Bose 901 Speaker Review

[eminence1963]

The transit attack of them small Bose drivers is the compelling/selling point IMHO. I do perfer that kind of sound that a small driver can accomplish, versus a bigger driver. Take for instance the Polk SDA series speakers. Multi small drivers and they the Polks also project the Sonic Holagraphy of Bob Carvers Sonic Holography. I have the C1 preamp and I prefer the Polks SDA effect versus the Sonic Holagraphy though. When SH engaged at high volumes the SH gets smeared, versus the SDA effect. Just my 2 cents.
I also am a closet 901 fan of the I & II series. I dont own any 901's right now, but someday will get the I and or II series 901 at some point.

 

[Pure_Brew]

The transit attack of them small Bose drivers is the compelling/selling point IMHO. I do perfer that kind of sound that a small driver can accomplish, versus a bigger driver. Take for instance the Polk SDA series speakers. Multi small drivers and they the Polks also project the Sonic Holagraphy of Bob Carvers Sonic Holography. I have the C1 preamp and I prefer the Polks SDA effect versus the Sonic Holagraphy though. When SH engaged at high volumes the SH gets smeared, versus the SDA effect. Just my 2 cents.
I also am a closet 901 fan of the I & II series. I dont own any 901's right now, but someday will get the I and or II series 901 at some point.

The very first recording I played on these was Coplands "Fanfare for the Common Man". The sound of the timpani sounded really amazing. I've been acustomed to hearing the power of it but less so of the instrument itself, which I thought the 901 did a fantastic job of conveying. An old friend of mine just picked up those Polks and he's using a pair of Pioneer M91's to drive them. I'm supposed to stop by and give them a listen soon which will be a treat. He went on and on about the bass performance as his new "holy grail" so to speak.

 

[Pure_Brew]

My wife wrapped up the stands and put them next to the tree for me to open today lol. I've been getting some experience with placement of these. Dramatically sensitive. I just placed them were they were before, about 2-3 feet away from the back and side walls, but much lower now then when sat atop the Snells. My heart sank as I was very dissapointed. Very muddy, terrible imaging, with peaky high frequency that sounded separate from the music, like the life had been sucked right out of them. BOOM - TSSSSss....

I decided to at least play a bunch of music prior to moving again, but yup-not good. When they were up high, the inner 4 drivers was clearing the rack, so I was able to get some back wall "bounce". But now they were just firing into the rack. What I didn't really notice, is the outer 4 drivers, were actually firing into the corners, being pulled out as far as they were. So position #2 with the stands had the rear drivers firing into the rack AND the corners.

So then I put them more like 18" from the back wall. This allowed ALL the rear drivers to first reflect off the back wall. This is great! I felt for a moment "duh, this how they are supposed to be set up". What a huge difference this made. Sounds fine now WOO - HOO!

@Nando. My SX-1280 needs work. I noticed that there was quite a bit of HSSSss coming out of the Snells before. But it is much more prominent with the 901's. I'm guessing this due to the EQ boosting the noise and 18 speakers creating it lol. It did test and prove powerful, however, some of that is due to a much higher gain preamp section in the pioneer, vs the low gain denon pre.

 

[laatsch55]

Joe, when I had my 901's I found the best place was hanging from the ceiling with that 18" number adhered to religiously. up high there was nothing in the way, but you're right, placement is critical. I always thought that's where a lot of the bad press came from, folks not having the patience to get the placement right.

 

[laatsch55]

That hiss out of the 1280 is those front diff amp transistors drifting in value over the years.

 

[Pure_Brew]

Thanks Lee, at least this tube amp works and sounds really nice with these. Now that these are more or less "locked in", I can appreciate what they can do.
2:00 AM and still listening.

 

[Pure_Brew]

Wow. Almost a year since the last post. Oh well. Hooked up the 901's to the Pioneer SX-1280 today. My surprise the pioneer worked fine. Sounds great with these speakers!
Take Care.

 

[BubbaH]

Did you get the hiss taken care of?

 

[Pure_Brew]

I don't know what that was. I thought I eliminated the variables but it's not there now. This has sat for a long time since then... These things don't fix themselves so I'm not sure what was the cause...