• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Bose 800 and others.

I

IsakAlexande

Active Member
No Bose bashing please..
Have anybody actually listened to a pair of these except me?
A few pics to get started:
Altpkortet563.jpg

Altpkortet564.jpg

8 drivers all facing the listener, same ones as the 901 series II I think but not confirmed. 3 wired in series x3 and then in paralell, a high power resistor makes up for the missing 9`th driver. The original equalizer supplied with these have no adjustments so I`m using a 901 series II eq, it`s somewhat modified I belive and I changed the connectors and powercord also. It`s dead silent so something must have been done to it.
 
Register to hide this ad
Some more pics:
193720156_o.jpg

Thats two 901 drivers I bought to have as a replacement.
DSCN3297.jpg

Not very wife friendly these.
DSCN3290.jpg

I need the missing four´th to test out the old two in the ceiling and two on stands trick.
 
The eq:
DSCN3294.jpg

New connectors, the old ones were no good any more:
DSCN3298.jpg

DSCN3300.jpg

I want a new top cover for this, measured it and ordered a new one in 8mm aluminum.
 
That's the pro version... using the same drivers as the 901 Series 1 and Series 2, except 4 ohms instead of 8 ohms (the 901 used 8 ohm drivers in those early model units).

The pro EQ (for the 800) had a slightly different EQ curve... less bass boost than the home version, and a LF cut-off filter to protect the drivers in a high-output condition...

IIRC, they use 4 ohm drivers... wired in series-parallel to get back to 8 ohms...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
Anyways, I`m not using them as a everyday setup only when the family has left the building sort of speak. Got a Yamaha PC2002M recently and found it was a good match for these. To keep it clean I just hooked up the eq on the cd player(Sony cdp-x303es) variable output and directly to the amp. The speakerstands are about 72cm or 28.3 inches with spikes on, just something I had lying around, will get some proper ones later.
div006.jpg
 
Very interesting, I never knew those existed. The drivers do look very similar to my series II drivers, but have a slightly different number.

The series II driver I pulled out of a trashed cabinet, have these numbers.

103342
28079
2857443
4


They must sound very similar to a 901.
 
How they sound? Best I ever had! Now I`ve only tried live recordings mostly because thats what I`m after, Bruce Springsteen, Katie Webster and such. The midrange is their strongest point but doesnt stick out compared to the rest. Trying to get a womans vocal out of a single 6.5 inch midrange speaker aint possible if you want that realistic feeling.. lol
 
This is from the PC2002M thread. I had a question of how the 901 Series II direct/reflecting concept morphed into the more conventional direct radiating Bose 800 series Pro type.

mech986 said:
I am confused:

Does your 800 model only have 8 drivers on the angled surface and no drivers on the flat surface?

I thought the Bose 901 series were supposed to have the 8 drivers on the angled face facing the front wall away from the listener and has only one driver on the flat face facing the listener. This was the Bose "Direct/Reflecting" concept with 89% of the speaker energy radiated into the room via reflection off the front wall and 11% directed to the listener.

This provides the room with a very spacious, somewhat Omni-type sound. This is also how I remember them setup at the Pacific Stereo and Federated Stereo stores I visited in the 70's and 80's.

See these writeups:

http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/425/

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=99612

Bose 901 Series II owners manual from Bose website:
http://products.bose.com/pdf/customer_service/owners/901ii_guide.pdf

See the section on placement.

However, here's the current Bose Pro 802 Panaray which shows the speaker only has the 8 drivers on the curved surface and they are meant to face towards the listener. This would be more appropriate for PA type work since most venues would not have a room boundary (front/side/back) small enough for the original 901 type application of direct/reflecting to work. This would suggest that the 800 series functions much more as a typical direct radiator type speaker system with a broader dispersion pattern because of the angled or curved baffle.

http://pro.bose.com/pdf/pro/manuals/panaray_802/ig_panaray_802.pdf

Interesting how the original direct/reflecting concept is then adjusted for use in a more open sound environment for PA work.

Regards,

Bart
Click to expand...
 
I`m not sure but listening off axis seems to give a more "musical" presentation. I guess I`ll have to try various placements, timeconsuming job. If using a integrated amp with preouts I could use the 2 channels on a pair of supertweeters to focus the sound and running the eq between the integrated and poweramp..
Would changing the original resistor for a high power Vishay or Arcol be a good idea?
Div1015.jpg

Think this is only 50 watts tolerance.
 
On the resistor, where did you find that? If it was inside the speaker, then it would be installed to make up for the 9th driver that wasn't used in the 800 series speakers. Since these were built for sound projection, they were turned around and the other driver on the other face would have been removed. I'd leave it alone as you are not going to improve the sonics with a replacement.

On the EQ you have, that's the home version and appears to be the right one for the Series I/II speakers. The metal basketson the replacement drivers indicate Series I/II drivers, too. The Bose part number is 103342. The stampings on your replacements indicate they were made tested in late 1990. Frankly, I didn't think they had kept up production of those older drivers into the 90s. I'd suggest replacing the power supply caps in the EQ to improve sonics and imaging.

I remember when the 800 series stuff came out in the late 70s before I got out of the audio biz and into the computer biz. There was also a version of the Bose 1801 power amp in a Full-Metal-Jacket, rack-mount version to compliment these speakers. The equalizer was also a little black box with no controls for the Series 800s.

So, the EQ should work fine with those speakers, you have enough power to drive them properly, and the drivers themselves appear to be in pretty good shape. Enjoy!

Cheers,

David
 
dshoaf said:
The stampings on your replacements indicate they were made tested in late 1990. Frankly, I didn't think they had kept up production of those older drivers into the 90s.
Click to expand...
2857609 is a Rola code indicating they were made during the 9th week of 1976.
 
Cool, those drivers on the pic were two I picked up on ebay since one of the 800`s had a bad driver and resistor. A high power 100watts 8ohm Arcol resistor worked flawlessly as replacement.

Trying to find a 1801 amp with pre and a 800 eq would be more difficult than locating the holy grail I think. Better off finding a Yamaha pc2002m to go along with the one I got and the fourth speaker. The Jacks on the backplates needs to be replaced as they are worn out, any suggestions? Would need to be airsealed as the speakers are sealed chamber.
 
So are the inputs that go to the 800 speakers from an amplifier--phone plugs? And are you using an adapter for the voltage change to 220~240 volts or is your eq euro style?
 
IsakAlexande said:
Cool, those drivers on the pic were two I picked up on ebay since one of the 800`s had a bad driver and resistor. A high power 100watts 8ohm Arcol resistor worked flawlessly as replacement.

Trying to find a 1801 amp with pre and a 800 eq would be more difficult than locating the holy grail I think. Better off finding a Yamaha pc2002m to go along with the one I got and the fourth speaker. The Jacks on the backplates needs to be replaced as they are worn out, any suggestions? Would need to be airsealed as the speakers are sealed chamber.
Click to expand...
You shouldn't need a Bose EQ - any EQ should work. Both the 800 and 900 Bose series of speakers need the audio spectrum being fed to them to be distorted (more bass and more highs). If you really think about it, what is in these cabinets is a flock of midranges. Where you could run into a problem is, if these are going to be used with other speakers in the same system, the same distorted audio spectrum will also be fed to those speakers.

You do need to seal replacement jackplates. Air leaks in places that aren't supposed to be there will result in dirty sound.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom