I haven't heard them yet..LOL, but I bet they would be unreal...Evolution Acoustics MM3's |
The best speakers I heard are the ones that disappeared ... |
Has anyone heard the new CHEAPO modified sony SB 300 that dakiom modified (known for the feedback stabilizers)? It just came out. Though what they did with the INTERIOR seem to be an achievement. They claim it's the best speaker out there and challenges anyone who can out do it? At $1595, I am not so sure of trying the 30 day return policy for a CRAP sony that was sold at bestbuy a number of years ago which I bought and ended up in my niece's home awhile back ago. I can't justify any audio engineer wasting their time modifying a cheapo and sell it at that price point. I'm sure it sounds fine with all the new patents and unique modification process, but to claim it's the best speaker out there is kind of stretching the imagination and what about the WOW FACTOR? Even someone who is a diehard dakiom fan who has a significant other, takes home a speaker like that and spends that kind of money is going to be frowned upon just by looks alone. I am just curious if anyone heard it or tried it. To me modifying a cheapo like that without modifying speaker drivers or cabinets is like spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a volkswagon bug and think it can outrun and outdo a lambhorgini countach is STRETCHING their claim a bit?
Best speakers I've heard are my ess heil 1D that I modified removing the passive radiator and switching the FRONT driver to the rear and adding to the front a pioneer subwoofer. With the right electronics, it does what magnepans are known for and does the reflective principle that bose attempts to do but with real dynamic bass, not a fake muddy one that bose does. It's kind of a toss up for me, between my eminent technology lft 8a and my ess heil 1d. |
Ok everybody gets it, you like Bose, now lets move back to the best speakers you ever hear topic!!
This is getting boring to hear you talk about the 901s. Start a separate thread if you wish. |
One of the MOST IMPORTANT things and most overlooked things with the Bose 901's is using really good interconnects and speaker cables with these speakers. This is just as important with the 901's as speaker set up is ! I think a lot more people would like these 901's if they would just use better cables with these speakers. You are never going hear the full potential of these 901's until you use better cables with them !... |
From Bose site: Today, thanks to Bose electronics research, our 901 speaker system incorporates some 350 enhancements over the acclaimed original.
That's alot of enhancements. |
I don't why people are so freaked out by the use of an active equalizer like the BOSE 901 uses. All the purist vinyl fans don't seem to mind the RIAA equalizer built into every phono preamp...... |
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Macrojack, If you go look at July's Issue of Stereophile they reviewed the Audience ClairAudient 2+2 speakers and the writer made comments about the "possible audible benefits of having only ONE type and SIZE of SPEAKER DRIVER, AND NO PASSIVE-CROSSOVERS". This is sure true with the 901's ! |
Bjesien _ Excellent analogy but you stopped short of pointing out what emerges from between the cheeks.............. |
The 901's are like two big audiophile buttcheeks. |
horns versus Bose.
Battle of the century!
David versus Goliath?
Both so misunderstood by others! So under-appreciated!
Hifi and Macro, you two should be able to find some solace with each other although I doubt you'll ever come to terms on what good sound is.
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It doesn't seem to matter what the topic is as long as you can find some way to intrude upon it with your uninformative, unconvincing and unremitting Bose claims.
The 901 is a bogus design, a con, that has shown remarkable longevity in the face of common sense and common knowledge. Give it a rest. |
Macrojack, the topic here is about...The BEST speaker YOU ever heard. To my EARS, the latest BOSE 901's right up there "among the finest sounding speakers on the market" and that's all that matters !.... |
I remember going in a Bose store years ago and sitting through the demonstration using the BIG speakers on the wall. I did wonder why there were not using Bose speakers until they took the grills/shells off of the walls and exposed the cubes hiding behind.
Is it possible that the new version of the Bose 901's that are seemingly so wonderful are really just a shell around another brand speaker? |
Hifiguy,
If you want to have a prayer of convincing others here the new 901s are in teh same league as some the best out there, I think you need to offer up some details as to how you reach this conclusion. What are you comparing to and what similarities or differences are you hearing that leads to your conclusion?
