Bose Speaker Purposes

[markow202]

OK NO bashing of Bose!!

I think their speakers are good but a bit overpriced for what they are. Imaging is their best quality. Clarity is a bit lacking but thats part of the "natural sound" that they boast on so much.

Can their speakers be used to play dance/trance/hip hop music because alot of times they are spoken for having the best sound on natural instruments and classic music.

[bjornb17]

OK NO bashing of Bose!!

I think their speakers are good but a bit overpriced for what they are. Imaging is their best quality. Clarity is a bit lacking but thats part of the "natural sound" that they boast on so much.

Can their speakers be used to play dance/trance/hip hop music because alot of times they are spoken for having the best sound on natural instruments and classic music.

even though you said no bashing, you're asking for trouble That's all I'm going to say

[Florian]

because alot of times they are spoken for having the best sound on natural instruments and classic music.

The person who said this has never heard a life instrument or is deaf.

[GMichael]

I'd say that hip hop is your best bet to play on Bose. They go together like peanur butter & jelly. Natural instruments and classic music don't go well with Bose at all.

[hifitommy]

REAR CHANNELS. find em cheep used and use their diffusion techniques for rear ambience channels or side channels.

paying new for bose is stupid, get em way after they have depreciated and put them out of the main channels where they would do the most damage.

[N. Abstentia]

OK NO bashing of Bose!!

I think their speakers are good but a bit overpriced for what they are. Imaging is their best quality. Clarity is a bit lacking but thats part of the "natural sound" that they boast on so much.

Can their speakers be used to play dance/trance/hip hop music because alot of times they are spoken for having the best sound on natural instruments and classic music.

Go hear some good speakers and you'll hear why there is so much Bose bashing everywhere. Bose imaging is very poor, and saying they sound good on natural instruments is just asanine.

[markw]

Can their speakers be used to play dance/trance/hip hop music because alot of times they are spoken for having the best sound on natural instruments and classic music.

this is just tooooooooo funny for words.

I never thought I'd ever see the words "hip hop", "classic music" and "natural insturnents" all used in the same sentence.

But, yep, you can use those speakers to play that music. You can also ride a bicycle from NY to LA should you so choose.

[markow202]

Alright thanks.

[hifitommy]

"Go hear some good speakers and you'll hear why there is so much Bose bashing everywhere. Bose imaging is very poor, and saying they sound good on natural instruments is just asinine."


901s are based on the theory that music is heard in a 9 parts reflected sound to 1 part direct sound. i will agree with that but THAT happens at the microphone. diluting the sound again at 9:1 is heresy.

the poor imaging can be capitalized upon for the rear channels of a MC system as i recommended above. diffuse sound is what is recommended for the rears by some MC proponents and rear channel speakers are sold with that in mind.

for a budget system however, the 301s are not a bad choice for fronts, a fairly good sounding bose, perhaps the only one.

[Woochifer]

901s are based on the theory that music is heard in a 9 parts reflected sound to 1 part direct sound. i will agree with that but THAT happens at the microphone. diluting the sound again at 9:1 is heresy.

My recollection is that the 901's design was based on studies of the acoustical properties of the Boston Symphony Hall, where the MIT engineers measured nearly 90% of the sound as reflected. Problem with replicating that approach with a speaker of course is that a good recording will have already captured the hall ambience.

the poor imaging can be capitalized upon for the rear channels of a MC system as i recommended above. diffuse sound is what is recommended for the rears by some MC proponents and rear channel speakers are sold with that in mind.

for a budget system however, the 301s are not a bad choice for fronts, a fairly good sounding bose, perhaps the only one.

You're right on that. I used my wife's old 301s as the surrounds while I was building up my 5.1 setup. The angling of the tweeters on that particular 301 model sent about half of the high frequency output back towards the wall, which diffused the sound, but compromised the imaging when used as mains. I likened the sound with two-channel sources as "mono everywhere" -- it created a very wide soundstage but with poor imaging articulation and accuracy.

The diffused sound of those 301s did work well with movie soundtracks that primary used the surrounds for ambient cues. But, they were less effective with the directional surround sounds that dominate a lot of newer 5.1 music and movie soundtracks, partly because the 301s did not timbre match with the mains but also because of that diffusion in the highs. Once I got a pair of direct firing bookshelf speakers that timbre matched with my main speakers, the improvement was dramatic. With 5.1 music especially, the timbre matching and more focused radiating pattern created stability in the side imaging and depth that I never heard with the nonmatching surrounds (or from any two-channel playback I'd ever heard as well). Proper positioning of the surrounds created more than enough diffusion for ambient sounds.

