None...absolutely none

"weakness" is a very powerful word.

Way back in the 1980's I purchased B&W Matrix speakers primarily because I had auditioned Bose 901's earlier that week. I don't know what the deal is with Bose and the refecting speakers but I do know that they sound very unnatural and compressed. I guess the unnaturalness is advertized as "DIRECT/REFLECTING" and to uncompress the sound you need the equalizer. There is no useful bass or treble and the midrange is unfocused. This speaker sounds particularly bad with revealing gear such as Mark Levinson. Don't bother with placement and other excuses from the Bose league- this thing just does not perform! I compared 1971 Bose 901's with my Martix and everyone easily noticed the difference. Listed with your ears and not what the salesman tells you!

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None like this. My setup is Mark Levinson transport, Mark Levinson converter, Mark Levinson pre amp, Mark Levinson monoblock power amps

Big sound,Big sound stage,Powerful bass and crisp top end with a Big amp. Clean sound with small amps(50- 70)

Needs good set up, room placement etc.

If you like clean crisp full sound you will love these speakers. These speakers are good with any amp! But they are not party speakers. What i mean is, they are HIFI speakers. Alot of people just want a pair of speakers that they turn up so they can feel the bass. There isn't anything wrong with that! I love to turn up the dial' till all i can here is music and pounding bass. You can do this with all the 901's, But you need a big amp. These speakers need amps,watts to deliver the sound they are capable of. If you use 100 watts rated into 8ohms and i mean a amp that will double it into a 4ohms(200 watts) your on your way. I have used a few amps with these speakers,Yamaha,nad,denon,rotel,harmon/kardon and pioneer. Any amp works well for normal audio levels,But you need the 901 eq. Without the (eq) they sound as if you put a blanket on them. So many people buy them without the (eq) and think they sound like rubbish, they do! You also need to set them up.They need to be 4 feet apart or more, 8 inches to 14 inches from the back wall and 18 to 36 inches from the side walls. If you have anything in the middle you will need to be 18 inches away from it as well. A few inches makes a big change just like a subwoofer.901's can produce impressive amounts of bass if placed right, and given lots of WATTS! I use two nads in bridged mode, they run 360 rms each and peak at around 600 watts. So as you can see i like it loud playing van halen etc. They will go without breaking down until the amp starts to go into clipping. There are not to many speakers that will do that. Those same speakers with an amp that is only 100 watts rms will not sound anything like it. 901's are not sensitive speakers they are rated around 93,the hiher the rateing the more they need power, sensitive speakers are rated around 87 ,at 87 they sound much louder with small amps. But they dont have whats called high end. 901's will sound like there breaking down as would any non sensitive speaker,but it's the amp going into clipping. The speaker is just playing the distorted signal.

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M&K,B&W,Jamo,JBL.

Vocal, symphonic performances. Clean performance from unlimited wattage to minimal home stereo amps and receivers.

Not made for the boom boom music of the 70's. Not a top performer in the hard hitting bass range! A powered sub-woofer is a must for hard hitting bass, and a great addition for the set.

Very strong back bone in all musical situations. Vocal and symphonic performances are life like. Great for home theater when aided by a powered sub woofer! Brass instruments very smooth and surrounding.

Deep bass-do not even think of subwoofering this system as there is no subwoofer that can do a better job of reproducing true deep bass...not this hyped up garbage that the phony HOME THEATER lovers would have-YUCK!!! Hear some REAL bass for a change!On the 901's you can actually hear a kickdrum change tone! The MIDS are superb! The highs are wonderful when they are present in the source itself! Nothing is ever overdone but simply perfect!Overall reproduction is the most accurate I've ever heard and is very powerful as music has its emotions anyway.Power handling is beyond belief and there is never any sign of distress coming forth out of the 901-VI.Cosmetically they look beautiful with their light walnut finish and dark brown grilles.Simply a pleasure to behold both sonically and physically!

Too much ignorance surrounds these speakers as most Bose Bashers don't even know the makeup of the speaker...one guy said that there were twelve 2 1/2 inch drivers in the rear and two up front.DUH!!...There are eight drivers in the rear and one up front for proper DIRECT/REFLECTING proportion! The drivers are all four inches in diameter!And you must use the appropriate equalizer or the sound will not be correct no matter how smart you think you are with your own EQ!

