Godzilla said:
the next sound you hear will be the lawyers knocking at your door - don't you know these are an audio classic?
JGH's 1975 Stereoreview article says it all?
The 901 series has been in production for over 3 decades, and if the sample you heard were early enough production, the combination of drivers' raw sensitivity and EQ's compensation could be enough to severely test any modestly powered amplifier, and demonstrate it's grace under fire (i.e. clipping characteristics) . Furthermore, deterioration of the foam surrounds can certainly cause issues with any driver - multiply that potential by 18 "full range" ....
A brief stint in audio retail in the mid 70's afforded me the opportunity to hear / own some interesting combinations of equipment.
Aside from some of the absolutely atrocious house brand products by numerous fly by night speaker builders (think antecedents to the White Van speakers) the 901's were easily the worst sounding and hardest to properly set up.
Imagine a demo room that included Quad 33/303/ESL57, and Crown IC150/DC300 and 901's (oh, the humanity)
I was at the Bose store at the mall. I simply asked if the speakers were hooked up and the lady said yes and put them on. Another man came quickly to listen too. They started playing, i checked the receiver was set to flat and the man and i both were surprised about the way they sounded. Overall they sounded muffled. The 301's were put on next at the other man's request and those sounded even worse. The 301s were muffled and boxy sounding.
901s cost $1399 she said. Not sure that includes the equalizer.
901s cost $1399 she said. Not sure that includes the equalizer.
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.
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.
Stop it. You are making me laugh.
How about this:
New set of 802's (pro version),and the eq is blown, right out of the box.
I trace the problem to a blown transformer.
Distributor says tough cookies, either wait 3 weeks for a replacement, or buy a new one. Only available WITH the speakers, as well.
At the same time, you see, I am spending the entire night running wire in the big bar/resturaunt..first guy into the install at 3:am, last guy out at 11am, when they opened. The system had to be PERFECT and running, each day, as well....as i slowly brought all the new gear on line. So it was a nearly a total tear down and rebuild every night. PA, remote speakers, signals from different buildings, crawling through wire conduits full of 600V three phase..with audio mixed in! Fun! NOT.
No transformer. Right.....
I spend two sleepless days digging about and buying junk gear to find a R-Core that will fit the ultra-slim chassis. I managed to find a perfect fit and voltage. I had to sit there, try and be coherent enough to remember what gear existed in the world at that voltage and transformer design, with the right VA rating. And then find it..and scrap it for the transformer. A tall order to say the least. All done immediately. No time.
No thanks to the Canadian distributor, or Bose. Both declined to step up to the plate.
How about this:
New set of 802's (pro version),and the eq is blown, right out of the box.
I trace the problem to a blown transformer.
Distributor says tough cookies, either wait 3 weeks for a replacement, or buy a new one. Only available WITH the speakers, as well.
At the same time, you see, I am spending the entire night running wire in the big bar/resturaunt..first guy into the install at 3:am, last guy out at 11am, when they opened. The system had to be PERFECT and running, each day, as well....as i slowly brought all the new gear on line. So it was a nearly a total tear down and rebuild every night. PA, remote speakers, signals from different buildings, crawling through wire conduits full of 600V three phase..with audio mixed in! Fun! NOT.
No transformer. Right.....
I spend two sleepless days digging about and buying junk gear to find a R-Core that will fit the ultra-slim chassis. I managed to find a perfect fit and voltage. I had to sit there, try and be coherent enough to remember what gear existed in the world at that voltage and transformer design, with the right VA rating. And then find it..and scrap it for the transformer. A tall order to say the least. All done immediately. No time.
No thanks to the Canadian distributor, or Bose. Both declined to step up to the plate.
burnedfingers said:
Top that off with a pair of 901's with or without the equalizer.
I feel sick
The point of that comment was the stunning (to some) contrast in sonics - no doubt the ESL's had their own issues & limitations in terms of placement, max SPL, and bass response.
I owned a complete QUAD system myself for a couple of years in the early 70's, but an 800sq ft 1 BR apartment, spouse and "full range" ESL dipole speakers weren't a particularly comfortable fit. "Honey, what do we need those ugly radiators for, what about those cute little wooden cabinets I saw at the shop?" (EPI100's)
What the original QUAD ESL did right 50yrs ago is still a benchmark to many speaker designers today. Of course, I guess the 901's could be considered a benchmark in their own right.
Interesting anecdote about amateur PA's with reversed 901's - in our case powered by Crown IC150/DC300 (Thorens TD160, Revox A77 and some forgettable cassete deck as sources) - definitely would play loud enough for the high school dances, and a lot easier to move around than Altec VOTT.
MPM said:
About 15 yrs ago a brother-in-law of mine built a 901 clone by Speakerlab or some such, and didn't see the point of spending the money on the dedicated EQ - "I can just use the tone controls on my Marantz (Superscope era) pre-amp"
so, I guess you can imagine the conversations about audio at the family barbeaues
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.