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Thread: My $725 Stereo.

  1. #1
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    My $725 Stereo.

    Bought a vintage Sansui 9090db receiver off eBay for $450 (shipped), then I snagged a pair of Bose 901 series II speakers w/ active equalizer for $275 (picked up locally). I hooked all this up to my pre-extisting Apple Airport Express w/ airtunes.

    I'm totally blown away by the sound quality. Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine" almost rocked the plaster off the walls, and Bob Dylan's voice in "Forever Young" sounds so natural it's almost creepy. Right now I'm listening to Hank Williams "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," and it sounds so good I could cry, especially for the price I paid.

    I know, I know. You guys all hate Bose, but I'm tell'n ya, nothing else this cheap could sound so good.

  2. #2
    Forum Regular PAT.P's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by njspeer
    Bought a vintage Sansui 9090db receiver off eBay for $450 (shipped), then I snagged a pair of Bose 901 series II speakers w/ active equalizer for $275 (picked up locally). I hooked all this up to my pre-extisting Apple Airport Express w/ airtunes.

    I'm totally blown away by the sound quality. Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine" almost rocked the plaster off the walls, and Bob Dylan's voice in "Forever Young" sounds so natural it's almost creepy. Right now I'm listening to Hank Williams "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," and it sounds so good I could cry, especially for the price I paid.

    I know, I know. You guys all hate Bose, but I'm tell'n ya, nothing else this cheap could sound so good.
    Dont worry what anybody says If you enjoy it that what count.I use my vintage Sansui 771 ,Marantz 1530 and 31 band EQ ,with jbl sub and Braun speaker in the basement.Its all good ,for the joy of music.Cheers

  3. #3
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    The 9090b is one of the great vintage receivers. You can find out more about it over at audiokarma.org. The earlier 901's are supposed to be the better ones from what I've heard. Since you snagged the equalizer with them you should be able to enjoy them properly. As Pat says, don't worry about what other people think too much. If you like'em that's what counts. By the way I like your music choices. Not many people listening to Hank Williams these days. Take care and enjoy your new system.
    Gary

  4. #4
    Forum Regular Florian's Avatar
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    Yup, keep blowing the plasters of the wall.


    Enjoy
    Lots of music but not enough time for it all

  5. #5
    Forum Regular PAT.P's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Florian
    Yup, keep blowing the plasters of the wall.


    Enjoy
    Better blowing blaster of the wall than blowing hot air Flo!

  6. #6
    Class of the clown GMichael's Avatar
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    Enjoyment is what it's all about. Congrats on the new system.
    WARNING! - The Surgeon General has determined that, time spent listening to music is not deducted from one's lifespan.

  7. #7
    If you can't run-walk. Bernd's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by njspeer
    Bought a vintage Sansui 9090db receiver off eBay for $450 (shipped), then I snagged a pair of Bose 901 series II speakers w/ active equalizer for $275 (picked up locally). I hooked all this up to my pre-extisting Apple Airport Express w/ airtunes.

    I'm totally blown away by the sound quality. Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine" almost rocked the plaster off the walls, and Bob Dylan's voice in "Forever Young" sounds so natural it's almost creepy. Right now I'm listening to Hank Williams "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," and it sounds so good I could cry, especially for the price I paid.

    I know, I know. You guys all hate Bose, but I'm tell'n ya, nothing else this cheap could sound so good.
    Congrats on your system purchase. Well you opened the door to good sound and musical enjoyment, no going back now. Enjoy.
    It's all about the music.

    Peace

    Bernd
    "Let The Earth Bear Witness."

  8. #8
    Forum Regular Florian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PAT.P
    Better blowing blaster of the wall than blowing hot air Flo!
    LOL, i had many systems worse then that and still rocked. You just dont get it
    Lots of music but not enough time for it all

  9. #9
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    Nice work! That's a hell of a receiver! You have many options for speakers with a bruiser amp like that. I love that you're combining old and new technologies. The airport express rocks, I love mine. add a DAC later and you can get nice upgrade in sound quality too, using the airport's optical output.