I think the main advantage of the 301 is that compared to other speakers in its price class, it does have higher bass output. Unlike the rest of the Bose lineup, the 301 and 201 and actually priced appropriately.

[musicoverall]

"Go hear some good speakers and you'll hear why there is so much Bose bashing everywhere. Bose imaging is very poor, and saying they sound good on natural instruments is just asinine."


901s are based on the theory that music is heard in a 9 parts reflected sound to 1 part direct sound. i will agree with that but THAT happens at the microphone. diluting the sound again at 9:1 is heresy.

the poor imaging can be capitalized upon for the rear channels of a MC system as i recommended above. diffuse sound is what is recommended for the rears by some MC proponents and rear channel speakers are sold with that in mind.

for a budget system however, the 301s are not a bad choice for fronts, a fairly good sounding bose, perhaps the only one.

A friend of mine is looking for some good surrounds (rears) and I have another friend with a pair of 901's collecting dust in his attic. I think they're properties would be perfect for rears. Good advice! Thanks!

[JohnMichael]

A friend of mine is looking for some good surrounds (rears) and I have another friend with a pair of 901's collecting dust in his attic. I think they're properties would be perfect for rears. Good advice! Thanks!

Be careful with adding the 901's. They need their equalizer to sound full range and that will interfere with and unbalance other non 901 speakers. 301's will work with any speaker because they do not require the equalizer.

[SlumpBuster]

If you start your post with the phrase "Alright, no Bose bashing" then there is a high probability you already know the answer to whatever question follows.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I wouldn't even use bose 901 or 301's for the surrounds. It is much too difficult to mach the timbre's of direct radiating and speakers that primarily reflect sound. Since you cannot use a regular EQ on them, and their external EQ was not ment for matching purposing this makes them unsuitable for surround use. If you don't think you need to match timbre's of the front and surround speakers, just listen to a panned signal moving from front to back on mismatched speakers. Not very smooth or consistant.

[markow202]

At a local pool hall there is this seperate room which is fairly large and inside of that room consists a pair of the current BOSE 301s. On top of that there is a track selection machine (like a jukebox) where you can choose the songs...I choose some hard trance/dance music that I know would work the speakers good.

They had them cranked up pretty well and the sound I must say was excellent and filled the entire room! Bass radiated everywhere and was strong enough to feel on the walls.

I was pretty impressed as were some other people I was with.

A pair of infinity's were in the other room and they were definetely direct sounding....big difference but clarity and bass were as good as the 301s.

[Garrardman]

I wouldn't have thought that BOSE were ideal for trance and hip-hop as none of their speakers use bass drivers, even the Acoustimass, which just has some large midrange drivers in a box................


Personally, i would NEVER bash BOSE, as they're a bit flimsy and would probably break.................

[accastil]

mark, i suggest you listen to other speakers and tell yourself honestly if Bose is good. say for example B&W or Monitor Audio speakers....just compare and hear it for yourself.

[Resident Loser]

I wouldn't have thought that BOSE were ideal for trance and hip-hop as none of their speakers use bass drivers, even the Acoustimass, which just has some large midrange drivers in a box................


Personally, i would NEVER bash BOSE, as they're a bit flimsy and would probably break.................

...901s eh?

jimHJJ(...thought not...)

[hifitommy]

hi S.T.t.T!

"If you don't think you need to match timbre's of the front and surround speakers, just listen to a panned signal moving from front to back on mismatched speakers"

in that i use rear speakers primarily for ambience, its not so critical that my rears sound timbrally the same as my fronts. movies arent my main focus.

once i did the pink noise channel check with my B&K pre/pro and heard how different my center sounded, i immediately went back to stereo/dynaquad and stopped entertaining the idea of using five amp channels. the center was removed from the system, and the pre/pro is used only for video switching.

soon, i will return to my arc sp3c preamp as the main part of the system with the B&K in a tape loop for video switching. SOMEDAY when i can really afford a more capable pre/pro in the $3500 range, i may seek out a closer sonic match for a center speaker and go fully amplified surround.

the minimus 7s in my rear channels actually are close in timbre to the fronts. i imagine the bose 301s might also be close. as for 901s, my comment was more in terms of the diffusion of the sound for rear channel use.