Bose 901 Spinorama?

[StevenEleven]

I gotta say, these suckers are cool. Are they accurate? Pssssht. Nope. But my goodness do they create a hugemongous soundstage (even if it’s not supposed to). ‍Depth is beyond any conventional speaker I’ve ever heard.

I know I’m supposed to hate them but I can’t bring myself to do it.

@ribosradagast has got jokes!!!

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This is epic. I knew someone who had these when I was a teenager and loved to crank them when I could get away with it. Since then I've always been deeply skeptical of Bose bashing. : )

 

[hardisj]

This is epic. I knew someone who had these when I was a teenager and loved to crank them when I could get away with it. Since then I've always been deeply skeptical of Bose bashing. : )

I don't know that I heard anything that wasn't messed up, tonally, in the 30 minutes I just listened to them. The bass was peaky at some points (though, it could as easily be the room but it lit up in frequencies it's never lit up in before). There isn't much midrange to speak of. The highs are... high. I messed with the EQ a bit and got it to a point where it live-able. But the overall sound, even when noting those inaccuracies, wasn't terrible. Not like I was expecting, for sure. The things it does with the stage is a total trip. I'll listen again before I start measuring and take notes which I'll share in the review. Might be better to wait until I can listen again "critically" instead of listening for "fun".

 

[bigx5murf]

I gotta say, these suckers are cool. Are they accurate? Pssssht. Nope. But my goodness do they create a hugemongous soundstage (even if it’s not supposed to). ‍Depth is beyond any conventional speaker I’ve ever heard.

I know I’m supposed to hate them but I can’t bring myself to do it.


This is also the part where I gently post this again..
One-way shipping on these was $115. So round trip shipping is gonna be $230 or so. I offered to pay it out of my pocket... but I didn't expect to pay that much. So, if anyone here can help me offset some of the shipping costs by donating a little bit, it would be greatly appreciated. You can do so via PayPal through my site link here:
https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/contribute/




So, now the pictures!

@ribosradagast has got jokes!!!

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Same series as mine. They were hanging from the ceiling of a house I was renovating. Owner wanted me to throw them out. I asked to keep them, but no EQ in sight. As luck would have it, I found a series VI eq at a thrift store a couple months later.

 

[hardisj]

Testing has commenced.

I am testing the speaker without the EQ box. I am also measuring the output of the EQ box directly. That way I will have raw speaker performance and I can simply add whatever the EQ box is doing since there is no change in phase or appearance of an all-pass filter; just tonality sliders and those effect the speaker in all aspects the same way. This saves me a lot of time having to measure each variation of the EQ box.

However, I *am* measuring with/without the box for my HD and compression with the EQ functions set to flat. For MTON I am measuring without the EQ and we know that any variation electronically will alter the distortion performance from there with a "pointer" available from the HD with/without testing.

Doing this any other way would take me way too long. It would be the equivalent of measuring 5+ unique speakers. If any of you have a problem with the way I am measuring these you can kiss my butt.

 

[PierreV]

So, now the pictures!

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That speaker never encountered a cat!

 

[Haflermichi]

This will be interesting. Just please tell me when you're done testing and start listening to them (with the eq.!) they won't be placed like you're initial picture. They need to reflect off a smooth, hard back wall. 8 of the 9 drivers are in the back after all. And, like most speakers, need to away from the side walls a bit.
Thanks for taking this task on. I'm not sure what to expect!
I worked for Bose for many years starting in the late 80's selling all of their products up until the first generation Wave Radio.
Can't wait to see what you come up with.
Cheers.

 

[hardisj]

I posted the review here.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...bose-901-series-v-speaker-review.14865/unread

I tested them in my living room first. Then moved them upstairs and played with different positioning. End result was pretty much always the same. But I talk aout all this in the review.