Bose 901 Series V Questions

+1 @yogiboy Awesome writeup and spot on.

Back in the early 80’s, I ran my 901 equilizer and dbx 3bx range expander through the signal processing loops in my SoundCrafsman SP4001 equalizer/pre amp.  Those were the days.  

I had the original 901’s with the chrome stands.  I would sometimes turn mine around for direct sound when we partied like it was 1999.  But most of the time I played them in the reflex position.  I also found they sounded like crap without the Bose equalizer.  

Don’t run them backwards; they were engineered more carefully than given credit.  The walls and placement make the difference between amazing and gawd awful.  You either have the right room or you don’t.  Use the supplied equalizer; again, tied more closely to the drivers and enclosure than folks realize.  Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of everything.  Last, separates give the best opportunity to make them shine.  They love power…I’m running mine with 650wpc mono blocks.  The head room really lets them perform.  

Bose used one ohm speakers, wired in series. Replacement speakers are available. You might try reusing the cabinets and putting a modern, two way speakersetup in them. The equalizer was necessary because their "natural" frequeny response was definitely not flat!  Enjoy the music!

The PA version of Bose speakers has 8 speakers facing out of course, and sound bad without the EQ.

The best sound I got from 901s was in front of a brick wall. With the V towards the wall. That wall had a surprisingly large impact on the sound. And breathing space. The V maybe three-four feet in front.

And of course, most of the time I did use the equalizer. But I never liked the sound of it. This was the v2 version. I thought of getting a better equalizer but never got around to it.