Berkleys , Paradigm, Kef, Energy, etc.and still have most of them. but because these surprised the heck out of me when I first hooked them up, I've kept them. ( nice piece of furniture ) ya, I kinda like the two tone speaker cloth too.
 
The 601 II (and III) are a very smooth speaker,great for Jazz and Classical. I always preferred them to the 901, and owned a pair of Series II for many years, but they never could dethrone my JBL L100t3s.
I think they were more remarkable in their era than today. We always sold 2-3 pairs of them for each pair of 901s that went out the door. Well made, they usually sold to middle aged Doctors, Lawyers and Professors. The later JBL L100t series and Dahlquist DQ-20 ate into the Bose sales substantially by the late '80s.
 
I have a pair of 2`s and they are nice sounding speakers. Had the 901`s and pumped 325w per side into those puppies, they would rock! But, I would take the 2`s over the 901`s for sure.
This is for all those Bose haters out there, (LOL) put that much clean juice thru a set of good 901`s and let me know what you think?
 
One reason I can think of for 601's drawing more than 901's is the 901's reliance on the equalizer; it's much harder to integrate this into a typical home theater setup.
 
I have some 601's, but they are the IV series. I won't go so far as to call them crap because they are decent for HT or "easy listening', but that's about it. Never checked the value, but can't see them being worth more than $100-150. lol
 
Wow..a thread dug up from 2011!...:) I ended up going thru many pairs of the 601 series II and III's since then....and many more pairs of 301 Series III's. There was a few Asian groups that bought everything I got. I mean $400+ for 301's and $900+ for 601 III's!!!? I liked them but sonic value was way too high to pass up selling.

It all died down and haven't bought any in several years. Internet and social media plus amount sold over the years has dried up the pickings plus everyone wants EBay prices now thinking the locals will pay that.
 
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