Dave, the 901's are a weak link for sure. The best 901's made were the first series and they are still quite lacking in terms of "good" reproduction. Rather than spend a bunch of money on cables that will only take you so far, i would continue to put your pennies away on a day by day basis and work towards another set of speakers. THEN worry about cables.
This is not to say that you shouldn't buy some better cables if a good deal falls in your lap, but i would try to prioritize as to what will make the biggest difference. Besides that, you would be "voicing" the system for the 901's which you may end up changing sometime soon down the road. You would then be back to square one and may end up searching for different cables that were more suitable to the system / speakers that you end up with.
Make a list of the things that are most important to you about sound reproduction and what you think a speaker should do. Then look at that list and compare notes with what the 901's deliver. If they stack up pretty good, keep them and go for new cables. If you find them lacking in several areas, take that list with you to a local shop and see what they have that will meet those demands.
Best wishes and good luck. Sean
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Sean's advice is dead on. When you do get back to the cables, I would suggest you try Analysis-Plus Copper 9's for the speaker cables. I've had very good luck with them. I haven't tried MIT cables, so I can't comment on them. If you search the forums you will find information on them. Lastly, buying cables used is a VERY good thing to do. They'll be broken in, most audiophiles seem to take very good care of their gear and lastly the quality doesn't go downhill unless they're damaged. Then there's the usual used pricing which tends to run about half of new pricing. |
Seans first paragraph is right on the money. A bunch of 4.5" paper drivers just aren't high-end. Spend your $450 on some new speakers and you'll get better sound for sure. Sell the 901's and spend the money plus the $450 and get even better speakers. Don't buy any tweako cables or anything else until you've done that. |
I SECOND SEAN!!! The speakers need upgrading badly! You could put even more expensive gear and wires and such on those speakers (no Bose bashing here...) and you'll not get your money's worth out of it!!..until you get new speakers that is. The speakers are the single biggest sonic signature in the electronics chain, and will make the most difference in overall sound.
So, what I'm seconding here is that you'd get much more milage out of your money spent on upgrading the speaks, yes!
Then, and only then, would I look into tinkering with wires...which do, indeed, make a difference in sound. Cheers |
Dave, Seasons' greetings back at ya. Sean is giving you very honest advice here. The bose 901's should go first. They are the weakest link....sorry....cheers, bluenose |
Sean is right, even if all those crappy mid range drivers and flexy cabinet in the 901(they will never give you an image,too many reflections, and why would you want to let your room react with the signal like that?) could do much good, that Bose EQ is horrid! That thing will destroy the sound of anything you hook it up to. Your other stuff is quite good but that thing will make your Krell sound like the worst 60's IC solid state stuff. Spend $200 at Audio Advisor on a pair of Sound Dynamics rs3's. Then get some cables. You won't beleive it |
You speakers are even lower end than your lower end cables.Dont sweat the wire.Like Sean said Save your cash and get new speakers |
I'd better spend $350 on some decent bookshelves and use a regular $10 RadioShack speaker wire than spend extra for some high quality cables -- WAKE UP bro! |
I agree with everybody else, dump the 901's! |
hey guys
thank you all for your quick response,
im REALLY new to hi end stereo (as you can see)
and im STUNNED!!
i've spent nearly $1300 on those 901's (series 6) ,
was it that big of a mistake? if so, how and for how much
realistically should i sell'em for?
should i put an ad here (AudiogoN)?
is buying used speakers a good idea as buying used cables?
i will save and allocate up to $2000 for speakers
what would you go for with that kind of budget taking into consideration the givven components (krell 300i and rega planet 2000)
thanks again
David |
Dave,
You've made the right decision. Get what you can for the 901s(see what others are selling them for on this site and price accordingly), but I'd be leary of buying used speakers unless you can see/hear them first hand. You never know when you'll encounter a damaged driver, and speakers are expensive to ship and frequently don't come through the trip well.
At the $2000 mark you have lots of excellent choices for either floorstanders or monitor speakers. I'll throw out a few names and I'm sure the others will chime in with several other excellent choices: Silverline, Soliloquy, ProAc, Joseph Audio, Triangle, Tyler Acoustics(mail order trial only I think), and Audio Physic. You should be able to find at least a couple of these within your area, and any of them should yield a substantial improvement over the 901s. Just remember, use your ears, your music, and if at all possible demo the speakers at home to see how they mate with your room and equipment. And don't forget to have fun--you're in for a great experience. Best of luck.
