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I'm amazed at what some older Bose speakers sell for


avguytx

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I know it's off topic and sacrilegious talking about Bose speakers but I'm just amazed what some older models of Bose speakers actually sell for on the auction site.  Case in point, I was perusing Facebook marketplace and someone fairly close to me had some "Bose speakers for sale".  Well, I'm not that familiar with the models so I inquired as it was showing a pair of towers, pair of bookshelfs, and 3 of the double cubes.  It was a paltry sum for the group and I asked for more pictures and what models.  They ended up being 601 Series iii's and 301 Series iii's all in black.  I did a quick auction search and was almost knocked back by how much they were bringing used and a lot of them didn't look to be in that great of shape.  My interest was now piqued, to say the least, so I made the deal and bought all of them. 

 

One 601 had candle wax spilled all over the top grill and down the front of one and it also got on one of the top woofers so that was going to need attention.  So I called my buddy Dave Miller in Tulsa to see if he had a 16 ohm Bose 601 woofer sitting around or a recone kit for one.  He didn't but directed me to get the one at Simply Speakers which uses the same supplier he does for those types.  I got the recone kit ordered and some glue and it came in Saturday and I spent about 6 hours yesterday stripping all of the old black grill cloth and recovering them with new black grill cloth and using 3M Super 99 for adhesive (like I have in the past).  I've got to recover the 301 grills, too, but that will be over the next few days.  The recone turned out great and all the other surrounds were good to go plus, as a bonus, all 4 woofers and tweeters work.  So now I'll get them listed on the auction site and see what happens.  

 

If you get a chance and have nothing better to do, go to the auction site and look up the 301 series iii and especially the 601 series iii's and see what kind of crazy money they sell for.  And, if you see a set on your local CL or FB Marketplace, etc., for cheap, buy 'em and resell 'em!  Apparently people out there are wanting these pretty bad.  Out of all of the Bose speakers I've heard over the last 35+ years of being into audio, the 601's are rather surprising for what they are.  They aren't pin point imaging and accuracy, but they fill a room with sound for sure.  

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Never heard one that was more than "tolerable."  I have heard repeatedly the flagship models COULD sound great in perfect conditions, but those I've heard simply met the well known saying "No highs, no lows?  Must be Bose!"

 

Only decent thing I ever heard was one of their professional subwoofers.  They were maybe 18" in diameter and 18 feet long and designed to be suspended on a stage. 

 

Dave

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Yeah, that's what I recalled, too, from memory of the Series III's between 1986 and 94.  But, my memory can't remember all the things I've ever heard through the years; especially after having gone to CES most every year from 1986 to 2008 and also back when they did summer CES in Chicago.  Might do some listening to them for awhile tonight while working on the new Type AA crossovers I'm building.

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Oh, I agree completely.  I'd never pay that for those speakers or what most vintage speakers have seemed to escalate in perceived value to.  But I'll sure buy 'em cheap and sell 'em.  ;)  Yes, vintage was fun when I got back into it in 2003 when I moved to the DFW area and it was abundant.  I acquired a bunch of cool things that I enjoyed tinkering with and listening to that I lusted for in the old Stereo Review and Audio magazines back in the day.  Plus mailing out those cards in the magazines and the companies mailing you brochures and information on their products.  I wish I would have kept all of those; or my grandmother would have kept them like she did my comic books and records.  

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I've got a shocker for you, those Bose 301's are pretty good, among the best speakers Bose ever put out.  They have 8" woofs and run full range, something most Klipsch speakers won't do.

 

The key is you have to listen to them in the way in which they were intended.  They are good for low to mid SPL range.  Run them that way and they sound really, really good.  Better than most Klipsch at low volume.  This is key.

 

Once you get the 301's mid volume and up, the Klipsch won't walk away from the Bose, they will run away.  The balance becomes compressed as the bass is muddy and the top end becomes distorted.  The 301's are just awful when pushed.  But for bedroom system listening levels or TV listening, they are very pleasant.

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33 minutes ago, wvu80 said:

Once you get the 301's mid volume and up, the Klipsch won't walk away from the Bose, they will run away.  The balance becomes compressed as the bass is muddy and the top end becomes distorted.  The 301's are just awful when pushed.  But for bedroom system listening levels or TV listening, they are very pleasant.

I am sure they do, but what you've described is extremely poor design.

Dave

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Lol.  The proceeds are paying for the Perk test and contribute to part of the closing costs on the land we are buying to build a new house on.  And I do have a "new" pair of Klipsch speakers....the ONLY set of Ribbon Mahogany Klipsch (inspired) Belle clones made in 2017.  lol   I could buy any new Klipsch speakers at employee purchase price....but I chose to build what I really wanted.  ;)

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15 minutes ago, Mallette said:

I am sure they do, but what you've described is extremely poor design.  -Dave

 To a degree Dave, but no more so than Klipsch speakers that don't sound good low because they need a higher SPL to properly load the horn. 

