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The Bose 301s
- Thread starter AlzalzS
- Start date
solderdude
Grand Contributor
You can also simply light the dollar bills you were planning to use.
This will bring more 'warmth' than using different cables.
Personally I don't mind if someone wants to throw away money so you should do whatever makes you think will bring you more listening pleasure.
Were the 301’s the model with the flappy thing over the tweeter?
solderdude
Grand Contributor
Those were the mk1... horrible sounding speakers, yet many were sold and many people seemed to like them but the Bose milk cartons were also pretty popular and sounded no better than a portable radio with a honky boom box attached to them.
These are the mk5. Cheap (for a Bose) with paper cone woofer and 2 paper cone tweeters with a 'diffuser' in front of them. One pointing towards the rear and side and the other towards the front and side. The rear tweeter has the upper treble filtered out. The woofer is not filtered at all.
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- Thread Starter
- #46
Hey man I think the bass is pretty good on the 301-V the trebles are great too especially with eq. Have you actually heard the 301s in person or fiddled with them eq wise. Fine if you feel the materials are cheap but they work just fine to me. Now I’m really worried if these speakers will break early, I was hoping this investment would last me 20years so long as I take care of them
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AlexanderM
Active Member
- Joined
- May 1, 2021
- Messages
- 268
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- 177
I had Bose 301s once and loved them. Speakers can sound good without producing accurate sound reproduction. Look at Erin's experience with the Bose 901s, he seemed to really enjoy them, while at the same time saying they do not fit the definition of well designed speakers.
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- Thread Starter
- #49
Can you please explain if this filtering is bad or good in what way
solderdude
Grand Contributor
Filtering is poorly done. In fact there is not even any real crossover filter. There only is a 6dB/oct high pass for the tweeters. The woofer/midrange is not filtered at all.
Probably to save production costs, not to improve sound quality/performance.
The foam surround of the woofer may not last 20 years though.
However, when you EQ something the overall sound quality can be improved. But this is true for most speakers.
Just enjoy what you have and stop worrying about it.
This forum is more about the engineering and Bose is poor at that. That does not mean people can't enjoy it.
There are millions of people enjoying Bose speakers and even ones that are much 'worse'.
Bose has a good name because of all their advertising.
The PA stuff isn't even that terrible.
Surprisingly the NC headphones are actually the only decent thing they make (the pads are poor quality though).
Probably to save production costs, not to improve sound quality/performance.
The foam surround of the woofer may not last 20 years though.
However, when you EQ something the overall sound quality can be improved. But this is true for most speakers.
Just enjoy what you have and stop worrying about it.
This forum is more about the engineering and Bose is poor at that. That does not mean people can't enjoy it.
There are millions of people enjoying Bose speakers and even ones that are much 'worse'.
Bose has a good name because of all their advertising.
The PA stuff isn't even that terrible.
Surprisingly the NC headphones are actually the only decent thing they make (the pads are poor quality though).
- Thread Starter
- #51
on YouTube a fellow mentioned that the crossover is crap and when he opened the 301 and replaced it with his own higher quality crossover that the sound quality improved a lot
I’m sorry that I come off as argumentative about the Bose engineering aspect I know everyone pretty much agrees about the build quality and the old saying Bose = buy other sound equipment. I am just a little irritated at my search for good speakers as it’s been 2 years I’ve gone through many pairs and some even over my price budget… to try and see how the grass is greener on the other side. And found myself frustrated, not just with speakers but with audioquest cables as well. Asked on here about em to make sure I’m not crazy. However I always remember that the Bose 301s were my style when I had em before, so I stuck with em. So I’m not in the belief anymore that price equals some kind of other worldly quality. Best Buy associate says yeah man bowers and wilken would be the top tier brand we have here. So when my cuz asked me about what speakers I recommend since I’m so “experienced”, as he was renovating…. I said b&w. So he bought 5 of em with a marantz 1000$ receiver. I’m not knocking that setup, it’s fine. But not for me.
If I there’s anything I can do to actually improve the sound on what I already have then great, I’ll ask my engineer buddy if he can help me mod the crossover, but is there a setting you would be able to recommend that I can ask him to do for me? Because I wouldn’t know how to do this yet as I’m still learning about inductor and capacitor
I wouldn’t mind fixing this however. But if the crossover isn’t to my liking then I’ll just revert and forget about it and stick to stock.
