Bose 901's with "highend ancillaries"??

Seems like a rasonable review.

I usually enjoy them when I hear them in well set up pro/public venues.

Like any speakers at the price point, they will have strengths and weaknesses that may fit some and not others.

Bragging rights with audiophiles will not be a benefit though for sure. Maybe with most others though who are way more plentiful.

I have heard them multiple times with a range of gear. They are not even close to being a high-end speaker. In fact, I would say they are some of the worst speakers I have ever heard in the context of audiophile products. Artificial highs, bloated bass and maybe a decent midrange (being kind). The design of the product is flawed from the start and no amount of tweaking/modification can bring them into an acceptable range of performance.

You'll probably find this thread to be of interest. My comments in it were as follows:

01-07-12: Almarg

01-07-12: Johnnyb53
There are other things I don't agree with. For example, Amar Bose arrived at an 11/89% ratio of direct-to-reflected sound based on his measurements of Boston's Symphony Hall. The thing is, Symphony Hall is one of the most reverberant concert venues in the world.

I would add that there are problems with the 11/89% ratio in at least two other respects:

1)A recording of a performance in a hall will already have captured both direct and reflected sound. And if the recording is well engineered, that will have been done in a reasonably proper ratio.

2)A given ratio of direct to reflected sound that is produced by the speakers and the listening room will be perceived completely differently than the same ratio would be perceived in a concert hall, because the delay times between direct and reflected sound arrivals are vastly different in the two cases.

Putting aside issues related to quality of implementation, the basic concept itself is fundamentally flawed IMO.

Disclaimer: I have never heard a Bose speaker. I also have no desire to.

Regards,
-- Al

My first speakers were Bose 901 Series 2. I liked them very much. I never paired them with anything more than a Pioneer receiver and 16 gauge speaker wire. I was happy. That is the bottom line isn't it? This high end hobby drives all of us crazy. I don't believe that "high end" would be attainable through the Bose however. The EQ is VERY unnatural in the way it forces the frequency range to accommodate drivers that were never meant to reproduce highs and lows.

I bought a pair back in the early 80s when I was stationed overseas. "Party" speaker is an excellent descriptor for the 901s. You can really go loud with them.
The amp was a Sansui B2101 with a Kenwood preamp and of course the source was all vinyl. At the time I enjoyed the heck out of those speakers. Very easy to listen to if you had space to set them up.
Years later the surrounds rotted so Bose sent me a new pair for not much money and my old speakers as trade in. I sold the new 901s without ever hooking them up and bought a pair of Paradigm large floorstand speakers. I have to say the Paradigms sounded much better. That is until my son blew the woofers on them. He wouldn't have been able to do that with the Bose.