Experiance with BOSE

[aimen]

hi
Friend of mine insists that i should buy BOSE 901s for my HT based on his experiance
he is into this stuff for years so i kind of had some advices on HT
Reading really bad comments abt BOSE and its speakers , i am kind of ???
here is his experiance and y he recommends 901s

901s r the most stubborn speakers....according to his experiance over the past years
he has 901s now for several years, they have been used for HT music Parties everthing

he a year ago made another HT with Acoustic Research AR1 ( 3way, 15' 500w sunfire sub) as mains and rears and B&W HTM1 center channel power by Denon A1SE amplifier ( 170 x 7). this setup isnt used much, was going fine, one day a small party was held and his friends were listening to music at high volumes, 3 of 4 AR1s now has blown melted mids producing scratching sound, HTM1 doesnt work any more. the sourrounds are blown also but which were expected as they were 150 max and were power buy 170 in all ch stereo, nothing special there but AR1s were supposed to handle 300watts cont. aswell as B&W , both of them were not overpowered but still they broke down. WHY???

the material used was a VCD which had bad recording so that can be a cuz. but same stuff have been used with BOSE 901s, 802s and never had any problems , they go loud without problem , OK they dont have much base, but buy a sub and ur done. These BOSEs have been used at much louder volumes for much longer periods but they never broke down, they have been used with Denon , Yamahas , carver , etc, never had a problem.

he also has old infinities and technics but they also start to distort at loud volumes
he uses old POLK LSi series speakers at his another theatre which is used daily for abt 3-4 hours powered by yammy 90x5, they also start to distort at high volumes but for HT they r doing excellent job, all they need is refoaming.
only other speaker which never gave him any problem is PSB center channel Model??

so wts the end result

BOSE 901s may not have best sound quality but they go loud without problem/distortion, have big soundstage, reliable, long lasting, needs a SUB, and slightly expensive

After all this i came to a conclusion that bose is not all that bad company as most of the ppl say here, am i right??
plz give ur input and thoughts
i shall really appreciate em weither they r for or against BOSE

Regards

[vivisimonvi]

I have the 401 floorstander model which are rare, and they only sound good at any volume using FLAT frequency levels, otherwise they don't sound like they're supposed to (at least in my opinion). My SVS sub with these make a really good setup (I'm only running receiver power here).

I've never heard the 901's but, I have these speaker brochures I've saved since I was a kid, one reviewer commented on the 901's:

"...the 901 VI sounds better loud - I mean really loud - than almost any loudspeaker around... In fact, the 901 VI is the first dynamic loudspeaker in some time that's been able to clip my power amp before running out of clean reproduction." - Daniel Kumin, Digital Audio & Compact Disc Review

These also have the specs listed for some of their models and the 901's (series VI) are for amp's rated from 10 - 450 watts per channel - 250 watts IEC - 8 ohms. Sounds like than take a LOT from just about any consumer power amplifier.

If you plan to buy a used pair, another reviewer from here STRONGLY suggested that you use the right equalizer for the correct series 901. If you have the series II model for instance, you must have the series II equalizer to go along with it, mixing them would likely give you unsatisfying results and incorrect equalization.

[skeptic]

Among my speakers, I have owned original Bose 901 for 35 years. I rarely listen to them. In some ways they are different from the current series VI version.

This is NOT an accurate speaker IMO, at least not in timbral accuracy of acoustic instruments. It also doesn't have the low frequency reach of the original version or of the best speakers available today. I don't think its high frequency capabilities are impressive either. You will need to take special care to place them in a room as the manufacturer recommends, 12 to 18 inches from a wall for their sound to reflect off of and you can't have lots of other furniture or objects interfering with the ability of the speaker to reflect its sound or its special sound quality will not manifest itself. Purchased new, they are not cheap, about $1500. In a HT setup, you will need 2 pairs and you MUST use the included equalizer in the way Bose recommends to get the flattest frequency response they have to offer. If you can overcome all of these objections, have the space, don't care about the price, and don't mind their sound coloration, then this may be the right speaker for you. But listen carefully first and be aware of their limitations before you take the plunge.

BTW, adding a subwoofer can be a little tricky because you will need to use the equalizer in the signal circuit for the 901s but you will not want it in the circuit for the subwoofer. This may entail additional equipment and careful planning. Give this consideration and discuss it with the dealer before you buy. If he tells you this is not a problem for adding a subwoofer, he is lying.

[F1]

Well if the championship of good speaker is based on how loud home speakers can output, I guess Cerwin Vega! floorstander with 15" woofer will win the trophy. It easily hits 100dB SPL from a mere 1 watt amplification. It goes lower and higher than Bose 901 and costs much less, too.

There is one reason why people don't recommend Bose: They are waaay overpriced for their sound. And there is another reason why people hate Bose: Many of their business practices are not ethical.

[Bryan]

Odds are your friends speakers blew because they were run extremely loud for a long time. They are not designed to be run 300W continuous RMS. They are designed for peaks of 300W. Odds are it was peaking quite often at the party which is why they blew.

