nomad02rider Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 My wife and I were doing some Christmas shopping so we stopped in the Bose outlet store. I have not heard any Bose product since I got my Klipsch. Well I asked to audition the 901's. In fairness the place was very busy and many systems were playing at once. The saleslady started up an Onkyo??? and then switched on the 901's. We listened for a very short while to some jazz. I thanked the lady and my wife and I left. Once outside I asked my better half what she thought? She told me I did very good with our Klipsch. I thought they sounded very small and was in now way shape or form any comparison to the Cornwalls or Belles. I remember hearing 901's for the first time in the 70's and thought they really rocked. Well we are happy with the speakers we ended up with. I think the 901's listed at just under $1400. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgw323 Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Bose 901's are great. Just put a red dot in the center of each driver & you can use them to play darts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Those Bose store demos are quite good marketing for the uninformed. We Klipsch forum maniacs know better. 25 years ago I heard a Carver Bose 901 system. It was allot of sound but very little music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted December 16, 2007 Moderators Share Posted December 16, 2007 I like that alot Audio Flyn, " It was allot of sound but very little music. " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el jopez Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 I agree. I may have to use that amongst the Bose audio snobs that I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felitopaz Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 I used to have Bose 901series VI. I now own Klipsch RF-7 and I am very glad I got rid of theBose. Remember this: IF IT HAS NO HIGHS AND NO LOWS IT MUST BE A BOSE!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNRabbit Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Everyone should hear a BLOWS systems once... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Roland Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Back in the '70s, I succumbed to Bose's hype, which at that time was, "Bring home a legend", and brought home a pair of 901 IVs. Of course they sounded hugely spacious, scattering sound all over the place, and it was seductive...for a little while. Then I noticed that the sound of one singer sounded like it was billboard sized, bloated like someone singing in a barrel. I sold them and bought a pair of Cornwalls. George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbuckster Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 I just saw a Perfect pair of 901's, with stands and equalizer for $450. ......... that's a nice deal !!!!!!!!!!! Say what you want or will about BOSE, they know how to advertise, and their style works ............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest srobak Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 25 years ago I heard a Carver Bose 901 system. It was allot of sound but very little music. *raises hand* My name is Shawn and I used to own Bose. *hangs head in shame* 1st gen AM-5's, right when they came out, 20 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom3 Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 Bose dealers used to demo the 901 with a oval blue glass mirror behind them, so they would have a consistent first reflections surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 I just saw a Perfect pair of 901's, with stands and equalizer for $450. ......... that's a nice deal !!!!!!!!!!! Say what you want or will about BOSE, they know how to advertise, and their style works ............ what's their slogan? Better Sales Through (marketing) Research? or something like that.... They might be right in that most of the sound of a live performance might be from the reflected sound? I really don't know... but reproducing the recording of that primarily with reflected sound would seem to be creating additional reflections and not at all recreating the performance accurately. A lot of people like Bose sound - probably because that may be the best they're heard up to then? And probably doesn't sound that bad. Just not that good compared to Klipsch. In all fairness, most speakers don't sound that good compared to Klipsch. Personally, I think our cheap little Advent Marbl speakers we use outside hold up very well (sound better to me at least) than our former neighbors' Bose outdoor speakers, the larger 2 way models that go for about $400 a pair. Hope to get some Klipsch outdoors in place by next summer. Would be no contest then but said neighbor has moved away and took the Bose with him. Will miss him, even the Bose as he occasionally played some good music. And they've got the style over substance market - as the Lifestyle systems can virtually be hidden away and are very unobtrusive. I hope RP is working on his redemption plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 I have a pair of their Nautilus 801's in my main system. They are great speakers. Why are you guys so down on these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 I have a pair of their Nautilus 801's in my main system. They are great speakers. Why are you guys so down on these? I'm not down on them at all....I have a set of series VI that sound great in my home office. My home office is 9X11 in size with a large roll top desk and a small equipment rack in them. The only speakers that sound any good in the office is the 901's. Mainly because I can sit them on each side of the top of my roll top desk and let the top half of the room seet the sound stage. For large ventues, I would go with 802's elevated about 8ft off the floor along with some bass bins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 >They might be right in that most of the sound of a live performance might be from the reflected sound? No, they are not right, unless the performance is in a gymnasium. Gawd, not Blose again... If I had a room that nothing sounded good in but Blose I would call a priest with bell, book, and candle. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest srobak Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 I am really surprised to read some fo speakerfritzs' message. Coming from someone who apparently owns Klipsch... how can you really think and say that you get anything close to acceptable sound out of a box filled with 9, non-crossed, "full range" drivers? How the 901 became the flagship speaker is beyond me, really. I had to use 802's (think 901's spun around to face the listener, in poly cabinet for pro/road use) with 802BP's (subs) at a couple of gigs... they sounded somewhat ok, but required some very extreme equalization, and I crossed the sub cabinets pretty high to take the demand off the mains. Sometimes the pogram would just sound like mush. For giggles once I set up my JBL cabs next to the 802's because I had brought them with me anyhow, and of course the Bose were completely annihilated. In reality - a pair of Cerwin Vegas would sound much better than 901's. That being said... the old 501's - which were the size of end-tables and had a 10 inch driver and the whole direct-reflecting tweeter arrangement sounded loads better than the 901's... but was missing a lot in the midbass area. To be honest, I thought that if Bose were ever to take it's "famed" 4.5in driver out of the 901 and put 1 or 2 of those in the 501 cabinet, it might actually make for a pretty decent sounding cabinet. I also thought the same about the AM-5's (now the Lifestyle system)... replace one of those tiny tweeters with their 901 driver to extend the frequency range. But... I digress... allow their sound to be full of holes. Of course the old school 501 was replaced with those skinny little towers that sounded like crap. The old 501's required gobs of power though. The 301's were actually halfway decent bookshelf speaker - but required gobs of power, as did their big brother - the 601's. While the direct/reflecting thing in the 301's and 501's certainly made for some funky imaging and strange sounds slapping from non-existent sources... the driver arrangement on the 601 took that to a whole new level of obscure and strange... and would really suck the power down... 601's: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkalsi Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 My friend just scored a killer deal on a pair of B&W 802 (about seven years old I think) from a guy whose wife wanted to get ride of big floor standing speakers and "get something small that also sounds good" (she felt Bose would give her that). He said he kept thinking if the lady was partially retarded? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest srobak Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 Must be... those B&W's are really sweet sounding speakers... even by today's standards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 Must be... those B&W's are really sweet sounding speakers... even by today's standards. Eh? The standards changed? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 >They might be right in that most of the sound of a live performance might be from the reflected sound? No, they are not right, unless the performance is in a gymnasium. Gawd, not Blose again... If I had a room that nothing sounded good in but Blose I would call a priest with bell, book, and candle. Dave Thanks for sharing..... but yes....in my 9X11 office with my large roll top desk, equipment rack, and small book shelf.....the 901's sound better than my Heresy's....better than my 60th anniversary khorns....better than my LaScala Pro's....better than my LaScala home versions.....I had cornwalls in there as well and the 901's sounded better as well....maybe I should try some Jubilees or MWM's in that room......the additional advantage of the 901's aside than sounding better in this small room...is not needing floor space....they are installed to use the top have of the room....so the bottom half is free and clear. I'm thinking 9X11 might be too small for Heritage products if you will also have furniture in the room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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