[pstrisik]

I'll start a new thread, if there's any discussion at all - maybe just a lone post.    But beowolf's post today about line arrays made me think of sharing this........

A friend is moving out of state (from Alaska, that's a very big deal move) and is giving away lots of stuff.  I passed on some mediocre stuff - sub, receiver, etc.  But I said "sure" to a pair of Bose 901's, circa 1970's - maybe earlier.  She's the original owner and in her 70's.  I'm not sure which series.  Hopefully earlier as I've read they used cloth surrounds for the first few years.

The interesting part is that each of these speakers has nine ~4.5" drivers.  That's one reason I hope they have cloth surrounds - I would hate would not do re-foaming on 18 speakers!  So, with these nine 4.5" drivers, there is no crossover.  Essentially a full range array.  Eight face the rear, one to the front.  It supposedly comes with an equalizer to shape lows and highs.  Might not be a good sign if they really need an equalizer.  I probably won't keep them long (I've got Omegas  ), but they are free and will be fun to see what the original Bose model does with a good tube system!  I'm running max 12wpc with my primary amp, but have a 70wpc conrad-johnson standing by if needed.

.........Peter  (don't tell anyone I own Bose  )

[beowulf]

I don't think I've ever heard the 901's, but some people seem to either love or hate them (however I've noticed that haters tend to be Bose bashers in general anyways).  Speaking of equalizers, the Line Array speakers I spoke about in the other thread also uses one specifically for bass, but it's not the same as Tone Controls that are found on Preamps.

[dB Cooper]

The original 901's were a notoriously power hungry speaker, largely due to the fact that the bundled Bose equalizer applies lots of boost at low frequencies to compensate for the natural rolloff of the small drivers. The C-J might do OK at moderate volume levels on material without gobs of really low frequency information, but I wouldn't even bother with the 12WPC amp.

[pstrisik]

I don't think I've ever heard the 901's, but some people seem to either love or hate them (however I've noticed that haters tend to be Bose bashers in general anyways).  Speaking of equalizers, the Line Array speakers I spoke about in the other thread also uses one specifically for bass, but it's not the same as Tone Controls that are found on Preamps.

Bose does have a bad rap.  It seems general opinion is that the 901 was their pinnacle for big speakers and everything since has been less for more money.  Some of their new stuff - in other than home hifi - is clearly good but still overpriced - like the little bluetooth speakers and noise cancelling headphones. 

[pstrisik]

The original 901's were a notoriously power hungry speaker, largely due to the fact that the bundled Bose equalizer applies lots of boost at low frequencies to compensate for the natural rolloff of the small drivers. The C-J might do OK at moderate volume levels on material without gobs of really low frequency information, but I wouldn't even bother with the 12WPC amp.

Maybe the equalizer will let me keep the bass rolled off - I've got a couple of good subs. 

[JLM]

Can't disagree with the premise, that most of what we hear in a room is reflected sound (at least from dipoles, bipoles, omni-poles, full height linear arrays, or any speaker set-up close to walls).  But why magnify the effect by aiming 8 of 9 drivers at the front wall (and away from the listener)?  They certainly were good at providing a "wall of sound" (big soundstage, but no image specificity) - perfect for the 60's American "bigger and more artificial the better" mindset.

They did try selling the 901's without the equalizer, but that earned Bose the reputation of having no bass or treble.  And the quality of 18 drivers (plus EQ) versus the price has to brought into question.