My gut tells me it might do pretty well in the midrange as you indicated if set up well, but am hard pressed to understand how it can handle frequency extremes as well as better designs in that regard.
Not everyone cares about those things though, so with that caveat in place, I might see where some think these are the cat's meow, but one should really offer up some facts or details to support one's conclusions, especially when perhaps as surprising to many here as yours. |
The responses you have received in this thread and many others should make it clear to you that most of us are not interested in your ploy.
If you are not a shill, you are plainly misinformed about where the Bose 901 belongs in the audio hierarchy. Nine table radio speakers in a disarray contorted by a deep smiley graphic EQ has only so much potential. And that potential maxed out back in the 1970s. |
Macrojack, NO, I'm not a SHILL but I do want the member on these forums to know that these LATEST 901's are NOT the same as the 901's made in the PAST. I think it's PRETTY SMART when you find a product that is right up there with the "finest sounding speakers on the market" for.. "A LOT... LESS MONEY" !........$$$ |
Jack,
If you can tout horns and I can tout OHMs, and others tout their favorite expensive toys, then nothing wrong with someone taking up the Bose cause I suppose. Bose is the underdog in this venue, right? Ha!
Maybe Bose should horn load those suckers in their next version? That'll fix'em. |
the best speakers I have heard is a SPEAKER I haven't heard YET? I have lots of speakers and even owned BOSE 901 series 5 STACKED in the mid 80's while stationed in okinawa. They do sound a lot better stacked and USING sound processors such as equalizers, dbx range expanders and carver sonic holography or omnisonic imager at the time. I owned the bose 601 series 2 prior to that. Until I heard other speaker designs and owned other designs is when I realized BOSE isn't for me, and the more I researched and contact merchants regarding bose, the more I realized they were just a mass market speaker company. The DRIVERS used on the bose don't make any sense whatsover and they are cheaply made. No high frequency drivers, no low frequency drivers. I can understand if they implemented a line source panel consisting of ribbons, domes, horns and 5 or 6 inch midranges and possibly several 8 inch or 10 inch and even 12 inch woofers to use direct and reflecting properties, then most of the audio industry might have more respect. All bose 901 is one big midrange box, it has NO DETAIL in the upper or lower octaves. I was never able to create tight bass even with the sound processors and equalizers. I was never able to get any crystalline highs either and a stacked 901 of whatever series using sound processors is the best possible way of making bose sound it's best, but it's still MEDIOCRE in comparison to a well designed dynamic, planar, electrostat, hybrid and linesource. I would only get a bose 901 these days as a MUSEUM PIECE because I collect vintage and new speakers I can afford. After listening to maggies and ohm's and owning an electrostat such as an acoustat and eminent technology and now ESS HEIL, why would I waste my ears on a GIMMICK technology as bose are! Yeah, I was duped in the 70's and 80's thinking bose was all that, but I was just in high school and a young adult not knowing any better and STILL LEARNING. 33 yrs later, I consider myself an audiophile and BOSE is not an audiophile speaker but mass market cheaply made and bad design speaker company. Many great speaker companies folded but it's all about sales and marketing when it comes to survivability of a product and that is where BOSE excels in NOT IN TECHNOLOGY! Using MIT engineers doesn't PROVE good sound engineering, that's like saying just because one goes to HARVARD doesn't necessarily mean they would make good lawyers. |
Anybody dumb enough to buy 901s is a solid candidate for an endless succession of new and improved versions of the same dreck. Same goes for many revered brands. Much taffy is distributed in the name of sonic purity and solid value.
Hifisoundguy is clearly a shill and he seems to be getting rather defiant. Check his posts - all Bose all the time. |
I'm surprised Bose redid the 901s. I would think it could be a cash cow (no R&D, no retooling, no advertizing) if they left it alone. Thought they were more concerned with HT, headphones and other products they've become successful at. But to redo what is mostly a 2 Channel speaker??? Interesting. |
I think personal taste would be a big factor as always, but it would be interesting to hear the latest 901's in comparison to others at their price point. I have no doubt they will sound different, and perhaps even distinctive.
