Bose 901's vs 601's. Which is the better of the two? Bose Haters need not view!!

altecman

altecman

Active Member
In a bit of a dilemma at the moment deciding which Bose speakers I should keep in the spare room either the 901 series II or 601 series II as I only has room for one pair.

Before anyone responds stating that all Bose stuff is junk, my suggestion would be not to respond and save the embarrassment of lowering ones IQ for others to view.

It would be nice to hear from others which they preferred, remembering that both these speakers have been setup correctly.

Cheers
 
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Not much exposure to the 601's but the 901 series II speakers are considered the best of the 901's when properly equalized.
 
Yes, the 901's do sound nice but the difference to me is that the 901 have more of a horizontal dispersion versus the 601's which tend to disperse vertically.

Which is better to have more of, horizontal or vertical sound stage?
 
Which do you like better in the room? That's what will make your decision. I'd dismiss one models prestige vs the others. It's the sound that's important.
 
Prestige, you mean the 901's. The bass doesn't tend to bloat on the 601's like it can on the 901's but the sound stage seems smaller than the 901's. The 601's seem less fussy to setup, I suppose I will have to listen to one for a day then the other.
 
altecman said:
Prestige, you mean the 901's. The bass doesn't tend to bloat on the 601's like it can on the 901's but the sound stage seems smaller than the 901's. The 601's seem less fussy to setup, I suppose I will have to listen to one for a day then the other.
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Yes, the 901's prestige. If I had to make the decision, I'd do a lot of listening first. Each will have advantages over the other, which will be the one for the long run is up to you.
 
Hang the 901s from the ceiling in whichever configuration works for the room. In other words; 901 all day long...make them work for the room.
 
soulsurfing said:
Hang the 901s from the ceiling in whichever configuration works for the room. In other words; 901 all day long...make them work for the room.
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Funny you said that. I was thinking of putting the 901's on tall stands - about 5 ft, angled towards the listening area. This way I can keep both.

Might have to make the stands a little higher as I have made 10" stands for 601's as I think they sit too low to the floor.
 
My suggestion was to be "keep both" you never know what life will hand you and the pair not kept will be missed.
 
Obviously (as others have stated) the 901's are the flagship model of the Bose line-up, and yours being Series II should have the cloth surrounds, so maintenance is not a real issue; however, they can be "power hogs" and are extremely finicky about placement to get the best out of them. That said, a lot of your decision should be based on your room configuration and gear that you have to drive them. They may (or may not) sound better in your particular situation than the 601's (which are also competent speakers). Play with both of them in YOUR room and let YOUR ears make the decision if you have to pick only one pair,

I have several pairs of JBL Control Monitors and you can put them pretty much anywhere, but I also have a pair of Maggie 3.6r's which are kind of like 901's in terms of placement dependency--they require a fairly large room, a pretty hefty amp, and need to be about 4' from a backing wall to sound good, so being 6' X 2' panels, they can be intimidating in a normal living space.
 
Looks like I should keep both as they sound different to each other, each with good merits. I'll just mount the 901's on tall angled stands like I said earlier. Having now listened to both I just can't pick which is better as they both sound good. The amp I'm using at the moment is a Yamaha P2200M and Spectro Acoustics 217 preamp, seems to work well for the Bose speakers.
 
They are beautiful, if you can keep both of them, do it. I currently own JBL L60T, Mission 301, Bose 901 Series IV, Bose 601 Series II and B&W 685.
The beauty of 901s, once you have properly set them up you don't need to arrange your seating because the stereo sound is everywhere. All others are easy to set up but you need to sit at the very sweet spot.
 
Have extensive time on both.

TOTALLY different. 601 is VERY easy to place, has great bass for the size and can handle a lot of power.


901, Harder to place, but has a wide unreal at times soundstage, good bass, but HAS to use the EQ, hence waste a LOT of power....

Hard to really say......maybe the 601
 
I've had both. To my old ears the 601 sounds better...stronger bass and much easier to dial in a good sound. Try them on the Asymmetric setting and they should throw sound all over the room.
 
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Hi there

Got a 1968 series 1 901 and I had a series 4 in my vast collection of speakers.

I cannot speak about the 601 but I can imagine in some spaces . Then 901 can be outperformed, by the 601 I can believe that for the simple reason . That the 901 does have a unique set of parameters to sound optimal

A long wall behind them, a certain distance from them , a really good amp as these speakers especially the series I and II were sealed systems. And the EQ had a boost beyond the norm. But when you can cater to them , let me put it this way. It probably one of the best midranges I ever heard on a cone speakers. And without being cocky, I have systems ranging up to 5-6k . They can really perform on par (on certain areas for real)

I can imagine the 601 most likely, doesn't require all those parameters. In the end , music should win. If you can compare them your ears the will be the decisive factor .

Goodluck friend
 
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