Yeah the headphones led me to upgrade my older Bose 100s, I was like whoa, my speakers suck.. but overall marked improvement over the 100s
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solderdude
Grand Contributor
The sound quality is (probably) not going to change much with a better quality filter.
Most limiting factors are the enclosure, the woofer itself and the cheap paper cone tweeters.
There is also a lightbulb inside that acts as kind-of a protection for the tweeters at higher listening levels (which also causes compression and distortion at high levels).
The 2 tweeters are in series and one of them (the rear one) receives less treble and the front one produces more upper treble.
This is not standard so off-the-shelf filters are not recommended here unless you know what you are doing.
Replacing the cheap electrolytic capacitor for a same value higher quality capacitor is not going to do anything for this speaker.
I would use it as it is when you like the sound.
Most limiting factors are the enclosure, the woofer itself and the cheap paper cone tweeters.
There is also a lightbulb inside that acts as kind-of a protection for the tweeters at higher listening levels (which also causes compression and distortion at high levels).
The 2 tweeters are in series and one of them (the rear one) receives less treble and the front one produces more upper treble.
This is not standard so off-the-shelf filters are not recommended here unless you know what you are doing.
Replacing the cheap electrolytic capacitor for a same value higher quality capacitor is not going to do anything for this speaker.
I would use it as it is when you like the sound.
- Thread Starter
- #53
I read an article/ paper on woofers regarding plans incorporating paper vs plastic /rubber woofers and that to assume paper material would assume lesser quality is not true. I’m pretty sure that’s what it said. Anyway whatever, you are telling me paper is cheaper, I overpaid
I haven’t had the opportunity to blast speakers loudly to see distorted treble, this sucks ..
Is this lightbulb necessary or can be removed?
I think I will ask someone I know about doing this for me if possible. He might say no . But also I watched the video you posted on the interior components and I can open it myself, de-wiring however I might need to be careful
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solderdude
Grand Contributor
The light bulb is there to protect the tweeters because of the not so steep 6dB/oct filter and low crossover frequency. You should not remove it.
You paid for the brand name and the huge amount of advertising they do.
This is true for many 'lifestyle' brands. Just use it as it is with some EQ and enjoy it for what it does... fill the room with music in a different way than 'normal' speakers.
When you enjoy it use it the way it was intended. These are not 'regular' speakers.
There are also cheap (mid)woofers using other materials than paper. This is not an issue though and not solely about the used material only.
You paid for the brand name and the huge amount of advertising they do.
This is true for many 'lifestyle' brands. Just use it as it is with some EQ and enjoy it for what it does... fill the room with music in a different way than 'normal' speakers.
When you enjoy it use it the way it was intended. These are not 'regular' speakers.
There are also cheap (mid)woofers using other materials than paper. This is not an issue though and not solely about the used material only.
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- Thread Starter
- #55
I did have a chance to try out the Martin Logan motion4, was called motion4i when I had em back in 2017. I felt like they had a great soundstage sound , extremely clear and they have electrostatic drivers for the highs. Would electrostatic be considered a cheap alternative for producing the highs??? Or are they worth it? In the Future I plan to purchase floor standing speakers possibly, gonna go to Best Buy for some demoing in their magnolia center
Looking at prices I'd say they are a rather expensive alternative.
- Thread Starter
- #57
Hey which brands did you check out
Martin Logan.
- Thread Starter
- #59
So I finally decided to check out my system on full.
Took my Bose model100 surrounds and put them on surround as they’re meant to be. Put together 5.1 and it sounds great. However receiver has another 2 left and right channels, and since I had another pair of the Bose 100s & I threw em in, 7.1 now. Not sure if this is good because I’m listening Spotify on tv and I use optical out with dts2:5 (using the Bose 100s on a left/right channel…)
Since all the channels are virtualized, and everything sounds good. Mission accomplished!
Took my Bose model100 surrounds and put them on surround as they’re meant to be. Put together 5.1 and it sounds great. However receiver has another 2 left and right channels, and since I had another pair of the Bose 100s & I threw em in, 7.1 now. Not sure if this is good because I’m listening Spotify on tv and I use optical out with dts2:5 (using the Bose 100s on a left/right channel…)
Since all the channels are virtualized, and everything sounds good. Mission accomplished!
- Thread Starter
- #60
Ditched the dts altogther! Garbage . Output tv through optical to a dac, connected to dj mixer. Turned up the highs.. better. Way better, also set the receiver on 5 Chan stereo
