Bose 901 have arrived, need assistance...

Genuinely confused...

Reading the manual the "ideal" height for these speakers is 36"-48", per the Bose manual. It goes on to say no less than 12". Why then would they make the stands only 17" (17.75" to be precise)?

With my "seated" position the 17" stands would work out almost perfectly, so I'm guessing the assumption is that the speakers, when people are seated, will be at the correct height with the 17" stands?

I've always like the idea of hanging them, though in my case not a particularly easy feat. Has anyone experimented with hanging them, vs placing on stands or something else to support them?

Completely satisfied with mine on the pedestal stands

Copa1934 said:

EQ arrived today! Woohoo! Just spent time cleaning it (inside and out). I'll be hooking it up tonight!

Click to expand...

:thmbsp:

Bose speakers........

I've had a pair since the early to mid 80's. Now I've got two pairs of 901's series V connected to a Series V Equalizer, all four, driven by a Kenwood M2A Basic Power Amplifier. Also have a pair of Bose 802 Series II connected to a Bose 802-C System Controller, driven by a Bose 1800 Series V Professional Amplifier.

The ideal setup for ultimate performance would be hung from the ceiling corners. I've see and heard them setup this way and with very, very satisfying results! But not everyone has them setup this way and it's not really necessary to acheive your taste.

The way I have mine set up is, I have two pairs of 901's stacked on top of each other on the pedestal and then the 802's stacked on top of them.
No problems with the setup, very pleased with the performance!

R-2-R said:

I've had a pair since the early to mid 80's. Now I've got two pairs of 901's series V connected to a Series V Equalizer, all four, driven by a Kenwood M2A Basic Power Amplifier. Also have a pair of Bose 802 Series II connected to a Bose 802-C System Controller, driven by a Bose 1800 Series V Professional Amplifier.

The ideal setup for ultimate performance would be hung from the ceiling corners. I've see and heard them setup this way and with very, very satisfying results! But not everyone has them setup this way and it's not really necessary to acheive your taste.

The way I have mine set up is, I have two pairs of 901's stacked on top of each other on the pedestal and then the 802's stacked on top of them.
No problems with the setup, very pleased with the performance!

Click to expand...

Do you play all three pairs of speakers at once?

Sometimes.
It just depends on what I am in the mood to listen to at the time.
Basically it's just the 901's which sound loud enough by themself's but when I really want to crank up the sound's I'll kick in the 802's as well.

One must keep in mind that the 901's are designed exclusively for indoor use only (hence reflective to wall's and surface's, etc.)

The 802's are designed for both indoor and/or outdoor use.

The following is just my opinion. By no means am I saying that I am an expert on Bose speakers just by experience only:

These speakers are definitely not for everyone and 'yes' there are better speakers out there (because I've actually heard them) but for me these suit me just fine. The thing though is not everyone take's the time to read the manufacture's instructions for setup, power amplifier wattage useage, connecting, etc. and when this is ignored one will not get the results as they would expect as well as comparison's to other or previous owned speakers. When choosing speakers it all comes down to what is it that you are actually looking for or trying to achieve as far as sound reproduction.

EDIT** Here is the original post on my system (before the second pair of 901's of course).


http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=371286&highlight=Racked+System

j31088 said:

You will be amazed when you a/b with the little box at how clean they will open up. I had a friend with a pair of the series III that never had the eq. For5 years I suffered listening at his apartment to them. He finally sold them to me and I ordered the box direct from bose( 20 years before ebay) it took 3 long weeks. When it arrived that was the sound I wanted.

Click to expand...

In the brief time I've had them hooked up to the Bose EQ I can say I do notice the difference. However, I think the degree of difference will very with the type of music I'm listening to. Have a lot of selections to go through. Also having tracking issues with my TT. Forgot the feet were missing and it's leaning (the plinth) to one side due to a screw head on the bottom. I'll correct later in the week, still trying to figure out the best/optimum solution.