 

It's a design characteristic that the Bose sounds good where most normal people listen, and the Klipsch is high performance at lifelike SPL.

 

I truly do compare Klipsch to high performance race bikes I used to own.  When you are going flat out on a race track the better my KTM motocrosser performed due to its high explosive horsepower and stiff suspension.  But for a leisurely trail ride, it wasn't much fun, it needs to be pushed.  My Honda XL 250 trail bike with mild power and soft suspension was much more pleasant on the trail.

 

Not that it matters but I stripped my XL 250 of it's lights and put knobbies on and took it racing.  It responded by almost instantly bottoming the fish-oil filled shocks on a jump and threw me over the bars.  It landed on top of me, breaking two ribs.

 

I broke two ribs, the bike was fine.  B)

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42 minutes ago, wvu80 said:

I've got a shocker for you, those Bose 301's are pretty good, among the best speakers Bose ever put out.  They have 8" woofs and run full range, something most Klipsch speakers won't do.

 

I've heard most all of the Bose speakers plenty of times over the last 35 years....mainly the older models up to mid 90's, I guess.  While I agree that the 301 III's are about the best bookshelf speaker they ever made, I'm not sure I could live with myself with them being in the living room.  I'd rather sell them and either use one of the two pairs of Dynaco A25's I have or just buy something new.  

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Just now, avguytx said:

I'd rather sell them and either use one of the two pairs of Dynaco A25's I have or just buy something new.  

Those are in the top tier of all bookshelf speakers ever made, along with the Frazier Super Monte Carlo.  One of my best friends has a system with a pair of A-50s I recommended to them in the 70s and a pair of A-25s in the rear he purchased later.  It's driven by a 2 channel amp and through a Dynaco Quadapter.  I always it expect it to sound great when I visit, but never quite remember that it is probably the best I've ever heard at low through concert level volumes.

Dave

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6 minutes ago, wvu80 said:

 To a degree Dave, but no more so than Klipsch speakers that don't sound good low because they need a higher SPL to properly load the horn. 

Unless they are really terrible, I don't much care about speakers at low levels.  Anything less than concert level is, by nature, increasingly less accurate as you go down.

 

Dave

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I believe when I first started working at the local home/car audio dealer back in the mid 80's, we were carrying the Bose Interaudio series speakers.  I don't recall them being anything special but they sold ok.  Around 1988, I think it was, we were selling  the Bose 4.2. 6.2, 8.2 and 10.2 "Stereo Everywhere" speakers.  We sold a poop load of those and they actually played quite loud and good off of Adcom amps...especially the 10.2's on the GFA-555 II.

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4 minutes ago, avguytx said:

I'd rather sell them and either use one of the two pairs of Dynaco A25's I have

Ah c'mon, those Dynacos had SEAS tweeters and were some of the best sounding bookshelf speakers ever made!  Not a fair fight between them and the Bose 301's, it would be a first round knockout for the A25's.  B)

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A buddy of mine in high school had a pair of Bose 4.2's and that's what got me hooked. My first "big boy" speakers were 301 Series III. I did a little research before listing then on CL recently and couldn't believe that the older 301's were fetching as much as the newer ones. I have a pair of series I 4.2's hooked up in my garage for nostalgic reasons. Bought those off of CL for $40. Every time I've upgraded equipment I can't believe what I used to think sounded good.
Funny, if it weren't for Bose speakers, I wouldn't be on a Klipsch forum. And that high school buddy wouldn't have a pair of RP-280F's.

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3 minutes ago, Mallette said:

Those are in the top tier of all bookshelf speakers ever made, along with the Frazier Super Monte Carlo.  One of my best friends has a system with a pair of A-50s I recommended to them in the 70s and a pair of A-25s in the rear he purchased later.  It's driven by a 2 channel amp and through a Dynaco Quadapter.  I always it expect it to sound great when I visit, but never quite remember that it is probably the best I've ever heard at low through concert level volumes.

Dave

 

 

I've had both pairs for at least 10 years if I recall.  And let me tell you, a stacked pair of Dynaco A25's literally walked all over both pairs of Altec 846b Valencia's I owned for a short time.  It was literally no contest.  I even remember where I picked up both sets of the A25's at; one pair in a thrift store in OKC for $12 and the other at a thrift store in Tulsa for $15.  I just can't part with them as I doubt I'd ever come across any ever again.  They are quite the iconic speaker for the amount of them that were sold.  Very easy to listen to and more so after an easy single 5uf cap change per speaker.

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