Now in its sixth generation, the Bose 901 still beats any speaker at any price and I've heard a ton of them from Bostons to Vandersteens to Martin/Logans!-All very nice speakers but to me the standard of excellence will always be the Bose 901.The SERIES VI is simply the best of the bunch with its clean honest seductively neutral sound quality from the deepest bass notes to the very top of the audio spectrum.Subtleties are easily heard for the first time when listening to familiar music from ROCK to BACH! Oh, by all means feel free to put on some classical organ with DEEP PEDAL!-Ah!!You'll shake the very rafters with these INDUSTRY REFERENCE SPEAKERS! By far they are better than anything else at any price at any kind of HIGH-FELLOOTIN' store! And I'm running mine with a measely Parasound CA-250 50w/ch. amp!Use good OFC wire and these will sound great and last forever! And please knock off the paper vs. composite garbage...Who cares what the doggone things are made of if they sound great and last a long time! You could have me in front of a firing squad and I would not give them up! It's so nice to know that I can truly spend my remaining years on this good God's earth listening to music the way it was meant to be listened to...sweet...seductive...and downright natural! You can tell they are something special just by listening to different recordings of different types of music from ROCK to BACH.They never sound the same.You can easily distinguish good recordings from poor ones.I know of no other speaker system that can do this to the extent the Bose 901 SERIES VI's can.THEY ARE A SUPERB PIECE OF ENGINEERING! Bravo, Amar Bose...BRAVO!!!

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B&W 802's, Nautilus,Boston Acoustics A-70's,Allison Ones,Two's,Fours,CD-6's,Maggies,Defs,Polks,PSB's,AR's,EPI's,Advents,Dahlquists,Snells...OOPS-I'm running out of time and breath! Thanks and God Bles

Longevity, (note, not IV's), clear clean sound. Can play very loud and have very substantial bass punch if enough power is provided.

Placement is critical but the same is true for $20,000 speakers.

This review is not really for the series IV as I would not rate them high due to the foam problem. They sounded good new but didn't last. I bought a pair just to trade in on the series VI during the Bose buyback program. I don't know if it still exists. Anyway, I have since bought a pair of series I and 2 pair of series II ($250 for the I's and about $550 in the II's combined. The series I's are at least 33 years old and the II's about 28 years old. My son listens to the I's with an old Crown IC150 preamp and DC300A power amp which was just tested at 188 wpc 8 ohm. They still sound clean and clear and he does not use the EQ. The Crown does have tone controls and seems to be all that is needed for his system. I use the two pair of series II's with dual mono Parasound HCA2200II's and I don't use the EQ and have no tone controls in my system. This is putting 500 watts per speaker to 28 year old speakers that were rated at 270w. I'm amazed at their longevity and ability to handle power. In fact, they like it. These are all original speakers with no repairs. This says something for the old ones at least. I have owned 901's since 1975 and never regretted buying any of them. The key to being happy with them is making sure that you have two unobstructed corners for them in a fairly good sized room and provide them with plenty of good clean power. They will overwhelm you in a small room and the reflecting quality can become jumbled. I would not say that Bose 901's are for everyone but if you like your music loud and enjoy a live concert, you might give them a listen. If you have $10,000 or more to spend on speakers I'm sure you can do better but this puts you in a league above most American people and by all means, buy the expensive stuff, it's good for the economy and I'm sure they will sound great. If you think that $5000 is a lot of money to spend on a stereo but would enjoy having a concert in your listening room, 901's could be for you. You can usually find series I's and II's on ebay for $200 to $400 a pair. Buy an amp with at least 175 wpc 8 ohm (250 or more is better) and you should be able to drive them OK. 100 to 150 wpc is enough if you use the EQ but I prefer not to need it. I would avoid series III or IV, don't know about the V's. VI's sound good but I prefer the old non ported I's and II's. Many people have bashed the 901's but my guess is that they were missing something. Most likely, not enough power but placement is also critical and if you use the EQ, it does have to be done correctly. Understandibly, the high end guys who think nothing of spending as much for their stereo as I spent for my house don't like them but if I had a Ferrari, I probably wouldn't like a Chevy. These old 901's make people sing, stamp their feet and do other silly things that tell me they are enjoying the experience. Nuff said.

