Emotiva UMC-1 and XPA-2 Powering Bose 901

[bignay2000]

Anyone else rocking Emotiva components on Bose 901 speakers?

I am very happy with the sound quality and the system can shake the house.

Currently powering a pair of Bose 901 (purchased from Bose.com in 2010) with an Emotiva XPA-2 (300 Watts per channel amplifier) and the Emotiva UMC-1 processer. I also use a Paradigm DSP-3400 sub and Bose 301 speakers as surrounds powered by an Emotiva UPA-2 125 watts per channel.

I have the Bose 901 crossover on the UMC-1 set to 80 HZ and 12 DB Slope with the sub crossover set to 90 HZ and a 24 DB slope.

Emotiva products are physically amazing. You can see the quality of their products prior actually listening to them. I recommend them to everyone as their prices are outstanding for the quality.

Love to hear if someone else has Emotiva/Bose system and their settings.




Note: Bose 901 speakers require the following:
1. A very high powered Amplifier as the Bose Active Equalizer changes dramatically changes the sound. Smaller amps cause the speakers to sound very high pitched with little bass. For example, my UPA-2 amp (125 x2) could not power them at any volume. The treble was similar to a chalk board screech, I had to turn off the system after a few minutes.

2. Bose Active Equalizer is required and the model MUST match the model of the Bose 901 speakers.

3. Speaker placement is crucial - start by following the manuals guides.

4. Lots of people buy used Bose 901 speakers and then write reviews. Be sure to take this into account.

 

[its phillip]

I doubt you'll find many Bose owners here, but Emotiva is solid...that's weird that you weren't having any luck using the UPA-2 with the 901s though.

 

[jonnythan]

my UPA-2 amp (125 x2) could not power them at any volume.

That's pure comedy gold.

 

[jonnythan]

Just to note, the active equalizer appears to be that and not an amp at all. The fact that a pair of speakers requires an active equalizer not to sound horrendous says a lot about the speakers...

 

[Alex2507]

I've heard the 901's at a Bose store and they didn't sound horrendous but I don't know anybody on the forum that owns them much less powers them with Emo amps.

What kind of speaker wire and interconnects do you use?

 

[bignay2000]

I use 16 gauge speaker wire from monoprice (nothing special) and emotiva xseries RCA cables... They have a snug fit and they do the job.

 

[bignay2000]

The original Bose 1801 amplifier with built in equalizer was 450 watts per channel. Really a huge difference when you give them a robust amp. I was totally surprised the upa-2 struggled even at low volume. XPA-2 is about 75 lb where as the upa-2 is 36 lb. I suspect significant power conditioning and capacitors make the difference even at lower volumes - difference between XPA series and upa is not just overall power...

 

[bignay2000]

Upgrade Emotiva UMC-1 to Firmware 7.04.19 11/17/2011

Just upgrade my UMC-1 firmware and amazed at the difference. The bass to the front speakers is awesome. Specifically, listening to music with just my Bose 901 on the UMC-1 "direct" mode setting is incredible. After several hours of playing music, I decided that i need to revisit my Front Speaker cross over frequency and adjust more bass frequencies away from my sub, Paradigm 3400, to the Bose 901 front speakers. I ended up changing from 80 HZ crossover to 70 HZ.

Still, I find myself toggling back to Direct (no sub) when listening to Adele and other songs that tend not to need loud deep bass as the mid-high bass has better imaging with the Bose 901. I am still considering pushing even more bass frequency to the Bose 901s, bass sounds good down to 40 HZ crossover frequency. So I know I will end up between 70 HZ and 40 HZ as the sweet spot.

From what i can tell, it appears that prior to this latest firmware, if you switched from Stereo to Direct, the Emotiva UMC-1 did not switch the front speakers to Large/full frequency. Thus Direct sound like the same as Stereo with the Sub powered off.


My original post claimed the UPA-2 was not powerful enough to drive the Bose 901 speakers, and that the sound was very bright with no bass. However, I now expect the brightness was emphasized by the UMC-1 not sending lower frequencies.

 

[gotchaforce]

Wait, if the 901 requires "reflecting" off walls what happens when you add room treatments? lol

 

[300exoh]

Wait, if the 901 requires "reflecting" off walls what happens when you add room treatments? lol

From what I was told room treatments aren't recommended with the bose. It defeats the reflections and ruins the sound stage. Aside from carpet and upholstered furniture to tame any brightness I would stay away from wall treatments. I have a vintage pair of 601's and heavy wall treatments and drapery seemed to take away from the sound stage and really dulled the sound. The biggest effect on the sound for me was speaker placement. I played around with placement for countless hours of listening before I came up with a positioning that suited me and didn't sound too bright or dull.