How good? I think technically, there is only so much the design can do but that is true of most speakers at that price point, so you never know just who might prefer what and why. |
That's the problem here, nobody else here has heard the.. "latest BOSE 901's yet". People here think these latest BOSE 901's are the same as the 901's made in the past BUT there not ! The have been a lot improvements to these latest 901's and it shows too ! They are now using a different speaker drive and it looks like a high quality driver too. It's just a matter of time before someone else here try out these latest 901's and posts how GOOD these speakers really are. BOSE BASHERS.. you go head and have your fun BUT I know how "DAMN GOOD" these "LATEST" 901's are !!......... |
OVer many years, I've never heard a home audio Bose setup that sounded even marginally good to me.
Maybe some tube or very good other modern amplification would help? Possible.
One thing I'll say about the 901s, having not heard a pair outside of commercial setups in quite a while, is that their price point relative to the high end is probably more attractive than ever. They used to be one of the more expensive speakers out there for enthusiasts to covet. Now they pale in comparison probably in most ways to the current "high end".
They seem to garner a lot of positive ratings on various sites that measure these things though, no denying that. So someone out there is dropping decent money on them and liking it. |
The Bose 901 is a failed concept. Hifisoundguy cannot change that with his incessant intrusions. The speaker is a "line disarray" which succeeded well in print before most of us knew anything. As we learned more about speaker designs, the absurdity of the Bose 901 assertions became apparent. |
Verity, Magico, Vandersteen. Maybe they are not from K-Mart but whatever... |
Does bose still use "construction" paper tweeters? Now thats quality to be proud of.
Honestly, after hearing bose, Im just shocked they sound as good as they do with the horrible build quality, and cheap drivers. Until that gets fixed, I cant even take them serious. |
Bose 901s ?
Well I should hope they could get it right after 41 years of trying (maybe longer). |
07-18-11: Hifisoundguy
"I think Bose got it "RIGHT" with their latest 901 series 6 version 2's this time around!"
I've heard A LOT about the new 901s lately...mostly from you ;) |
I think Bose got it "RIGHT" with their latest 901 series 6 version 2's this time around ! They made a lot improvements to their latest 901's and it shows too ! After listening to them for over 6 months now I think they have two of the best qualities that I always love most about the raved Quad ESL-57's...midrange clarity and harmonic cohesireness are so captivating that it just draws into the music much..more, Like only a very few speakers can match ! I think these latest 901's sounds more like LIVE MUSIC than any other speakers I have ever heard ! The best bargain I have ever seen on the market.. period !! |
Cocoabaroque,
I remember a high school friend's family, cira 1973, had the AR 10 Pi's...man, they were COOL speakers back in the day :-) |
I have a pair of CAT 10.9s that are run by 3 CAT 600.2 amps and I have not heard anything better. Ever! Come to Texas and take a listen. it will blow your mind. |
I know it's old, but AR 10pi are a slightly updated version of the trusty AR303a, manufactured when Teledyne got involved-- 1970's. They need at least a good PP EL34 or good solid state amp (Belles, or Van Alstine, etc). These do not "image" in the conventional sense- they fill the room with accurate and detailed sound. Never heard anything better, owned many vintage and high-end. Something about the paper 12" woofers on these, and paper dome tweeter, just right with vocals, cello, piano, symphony, anything! |
The new Vandersteen 7's. Too expensive for me now, so I had to settle on Maggie 3.7's. They may be better except for low end. |
I consider the Dynaudio line in general to be a gold standard in speaker design and sound, even if not necessarily the most unique or distinctive sound out there. |
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About the Dynaudio Sapphires, if you don't mind.
I love the Dynaudio sound but I have to sit 8 feet from my speakers (they are on the long wall of my 20 x 13 foot room).
