Home cinema or home theater with several bose 901

[Diesel57]

lol.
I am really not offended. And you are probably right.
I had my speakers as an opportunity and I am trying to get the best of it . I haven't an experience from other solutions.
So No problem for me. If you can suggest me a solution that could be the equivalent to my purpose I will improve my knowledge and will try to understand the pros and cons.

You're difinitly in the right place to obtain knowledge and also Support, the only problem you may encounter here which is a good one too have is multiple choices to your solution...Cheers

 

[Diesel57]

Hello,
ouah. thank you for this explanation.
It was also one reason to join this forum and exchange with you.
have good remarks and know if my project hase sense.
I understand that it has a minor sense and for some others NO SENSE

So my speakers are already at their top and try a further integration could be waste of money, energy and time. So thank you.

What's most important is the sense that you profit from here, the knowledge and support is extremely difficult to match here...Enjoy

 

[Jeffrey S. Albaugh]

I just hope you know those 901s as well as you think you do.

Yes, you have found it is possible to use them for HT, but will you like it? I very much doubt it. Honestly I can't think of a worse speaker for home theater, the main reason being is that their speech discrimination is just plain awful.

Only 11% of the sound is forward radiated and the rest goes to the wall, literally.

I come form a time when these speakers were common. I used to get to fix them. Don't try and play them loud or you will be looking for spare drivers. Also make sure you cross to the sub very high for HT.

Those full range speakers are not quality units. Back in the day I could buy OEM replacements for $3.50 and sometimes $1.50 a piece.

The first 901swere sealed and you could at least attempt Eq. However the drivers did not tolerate a lot of power as they were not high excursion speakers. They were lean on the bass, but reasonably clean at moderate volumes.

Then they came out with the tuned version and the problems really escalated. They were tuned boomy, and you can't Eq a ported enclosure, because the drivers decouple from the cabinets, and driver excursion becomes grossly excessive and futile. With no back pressure from the sealed enclosure, these ported version really ate up drivers. This series of the 901s I think are candidates for the worst speakers I ever have encountered.

I agree with TLS Guy. Using Bose 901's for front & surround channels is a bad idea; no coherency. Consider that they have 8 forward facing mid- bass drivers, and one rear facing one. Complicate this with the fact that depending on how far off the back wall is too complicated between all 4 901's you are, affects the over all sound. The reflections off the wall just bounce all around and make your surround sound just sounds rediculous. And still, this doesn't take in to what are you going to use for a center channel speaker? Just a complete mess. The whole idea just sucks. There is no chance of fixing this IMHO. Start from scratch; eliminate the Bose completely. It will have an "echoey" sound with reverb like in the old days.

 

[Jeffrey S. Albaugh]

Good job @Irvrobinson on that pre-pro, forgot completely about it. However, to use the Bose EQ via that loop, you won't be able to use digital audio sources like via hdmi. Page 21 http://pdf.outlawaudio.com/outlaw/docs/Model 975_OM_Spread.pdf

I'd try the Bose without a center. Properly setup/positioned the Bose should do a good job of creating a phantom center. You still need a sub, though.

FWIW I built a pair of the BR-1s the Phiharmonic AA is based on (and separately purchased a set of crossovers from Dennis recently for a new build). Very nice speaker for the money. The Bose 901 version you have I haven't heard, but did hear well setup ones back in the 70s and thought they were very nice, would love to hear how they work out in your theater plan. Probably play louder than the BR-1/AA can....but that was a long time ago.

It's not a good idea to use phantom channel for Center channel, especially with Bose 901"s since they send out sound forward and to the rear as well. Center channel sound consists of Dialog. It should not be bounced all over the place. Use a Center speaker, but not Bose. It will be a lot more coherent.

 

[lovinthehd]

It's not a good idea to use phantom channel for Center channel, especially with Bose 901"s since they send out sound forward and to the rear as well. Center channel sound consists of Dialog. It should not be bounced all over the place. Use a Center speaker, but not Bose. It will be a lot more coherent.

Yer preaching to the choir so to speak. I prefer having a center. I just thought it would be an interesting experiment for the OP since he likes/has the 901s already....