  10. #10
    Forum Regular PAT.P's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Florian
    LOL, i had many systems worse then that and still rocked. You just dont get it
    Some things I get ,some things I dont want to get !BTW stop Mooning

  11. #11
    Forum Regular Woochifer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by njspeer
    I know, I know. You guys all hate Bose, but I'm tell'n ya, nothing else this cheap could sound so good.
    And I presume that you heard all the other options out there at the $725 price point before making your universal proclamation? Not much about the 901 sounds "natural" if you know how wide an instrument's soundstage actually sounds in person.
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  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Woochifer
    And I presume that you heard all the other options out there at the $725 price point before making your universal proclamation? Not much about the 901 sounds "natural" if you know how wide an instrument's soundstage actually sounds in person.
    I've been using my ears for 31 years now. I can assure you I know "sounds natural" when I hear it. I don't have to know what the original source sounded like to say something sounds natural. That information would be required to answer the question: How accurately do the speakers reproduce sounds? Answer: I don't know I wasn't there when the records were made. But these speakers sound so natural it's absolutely fascinating. And the fact that siver-cable-buying, green-painting-the-edges-of-their-CDs, wine-tasting, accurate-stage-repoduction-obsessed audiophiles hate them is just an added bonus.

  13. #13
    Class of the clown GMichael's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by njspeer
    I've been using my ears for 31 years now. I can assure you I know "sounds natural" when I hear it. I don't have to know what the original source sounded like to say something sounds natural. That information would be required to answer the question: How accurately do the speakers reproduce sounds? Answer: I don't know I wasn't there when the records were made. But these speakers sound so natural it's absolutely fascinating. And the fact that siver-cable-buying, green-painting-the-edges-of-their-CDs, wine-tasting, accurate-stage-repoduction-obsessed audiophiles hate them is just an added bonus.
    If "natural" is not the same as "accurate" then how do you define "natural"? What do you mean by this?
    WARNING! - The Surgeon General has determined that, time spent listening to music is not deducted from one's lifespan.

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    Suspended markw's Avatar
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    I'll give you this much.

    Quote Originally Posted by njspeer
    I've been using my ears for 31 years now. I can assure you I know "sounds natural" when I hear it. I don't have to know what the original source sounded like to say something sounds natural. That information would be required to answer the question: How accurately do the speakers reproduce sounds? Answer: I don't know I wasn't there when the records were made. But these speakers sound so natural it's absolutely fascinating. And the fact that siver-cable-buying, green-painting-the-edges-of-their-CDs, wine-tasting, accurate-stage-repoduction-obsessed audiophiles hate them is just an added bonus.
    Properly set up 901s can sound quite natural with certain types of music. They can emulate a full scale orchestra from a seating position towards the rear of a concert hall quite well. Then again, there is virtually no "stereo spread" in a concert hall once you go back 5 rows or so. The organ and tympani sounds are a little weak, as is most percussion such as triangles, wood blocks, etc...

    Of course, for other music they tend to lack.

    And, yes, you do have to have a good idea of what "real" music sounds like to make a judgment like that. Heaven help us when you discover planars.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by GMichael
    If "natural" is not the same as "accurate" then how do you define "natural"? What do you mean by this?
    As a general rule I usually don't define words for people. The reason for this is that outside of mathematics and logic analytic definitions don't exist, but let me try to help you. The word 'accurate' compares two values or sources. In this case it refers to the difference between two signals. You could define accurate in terms of a chi squared value. The word 'Natural' does not necessarily need to refer to a source. You could say "that painting looks very natural" even if it were of a person or thing that never existed, but you couldn't say "that painting is very accurate" unless you knew that there was a source, and what it was. I hope this helps.

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    Suspended markw's Avatar
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    You're talking about neither.

    Quote Originally Posted by njspeer
    As a general rule I usually don't define words for people. The reason for this is that outside of mathematics and logic analytic definitions don't exist, but let me try to help you. The word 'accurate' compares two values or sources. In this case it refers to the difference between two signals. You could define accurate in terms of a chi squared value. The word 'Natural' does not necessarily need to refer to a source. You could say "that painting looks very natural" even if it were of a person or thing that never existed, but you couldn't say "that painting is very accurate" unless you knew that there was a source, and what it was. I hope this helps.
    You're stating a preference and hoping to justify it by passing it off as "natural". Sorry, doesn't work.

