just a general observation....

[BEETLEMAN]

I live in northcentral b.c. canada and let me tell you it sure is difficult keeping up on all the new stuff out there. ive got what i would call a respectible system but nothing like what some of the fellers here have, but im happy with what i got.... for now.
went in to the local "highend" store in the hopes of updating my cd player. asked to see their cd transports and the guys there looked at me as if i was stupid, finally asking me what a transport was. mind you they do handle klipsch, b&w,rotel, but i would hardly call these highend. mind you they do hold there own.
so you guys that live near a big city, consider yourself somewhat lucky as you have the option to check out some of these high end systems first hand.... but please keep in mind that you are also checking out these systems and new gadgets for the numbers of us that dont have the opportunity to see them; hense this website. thats why i spend hours on it reading. muchly appreciated.
current system h/t
HK AVR135
2X CARVER M400-T running subs, 200w a channel
mains peerless 5 1/4 and nht, custom cabinets MTM configuration
rears peerless 5 1/4 and nht, custom cabinets TMT configuration
4X 8" subs in custom boxes, one on each corner
sounds quite good if you can believe it
pioneer dvd player

other stuff
PHASE LINEAR 3300 PREAMP
HK 3375
BOSE 901 SERIES iv completely rebuilt (i know, i know)
NUANCE 10" SUB
TECHNICS SOUND SHAPER
SAE EQUALIZER
CARVER DTL-100
CARVER DTL-200
akai am-2950 amp
mike

[Invader3k]

Sounds like you have a pretty nice system, despite living in the middle of nowhere!

How do you like your 901s? I know a lot of people knock them, but they are a "classic" speaker, like it or not. I used to work at a Bose store and thought about getting a pair often (too expensvie to justify, though). They're by no means a great reference speaker, but I think they'd be fun in a rec room or something like that.

[BEETLEMAN]

Sounds like you have a pretty nice system, despite living in the middle of nowhere!

How do you like your 901s? I know a lot of people knock them, but they are a "classic" speaker, like it or not. I used to work at a Bose store and thought about getting a pair often (too expensvie to justify, though). They're by no means a great reference speaker, but I think they'd be fun in a rec room or something like that.

yeah the 901's i got at a fairly decent price off ebay. they needed alot of work, reconing and the cabinets were redone, sand and paint. mind you i did all the work myself so i saved alot of money there. as for sound they are pretty good for what they are. i used to bi amp them with my carvers and they would sing pretty good in a basement setup against a good solid wall. problem is they take up alot of room and need that room to function properly.
supprisingly the bass on these units is quite good, not by the seat of your pants bass, but they will push some air for a respectable response. mine are going on the block soon as i can get a camera. i just dont have the room for them anymore since i got into h/t.
overall if you first listen to them and like them then you will always have an interest in this type of technology. mike

[kexodusc]

What Peerless drivers are you using in your speakers? Which "line" CSX? HDS? Classic? etc?
They make wicked midrange drivers for not a lot of money.

[Florian]

Despite the general BOSE knocks, give this a try. My friend Klaus has a 901 version V in the attic along with a Infinity RS4.5 and a Magnepan MGIIIA. The 901's can actually sound quite good if used with the equalizer and with POWER. We ran each with a Krell KSA250B europe. They sound a hell of a lot better with power, dump 600 watts into them and they wake up. Its quite fun to play with normal speakers with ultra high end equipment. Fron end was a Krell KPS25t, Krell X64 Studio DAC, Jadis JP80 preamp going to the 250's....

Give them some power, a amplifier that can drops tons of current in their and use the equalizer and they will beat quite a bit of those mass market speakers. They can be fun. There are some people that experiment with hanging them from the ceeiling too.

Flo

[BEETLEMAN]

they are from the classic line and hey do sound very good for the price. had a buddy from montreal fix me up with these and they are set up in an MTM configuration with another one on the top of the cabinet for a splash effect, very nice. the cabinets are ported on the bottom, stand about 24" tall, 12"deep and 7" wide. stained oak front and tops. he also built the custom crossovers for them.

[kexodusc]

Great...I've used a few different Peerless drivers now in some DIY speakers. They're tweeters are hit or miss (though some love them) but their woofers are great value. Good bass for small, inexpensive drivers.

The new HDS drivers get very high praise from some discriminating users.

[BEETLEMAN]

i was warned about there tweeters as well and finally settled on a nht tweeter. and the results were great as the nht really performed beyond my expectations. as a package the really have a life of there own.

[Invader3k]

In regards to what a couple other people posted...that is correct. The EQ absolutely has to be used, otherwise the 901s sound like crud (no treble or bass). Also, they can suck power like crazy. I've heard of people running each speaker at over 1000 watts per channel and having no problems, because they aren't very efficient speakers. Remember, there are nine full range drivers in each speaker, so they're bound to use a lot of amperage...

[Florian]

Well i woudnt call them fullrange just wired in series i think and they are horribly inefficent.

:-)

[Resident Loser]

...Re: Bose 901s...they are full range, they do require the EQ in order to work properly and it was the earlier ones(Series one and two) that were inefficient, however they could take a boatload of watts...270Wrms/ch...the later ones are ported and require much less power input...unfortunately IMO they aren't as good...

jimHJJ(...gotta go, ask me more on Mon...)

[BEETLEMAN]

...Re: Bose 901s...they are full range, they do require the EQ in order to work properly and it was the earlier ones(Series one and two) that were inefficient, however they could take a boatload of watts...270Wrms/ch...the later ones are ported and require much less power input...unfortunately IMO they aren't as good...

jimHJJ(...gotta go, ask me more on Mon...)

I had my 901's hooked up to 500watt monoblocks and through a phase linear preamp 3300, using the bose equalizer and i could never turn it past 2. the prtection circrity if you call it that would always shut me down. after i retired one of the amps and went back to around 225 watts a channel they seemed to be much better. i could at least turn them to 4 without too much of a strain.
mind you as an experiment i did try the monoblock setup again but i used a different circuit in the house and it did sound a little better could at least turn it up to 3. i figure too much draw on the house current, amps not getting enough juice?