Anyone Make An Improved 901 type speaker cabinet?

[Jeepwalker]

Hello. First post here. Anyone make a 901 type cabinet and experiment with different type of drivers, etc, to come up with a home-brew 'improved' sound? I guess what I'm thinking of is different type and arangement of speakers in a similar cabinet, maybe 6 1/2" (or larger) woofers, tweeters, crossover, etc instead of the standard full-range speaker set-up. Interested to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,

Jeep..

[mlise]

Hi,
Ed Long actually designed the original 901's. He begged Dr. Bose to use a tweeter, but Bose insisted on 9 identical drivers and an EQ box to bump the highs and lows up to something like flat. I put a 1" Vifa silk dome tweeter in my 901's, and it was way better than the EQ box.
What do you like about the 901? The stands? Or showing them off to your cocaine snorting buddies that never grew up from the '70's? They really sound terrible, but they're such a period piece (before my time) I can't chuck them. They mate up so well with my old Pioneer receiver and still sound terrible.

What do you like about the venerable Bose 901?

Cheers.

[bear]

They sound great on Led Zepplin, pumped - assuming you have a clear plaster and lathe wall...

But, the answer to the OP's question is yes.

I did that in ~1973.
At that time I used an array of Goodman's Maximus drivers (look 'em up), in a cabinet that was a single row of drivers on each rear face. Five or 6 high, so 10 or 12 drivers facing rear, two in the front.

If I can recall, I think that in one of these incarnations I used a mylar dome tweeter rear firing...

That was 1973

[Inductor]

Bose 901 loudspeaker | Stereophile.com
You can always start with a list of drivers
Replacement Speaker Driver for Bose 901 4-1/2" 1 Ohm 290-922
http://www.tb-speaker.com/detail/1230_04/w4-1720.htm
http://www.tb-speaker.com/detail/0305_05/w5-1374sb.htm
http://www.tb-speaker.com/detail/1230_04/w4-1129e.htm
FR 8 JS - 8 Ohm
http://www.faitalpro.com/products/fi...atasheet_8.pdf
http://www.faitalpro.com/products/fi...atasheet_8.pdf

[Jeepwalker]

What do you like about the venerable Bose 901?

Good question. Answer is looks, pedigree and history. I was thinking about buying a cheap set off Craigslist. I sometimes see them selling really cheap (that need replacement drivers or refoaming) to display in my vintage audio corner I am putting together. Personally, I've got plenty of nice speakers I am satisfied with. I'm not overly concerned about the quality of thier audio. Maybe it's better if they don't sound so great, so others can hear for themselves. I plan to put a plaque outlining the history of various pieces of equipment as a talking point.

But then I started thinking that I might consider making a pair of 901 look-alikes with a completely different driver arrangement that would actually sound great. For example, I could stick two 8" woofers, a midrange, tweeter, ported cabinet, x-over in a 901-looking cabinet and have a pair of "improved" 901's that sound as better than most large bookshelf speakers.

So, I was wondering what 901 improvements others have come up with?

Thanks,

...jeep

[benb]

There's a thread on Audiokarma where someone refoamed a pair (18 drivers!). I can't imagine, I've refoamed a few pair of Infinitys and it was a lot of work, but at least I was well rewarded with the resulting sound!

[bear]

If you build a 3-way system you will have nothing even vaguely like a 901.

Also, there is not enough volume in the 901 enclosure to support that sort arrangement.

The basic idea for the 901 or any "line array" type speaker is that the sound is only as good as the sound of one single driver, but you get much more power handling and the opportunity to use some of that extra power handling for EQ.

Something like a Phase Linear 400 is about the right power and DF for a 901.

[a.wayne]

The best i have ever heard 901's play , was when they were teamed up with Bose amplification and yes you needed that kind of power ....

Fantastic speaker ....

[prairieboy]

Gale GS401?

[dumptruck]

Tang Band W4-1720 could work very well with a bass reflex port added and a tiny bit of shelf filter or EQ on the upper mids, i.e. none of 901 power-gobbling EQ. Would I spend $600 to try it? No way.