Bose 901

I had the same experience with the 601's and a Pioneer receiver

I was a student at MIT when Amar Bose (a professor there) introduced the 901. My audiophile friends and I agreed then (and still do) that the direct/reflecting idea is basically flawed, because both the direct and reflected sound of the instruments/vocalist at the original venue have already been recorded on the source medium (CD, tape, record) so the introduction of additional reflections just serves to add another layer of "acoustics" that were not on the source material, and can only "muddy" the reproduced performance.

Nice marketing ploy, but lousy audio!

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I have a pair of used 901V's hanging from the ceiling of my garage. Powered by a $1.00 (+ $11 S&H) eBay 35 watt JVC JR-S201 receiver, driven through leftover 10-guage solid-core electrical wiring as speaker cable.

Best garage system I've ever heard. Cheap 'n' easy, out of the way, zero hassles, just 990 sq. ft of tunes. Good bass, adequate treble anywhere in the garage.

Yeah, I suppose I'll lose 'em to the dreaded foam rot. They look good so far, though. We'll see how they take repeated -20F temperatures.

The best-sounding roller skating rinks I've been in have used 901's, too, but they had about twenty times the peak wattage driving 'em. If I put two watts average into 'em, I'd be surprised.

As a primary sound source in the living room? You can do better. They might be good as surround speakers, though.

Camino, the garage is a perfect place for your 901s. Actually, I always thought that any kind of public address environment (churches, music stores) was a great use for them. So if you love your 901s then don't let them die. Get new surrounds put on those drivers and they'll live for another 50 years! BTW, the new neoprene surrounds (not available at the time 901s were manufactured) are not susceptable to temperature extremes and rot. Shouldn't cost more than 5 bucks a driver. Well worth it IMO

Detail Thats what Bose lacks. Thats why you can listen to a pore quatity sorce material and it sounds okay. As soon as you put a great detailed speaker like B&W in the system you can hear the recording. good or bad. I like knowing I'm getting everything out of the recording, even the flaws. I can hear fingers on strings and hear the breath of the artist when inhale. on a great recording it can be magic. I hope this helps you. If your still in to old speakers. Give the AR3A's a listen. This was the rival to the Bose back then. Note. I bought the AR3A in 1974 Okinawa Japan USAF Don