Bose 901 sound test by TonePub?

Funny, the Reese's Cups I just ate are made from real chocolate.

 

yeah, real bad chocolate

 

But awesome peanut butter.

 

Bose 301

not sure what this thread is about ...but as far as Bose speakers sounding

awful: the Bose 301 (most versions) is an easy speaker to listen to and

never disappoints....a bit HiFi ish....but you just listen to the music and get

over it

 

I have heard this criticism leveled at speakers before but never understood what people meant by it. In fact, I doubt there is a consensus as to what people actually mean by this. So, what do YOU mean when say say it is "HiFi ish?"

 

I was just about to post the same question!

 

Many consider overly resolving speakers that aren't very rich tonally to be "hifi sounding."

 

Hi-Fi = High Fidelity. This meant the same that High End means now. State of the art. The best there is. Using the term Hi-Fi as a demeaning term is wrong. My family had a Philco Hi-Fi bought in 1960, and it had very good sound. It had electrostatic left and right detatched drivers and a 15in woofer in the main cabinet. Vacuum tube amp, AM-FM stereo tuner and a turntable. That's the system that played Beatles records, Electric flag, Paul Butterfield band, Steve Miller Brave New World, Blood Sweat And Tears.

People use this term to say a modern system that doesn't sound any better that those old 1960s system. Actually they sounded better than a lot of todays systems, cheap Sonys and such.

 

The Spica was something special . . .

(sorry - off-topic)

 

My feeling about the current 301 (and the 201) is, it's almost as if they were engineered to be more 'forgiving' of the inexpensive receivers they'll likely be paired with; a more comfy ride, as it were. Not a bad thing. "Warm & fuzzy"!

 

I have just read the article and realized that I never have seen or heard the 901 speakers - all of the Bose speakers I have seen were the Acoustimass 5 type. And I did not like those.

 

Yes, I've heard that explanation before. However, looking at Jim G.'s post below yours, he has a *completely different* idea of what that criticism means. That's why I asked wlwh what HE meant by the term hi-fi.

 

Wow, crickets since the review came out. Had anyone taken the time to listen to a pair of the Bose 901, current design/model iteration?

 

I've had mine for about 15-18 years. Series VI I believe as I bought them new. Heard them in the store, liked them, and did an impulse buy. What I found after going through the setup process was room size, power, and placement were critical. Started with an existing Onkyo receiver that was 60 watts, and wasn’t happy. Went to a 100w amp, then a 250w, then 500watts with one 250w driving each speaker. I had that setup for about 10 years. One of my amp’s died in the last 5 so I’ve been driving both speakers with one 250w. The loss of one of the 250’s does make a difference to me, to the point when I get expendable cash (haha, maybe next year’s tax return), I will pay to get my other amp working again. I’m sure there are tons of great options out there but I’d probably do it all over again.

 

That's great to hear! Do you have a photo of your set-up?

 

Sorry, don't have a picture but can tell you the speakers are about 8 feet from each other (ctc) and approx 18 in from the back wall. Left side has about 5 ft to the left of it, right side has about 8ft or so to the right.

 

Curious how the review turns out, but my take is that whether the 901s work for one or not really depends on where they are being used and for what purpose. For somewhere like an upscale coffee shop where the music has some predominant role (or similar situation where the listening location varies) they really work wonderfully well. For ultimate imaging and reality in a more ideal setting, not so much.

 

I remember seeing some bands using Bose 901's back in the 70s as their vocal PA system.

 

Yeah, so do I, and it sounded horrible.

 

http://www.tonepublications.com/review/we-review-the-bose-901/

 

Good review!

 

Wow. Didn't expect to see this thread back from the dead!

I'm happy that the Bose 901's got their due. I never thought they were *that* bad. Plus, the Bose 101's (the small ported boxes that have a single 901 driver) always sounded good to me. Warm, agreeable, easy to listen to--the antithesis of the Bose Acoustimass line.

 

Thanks for the link!