These speakers are way overpriced and are not very refined. They are a bugger to set up and I could never get the midrange to sound decent. The "add on" eq is quite crude. These Truly SUCK!

Mid-Range, Equalization

Highs and Lows

It is to the shame of many that so many negative posts can be leveled against one speaker! Let's get real (see our semi-independent tests below)!

EXPERIENCE: I have owned and tried many types of speakers in a lifetime of listening and mixed then with all types of components from Krell on down (there are several Amps and Pre-Amps that I consider just as good and better than Krell and I do not mean to imply otherwise).

COMMENTARY: The 901's are not the speaker of all speakers. NONE ARE! They are good (if properly placed/equalized -- as with ANY speaker) in their mid-range and when mixed with a good sub (i.e. Eartquake Super Nova MKII....) and properly driven with a good amp (suggest 150/200 watt & above). When driven with my system for the last 4 months they sounded good (not great!).

SPEAKER DECISIONS: Each person needs to decide for themselves what they consider great with their system. I suggest comparing 2 sets of speakers at a time. Use 2-3 CD's that you are familiar with and 2-3 the salesman will attempt to get you to listen too. Pick the best of the pair and come back the next week and do the same....Test at least 10 sets of speakers within your budget. Make an informed LISTENING decision for yourself. (Your ears do the listening and not the recorded stats or other's opinions)

901's have their place in some systems. IF you do not like them--don't listen to them, if you do---than listen. A new set will cost you 1399.99 (899.99 new/refurbished). I do believe there are several other speakers at that price range that do sound better for my listening pleasure (Sonus Faber Conertino--1000.00/Joseph Audio RM7si--1300.00...), but that do not have near the bass. Than again I enjoy more well defined highs and mids and expect my base from my sub-woofer (my office for listening is small, thus I use bookshelf type speakers/w a sub now).

Would I purchase a set of 901's? NO, because for the price I can do better for the "LISTENING THAT I DO." This is a personal decision. I have 6 friends that own a set that love them. They like my set up as well (4 Sonus FAber - Concerto's and 2 Electa Amator II, Earthquake sub....).

But all this this is relative.

Several of my friends and I are doing a test of several separate systems (a friend owns a fairly large studio). We put up a parachute screen up so that you could not see through and visualize the speakers/systems we were listening too. (No instrument judgements, just people's ears that are use to good music -- We are using the studio instrumentation to set up each system). We used the following equipment (this is by memory/no model #'s--sorry).

Components:

Krell System
Bryston System
NAD Silver Series System
Adcom System(5802 I think)
McIntosh System
Linn System
Naim Audio System
B&K System
Harmon Kardon Signature System
PASS

Speakers (no separate sub-woofer):

Legacy
Sonus Faber
B&W
Joseph Audio
PSB
Mirage
Jamos
Klipsch
M&K
Polk
Thiel
Bose 901

Bookshelf System:

The winner thus far is the:

1-1. NAD Silver Series with the Joseph Audio Speakers and the Adcom with Sonus Faber--tied
3. Harmon Kardon with Legacy.
4. Adcom with Joseph Audio.
5. NAD with Sonus Faber.

Bose is coming in sixth so far with its Lifestyle system.

Floor Speakers:

The winner thus far is the:

1. NAD Silver Series with Thiel Speakers.
2. Bryston with Legacy Speakers.
3. Adcom with Thiel
4. B&K with Sonus Faber.
5. NAD Silver Series with Sonus Faber.

As you can see from a panel of listeners several of the higher end equipment (including mine) did not even place - (Glad my speakers did).

You may ask why and I believe the answer is in many areas-- but one idea from one of our panelists is that we listen to music all day long---not just at home with our respective systems. Normally we listen to "lower qulaity systems" in our automobiles and offices. Though they are lower quality our ears get use to the music from these sources and thus anything that souds different from the norm (the majority of our listening) is judged lower quality or at least different quality...something to think about.

Please do not go out and buy a new system based on our unscientific results. This was all just for fun and when we are finished hopefully we will do it again with different listeners and will probably get completly different results. Am I going to sell my system? NO! Will I purchase a NAD or Adcom (or another?) system with the respective speakers for one of my other homes? PROBABLY!

Now back to the issue at hand. Bose speakers placed fairly well out performing several of the higher end models.

We as music listeners need to get back to the basics - Listening and not condemning other's tastes.

Sincerely,

Doc

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Joseph Audio, Sonus Faber, Legacy, B&W, PSB, Mirage ....

