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Bose 901's with "highend ancillaries"??

I STILL see Bose 901's are available here and maybe new after umpteen years in existence and yet I have still never hear a pair (unless you count the occasional high school concert which used the professional version).

Has anyone ever used these with "highend" gear, and if so what was the result??

Just curious if there is actually something good about the speaker other than the marketing the Bose Corporation has done over the years as they have never been inexpensive and even now hold their value pretty well.

And while I ma sure one can do better for the $$$ etc etc I am only looking for comments on how they actually SOUND - strengths and weaknesses
jrinkerptdnet
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,964 posts
 
Yes all good installs I have heard are suspend from ceiling which makes for a useful alternative for some in some rooms.
gjrad
145 posts
 
Also note if you are looking for a pair you must have the equalizer. Seen many for sale without one. Also the equalizes for the different series are not comparable across all the different series if 901s produced.over the years.
Bose 901 series 1 and 2 equalizers are comparable, series 3 and are comparable with each other, and series 5 and 6 are compatible. Do some research on this, it's very interesting. And as mentioned above a good powerful amp goes a long way to improve their sound.
hifisoundguy
630 posts
 
I have heard these 901's with very.. very high priced McIntosh gear and they did sound "amazing" BUT.. they don't sound very good at all with cheap and mid-priced gear!

If I had the ""money"" to buy the "right gear" I would keep my 901's as my "Reference speakers"!!.. MAYBE that's why "Tone Audio" kept their "reviewed pair of 901's" BECAUSE they found out how good they sounded with "very high priced gear"!!..!!...!!...!!... BUT.. "THEY" are not going tell you all how good they sounded with "REFERENCE GEAR" because that would start a WAR on all these forums !! ...
veroman's avatar
veroman
299 posts
 
I cant imagine how they would sound much better with high end gear. i heard them on mid fi and all i got out of it is a bunch of so so midrange, lousy high end and fat bass with no details. would be neat to hear some refitted with good drivers tho.
billstevenson
626 posts
 
While no longer considered "high end", Bose 901 speakers are really quite good. Very forgiving and of course they do sound better with good source components and good electronics. I still have a pair, but haven't set them up in the past year or so. They are very accurate in terms of timbre and offer a distant, back of the hall perspective. When they were first introduced (1968?), AR practically owned the speaker market, with something over 50% market share. The original 901, with no where near the quality of sound of the current series, basically buried AR. I sold a lot of 901s back in their heyday. It is important to put this into perspective. No speaker from that era can compete with today's better speakers. But here we are talking about speakers that are still in production today. I could be mistaken, but think these are Klipschorns are the only speakers that can make that claim.
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