I had Aerial 10Ts & Wilson WP6s right here & they were fine. So do you think the Sapphires would fit here? |
Dynaudio Sapphire. Doesn't matter who says I swear by the Dyns although this particular one is not as costly as some of the names mentioned here. Unfortunately, my pockets aren't deep enough to go beyond that. I am sure the Evidence Master would sound much better but that's all there is (quoting Dynaudio's tag line). I used to build DIY speakers or do speaker mods and what I found is that some of those astronomically-priced speaker manufactures actually uses OEM Dynaudio drives. I am not going to mention names since it might piss some people off. |
Vandersteen 7's playing analog 50's jazz. Quad ESL-57's are a close second, but 1/100 the acoustic power, and (literally) half the bandwidth. I once owned a pair of Quad's paired with B-139 based transmission line subwoofers and Sequerra T-1 ribbon tweeters. This solved the bandwidth problem, but not the acoustic power problem.
Both of these speakers display a delicacy with midrange and high frequency sounds at the " pppp" volume level that I've never heard elsewhere. Both are remarkable loudspeakers. (BTW, Richard V still considers Quad ESL's as his reference). |
Try gamut s9 speakers they sound amazing. The price is not cheap not by far better than anything I listen in my 25 years of music. |
Dear Argyro, I think that you have to read once more the headline of the thread. It is "the best speaker you ever heard". That seems to be only a personal opinion, isn't it?
When it comes to listen to music using other speakers, (Tidals maybe), who knows, I may like them better!
Until that time, I'm staying with my beloved SHL-5s. |
Hifisoundguy - Dude I just Super Glued some 901's version 6.12 to some ear muff's and I'm blown away buy the dynamics, transparency and holographic sound. I've had my receiver customized, so now it goes to 11 on the Volume. KC & The Sunshine Band has never sounded so good.
The only drawback is these new 901 based headphones are a little heavy, so I can only listen to one song at time. |
All the rest of us, just hate music. |
Harbeth SHL-5 The utmost speaker for music lovers, period. |
Dayglow, the 7s sound unlike the 5As and are clearly better. |
Aronsss, I heard the Vandersteen 5A several years ago and came to the conclusion the 5A was one of the best speakers I have heard. The only significant weakness compared to the Soundlab(A3) and large Infinity Reference Models(Sigma-Beta)was soundstage height. If the 7 is an all around impovement of the 5A, it is without a doubt one of the best loudspeakers regardless of $$$. |
the Evans Model One but this Model One with no crossover and full range is just spectacular This has been my experience as well. Tom Evans uses a Jordan JX-92S driver? IMHO there are even better options than the Jordan. |
Aronsss, I have known Richard Vandersteen since the '70s. I ran into him at the 2010 CES, and he said that I needed to go hear the 7s. This year, I had a long talk with him. He said that in the 7's he had put his cost no object best he knew of in them. He said he was surprised at how well they were sounding. I told him I was not, that they were by far his best speakers.
I have owned virtually every speaker he has made but have none now. I do have the Tidal Contriva Diacera SEs and would love to hear the Vandersteen 7s directly compared with them. But alas I probably never will get this opportunity. |
Today I heard the Vandersteen 7"s at Audio Connnection with ARC Ref 210's and an ARC Ref 5 preamp. (I was there to check on an order I placed last week.)
When I walked in little did I know I was going to be treated to some of the best music I have heard though loudspeakers in my 20 years following audio. I heard a variety of music from massed voices to down and dirty blues and then Kevin Mahogany; the synergy of these two reference products combined with top Kimber cables were simply astounding on a variety of levels. The tonality combined with the slam, soundstaging (depth, width and placement) and high resolution created spookily real musical events. While the recordings were good, they were not the ordinary "audiofile" type of recordings that can sound excellent on many different types of systems. Some speakers do voices well, but cannot do brass. Others can do guitar, but lack slam. It seems that there is always some sort of trade off. The Vandersteen 7 speakers seem to do it all well.
If you can afford the (high) price of admission, these speakers are a must hear and must be considered among the best of the best. |