Helen Keller would love the sound

People with hearing listen to these,cost,build quality,lack of specs,technology,hype,sell practices

It must be the new millenium. The end must be near when the reviews this year have been very favorable to Bose. I looked at the 901's back in 1975. The salesman told me that they were Jensen coaxial speakers in a box. If you took off the grills they sure looked that way! Other speakers have much better sound for the money. They are way overpriced. Although Bose has never said they have the best speaker for the money they are arrogant in their sale practices. Although hearing is subjective, a person should hear other speakers side by side with these speakers for comparison. Many places will not allow this. I believe that tells you how much Bose themselves rate their speakers.

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Jensen Coaxial speakers from 1975 (same drivers)

Wide dispersion and soundstage, like you're sitting in front of the stage before live performers.

Not the easiest to set up.
You have to have a thick skin and defend your choice.
Thinness on piano.

I bought my first 901s, the Series IV used from an eccentric who insisted on playing the demo CD, the Digital Domain. The CD has the sound of a jet airplane taking off. WHOOMPHH!!!!!! The plane filled the room with a strong gust of wind you could physically feel as well as hear. I don’t know how much of that was pure bass and how much was Bose’s notorious wind noise.

After hooking them up at home, I knew immediately that I could never go back to my junky Fisher and Sony speakers. Someday, I may find speakers that make me feel the same way about Bose.

BOSE VS. HEADPHONES
I also have Sennheiser HD230 headphones, once the top of Sennheiser’s circamural line. Comparing the speakers to the headphones is the best test I have for neutrality. I can switch back and forth between them without a sense that I have to get adjusted. Without the annoyance I would feel if I went back to the Japanese speakers. Overall, they have approximately the same pure sound. If the speakers are only mid-fi, as many have claimed, then so are the headphones.

Of course speakers are speakers and headphones are headphones. The speakers fill the room and the headphones reveal far greater detail. Watching a baseball game on TV thru Bose creates a fun effect with the sound of the announcers up front and the crowd filling an area behind them that’s larger than my listening. room. With the headphones I can hear people swearing in the stands.

BOSE VS. BOX SPEAKERS
I’ve compared the 901’s to more conventional, more expensive, tower speakers from the short-lived Harmon Kardon line, listening to Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto.

They were radically different. They couldn’t both be neutral! The piano was better on the towers. A rich sound, like a complex wine. The piano was somewhat thin and sterile on the Boses.

The background instruments were constricted on the HK. On the Bose, they were much more prominent, and better separated, both in terms of sounding distinct and in terms of an illusion of being farther apart physically.

I can’t say that one pair was better, but nevertheless, I now I own the VI, and let me say that I enjoy listening to piano music on them, all day long. They have the familiar coloration of the IV, but seem to sound clearer.

Listening to AR towers (an older model; I don’t know the Model no.) -- out of context, not in a side-by-side comparison -- I don’t notice that the timber is different. They sound just as natural except that the musicians and singers sound like they’re no taller or wider than the cabinets. With Bose 901s, they fill an area larger than the back end of the room. (Because the reflected sound travels back, then forward, it seems too be coming from a longer distance.)

Omnidirectional speakers sound warm overall, so the sound of some conventional speakers may be described as cool.

BOSE VS. OTHER OMNIDIRECTIONAL SPEAKERS
I’ve also owned the Ohm Walsh 2. They have a different design with similar goals. They’re omnidirectional and create a bigger sweet spot. I played the Chesky Records Stereo Review demo CD. It includes test tones for the soundstage. Tones move left, center, right, up, down. With the Ohms, sitting in the sweet spot, the effect was spectacular. You feel like you can grab the exact position of the tones. They also have a bit where people walk in a circle around a microphone making percussive noises. They actually seem to encircle the listener. A surround sound effect from only two speakers!

The imaging of the Bose 901s, in a larger room, was more vague. The tone moves two steps before you’re sure it’s moved. And the audiophiles sounded like they were moving in a circle in *front* of me. Listening out of the sweet spot, incidentally, the image moved horizontally and engulfed me in the center. Not a realistic effect, not the intended effect, but just as much fun and dramatic.

The Ohms are also reputed to have more detail. The only time I noticed was when something was wrong -- a “click” on a favorite CD. unlike a lot of people, I’d rather NOT detect that kind of flaw. The Ohms are better in some ways, but I never felt that they outclassed the Boses. I find myself preferring Bose for no reason I can put my finger on. I may be prejudiced because I’ve owned Bose longer and they feel comfortable.I also like the Boses’ looks.

