Some times on some music Bose can get a good sound. But price vs. performance is way out of wack. The 901 should be priced in the $200 - $300 range. For the same price you could buy a ProAc Tablette Reference 8, a Monitor Audio Studio 2se or for half that price you could get a Magnepan MMG. The Bose are made very cheaply compared to other speakers in the $1200 range. I don’t think most people know what the alternatives are. Most people just know about the big brand names.
Leve
Leve
So, I'm a troll now? Well, that's good enough to get me out of DIY...Thanks. I was just beginning to enjoy the fact that I can actually come close to bringing tears to mine own eyes after throwing a concert band piece (my band) and listening to myself just horn out that Clarinet solo with perfect timing and volume. Hearing a performance that is as if I was at my school in the front audience illustrating myself in my mind with a position that isn't where my speaker is located. Instead, I'm about two feet inward from the left speaker I can literally picture Andy just about a foot or two above the right speaker but, also about five feet behind it; just softly massaging the timpani. Feeling proud and shocked that I built that myself, my own physics, theories, and circuit board; all that I really should patent. How am I a troll? Troll? What a name, yuck! I help out other on this forum and as I matured and opened my eyes, mind and yes, ears I hoped that this little thread would vanish, but someone must be searching for bose or 901 or something just to bash. I ask you of all kindness not to judge me by this thread as I don't judge anyone by their previous actions. Everyone deserves a second chance, can I have mine?
I remember searching about for other outdoor speakers from other brand names and decided to check out some towers from B&W and Klipsch and paradigm. Cheap prices! Speakers look great, don't know about sound yet...That's another reason why I wanted to listen to these speakers, just a few feet away from the Klipsch RF-3s and all he wanted to was to listen to 201s, 301s, 701s etc. I have to admint the 201s bass is much cleaner than before, but the way that the tweeters fire pisses me off, you either have sound that fires outward (nothing in between the speakers because you localize with direct sounds amar) or, a skewed stereo if you fire them inwards. The 701s are very nice sounding, ofcourse I couldn't get a decent image test going because the room was filled with speakers but, the bass was extremely smooth and plentiful; the sound that got me into TLs.
I agree. Of all the speakers Bose sells, the 701s seem the most viable. Of course, I'd build them with the midrange and tweeter firing forward, and I'd probably make the woofer downfiring and vent the line out the back. But I think the driver complement seems pretty good (8" sub-mid-woofer, 6.5" woofer, etc.)
I'll add my vote for the 701's being the best of Bose...
It's not that Bose speakers sound really "bad" (although they surely aren't good) when compared to all the other discount stereo / mainstream stuff. They really are listenable. It's that 1. They are not accurate to the music- more like an exaggeration 2. Their marketing claims are not based in reality 3. Their legal dept. sucks! 4. they are using cheap components and using point number 2 to charge WAY too much.
The 701's, as Jam said, would be nice if they were done correctly with the right components.
-NS
It's not that Bose speakers sound really "bad" (although they surely aren't good) when compared to all the other discount stereo / mainstream stuff. They really are listenable. It's that 1. They are not accurate to the music- more like an exaggeration 2. Their marketing claims are not based in reality 3. Their legal dept. sucks! 4. they are using cheap components and using point number 2 to charge WAY too much.
The 701's, as Jam said, would be nice if they were done correctly with the right components.
-NS
Bose(o) = Troll?
Over the course of the past year or so, few people on this forum have persistently asked more intelligent basic questions about the technical aspects of loudspeaker design than Bose(o). Sure enough he came in trying to talk up his 901's, but over the course of a year Bose(o) has asked questions about phase, impedance, desirability of crossover slopes, distortion and many other technical questions.
The days when he got his technical info straight out of the Bose brochures are far behind him.
Over the course of the past year or so, few people on this forum have persistently asked more intelligent basic questions about the technical aspects of loudspeaker design than Bose(o). Sure enough he came in trying to talk up his 901's, but over the course of a year Bose(o) has asked questions about phase, impedance, desirability of crossover slopes, distortion and many other technical questions.
