Bose 901s in home theter?

[raypasote]

Does anyone know how I would use some old series III Bose 901s in a home theater? They have been in the original boxes for some years now. I used the tape monitor switch in the old days to switch in the special bose equalizer. There are no tape monitors on any of these new A/V receivers.The bose 901 owner's manual says to connect it to the pre amp out/main amp in jacks but the new yammy RXV 765 that I am getting does not have these. If I connected them to one of the several "audio in" jacks would that work? I had totally discounted these speakers as being appropriate in a home theater and bought klipsch RF 52 system to serve as my main home theater, but I was thinking of using the bose as either extra speakers in another room and having the RF 52 as the front speakers or maybe using the bose as the front (they may be unshielded) and using the RF 52 as part of a 7.1 system. This is assuming that I can get the bose into the system at all. Does anyone like bose 901s anymore?

 

[AVRat]

These days the only way to use the 901/eq is by adding a separate amp into the mix. The last receiver that I know of that had pre-ins for this use was the Marantz 9600.

I would not even think of using the 901s with a Klipsch center. That would really throw the front soundstage out of whack.

 

[CraigV]

I was going to suggest trying the speakers in a “phantom center” configuration, but it would depend on where the display was in relation to the speakers. The rear firing speakers may be bouncing off of the display. But, you could always give it a try & see how you like it, as the speakers do throw a large soundstage.

It would be interesting to see what settings would be made after running these speakers through Audessy without the Bose EQ in play

 

[griffinconst]

It would be interesting to try eq-ing those with Audessey but I doubt it would work well.
It has been my experience that 901's sound HORRIBLE without the Bose eq.
They might work without a center since their reflecting character throws sound all over the place but you' ve got to get the Bose eq involved somehow. Hopefully one of the other guys has info on how to connect that.
Those really don't stand up to the sound of todays speakers but if you got them you might as well try to use them for something. A boat anchor perhaps. Just kidding.

 

[raypasote]

thanks everyone

thanks to everyone for your help with the bose 901s. they used to sound great back in the 70s but that was then. I guess I will try to use them in another room if I can figure out how to get the equalizer in the mix. no water around here in texas so I have to nix the boat anchor idea.(just kidding)

 

[raypasote]

whoops, wrong icon

I am new at this. got wrong icon. I meant smiley face. try again?

 

[walter duque]

You go from pre-out to EQ in - from EQ out to Poweramp in. That's how I used mine 30 Years ago. I am not a Bose fan at all, but with a high powered amp they don't sound to bad. I also used a DBX Dynamic range expander in the mix, maybe that's why they did'nt sound to bad. I had 2 pairs and powered them with VSP Labatory Series Gold Amps 200 Watts per channel and they did blow the grills right off.

 

[Alex2507]

Does anyone like bose 901s anymore?

From what I understand, the 901 was a good speaker then and it is a good speaker now. I have heard them in a Bose store. What impressed me the most was that they were $1,400. If I had a pair I would find a way to use them in a 2 channel system to check them out but I would probably end up selling them because of their placement needs and difficulty in matching them up with a center and never mind the EQ/amp hassle.

Plenty has been said about them in this thread:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38446

Enjoy the read.

 

[walter duque]

From what I understand, the 901 was a good speaker then and it is a good speaker now. I have heard them in a Bose store. What impressed me the most was that they were $1,400. If I had a pair I would find a way to use them in a 2 channel system to check them out but I would probably end up selling them because of their placement needs and difficulty in matching them up with a center and never mind the EQ/amp hassle.

Plenty has been said about them in this thread:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38446

Enjoy the read.

