Bose 901's with a powered sub?

[Mild Thunder]

I just got a set of 901 series IV with equilizer. I havent hooked them up yet. I was thinking of running them along with my 12" M&K volkswoofer. My question is, how would I wire this correctly using the Bose Equilizer? I will be using my old Kenwood model 600 integrated amp that produces 145 Watts RMS@ 8 ohms. The sub only has speaker level inputs with its own x-over. If this wont work, I also have a two channel Rotel power amp and two non powered 8" Cambridge subs without crossover. Thanks for any help, and merry christmas!

[Mild Thunder]

Also, the M&K sub has a x-over at 100HZ. I have heard that the lows fall off the series IV 901's speakers around 40hz and below. So if I wired the speaker leads from the amp, thru the sub, letting the sub play frequencies of 100HZ all the way down, and letting the 901's handle 100hz and above, would this be better than running without the sub?

[JohnMichael]

The eq that is part of the 901's will apply a lot of boost to the midbass. Unless you have a seperate sub out from the preamp section the eq for the 901's would give a large boost to a narrow range. When you turned down the sub to match the frequencies being boosted the other range would be too low in level. Also with the eq in use and the signal going to the sub first the sub will still be receiving that elevated bass boost. I would try to get the sound you wanted without the sub and proper use of the eq and room placement.

[njspeer]

I second the suggestion of trying it without the sub first. My 901s (series 2) sound great without a sub. If you do try to integrate a sub, it will need an amplified signal that did not go through the equalizer.

[Benjammin007]

I have the Bose 901 VI and run the Monster 5150 amp with the speakers. In my opinion, the 901's never sounded better! I have the Pioneer VSX-84 receiver doing the "pre-pro" work
and for a home theater set up, I love it.

Sorry, this edit is to advise that I also run a Velodyne DSL 5000 sub with the 901's.

Ben

[tony3d]

I really don't want this to start another ridiculous flame war, but hear goes. I have the 901's running on a Crown XTI-2000. They handle the 475 watts per channel with authority! You might try taking the pre-amp output connected to the Sub input, then the sub output to the EQ input, then to the power-amp input. This will work with a self powered sub that has a pass through. Unless you have a very large sub you really may not notice a huge difference on music down to 45hz below which the 901's begin to double. Read my 901 review. http://www.audioreview.com/mfr/floorstanding-speakers/PRD_120876_1594crx.aspx

[Hoho]

tony3d, what is cone doubling?

[SAEA501]

If I may.......it's the generation of a large amount of second-harmonic distortion owing to a nonlinear motion of a speaker cone. The speaker cannot reproduce accurately the input it's being shown so it effectively reproduces twice the input frequency.

[Hoho]

… wouldn't that mean that the low bass would be audible, but at the wrong frequency, as mid-bass? The bass response from my Bose 901s Series VI drops steeply below 38Hz. Playing test tones, I hear almost no sound below that—not tones distorted to a higher frequency.

[SAEA501]

Your findings are showing that the speaker is not doubling, it simply rolls off to essentially nothing. The frequency it is trying to reproduce is down 20 or 30 db by that point.

[78vette]

I just got a set of 901 series IV with equilizer. I havent hooked them up yet. I was thinking of running them along with my 12" M&K volkswoofer. My question is, how would I wire this correctly using the Bose Equilizer? I will be using my old Kenwood model 600 integrated amp that produces 145 Watts RMS@ 8 ohms. The sub only has speaker level inputs with its own x-over. If this wont work, I also have a two channel Rotel power amp and two non powered 8" Cambridge subs without crossover. Thanks for any help, and merry christmas!

I am currently running a set of 901 VI with a polk PSW 505, using the 901's as the front mains in a home theater system. You are not supposed to use the Bose EQ on conventional speakers...so with my Yamaha HTR 5790 I have pre-outs that I used for the sub, and also for the front mains. The front main pre-outs run into the Bose EQ, then out to a second amp...Yamaha M-70 which powers the 901's. It works extremely well and the sound is absolutely fantastic!

The downside is if you do not have a home theater receiver that has pre-outs, you really cannot use the 901's in a home theater system unless you use it without the EQ, which does not sound very good. It is kind of a hassle, but can be done an works extremely well when it all comes together.

This is my first post, and I am glad to be a part of this forum!
78vette