The days when he got his technical info straight out of the Bose brochures are far behind him.
TQWP actually, and hell yes I'll go back! I'll go to my bills from Solen and phone the number to order some Fostex drivers. The only fault that I found in my first DIY project was that my drivers were 10.97 at Wal-mart 
It worked, for a school project, where people don't have the kind of knowledge to distinguish the IM distortion. For myself, it was a challenge of how much you can get from a four-inch driver.
BTW, I didn't ever want to bring this thread up again. This thread is more of a conversation thread now.
It worked, for a school project, where people don't have the kind of knowledge to distinguish the IM distortion. For myself, it was a challenge of how much you can get from a four-inch driver. BTW, I didn't ever want to bring this thread up again. This thread is more of a conversation thread now.
i had no idea this was an old thread - it was at the top of the list.. i only read about 2 pages before i chimed in, i guess I owe an apology, sice you do appear to have grown exponentially more open minded than the my daddies bose speakers are better than your mentality that was shown in the only page i read. congrats to you for going beyond the typical consumer and learning your material !
An old-timer speaks
I just have to chime in here.
Bose(0)- you made a comment about Bose equipment being found on many US military bases. I can shed some light on this. Starting back in the early 1970s, Bose worked hard to get their products into the PX distribution chain. They succeeded.
I worked for Bose briefly in the late 1970s where I was involved in a project to construct a production facility to turn out those demonstration programs that Bose does so well. The predominant Bose show of the time was called "Speakers and Spaces" which was presented to customers to sell 901s. We used 4-channel Teac 2340s tape machines that ran 2 channels of audio and used the other two channels to control slide projectors. The show was heavily equalized, the program material was carefully chose and the 901s were modified so that the two banks of 4 drivers could be driven independently.
I have to give Bose a lot of credit for marketing. No one does it better. They have worked hard to craft a high-end image for themselves which they use to every advantage. They are particularly good at convincing the consumer that "less is more". When you look a Lifestyle system, there's not much to it, a small subwoofer, some satellites and the cd/dvd/amplifier unit. Yet they get big money for it.
I recently re-married. My wife had never heard a decent set of speakers. After a long divorce-related hiatus, I decided it was time to build some new speakers. When I completed them and played then for her, she was extremely impressed. Two months later we found ourselves in a mall that had a Bose store and we took in their latest show. She was not impressed. She said that my home-built speakers were so much better than the Lifestyle system they were pushing. I kept my mouth shut, especially druing the "close" part of the demo where they touted the special financing which, in my opinion, is usually the mark of an over-priced product that one doesn't really need. In my opinion, they are the consumer electronics world's predominant snake-oil sellers.
Yes they spend an incredible amount on engineering. I have never worked anywhere where there was such a cult of engineering. Most of the engineers were from MIT, acolytes of Dr. Bose himself. It was like being inside one of those wacky religious groups. I didn't last long because I just didn't buy it. I can only surmise that Dr. Bose has a tin ear, considering how little great sound has come out of all that effort. Of course, that's just my opinion.
Finally, Bose headquarters is in Framingham, Ma at "The Mountain" which, according to the locals is a fancy word for "landfill" since the "mountain" is man-made. I think that bit of spin speaks volumes...
I just have to chime in here.
Bose(0)- you made a comment about Bose equipment being found on many US military bases. I can shed some light on this. Starting back in the early 1970s, Bose worked hard to get their products into the PX distribution chain. They succeeded.
I worked for Bose briefly in the late 1970s where I was involved in a project to construct a production facility to turn out those demonstration programs that Bose does so well. The predominant Bose show of the time was called "Speakers and Spaces" which was presented to customers to sell 901s. We used 4-channel Teac 2340s tape machines that ran 2 channels of audio and used the other two channels to control slide projectors. The show was heavily equalized, the program material was carefully chose and the 901s were modified so that the two banks of 4 drivers could be driven independently.