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I don't know of anything similar but some high end speakers are using the direct reflecting concept. Shahinian Diapasons at $12,000 pr.

overal warmth and balance

no real accurate sound stage

The 901's came to me with the usual foam surround rotted away on all the drivers i repaired these and quickly found out why people in general like these speakers, with the e-q in place they can sound quite warm and moist you know the typical BOSE sound. so whats the big deal, theses speakers with the average price of $1200.00 are pleasing for the average listener but audiophiles know you can get better for less. no highs no lows must be BOSE. thats why you need the EQ

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mirage, energy, paradigm, B&O,

Very warm and rich reproduction of Classic and Acoustic music.

Needs a seperate sub for Techo and Rap.

This is the first time I have been moved to write a review on audio equipment. I have read quite a few extremely negative reviews on Bose 901's. I do agree that they lack in the low's but not in relation to the type of music that existed when they were first made. Bose 901's do a fine job of playing Classical, Bluegrass, Acoustic and Classic Rock. Techno and Rap must have a seperate sub woofer. I have a Carver 375 watt rms amp and Bose 901's which are 450 watt rms. A pretty good match. I am very happy and have been since 1992 when I bought them new. I prefer them over anything that I have heard for less than $1,200. I am very open minded I just haven't heard them yet. If I had it to do over I would look a little harder for speakers that do not need a seperate sub woofer and can equal the mids and highs of the 901's. Yes I said highs. But it won't be Kenwood, Pioner, JBL, Klipsch or Cewin Vega. Actually I have Cerwin Vega subs to make up for what the 901's lack. But none of the speakers I mentioned can recreate an acoutic performance with the warmth and richness of Bose 901's. As for the Bose EQ, yes it can be inconvenient for some setups but you must have it. All in all Bose 901's are great if you listen to Classical or Acoustic music. If you listen to Techo or Rap then don't get them unless you want to buy a subwoofer. All this said without being nasty.

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Klipsch, Cerwin Vega, JBL, Polk

Good quality speaker's with all around sound if hooked up right and used with a good amp.Not having to buy speakers for 16 years which speaks for it's self.I have abused these speakers for 16 years with no complaints, but it's time to move on.

none.

I bought 901's in 1986 because i was blowing speakers.I have the 901's i bought in 1986 and they sound the same as the day i bought them.I have them hung from the ceiling and they sound very good, I am driving them with a carver amp 250 wpc.I am in the market for new speakers i have heard many speakers which cost more than the 901's with not much difference in sound quality.I am not in the market for any bose products,but i can't say anything bad about the 901's because i have abused them for 16 years, and i listen to rock music very loud.The bose bashers must not know how to hook the speakers up right because the 901's are a quality speaker with great sound.

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To many cheap blown speakers to list.

Same series speaker (Bose 901 IV), three amps, all sound good

Heavy, placement issues

Hmmmmm...after reading over 100 of these 901 reviews, it seems that most of the nay-sayers have a common thread, that of not mentioning the Bose equalizer. Most "picked them up" or were "given" them and never mentioned getting the active equalizer with them. That''s like getting a Muscle Car without a Big-Block...it looks pretty and all, but it won''t go like you want it too. I''m on my second set of 901''s. I sold the first set because of house size limitations and not "using" them because my wife and I were starting a family (too noisy for the baby). I''m just as pleased with this used set I have now as I was with my new-off-the-floor 20 years ago. They sounded good with my 180W amp in the service, my 100W amp before the family, and despite what some have posted earlier, they soundd great with my little 45W mid-70''s Marantz integrated amp. I can still follow Robert Plant bounce back and forth from side-to-side in "Whole lotta Love" and I can pick out the string sections and place the horns in the "1812 Overture". They sound good with Cake, and sound good with Corn. I don''t know about punishing them with Rap cause I don''t listen to it. You need the equalizer, placement is necessary...but I''ve found not mandatory....just what speakers were you guys listening to?

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Not fair to say similar cause I don''t know of anyone else using "direct reflecting"....but I''ve owned (and still own some of the following - Yamaha JBL Klipsch (Heresy - still have) Kenwood 8

Marketing. No one markets better than Bose to the ignorant deaf masses. Its a study in marketing.

I have found beating on a toaster with a spoon sounds better.

Bose continues to make the worst speakers for the money year after year. Zero range, zero base, ultra cheap materials inside and out, super outdated drivers, etc, etc

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Toaster. Wish I could use negative numbers in the rating. Giving anything Bose makes a one star is an insult to real speaker makers everywhere/