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Bose speakers..

And this happens every, single time this topic is raised…

Hell, if I didn’t already have a pair, I would run out tomorrow and buy a pair of 901s just to see what all the fuss is about!

Show of virtual hands: How many hear, arguing 901 speaker components, own or have owned a pair?

Just curious. Don’t pile on me, though if you do, I promise I won’t lose any sleep.
 
MaxP said:
And this happens every, single time this topic is raised…

Hell, if I didn’t already have a pair, I would run out tomorrow and buy a pair of 901s just to see what all the fuss is about!

Show of virtual hands: How many hear, arguing 901 speaker components, own or have owned a pair?

Just curious. Don’t pile on me, though if you do, I promise I won’t lose any sleep.
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I owned a pair of 901 series IV in 1985-1988. Powered by my SAE Two A14. It has parametric tone controls for bass and treble, that I used instead of the Bose EQ. Perfect for my and my wife’s 2 bedroom apartment. Very small footprint. They had a visceral sound quality. Room filling on low volume, and didn’t bother the neighbors downstairs. We moved overseas, so I sold them to my neighbor across the stair landing. He loved them. I’ve never owned Bose since. Very tempted to buy a pair needing restoration, and replace the original 4” drivers with more modern ones. I still have the SAE integrated amp.
 
There are updated versions of those drivers available at Parts Express, but also really nice ones from several manufactures. I've wanted to make a more sophisticated 901 (or 601 for that matter). I enjoy that enveloping sound that Bose designed for. It would be great to hear them with better front firing drivers--perhaps with a wave-guided tweeter and better crossover networks and equalization all the way around (no pun). Humans have been shown in blind testing to prefer enveloping sound. They however have not enjoyed Bose much in similar studies. They tend to be too limited for more experienced listeners when listening for a flawless performance.
 
I usually hop into Bose threads to defend them, but I get tired of saying the same thing. So just briefly, if you heard Bose 901's and don't like them then fine but don't pile on because that seems to be the thing to do.
 
HB3 said:
I usually hop into Bose threads to defend them, but I get tired of saying the same thing. So just briefly, if you heard Bose 901's and don't like them then fine but don't pile on because that seems to be the thing to do.
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And I will add that if you haven’t experienced all that you are criticizing, please qualify your statements. This will aid anyone weighing the decision to purchase a set to make an informed acquisition.
 
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I enjoyed my 901's, man could they take some wattage without breaking a sweat! I eventually tried other speakers and the Bose wound up being shelved. I'll probably pull them out of storage eventually and upgrade the individual drivers to see how they sound.
 
Collections said:
There are updated versions of those drivers available at Parts Express, but also really nice ones from several manufactures. I've wanted to make a more sophisticated 901 (or 601 for that matter). I enjoy that enveloping sound that Bose designed for. It would be great to hear them with better front firing drivers--perhaps with a wave-guided tweeter and better crossover networks and equalization all the way around (no pun). Humans have been shown in blind testing to prefer enveloping sound. They however have not enjoyed Bose much in similar studies. They tend to be too limited for more experienced listeners when listening for a flawless performance.
Click to expand...

I saw that. That’s what made me think about buying a pair needing work. Could prove very interesting!
 
MaxP said:
And this happens every, single time this topic is raised…

Hell, if I didn’t already have a pair, I would run out tomorrow and buy a pair of 901s just to see what all the fuss is about!

Show of virtual hands: How many hear, arguing 901 speaker components, own or have owned a pair?

Just curious. Don’t pile on me, though if you do, I promise I won’t lose any sleep.
Click to expand...

You do you. I get a kick out of these threads as well and believe everyone should listen before any purchase. Bose is what it is. I'm most certainly not their target market.
 
hopeless said:
You do you. I get a kick out of these threads as well and believe everyone should listen before any purchase. Bose is what it is. I'm most certainly not their target market.
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My main listening room speakers are Von Schweikerts, so maybe technically I’m not their target market either, but I find it difficult (for myself) to dismiss their products as being crap across the board. The Bose speakers I have, remain in my inventory because they have something pleasing to offer. I personally find it short-sighted to dismiss their entire line going back decades as being worthless. But that’s just me. And as I stated previously, I feel the weight of one’s opinion is directly proportional to their experience, and all too often, those who bash loudest have formed their opinions online and not in front of the speakers being discussed.
 
When I was in the army serving in Germany (early 80s)...just about every other soldier living on base in the shacks had a hi-end system. Speakers tended to be Bose 901s, Cerwin Vega (the big ones), Pioneer HPM 1100, Klipsch La Scalas, Infinity, JBL...you get the picture. It was not unusual on a Friday and/or Saturday night to go to 3 or 4 rooms to listen to music (and smoke hash and drink booze)...once the sh*t talkin' started...Bose was always the "loser"...I know...means nuttin'...just was...
 
I jumped ahead from the first page. I'll catch up after I post this.

I own and listen to in my house right now, Bose, Klipsch, Kef, McIntosh, Sansui, and Yamaha. The Bose I have right now are two 1801 Power Amps and one 4401 preamp. I have owned 901 series 2 and 901 series 3, 601 series 1 I think, 501s twice don't remember series, 301s multiple times, and Stereo Everywhere 8.2s.

Interestingly, I liked the 901 series 3 powered by a McIntosh MAC1900 the most. Then I would say the 8.2s, the 301s next, the 601s, and I liked the 501s the least.