I know nodbody likes Bose anymore, but the 901 I think where a great speaker if you had a good amp. They used to adverdise that 75 Watts is enough power for them to sound good, but they where rated around 1500 watts . With 200 Watts they sounded great. There is really only one Bose speaker and that's the 901. They're still cashing in on the 901 fame. I owed Series II and Series V. Series II was kind of hard to push. I used a Maratz 4400 with them 125 Watts. Series V required less power and nothing for nothing they did crank. If you want to get right down to it all these old speaker companies are coming back to life. Warfedale, Kef- they where good with the flat piston driver that's what made them unique. Mordaunt Short these are speakers names they're taking out of the crypt to cash in and it works. Polk used to make some great speakers and look what they're peddling now, but it sells. Same thing with Bose....901 where great.

 

[just-some-guy]

may be good for side surrounds.

 

[walter duque]

may be good for side surrounds.

In HT that's the perfect place for them. I would say that's the only place for them because for mains they would eat the center.

 

[griffinconst]

may be good for side surrounds.

I agree. Sides or rears may be the perfect place for them. You still gotta use the Bose eq or you'll be stuck in the mud.

 

[AVRat]

The 765 has the main/2nd zone pre-outs so all you need is a decent stereo/2-channel amp. There is no need to feed it back to the receiver as you did using the Tape Monitor loop.

 

[raypasote]

come to think of it, I had 165 watts rms/channel in 70s

come to think of it, i had 165 watts per channel in the 70s from my pioneer receivers. The bose 901s sounded great! I don't know how they will sound with 95watts per channel with the yammy that I am going to buy. Side surrounds are a good thought. Selling them is a better thought but I probably could not get much for them. Thanks guys for your help!

 

[Rob Babcock]

They're still highly regarded and sought after by a certain segment of fans, mostly old-school/vintage lovers. You might consider listing them on Agon, Craigslist or eBay- you might get a good price for them. Nowadays the more knowledgeable audiophiles don't think much of Bose, but I won't pile on. But certainly the proceeds of the sale of the 901's would go a long ways towards the purchase of something vastly batter, either new or used. There are tons of speakers available for <$500 that will kill the 901's, IMOHO.

 

[griffinconst]

They're still highly regarded and sought after by a certain segment of fans, mostly old-school/vintage lovers. You might consider listing them on Agon, Craigslist or eBay- you might get a good price for them. Nowadays the more knowledgeable audiophiles don't think much of Bose, but I won't pile on. But certainly the proceeds of the sale of the 901's would go a long ways towards the purchase of something vastly batter, either new or used. There are tons of speakers available for <$500 that will kill the 901's, IMOHO.

Or vastly better. Ha...I beat the monkey to it.

 

[raypasote]

Thanks guys

Thanks guys. I will try to use them in another room if I can. If not, selling them is always an option. They are in mint condition. I had to take them down and put them in the original boxes when my kids were in their walkers because they kept bumping into them and I was afraid that the bose on their pedestals would fall on them. Now that they are grown up, I decided to give the bose a try, but it might not work out.

 

[sholling]

may be good for side surrounds.

Exactly. The 901 was "different". A roommate had a pair back in the 80s. If memory serves it was a multiple driver one-way speaker design that sent the vast majority (70-80%) of its energy to the rear to reflect off the wall to simulate a very wide sound stage. They lacked highs and lows and always sounded a bit muted to me. Where they might shine is as left and right surround speakers if you have a fairly large room. I think they'd be awesome for that. Somebody should probably look at resurrecting the concept modified into a two-way as surround speakers.

FWIW in my opinion the best speaker that Bose ever made was the very first version of the 601. A 6 driver 2-way design with a pair of 8" woofers and four 2" tweeters. It was actually a pretty good speaker for its day if placed properly. The problem was placement was critical.

 

[skers_54]

Somebody should probably look at resurrecting the concept modified into a two-way as surround speakers.

I think that's the idea behind bipoles/dipoles.

 

[Maceo23]

NAD receivers have jumpers between the preamp section and amp section. You should be able to use the Bose EQ in line. I know many people who use the NAD's with Vandersteen subs which have a similar crossover which also need to be installed inline.