    Hey, you love your 901s. Good for you! Others, myself included, were there once. Then we listened to other speakers with an unbiased ear and found what we/they percieved as a more realistic, natural, preferable (or whatever you wanna call it) sound and the cataracts fell out of our eyes. Of course, having been around when Bose first hit the scene and they WERE revolutionary helps me realize where their mythos started and when they simply sat back on their laurels while the rest of the speaker world moved on. ...and I do admire Amars business acumen in fostering that myth from that point on.

    Perhaps some day, with more experience, this will happen to you but you're gonna have to work on that hubris problem first. Many refuse to admit that they might be mistaken and that leads to, well, ...nowhere.

    It's too bad that you simply categorize anyone who doesn't share your enthusiam or opinion as a horrible audiophile. Thats' gonna go over real well here.

    enjoy your bose, fanboy.

  17. #17
    Forum Regular Woochifer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by njspeer
    I've been using my ears for 31 years now. I can assure you I know "sounds natural" when I hear it. I don't have to know what the original source sounded like to say something sounds natural. That information would be required to answer the question: How accurately do the speakers reproduce sounds? Answer: I don't know I wasn't there when the records were made. But these speakers sound so natural it's absolutely fascinating. And the fact that siver-cable-buying, green-painting-the-edges-of-their-CDs, wine-tasting, accurate-stage-repoduction-obsessed audiophiles hate them is just an added bonus.
    In other words, you haven't done any comparison listening, so you have no idea what else is out there at the $725 price point. Therefore, your universal proclamation that "nothing else this cheap could sound so good" has no more truth than if you were trying to convince us that 2+2=5. Typically, people who make a ridiculous universal proclamation will at least list off other components that they've tried for comparison purposes.

    As such, your hostility and defensive posture seems more like a preemptive measure for whenever the onset of buyer's remorse begins. Either that, or you're just trolling.
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  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Woochifer
    In other words, you haven't done any comparison listening, so you have no idea what else is out there at the $725 price point. Therefore, your universal proclamation that "nothing else this cheap could sound so good" has no more truth than if you were trying to convince us that 2+2=5. Typically, people who make a ridiculous universal proclamation will at least list off other components that they've tried for comparison purposes.

    As such, your hostility and defensive posture seems more like a preemptive measure for whenever the onset of buyer's remorse begins. Either that, or you're just trolling.
    Defensive? That's odd, I was fixing to call you defensive.

    BTW, I've had several challanges to my "nothing else this cheap could sound so good" claim, yet the challenges have all been of the form "Bose sucks," or "you didn't listen to every stereo-component combanation that could be bought for $725." If you think you could put together a better sounding system for less, tell me what you would buy.

  19. #19
    Suspended markw's Avatar
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    Well, I just picked up a pair of JBL L-26s for $150.

    And, from my memories of when these were new ('73) and having heard the current series Bose from that era, even then I preferred the 26's.

    So, as far as the better sound for dollar value, I'll see your $275 901's and raise you some $150 L-26's. ...and I bought the Marantz 2270 that's driving them in '73 for $350 so I'm still in the bargain basement category.

    Of course, this is just my opinion. ..just like yours is. The difference here is that, unlike you, I'm not trying to force it down everyones throat and call everyone who doesn't agree with me names.

    Wooch is right. You're a troll.
    Last edited by markw; 03-20-2006 at 06:36 PM.

  20. #20
    Forum Regular Woochifer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by njspeer
    Defensive? That's odd, I was fixing to call you defensive.

    BTW, I've had several challanges to my "nothing else this cheap could sound so good" claim, yet the challenges have all been of the form "Bose sucks," or "you didn't listen to every stereo-component combanation that could be bought for $725." If you think you could put together a better sounding system for less, tell me what you would buy.
    Pretty funny and defensive that you would ask anyone what they'd buy for $725, when you still refuse to offer up what your basis of comparison is for proclaiming that "nothing else this cheap could sound so good". With a bold statement like that, I would presume that you compared plenty of systems, and carefully considered their characteristics along with your preferences before deciding on the 901s.