I have to give Bose a lot of credit for marketing. No one does it better. They have worked hard to craft a high-end image for themselves which they use to every advantage. They are particularly good at convincing the consumer that "less is more". When you look a Lifestyle system, there's not much to it, a small subwoofer, some satellites and the cd/dvd/amplifier unit. Yet they get big money for it.
I recently re-married. My wife had never heard a decent set of speakers. After a long divorce-related hiatus, I decided it was time to build some new speakers. When I completed them and played then for her, she was extremely impressed. Two months later we found ourselves in a mall that had a Bose store and we took in their latest show. She was not impressed. She said that my home-built speakers were so much better than the Lifestyle system they were pushing. I kept my mouth shut, especially druing the "close" part of the demo where they touted the special financing which, in my opinion, is usually the mark of an over-priced product that one doesn't really need. In my opinion, they are the consumer electronics world's predominant snake-oil sellers.
Yes they spend an incredible amount on engineering. I have never worked anywhere where there was such a cult of engineering. Most of the engineers were from MIT, acolytes of Dr. Bose himself. It was like being inside one of those wacky religious groups. I didn't last long because I just didn't buy it. I can only surmise that Dr. Bose has a tin ear, considering how little great sound has come out of all that effort. Of course, that's just my opinion.
Finally, Bose headquarters is in Framingham, Ma at "The Mountain" which, according to the locals is a fancy word for "landfill" since the "mountain" is man-made. I think that bit of spin speaks volumes...
Hi Guys,
I love entering into discussions about Bose 901's, and I'm going to come to their defense, even though it may be at my peril!!
First, a little bit of background on myself to put things into perspective...I have been doing this hi-fi thing for about 25yrs (since the late 1970's) and continue to be an avid/rabid? audiophile. In the earlier days, I have owned big Wharfedale E-90's; IMF Transmission Lines - the rather large Professional Monitor & TLS-80; Celestion Ditton 66-2's; Yamaha NS1000&1200 Monitors; the Sonab OA2212 (with 32 drivers) had proper exposure to B&W 801's and owned a pair of Bose 901 Series VI in luxurious piano gloss, all in search of a speaker with exceptional bass drive. And then discovering that the Bose 901 excels in this area, but more on that later.
Now in my early 40's, my hi-fi and (music) tastes have matured somewhat and are definitely more audiophilish. I have owned or currently use Apogee Calipers; delicate Quad ESL's; Proac Response 2.5 clones; and a superb locally made 95kg ten driver Raven Ribbon/Accuton Ceramic/Cabasse speaker array (costing some $20,000+)driven by either Pass Labs Class A amps; Bel Canto DAC-1; and various valve power amps utilising 300B's/211/845/6550/KT88/EL34 valves.
Furthermore, I currently use the magnificient 'Supratek Cortese' triode pre-amplifier! A gorgeous creation of natural wood and chrome employing a highly sophisticated pure Class A, Transformer Coupled, Valve Rectified, Fully Regulated, Single Ended Triode circuit, see:
http://www.cantech.net.au/~supra/index.html
Now, you might be wondering with all this fancy gear why am I defending the Bose 901??
Quite simply no one can deny that the 901 is a design tour-de-force! and you also can't argue with success! Thousands of them have been sold, they are the most successful speaker ever made so they must do something right that the general public appreciates (audiophiles notions aside), namely:
-they have been in production for over 30yrs, are still very popular and are likely to continue to be so, forever. Dare I say it, what other speaker do you know of that has this 'pedigree', success and longevity.
- for most tastes they are a musical sounding speaker. It's like that rock-n-roll band is right in the room with you.
-no other speaker for the size and price can go louder, lower and produce the gut-crunching bass that a 901 does! They do very low bass.
-they are unbreakable and extremely reliable (except for a bit of long term foam rot).
-they have unique omnidirectional capabilities and high sound pressure levels suited to modern music and home theatre applications.
Mark my words, long after a lot of so called audiophile speakers are dead and forgotten, the Bose 901 (and the beautiful Quad Electrostatic) will continue to be produced and enjoyed by future generations.
