Actually I didn't think an early pair of (properly set up) 901s I heard was all that bad. Not hifi, and you wouldn't catch me listening to them for pleasure, but they certainly gave a spacious sound, & were probably good for quiet background noise during a '70s fondue party. You know the sort of thing; picture Diane Keen (think The Sandbaggers) in a long silk cocktail dress holding a G&T & you're about there. 
Not that I'm complaining about the thought of Diane Keen in a silk cocktail dress you understand. 
Not that I'm complaining about the thought of Diane Keen in a silk cocktail dress you understand. Scottmoose said:Actually I didn't think an early pair of (properly set up) 901s I heard was all that bad. Not hifi, and you wouldn't catch me listening to them for pleasure, but they certainly gave a spacious sound, & were probably good for quiet background noise during a '70s fondue party. You know the sort of thing; picture Diane Keen (think The Sandbaggers) in a long silk cocktail dress holding a G&T & you're about there.
music, what music scott? -
that's a little red dress, with all the fixin's, right?
actually, "HiFi" has become somewhat of a private joke hereabouts - a four letter word that describes the nirvana sought by "audiophiles"
chrisb said:
The type nobody would ever listen to. Thank goodness. The later 901s are far worse than the originals, and I'm not much of a fan of those, though I think I know what they were aiming at.
Yep. A very fine thing indeed.
A long ball-gown would work too of course (in one of my rare, 'cultured' moments)... Usually of the Wilson Audio persuasion, with cables of anaconda-girth, £50,000 amps and a £20,000 CD player, right? Ah well. Not to my taste, but if it makes them happy...
MPM said:
I always kind of thought that the original NSBs, the most highly regarded batch, were OEM'd for Bose,and likely for the 901. Given the fuss that was made to de-badge them, their size, and their specs, it all seemed to make sense to me. I thought the PE guys on the board at the time kind of led one to think such toughts. Later NSBs were a different thing. I could have been way off, it was just a guess.
pj
I understand what Amar was attempting to do. However a properly designed OB or horns would do better IMHO for what his goals were.
Any time you disperse a signal from different radiation points and attempt to EQ the signal you are still left with a phase problem.
The phase problem is simply an arrival time of the original signal to a given point. Arrival time is a function of distance and speed. Speed ( in this consideration) is a constant. If all of the radiators were a same distance to the given position then the arrival time would be the same then there would be no time /phase alteration.
WAIT! i just described a single driver system???? Gee maybe i am onto something.
ron
Any time you disperse a signal from different radiation points and attempt to EQ the signal you are still left with a phase problem.
The phase problem is simply an arrival time of the original signal to a given point. Arrival time is a function of distance and speed. Speed ( in this consideration) is a constant. If all of the radiators were a same distance to the given position then the arrival time would be the same then there would be no time /phase alteration.
WAIT! i just described a single driver system???? Gee maybe i am onto something.
ron
troystg said:20 yrs ago a friend used to "DJ" with a pair of 901's and a Carver "cube" amp.
He would turn the 8 drivers facing the crowd and have the singles facing him for "monitoring".
As a teenager at these parties they were loud and didn't sound bad.
As an adult with my B&W 805's as references I remember the blissful sounds of pure ignorance.
A local disco had 901's arrayed around the dance floor (also around 20+ years ago). They were not at all bad in that application.
As I've mentioned before, I used to tour with a set of Bose Pro powered speakers that looked like an overgrown 802 (901). Had a sub of some sort inside, as well as the amp. Great speaker, really better than any Bose I've heard before or since. Sometimes good things can happen. Carried the name Acoustimass long before I saw it on home gear.
But having used more than my fair share of 802s oer the years - I think the description "muffled" is right on the mark. (Yes, I had the EQ unit) I suppose the 901 home version would be similar. The 802s were awfull for feedback, too.
Carried the name Acoustimass long before I saw it on home gear.But having used more than my fair share of 802s oer the years - I think the description "muffled" is right on the mark. (Yes, I had the EQ unit) I suppose the 901 home version would be similar. The 802s were awfull for feedback, too.
ronc said:
maybe you need a patent on that Ron, or at least some very good lawyers
FWIW, I had a couple of opportunities recently to listen to a late 70's vintage JBL Paragon system (BTW the owner had a collection of era factory & promotional literature, including price list - the retail price on the Paragon was $2040, including drivers?)
50 years later Arnold Wolf's design is still stunning, in that Jetson's space-age sort of way, even the highest resolution picture and wide screen monitor doesn't due justice to its physical scale and visual impact. Unfortunately the cabinetry work on this walnut sample definitely shows some moving damage and lack of TLC.
Anyway, he'd owned this system since 1978, and for at least 15 years was driving it with an Aragon SS pre and PS Audio 250WPC something or other. Just for giggles, I took a long a little EL84PP class A amp (approx 2% of the PS's power level ) just in case.
His immediate reaction was - I've never heard this thing sound so good (with the week he'd purchased his first tube amp) ,even though it was quite apparent to me that he's suffering from some type of gross distortion in the bass area (most likely rotted surround syndrome &/ failed caps in XO if EL), and maladjusted levels on the dividing networks. At over 9ft long and 800lbs of cabinet, this is not an easy system to "look see" inside.
How would you go about telling the ole boy that a single 6" Chinese made driver (EnABL'd FE167E ) in a pair of approx 3.5 ft^3 floor standers could out-finese this "hall of fame classic" (although not match for ultimate SPL ) ?
Best not to try I suspect Chris. I suspect the reception to suggestions of that sort might b a trifle chilly.
Paragons + lack of TLC + moving damage = flogging offense. I've never heard one, probably never will, even less likely to like the sonics on the off-chance I did hear one, but those are genuine classics. All you'd need is Bertie Wooster & Lady Florence Craye to come in, and the effect would be complete.
Paragons + lack of TLC + moving damage = flogging offense. I've never heard one, probably never will, even less likely to like the sonics on the off-chance I did hear one, but those are genuine classics. All you'd need is Bertie Wooster & Lady Florence Craye to come in, and the effect would be complete.
Scottmoose said:Best not to try I suspect Chris. I suspect the reception to suggestions of that sort might b a trifle chilly.
Paragons + lack of TLC + moving damage = flogging offense. I've never heard one, probably never will, even less likely to like the sonics on the off-chance I did hear one, but those are genuine classics. All you'd need is Bertie Wooster & Lady Florence Craye to come in, and the effect would be complete.
I'm thinking James Coburn aka Derek Flint, or Jack Lemmon's playboy townhouse from "How to murder your wife"
How anyone would want to do any harm to a 28yr old Virna Lisi, is beyond all reckoning
I've come to conclude that the best Bose Product was the most often overlooked one, the rather humble MediaMates Computer Speakers. Of course they must have sounded too much better than their beloved Wave Radio ( and pretty much everything else) at 2/5s the price so they replaced them with the crappy Companion 2s. At least because of this I bought mine at a fairly reasonable price at $50, instead of $100.
At $100 they would have been a questionable buy, but at $50, it was hard to beat them.
At $100 they would have been a questionable buy, but at $50, it was hard to beat them.
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