Bose 901

My dad had 901's for a while, connected to a Marantz receiver. This was before the days that sound-staging became such a critical issue for stereo nuts, and the spacious sound that emanated from them was revelatory for this teen-aged audiophile.  It didn't hurt that the rig could really blast.

In the early 80's while stationed in Germany, I purchased a pair of original 901's with the EQ and chrome stands.  At the time, my system consisted of a Pioneer SPEC-4 power amp, SoundCraftsman SP-4001 EQ/pre amp, Technics SL-1600MK2 TT, Pioneer PL-1000 TT, dbx3bx range expander, dbx224 noise reduction unit, Teac X-10R R2R, and Rodec mixer.  I thought the 901's sounded great, especially when playing my R2R.  

As a side note, I still have all of my 80's gear, except the 901's and Pioneer TT.  I gave the 901's, EQ, and stands; a modern receiver; and a Raspberry PI DAC to my goddaughter as a birthday present.  My current Tannoy speakers blow them away, but back in the 80's and 90's, I was in stereo heaven.

The 901's certainly didn't need 350 watts to drive them. I always thought Bose is overpriced/mediocre equipment. Still do. Years ago, just being curious, I purchased a used pair of Series 3 with stands and EQ. I discovered that the foam surrounds were completely deteriorated and replaced them with new surrounds. I just wanted to see how good these speakers were since their retail price (new) was so high at the time.
For a short time I listened to the speakers with my 12 band EQ connected. I thought the dinky little Bose EQ couldn't come close to my much superior EQ. One day I connected the Bose EQ and the difference was night and day. The Bose EQ is a VERY important part of the 901 sound and using them without it is a waste of time. Of course, taking these speakers seriously is a waste of time. Equipment far superior to Bose at a fraction of their cost is plentiful.

I had a pair of the more conventional 501’s but lusted after the 901’s.
We’ve come a long way baby!

The Series I (“9 Rave Reviews!!”) were just getting the Bose propaganda machine warmed up.  Series II are the ones to look for. They had the drivers custom made, not off the shelf as in S I.  Yes they needed power because of the steep bass boost.  To make them more commercially viable Series III brought in the use of injection molded plastic cabinets and vented loading, and entirely different EQ shape. They were no longer remotely interesting and have remained so, IMO.