I was expecting a more significant change, but as stated, it could be the music selection, the issue with the TT or the EQ may be due for a recap. I've read a lot posts earlier today of people who have said they're 901 speakers came back to life after the EQ was refurbished.

Again, need more time and more selections.

One thing that remains constant/present is the depth and imaging. There isn't a "blending" of sound as some have indicated, i.e. stereo imaging is lost due to reflection. Instead, I clearly hear the imaging and believe that Bose had the right idea as a live performance is loaded with reflection, with few exceptions (intentional acoustic damping, etc.). Not applicable in all cases, but where the music seems to engineered for depth, that depth is more present that with other speakers. And with far less effort in positioning.

Yeah baby!!!

I was holding back my thoughts as the albums I started off with weren't hitting me as....well just not impressing me. I decided to pop on Toto's first album and as much as I love this LP it just wasn't fun. Vocals were harsh, just blaring in general. :thumbsdn: But this proves a point, you see I decided to try something different, really different.

I grab Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass "Whipped Cream...." This album must have sold millions just on the cover alone, trust me look it up.

Anyway, I picked this up at a yard sale only because as a kid I remember listening to this, from my parents collection of course. This is some 40 years ago and we had one of those all in one systems where the speakers open on hinges, but can be removed from the hinges to be placed further apart. So, I start listening and oh my, Herb never sounded better, but that of course is a long way from 40 years ago cheap technology. I get to the second track and I'm listening in 180! Freaking instruments are all around me, but clearly positioned.:yes:

I move onto Johnny Guitar Watson "Real Mother for ya" and wholly crap! These babies are keeping up easily. But this time around the sound is more open, more depth. Not chest pounding, but that doesn't really impress me, I like listening to my music. Feeling is OK but not real, not unless you are that close to a stage. I've been to live performances, and I've performed live.

Next up Gary Wright and again great. Now I'm really buying into the EQ, and if you are a Bose owner with no EQ GET ONE! NOW!:thmbsp:

I'm beginning to think, like speakers and other equipment, the EQ needed time to "warm up" or break in? Who knows how long this bugger had been sitting around, but now when I switch from Tape to Source the difference is much more noticeable than when I started out.

Also, as I try different selections I'm finding there are some that "sing" and others that are harsh or somewhat flat sounding. Engineering really comes to light with these speakers.

Overall I'm very pleased. Looking forward to playing more LP's. Oh, switched tables out. Playing the Technics SL12D with Shure M75e with EC cartridge (likely original). Really need to update my styli on at least three of my cartridges.

I'm wondering at this point about starting a different thread with more specifics on the selections that sound best with these speakers.

Seems that hooking them to the EQ would have floored you, not just "noticed a difference". The Eq, in my opinion, makes the speakers alive, whereas without it, flat as can be.

j31088 said:

Dont even plug them in without the magic box. No Eq in the world has the +50db curves that give the 901s their sound. Your gonna be a tweaking maniac and hating the sound without the box. I have the box curve graph somewhere, and around 15khz is a +50db boost. So... with a standard eq you would need to have some frequencies pulled to the very bottom of the eq-12db, and others pushed to the very top of the eq +12db. Even at this extreme setting there is only 24db seperation, and that is still only half way to getting the curve needed for 901s

Click to expand...

Hi,
No equipment I know is capable of a +50dB boost anywhere in the audio range. None, dot mark.

More modestly (and realistically) the Bose 901 series 1 & 2 equalizer provides an impressive +19dB boost in the low and +13.5dB high frequencies, which is already a HUGE boost and very demanding for most amplifiers (I use my 901s-II with the mighty Bose 1801 which was meant for them).

It is all there for ya :



Here's what I measured on my series II "magic box", it matches quite well the specs (the table is an excerpt of the 901 EQ Service Manual) .

Note : measurement has been made with all controls set to dot marks, i.e. standard EQ.

All the restoration details are available on my website : http://dcx2496.fr/Equalizer901/901_EQ_mods

Cheers.