Tim |
Dont spend your money on cables. There is no sound proof that spending heaps on cables will ever help your system. It's a scam for the most part and rarely the place to spend cash unless your budget is in the ozone and you want to impress all your glossy friends. |
And Dave, you'll do better to list your 901's for sale on eBay. I don't think you will recoup much of your purchase price for them on this site. Count on at least a 50% markdown even on eBay. But even if you end up with only $500 for them, you will have a great start on some really nice speakers. For around $1000 you can buy several different excellent monitors new: Coincident, Soliloquy, Krix, Tyler Acoustics Ref Monitors (on auction). There are literally dozens of choices if you also consider used at that price point. And if you go up to $2000, new or used, you will go insane trying to figure out which great speakers to buy. There's a LOT of product out there. |
Yes, Yes, the best place to sell Bose is on eBay. You'll get more $$$ if you add pictures of the actual ones for sale if they are in good shape.
To those speakers: "You are the weakest link! Goodbye"
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I've owned many speakers over the 30+ years I've followed
this crazy hobby, including original 901's. I agree...
they've got to go or you're mired in mid-fi forever.
One speaker you might consider is one I sold several months
ago, the Soliloquy 5.0 It is a supremely musical monitor,
obviously with limited low end response, but an excellent
start toward a truly high-end system. Later you can add a
subwoofer like a Rel Strata III (which I have now - terrific). The Soliloquy has outstanding imaging and
soundstaging, excellent transient response, and a very
musical harmonic presentation. I sold my pair for $475
and they are occasionally available on the newsgroups or
eBay for that range. They will comletely outshine the
Bose 901's. |
Keep the Bose 901s. DO NOT SELL THEM. Build a Quadpod from Old Colony Sound Lab and use them as surround speakers. You won't believe your ears! Just my .02. |
A friend used his old 901s as his rear surround. They do work fine there. |
Craigklomparens, must have a bad battery in his hearing aid. The proof is in the listening. Anyone who is not that closed minded can hear the differnce(vast improvment)when switching to Kimber PBJ(about $70 for a 1m)from those junk plastic 99 cent throw in cables most mid fi stuff comes with. So you don't have to spend a fortune on your wire products make the improvment you are looking for. Look into the Kimber stuff. And don't listen to the advice of the silly or the deaf. |
Dave with $2000.00 for speakers you might want to consider the BW CDM7NTs. |
Get rid of the Krell and keep the Bose 901s!!! What an overpriced and overrated component...buy a Van Alstine integrated and keep the change.
The guys are right: 901s = great surround speakers! |
I suggest you look at the best speakers for 2000.00 thread for good speakers for 2k. I however cannot agree with those thiels everyone else is suggestimg. Good luck and im sorry about those Boses. There was a point when i thought they were good too. Before you find out about this whole other world of highend, the only real name you know is Bose. Its a shame. Good luck with your future purchases. - Ian |
The bose certainly aren't high-end (or high fidelity-a distinction that needs to be made sometimes) as most stated (me earlier too). To clarify, craigklomparens is right and I would agree don't even buy high-end cables. Even if the tweako wires actually do make an improvement in the sound, its for no magical reasons, and your money (say $200 in wire) would have been better spent on the electronics or speakers from the start, where you would get far better gains. I don't pay much attention to Krell, other than they tend to be pricey solid-state class A. I don't necessarily think the Krell is a bad piece, you could have done worse. Although you probably could have found a better piece for the money (maybe the Van Alstine, I own'em too), I'd still keep it, don't go selling everything-you do need to enjoy some music. But the bose really is the weakest link. If you're ever so diy inclined a nice pair of kit speakers would perform far better than any commercial offering at that price and on par with many at twice the price. The jupiter from zalytron.com has always had my fancy for awhile, nice Raven R-2 tweeter with an 8" cabasse driver for a bit under a grand. The jaguar II from audioc.com looks promising too. Or the borealis from northcreekmusic.com would look really nice with your Krell, only $700-$1000pr. But any nice 2 way design, like some mentioned before would give you the most for your money for under a grand, or even two grand (although thier might be a three way in there worth going for) and certianly beat the bose. Using the bose for surrounds isn't a bad idea--if you're going to have surrounds. If not, just sell'em and use the money for a better set of speakers and be happy. However, there isn't a single scientific argument after 20 years that justify's any of these high-end cables. And many of their audible differences, if any, can be traced to the placebo effect or a severe amount of load sensitivity the electronics themselves may exhibit, something that's cured by better gear than cable's with your money. Audio Advisor has some basic 14 gauge speaker wire for about $.20 a foot, put the rest in the speakers. For never ending ramblings, ventings and discourse on the subject of audio cables (with some facts), spend an evening with the "on cable nonsense" thread here on audiogon that is probably over 200 posts long now. |