Everything in life has it's place and purpose, so next time you feel like blindly criticising the Bose 901 - pull your head out of your audiophile backsides, and acknowledge what a clever design it really is!
For what it's worth...
Cheers,
Steve M.
PS: The W.A.R Audio Raven/Accuton/Cabasse Reference Two loudspeaker mentioned above can be seen at: www.warco.com.au
I love entering into discussions about Bose 901's, and I'm going to come to their defense, even though it may be at my peril!!
First, a little bit of background on myself to put things into perspective...I have been doing this hi-fi thing for about 25yrs (since the late 1970's) and continue to be an avid/rabid? audiophile. In the earlier days, I have owned big Wharfedale E-90's; IMF Transmission Lines - the rather large Professional Monitor & TLS-80; Celestion Ditton 66-2's; Yamaha NS1000&1200 Monitors; the Sonab OA2212 (with 32 drivers) had proper exposure to B&W 801's and owned a pair of Bose 901 Series VI in luxurious piano gloss, all in search of a speaker with exceptional bass drive. And then discovering that the Bose 901 excels in this area, but more on that later.
Now in my early 40's, my hi-fi and (music) tastes have matured somewhat and are definitely more audiophilish. I have owned or currently use Apogee Calipers; delicate Quad ESL's; Proac Response 2.5 clones; and a superb locally made 95kg ten driver Raven Ribbon/Accuton Ceramic/Cabasse speaker array (costing some $20,000+)driven by either Pass Labs Class A amps; Bel Canto DAC-1; and various valve power amps utilising 300B's/211/845/6550/KT88/EL34 valves.
Furthermore, I currently use the magnificient 'Supratek Cortese' triode pre-amplifier! A gorgeous creation of natural wood and chrome employing a highly sophisticated pure Class A, Transformer Coupled, Valve Rectified, Fully Regulated, Single Ended Triode circuit, see:
http://www.cantech.net.au/~supra/index.html
Now, you might be wondering with all this fancy gear why am I defending the Bose 901??
Quite simply no one can deny that the 901 is a design tour-de-force! and you also can't argue with success! Thousands of them have been sold, they are the most successful speaker ever made so they must do something right that the general public appreciates (audiophiles notions aside), namely:
-they have been in production for over 30yrs, are still very popular and are likely to continue to be so, forever. Dare I say it, what other speaker do you know of that has this 'pedigree', success and longevity.
- for most tastes they are a musical sounding speaker. It's like that rock-n-roll band is right in the room with you.
-no other speaker for the size and price can go louder, lower and produce the gut-crunching bass that a 901 does! They do very low bass.
-they are unbreakable and extremely reliable (except for a bit of long term foam rot).
-they have unique omnidirectional capabilities and high sound pressure levels suited to modern music and home theatre applications.
Mark my words, long after a lot of so called audiophile speakers are dead and forgotten, the Bose 901 (and the beautiful Quad Electrostatic) will continue to be produced and enjoyed by future generations.
Everything in life has it's place and purpose, so next time you feel like blindly criticising the Bose 901 - pull your head out of your audiophile backsides, and acknowledge what a clever design it really is!
For what it's worth...
Cheers,
Steve M.
PS: The W.A.R Audio Raven/Accuton/Cabasse Reference Two loudspeaker mentioned above can be seen at: www.warco.com.au
Twenty five years ago or so I was walking past a pub in town with a couple of friends.
Nice and bright jazz music came out of the overcrowded pub and we held still for a moment to see which band was playing. Damn it sounded good, real live music.
So we entered the pub and were immediately disappointed there was no band but only four Bose901’s series 1 in each corner. We were all too certain it was actually a band playing.
I happened to own 901’s long ago and wouldn’t buy them anymore for home listening but they are mighty for the concept they were used in that small tavern. I’ll never forget that experience.
/Hugo
Nice and bright jazz music came out of the overcrowded pub and we held still for a moment to see which band was playing. Damn it sounded good, real live music.