I've got that bookmarked!

olds442111 said:

Seems that hooking them to the EQ would have floored you, not just "noticed a difference". The Eq, in my opinion, makes the speakers alive, whereas without it, flat as can be.

Click to expand...

Read my post, #38, just above yours.

Looking forward to playing some more LP's. Haven't enjoyed LP's like this in a long time. Not so much due to the Bose, just finding a TT/Cartridge combination that worked, and I don't mean really well, just worked. Too many bad styli or missing styli. Have 6 or 7 cartridges to mess with and 6 TT's as well.

We bought some 901 series IIs about a year ago with stands, drive them with a 120 watt 80's era integrated JVC A-X900B integrated amp (same thrift store...strange bedfellows). Wife bought an equalizer for series II on ebay. She was foaming at the mouth (like I do when a steam train comes through town) in anticipation. Anyway, we were dissapointed, compared to the JBL-L166 Horizons being driven by a recapped and aligned Pioneer SX-950 in the same room.

Thought I was going to have to recap the Bose equalizer, but other things had priority, so a year later (running them daily), I give them a slight edge over the very good JBLs (L166's were a bit better than L100 centurys). They are deep now, they always had the highs and the spatial capacity, but very little below 200 Hz or so, until now. I back off the bass control on the JVC integrated now, got more than enough.

Based on this, I think that they were probably very good when new, but way out of my league back in the day.

Seems that hooking them to the EQ would have floored you, not just "noticed a difference".

Click to expand...

Makes me wonder if we have another case of not hooked up correctly.:scratch2:

I need a knob!

Copa1934 said:

EQ arrived today! Woohoo! Just spent time cleaning it (inside and out). I'll be hooking it up tonight!

Click to expand...

Forgot to mention that the EQ was missing (which I knew) the selector knob. Anyone have a 1/4" shaft "D" knob with set screw they can spare? Found a few that would work on P.E. but thought I'd ask the kind and generous AK members first.

Pushing it? :nono:

I'm glad you're enjoying the 901's, Copa.

I have a set of series II. While they are extremely picky about both placement and amplification, when they are right they can sound very good.

In the living room I had to hang them from the ceiling to get them above the 55" screen. They sounded tolerable with a Yamaha M80. Replaced the M80 with a 60 watt HK receiver, a 580i if memory serves, and holy sheet I have wonderful music. Vocals smoothed out. Sound stage got deeper. Imaging tightened up, every thing in it's place.

Bottom line is to experiment. Most would say that 60 watts can't sound better than 200 on 901's. It did for me. Didn't have the ability to shake the house off the foundation, but better in every other way.

Placement is VERY critical in my room. For every position I tried that sounded good, I tried 10 that sounded awful. The difference between alright and very good could be a matter of an inch or so one way or another. Easy to see how so many dismiss them as crap. They can be. They can also be damn good.

Have fun seeing what works for you.

js1138 said:

Makes me wonder if we have another case of not hooked up correctly.:scratch2:

Click to expand...

Read my post #38.

Thierry said:

Hi,
No equipment I know is capable of a +50dB boost anywhere in the audio range. None, dot mark.

More modestly (and realistically) the Bose 901 series 1 & 2 equalizer provides an impressive +19dB boost in the low and +13.5dB high frequencies, which is already a HUGE boost and very demanding for most amplifiers (I use my 901s-II with the mighty Bose 1801 which was meant for them).

It is all there for ya :

Here's what I measured on my series II "magic box", it matches quite well the specs (the table is an excerpt of the 901 EQ Service Manual) .

Note : measurement has been made with all controls set to dot marks, i.e. standard EQ.

All the restoration details are available on my website : http://dcx2496.fr/Equalizer901/901_EQ_mods

Cheers.

Click to expand...

http://www.audiorail.com/802_controller.gif what does the db listing on the right hand side represent? I know this is for the 802s but the high db numbers dont seem right and why are they going down