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Music Room Hand Made Amplifiers
BOSE 901 SERIES IV..... LIVE AND LOUD !
On to the 901's and Live DVD Audio
I spent last weekend enjoying Live Concert DVD's playing through the Bose 901's.
Equipment Lineup:
Aikido Octal Preamp 6SN7 @ 300 VDC Regulated
Oppo DVD Player
Transcendent Balanced Power - for sources
Bose 901 Series IV w/PC6 Stands & equalizer
Monster Cable XP
Vampire and Nordost Spellbinder Interconnects
Fun performance within the context of Bose sound !
The 60 Watts of KT88 power per channel did more for Live DVD's than any other prior setup I had used.
Of course it's not Hi End sound, but how many Live Concert events are recorder and relevant in this context, not many.
The way that Bose 901 speakers deliver and convey Live Music is satisfying, with punch and energy.
In essence, judging the sound of Bose 901 or any Bose product from the Hi-End perspective is misleading.
I will state that Bose sound is Bose sound, like Klipsch or Maggies. The Bose Public Address roots, it's obvious from today's product lines for roving musicians, weatherproof speakers and commercial audio.
The Bose sound is based on a Direct/Reflected concept and as such, an iconoclast in the Hi-End speaker world.
But Bose has always managed to sell their products at a decent price point, despite the pressboard cabinets.
Be aware that Bose 901 speakers require active equalization and include a matched audio equalizer unit.
For many of the pure audio camp whose less is more mantra modulates their senses, this is viewed as another source of "distortion"
Bose 901's don't:
Image or recreate acoustic spaces
Have dept
Holography is absent
No pin-point soundstaging
No "you are in the studio" feeling
Reproduce spatial cues
Resolve micro dynamics
Bose 901's do:
Make nice Large Scale Pipe Organs sound real
Re-create the thrill of most Live recorded performances, especially loud one's
Make most poorly recorded material palatable
Eliminate 'sweet spot' listening
Solve speaker limitations with active equalization
Bose 901' s pass on the mish-mash of live stage music in a similar way as we hear it in the live environment as sonic mashed potatoes
Live music, unless it's a small quartet, trio, or intimate Jazz Club recorded with carefully placed microphones arrives to our ears pretty much mixed-up with a mix of delayed reflected sound and faster direct sound.
Maybe in a open air arena we can hear the Bass on the left and the Bongos on the right, maybe there's some spatial info.
Bose 901's don't do studio, vocal and instrumental recorded material well, but for most people this simply is not relevant.
Good LP's lose spatial definition and high quality recordings can sound a bit congested.
What the Bose 901's do well is to "to spray music" with plenty of low end punch.
They also have a lack of high end extension that is probably due to the lack of a true HF radiator.
But 90% of Music is not in the tweeter range so relevance to the total is not that big of a factor for the average person.
The 901's Bass has snap, is very fast and deep enough to enjoy Jurassic Park.
Amazing how the Bose 901's can rattle the windows while my Zu Druid speakers struggle to convey the same message.
Heck it may be distorted but it sure appeals to the normal person.
I have impressed very few laymen with my Hi-End sound. But put on the Bose and they smile.
The Bass performance from the 901's is fast and nimble, commanding and almost specializing in Live Musical Reproduction.
One listen to studio recordings and my ears tell me the Bose 901's are not delivering the information well.
In fact, recordings with ambient and spatial cues that require careful driver phasing, the 901's are lacking.
AC/DC Live at Donnington, Supertramp Live, RUSH Snakes and Arrows or even a large scale symphony/big band.
Bose 901's deliver that "On-Stage" message very well for a decent price point.
Bose 901's have most of the Bass I will need without the added expense of a dedicated Subwoofer.
My music room is 1456 cubic feet in volume and the 901's fill this space very nicely.
I actually removed the area rug to achieve a hotter presentation that went well with Live DVD's and CD's.
My back wall is covered with Sonex so this helps in the overall presentation.
So in a nutshell and without too many extra words, Bose speakers are the layman's home version of a PA system.
They deliver musical thrills like a small roller coaster ride but have nothing to do with the way Audioholics prefer music served.
In fact the 901's are an acquired beer budget taste, not a refined Cognac or Merlot.
So if you want to make loud music, have a 2 channel home theater and small speaker requirement
I would try out a pair of Bose 901's for sure, especially if you have a Solid State Receiver.
You need at least 60 watts per channel, 100 watts ideal and 250 Watts the best.
The idea is not to melt the 901's, it's about headroom and transient performance.
I wonder how 901's would work with a NAD M2 or a Spectron Musician III, ummmmm.
In a nutshell:
Bose 901 speakers are idiosyncratic
Not hi-end in sound or performance
Are a classic design.
Have stood the test of time.
Still affordable in today's dollars
Use them safely with the obligatory PC-6 stands, or suspended from the ceiling.
I would classify Bose speakers as "Party Animals"....
but Stereophile doesn't have such a category.
Retro, rea$onable and powerful... Bose 901's Rock the house down.
