Bose 901


Hi folks, what is your opinion about the Bose 901? Can it competes with the high end speakers which are frequently mentioned here, like Wilson, Thiel, Revel, B&W, etc.? Please try to be objective and try not to be driven by some prejudice towards the marque.
dazzdax
Depends on what you want. I don't need pin point imaging. I need LOUD rock that wont clip and distort. I haven't listened to them in about 25 years but they were the ones that I wanted and couldn't afford. I tried the 501's but they never worked for rock. The 901's sure did though.
They were classic PX speakers. Some of you will know what I mean.
Dang Scott, It's been 30 years since I heard these at the PX in Kadena. Flashbacks are scary

John
Dazzdax, Your question sent me down memory lane. 1972-74 and sitting in the barracks in Furth, Germany drinking "Rad" beer and rocking out on the Who, Golden Earring, Black Sabbath, Curtis Mayfield (and suffering thru the Chilites and the Jackson 5). Sitting in on weekend long hands of Spades, the music never stopped and the guys that had the 901's were top of the heap. My setup were 501's driven by a Pioneer SX 9000 with a Gerrard Zero 100 turntable, and an Akai R to R. 19 years old and Life was good. Dave
Most audiophiles are not familiar with the original Bose 901s. Every subsequent version of the 901 has been a step down. And other Bose speakers are, from the audiophile viewpoint, inferior from the get-go. (The tiny cubes do have some merit for inconspicuous background music). This is why Bose is the whipping boy of Audiogon.

In the right room, with something like a rough brick wall to bounce the sound off, and a very powerful amplifier to cope with the drastic low end boost, and the right kind of large soundstage music, they can sound great. But these are too many restrictions. Besides, the original version is long gone...only the shape remains.
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