Bose overall prices their products too high. Most of the grief they get is from their Lifestyle, WaveRadio, and AM series of speakers and that is deservedly so. They focus on the marketing rather than the products.

For the $1,400 price of the Bose you could get an excellent pair of speakers (Rocket RS550s for $699 plus shipping perhaps?) and an excellent subwoofer such as the HSU VTF-2 or SVS 25-31PCi to boot.

[trauski]

not really sure how you would use the 901's in a HT application as the EQ ive been told messes every thing up. plus a lot of current HT recievers wont even work with the bose 901. as for blowing the speakers, i blew out a few advents in my college days. todays recievers are a little harder to gauge dangerous volume levels. i had a nad 7140 reciever back then and my general rule of thumb was not much more than 12 o'clock on the volume dial. most dials are not calibrated like that any more. 1o'clock was my max and really anything after 1 o'clock didnt get much louder but caused distortion, and the amp to work really hard even with soft clipping enabled. of couse with alcohol and college students i came over to the stereo and some idiot had put it to 4 oclock and the next day my speakers where in the shop getting new tweeters and the crossovers unmelted. now the advantage to the newer multi stepping volume nobs is that when my 4 year old goes over and turns the nob 180 degrees it doesnt make that much difference in loudness as it steps in very small increments. my advice to your buddy is less alcohol and less volume.

[Hoho]

. . . no matter what anyone says, but they were designed for two-channel stereo, not for 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 channel home theater. For one thing, the EQ will make it difficult to combine 901's with other speakers. For another thing, even some people at Bose Customer Service admit that the indistinct imaging of the direct-reflecting sound configuration isn't best for home theater. That presumably means that the 601 Series IV aren't good home theater speakers, either.

I've never tried it myself, but the Bose professional line is supposed to sound excellent in home theater. Put three 802's across the front, with their controller (the pro model is called a controller instead of an equalizer), with a Bose subwoofer and Panarray speakers for surrounds. The biggest problem, as I see it, is that the 802's are not styled for a home decor, unless you get the discontinued 802-W, which had a walnut veneer cabinet.

[joel2762]

don't really want too either but here's what I'm thinking....4" drivers- too big to reach high frequencies, too small to produce low bass..Wouldn't they just sound junky? Maybe the equalizer fixes this or something? But I know i'll NEVER buy a Bose product...

[This Guy]

If that's the kind of speaker you want, just buy a pair of PA speakers, Big 15" woofers and a horn tweeter. Usually no Less than 96 dB 1 watt/meter, get down to about 50 hz, and up to about 18 khz. While easily handling around 400 watts continiously. Bigger power handling, bigger drivers, and much more efficient while remainging less than the 901's, oh and placement won't be such a ***** either with these. So why would anyone buy the 901's?

-Joey

[aroostookme]

I guess you need to hear another wounded audio lover's testimony about how marketing campaigns and brochures and slick controlled travelling Bose sound rooms convined me to buy and keep two sets of Bose 901's for about a decade.

Logically, 9 little speakers pounded by an active equalizer to try to sound like a woofer and a mid and a tweeter seems a tough sell all these years later. But I bought them anyway.

Here's my lasting anquish about my Bose years. I found myself trying to lie to myself to justify my choice. These are, like the Acoustimass models, not hifi speakers really. They are middle of the road imiatations of hi-fi with a lot of hype. I have not regreeted Day 1 without them and still use them as comparisons in my listening when I hear a real low end on a speaker or a real soundstage from a pair of speakers or real hi-fi from a $100 pair of Paradigm Atoms.

Really, go past the Best Buy audio offerrings and get to a hi-fi store that has something similarly priced. Take your own CD and listen to a few reputable hi-fi brands.

I went from 901's to Kef Reference 1's and had to relisten to my entire LP collection. That much of a difference. I also own some reasonable priced older Snells and still keep my Paradigm Atoms.

The Atoms are an excellent A-B test with the 901s. I asked myself how can these things come so close and even be better on the high end? That got me to question and dig out of denial.

Then I went to a small audio shop and listened to Kef floorstanders. All I felt were exceptionally better than my Bose.

By the way, my final reason for buying the 901's (over ESS at the time) was a friend's opinion. I should have followed my instincts.

PS -- the 901's are incredibly inefficient and require massive power to even come to life. Figure that in the overall speaker costs.

Good luck.

[Florian]

Why anyone would buy a 901 is beyond me but ok. Those things do not handle real power believe me. The reason why they run on large is properbly that they have an internal x-over that doesnt feed anything below 200 Hz in there. I would love to see a 901 feed on my Krell :-)

People cannot compare any BOSE speaker every made or some other speakers with High End products. They may be good for the enthusiast, but not for a perfectionist. The Paradigm Atom is a great speaker for the price, but its still far far away from the truth.

If you like to rock and have a pretty cool system to jam too then look for a old Klipsch Horn and use a single triode tube am with 8wpc or something. They will make your ears giveout before they do and have dynamics that no BOSE can even dream about.

-Flo