So we entered the pub and were immediately disappointed there was no band but only four Bose901’s series 1 in each corner. We were all too certain it was actually a band playing.
I happened to own 901’s long ago and wouldn’t buy them anymore for home listening but they are mighty for the concept they were used in that small tavern. I’ll never forget that experience.
/Hugo
I think I've told this story before, but it's been a while. A friend of mine's parents had one of those disgusting, ornate console stereo units from the '50s. The frequency response was probably on the order of 100Hz to, say, 8kHz at best. However, there was one record...and only one record...that my friend had that sounded great on the thing. So we'd play the same record over and over.
The moral of the story is that you can find a set of conditions: source, room, etc., that can make some pretty unlikely gear sound decent.
One more thing...while that one record was fun to listen to, it in no way sounded like real music--something the other 99 records my friend owned were desperately trying to tell us. It just took a while for the message to sink in.
I take it that jmikes is another True Believer. That's okay. We all have to start somewhere. I remember when I thought that my Panasonic compact stereo was pretty cool. Well, it was, in the sense that it was mine; the very first stereo I ever owned. Time passed and I started to see why people weren't all rushing to buy Panasonic compact stereos. Granted, Panasonic sold zillions of the things, but not to people who counted quality of sound as being important. The "ten million Chinese can't be wrong" argument is pretty weak. In the meantime, people either graduate beyond Bose...or they don't. It's no skin off my nose, either way. It's your money, your time, and your ears.
All I can do is suggest that if you claim to value sound quality, educate your ears. If you want loud, or cheap, of just to feel that you're in good company because 10 million people have bought a given product, then feel free to stay right where you are.
Grey
The moral of the story is that you can find a set of conditions: source, room, etc., that can make some pretty unlikely gear sound decent.
One more thing...while that one record was fun to listen to, it in no way sounded like real music--something the other 99 records my friend owned were desperately trying to tell us. It just took a while for the message to sink in.
I take it that jmikes is another True Believer. That's okay. We all have to start somewhere. I remember when I thought that my Panasonic compact stereo was pretty cool. Well, it was, in the sense that it was mine; the very first stereo I ever owned. Time passed and I started to see why people weren't all rushing to buy Panasonic compact stereos. Granted, Panasonic sold zillions of the things, but not to people who counted quality of sound as being important. The "ten million Chinese can't be wrong" argument is pretty weak. In the meantime, people either graduate beyond Bose...or they don't. It's no skin off my nose, either way. It's your money, your time, and your ears.
All I can do is suggest that if you claim to value sound quality, educate your ears. If you want loud, or cheap, of just to feel that you're in good company because 10 million people have bought a given product, then feel free to stay right where you are.
Grey
Allright. A thread that was started over three years ago and resurfaces at least once a year. Back from the crypt. Will they never die?
Anyway, a friend called recently to say he got a great deal on a HT set-up and wanted my opinion. Great. Then he said it was Bose. I hung up.
To each his own. I just wished I had patented the 901. Then I would be laughing my head off at all you naysayers.
Doesn't sound natural.
So?
Imaging is falsified
So?
Need an EQ just to sound halfways good
So?
Way overpriced
So? People are willing to pay for it and I am one of the richer men in the industry.
Hahahahahaha (ROTFLMHO)
Oh well. Most of us recognize the value of a Ford or a Volvo. Bose reminds me of a Hyundai with gold plated wheels.
Cal
Anyway, a friend called recently to say he got a great deal on a HT set-up and wanted my opinion. Great. Then he said it was Bose. I hung up.
To each his own. I just wished I had patented the 901. Then I would be laughing my head off at all you naysayers.
Doesn't sound natural.
So?
Imaging is falsified
So?
Need an EQ just to sound halfways good
So?
Way overpriced
So? People are willing to pay for it and I am one of the richer men in the industry.
Hahahahahaha (ROTFLMHO)
Oh well. Most of us recognize the value of a Ford or a Volvo. Bose reminds me of a Hyundai with gold plated wheels.
Cal
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