All speakers have imperfections. If you like a speaker in spite of them, that may be what some people consider casual listening.

USING THE EQ
The external equalizer has sliders for mid-treble and mid-bass. According to the manual, they’ll correct any room response. The book contains subjective, but helpful, terms. I played Diane Schuur and the Count Basie Orchestra, a disc I knew to have an overbearing bass violin. The bass slider subdued it nicely. I chose to reduce -- but not eliminate -- the annoying sound. My reasoning is that I’d like to find settings that work for all recordings, and of course I don’t want to eliminate bass entirely.

I played one of the Holly Cole Trio’s performances. She sings close to the mike, creating an effect like her giant head is filling the room! I found that effect to be fun and exciting, although of course not realistic. When I subdued the treble to reduce shrillness on strings and the like, the exaggerated image on Holly disappeared. I miss it.

As I said, I was deliberately looking for settings that would average out best for all recordings, but I wonder if I’m taking the right approach. With Diane, especially, I was adjusting the tone controls for a bad recording. It might be better to set them to optimize the best recordings. It may be analogous to the color and hue settings on a TV; if you don’t readjust them constantly, then most programs will look bad.

MYTH ABOUT POWER REQUIREMENTS
By the way, recent series Bose 901’s aren’t as power-hungry as some people insist. With any 100wpc receiver, with the volume attenuator less than halfway up (usually 1/4 or 1/3 way up), I can disconcert the neighbors with that airplane.

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True sound; mid-range depth

Cold: because sound is true

I was sent to Bose by a Polk dealer. Neither my wife nor I could stand the big Polks: all bass & trebel. We heard other, expensive, and similar speakers.

The midrange on Bose 901, series VI is fantastic. Most speakers, even high end ones, are all bass and trebel, it seems. But Bose can seem cold after listening to "cheap" speakers. They add nothing to the music. When a bass drum sounds, THAT is when you hear it. Otherwise, the music reflects reality.

I grew up in a house with a Steinway Model A piano and a friend who played Bach unaccompanied sonatas and partitas on a violin, on his porch. Bose comes closest to these sounds.
Remember the "double Advent" system from the 1970s? This exceeds it, in clarity and depth.

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none

Looks good. Cool wind from the duct.

There are many people despise Bose...
Having to ignore them is a bit of nuisance.

Bose speakers are extremely easy to buy compared to B&W and other high quality speakers.
However, unlike other simple plug & play speakers, 901s are not fool proof.
Stick shift sucks if you don't know how to use it.

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people will say you paid a lot of money for your speakers

Poor at producing sound

I must say that with the eq, the 901's sound good on the vocals. That is the only thing that these speakers got going for them. The bass is muddy and the highs are not crisp. Listening to the 901s is like missing out on the music. if you have a cheap set up, don't even bother with the 901's and if you have quality gear, you might like the way they sound, but then again you might think that Budwiser is the greatest beer on the market. i stronly believe that the price of these speakers is what atracts so many people to them. I also think that due to the heavy and agressive marketing that Bose uses, people think that they are the best speakers in the world. My dad has a set of these speakers and he think that they sound great. He is also 63 and likes Budwiser. I have tried to make him listen to my new NHT superTwo's on his Luxman set up so that he could get a sense of what real speakers should sound like. My uncle even tried to tell him that Bose are overpriced garbage. He used to sell audio gear back in the day. I have heard stories where someone wanted to buy the 901s and he told them flat out, you can buy a better speaker for half the price. In short, will end this review saying, better sound through research, what were they doing reseach on?

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No speaker that needed an eq before

A local high school uses two Bose 901 speakers in their auditorium andthey sounded great! The kids were performing the "Nutcracker" and the
music was clean, clear, and definitely loud enough to please everyone
in the auditorium. (approx 150 seats) I asked several people at the
performance what they thought of the sound and not one of them were
disappointed in the least! I invite anyone of you who flame Bose to go
to one of these performances and call those who like the sound a
"moron" or "idiot" or any of the other names used to describe people
who like these speakers. As for me I would not spend $1500.00 on them,
they are not worth it. But I wouldn't call the people who enjoy them
"idiots". C'mon and grow up!!!

PILE OF KRAP!!!!

WHATA PILE OF GARBAGE & KRAP!!!THIS (SPEAKER)IS WASTE!!!!!!

Gave them to a friend as a gift.

Friend wants to give them back

My folks always said "if I don't have nothing good to say don't say nothing at all"! Sorry thats not atleast 50 words so I hope these filler words i'm putting on here now will cover it. Thanks!

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