I test drove the 10.2 Stereo Everywhere speakers when I was shopping new and couldn't afford the 10.2s at the time. They sounded really good. So I bought the 8.2s in 1986, and only got to really hear what they could do after I got my 1st MAC1900. And they would sound even better with the 1801s I have. But I had sold them by that time.

So if you want tower speakers, go for the 10.2s. If you want stand mount or hanging speakers, go for the 901s. Power appropriately. Any flavour need a high current amp to sound their best.
 
I don't have any Bose Equipment but have watched the company for decades. They seem to have started out with normal audio equipment with some special sauce added to the speakers along with nice build quality. Some of the equipment was made by Miyako, the same place cranking out Marantz, although I have no other information on it. I think the early speakers and EQs needed for them went for a lot of money in the 70's.

In the mid 80's Bose released the powered RoomMate Speakers (about 7" x 10" x 7"), partnering with Sony and the D-50 Discman (with a cool tiny Bose Amp!) and Apple Computers and the IIgs. The little Bose speakers still seemed to have pretty nice builds and still go for good money on the used market. They also released the first Wave Radio around the same time. I think the success of these models helped shape Bose's Consumer Product's Future which was tiny home theatre systems.

The Wave Radio was advertised night and day on radio for years, Bose seemed to have found a way to make little speakers sound big and consumers went crazy, it was more rare not to see a home with the Bose TV Speaker (Lifestyle) set up back in the 90's - 2000's. They went all in and homeowners started tossing away the big old vintage boat anchors that a lot of us, luckily, saved.

Most of us remember the huge marketing campaigns, they blew away Cambridge Audio and B&O, maybe their two biggest competitors for this market. But their achilies heel was the build quality, there used to be a website with a speaker tear-down, it was depressing how low the build quality had dropped. So when you see some speakers going for big money and some going for nothing, there's a reason. I used to see the Lifestyle Speakers at the thrifts for a few bucks, although new they were probably a couple grand.
 
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BilboBaggins said:
I jumped ahead from the first page. I'll catch up after I post this.

I own and listen to in my house right now, Bose, Klipsch, Kef, McIntosh, Sansui, and Yamaha. The Bose I have right now are two 1801 Power Amps and one 4401 preamp. I have owned 901 series 2 and 901 series 3, 601 series 1 I think, 501s twice don't remember series, 301s multiple times, and Stereo Everywhere 8.2s.

Interestingly, I liked the 901 series 3 powered by a McIntosh MAC1900 the most. Then I would say the 8.2s, the 301s next, the 601s, and I liked the 501s the least.

I test drove the 10.2 Stereo Everywhere speakers when I was shopping new and couldn't afford the 10.2s at the time. They sounded really good. So I bought the 8.2s in 1986, and only got to really hear what they could do after I got my 1st MAC1900. And they would sound even better with the 1801s I have. But I had sold them by that time.

So if you want tower speakers, go for the 10.2s. If you want stand mount or hanging speakers, go for the 901s. Power appropriately. Any flavour need a high current amp to sound their best.
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I have owned 901 series II and IV. When set up properly with quality equipment they sound very nice. Not the last word in fidelity, can sound lifelike

I still own a pair of 10.2. They aren’t bad speakers at all, but hardly worth their original retail price.They at least have real teak veneer and are moderately heavy.

I much prefer my RTR 180D/ESR-6, KLH model 5’s or AR98 LS, but for way off axis listening the Bose probably sound better than the KLH. If I had to listen longer than an hour I would also take 10.2 over my JBL 100 Century with the inline drivers. I can only handle those in small doses so they only come out occasionally.
 
DocMontana said:
In my search for a new/old set of speakers, I decided to look at various Bose sets on Ebay. I've always been under the impression Bose was top-of-the-line and accordingly pricey, but I'm seeing a lot of Bose stuff for sale there at really cheap prices, at least when compared to stuff like JBLs..I was kind of surprised.

There's certainly a lot of unusual designs with Bose, something I'm seeing a lot of is the "Stereo everywhere" designs, and so forth.

So what are some more desirable vintage Bose speakers among audiophiles?
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Bose is to high end audio what Budweiser is to craft beers. They were really more adept at marketing than high end speaker building, which they've found to be very profitable. Most of their components were sub-par, and many of the designs simply defy physics and logic, outside of marketing hype. Advertising and good marketing works. We like what we like, but there are many, many other vintage brands I would consider before any of the Bose products. Dynaco, AR, Bozak, Kef, Advent, Merlin, KLH, JBL, Mission, B&W, Boston, Snell, Energy, Monitor Audio, Quad, Magnepan, Martin Logan, Klipsch, Polk, even some Yamaha, Fisher, Pioneer, Kenwood, or Sansui, etc.
 
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For the life of me I cannot understand the bandwagon of bashers that show up every time someone mentions the word Bose. If you like them, great; if you don't, why do you insist on negativity when you could just keep your opinions to yourself and move on. Learn to appreciate that not everyone thinks like you do but that does not make them wrong, just different. That is why there is such variety in this hobby/addiction/affliction, something for everyone NOT everyone for one thing. We all hear, and listen differently; what I think sounds great, you may not...AND THAT'S OKAY !!!

Baskin-Robbins makes 31 flavors of ice cream, will I get bashed for liking rum rasin ?

"Can't we all just get along ???"
 
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