    If "nothing else" can compare to your 901s, then you MUST have heard something that gets blown away by the "natural" reproduction that those speakers offer up. Very interesting to hear what competing speakers you would offer up at the sacrificial altar of Bose. As such, I can name plenty of vintage speakers in that same general price range that I much preferred to the Bose 901 -- the Boston Acoustics A400, various models from Advent and AR, among others. Unlike you though, I don't claim that "nothing else" will top those choices, even if for my preferences, the 901s sound as fake as any home theater receiver's "STADIUM" or "CONCERT HALL" DSP mode.

    See, I don't take issue with personal preferences. If you love your Bose 901s, fine, enjoy them. But, when you stretch those preferences into universal truth, you'd better have more to offer than "I know what 'sounds natural' when I hear it." Otherwise, your posting pattern thus far makes you nothing more than a troll, and a lame one at that (using Bose as troll bait is such toolness).
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  21. #21
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    Agreed

    Quote Originally Posted by Woochifer
    Unlike you though, I don't claim that "nothing else" will top those choices, even if for my preferences, the 901s sound as fake as any home theater receiver's "STADIUM" or "CONCERT HALL" DSP mode.
    I confess I never took a hankering to 901s ever since I heard them back in '72. They are, however, kinda fun to hear once in a while so long as you have a Phase Linear 700 driving them.

    I rather find my vintage set of Double New Advents provides a more natural perspective.

    rw

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    Im sorry guys, I never wished for it to come to all of this. I had no idea it would. All I can say is Jesus Christ.

  23. #23
    Class of the clown GMichael's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by njspeer
    As a general rule I usually don't define words for people. The reason for this is that outside of mathematics and logic analytic definitions don't exist, but let me try to help you. The word 'accurate' compares two values or sources. In this case it refers to the difference between two signals. You could define accurate in terms of a chi squared value. The word 'Natural' does not necessarily need to refer to a source. You could say "that painting looks very natural" even if it were of a person or thing that never existed, but you couldn't say "that painting is very accurate" unless you knew that there was a source, and what it was. I hope this helps.
    Oh no, you see, I never asked you to give me THE definition. I asked you to give me YOUR definition. See the difference? Let me help you with this. I know THE definition. I was just hoping to find out what your twisted definition was. And I was looking for natural, not accurate. Natural as it applies to music. Give it another shot.

    Let me give you some more help. I am not a Bose basher. Do you know why I say this? No? Well, you see it's this way. I own a Bose stereo. That's right. My name is Mike, and I own a Bose. And I like it. It has been several minutes sense I listen to it last. I hope to listen to it again on my ride home tonight. What's more, my audiowhatever friends will forgive me. OK, some won't, but most will.

    Seriously man, no one is trying to make you feel bad about your system. I bet it sounds very good. Probably better than most 750.00 systems. You got a good deal. I hope you enjoy it for a very long time.

    Take a look at my profile. You'll see that my system doesn't cost much more than yours. I use normal speaker wire. It cost me around $30.00 for a 100' roll. The cable from my CD player to the receiver is the cheep 1/8" thick piece of crap that came in the box. I did pick up a $50 monster cable to go from my DVD player to the receiver. (let the salesman convince me that I needed it) I can't hear any difference. Swapped them a couple of times. So, I'm no audiophile. But I don't claim to be either. I just like music.
    WARNING! - The Surgeon General has determined that, time spent listening to music is not deducted from one's lifespan.

  24. #24
    Class of the clown GMichael's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChrisY
    Im sorry guys, I never wished for it to come to all of this. I had no idea it would. All I can say is Jesus Christ.
    Not your fault Chris. Let us know how your quest goes.
    WARNING! - The Surgeon General has determined that, time spent listening to music is not deducted from one's lifespan.

  25. #25
    Super Moderator Site Moderator JohnMichael's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChrisY
    Im sorry guys, I never wished for it to come to all of this. I had no idea it would. All I can say is Jesus Christ.

    Do not worry. We all like a good verbal exchange every now and then. As you see there are some strong feelings about Bose and the need to listen to many types of speakers before purchase.
    JohnMichael
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