Accuracy of overall sound, all the bass one can ever want, fullness of sound.

None for me

First, let me explain the low price I show. Originally, I owned a set of 901 III speakers that I purchased in 1979. In 1995, I noticed that one of the speakers was sounding "scratchy," and when I removed the grille, I discovered to my horror that the surround supporting structure for at least three of the drivers had literally disintegrated. I called Bose to see if I could purchase new surrounds, and they recommended against it. Rather, they offered to take back those 16 year old speakers, and give me a new set of 901 VI speakers for the $500! I jumped at that in a nanosecond. Now for my review. I''m a bit surprised at the negative reviews that I have seen on this site. Maybe I''m just fortunate. In any case, I really like these speakers. The sound is extremely clear, and the base is amazing. I can easily move my curtains in my 20 x 13 rec room. I am using a vintge 1979 Haffler power amp, and have the 901s suspended from the ceiling on chains. Other speakers that I own are Koss 1030s and Cambridge Soundworks New Ensemble. I have auditioned many speakers over the years, and have heard numerous good stereo systems in friend''s homes. I still prefer the overall sound of the Bose 901 VI speakers to any that I have heard.

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Koss 1030 Cambridge Soundworks New Ensemble

You can probably sell them quite easily when you decide to get some more accurate and exciting speakers. You had your fun with them, now let somebody else have theirs.

Without heavy equalization, there were no highs or lows. Dynamic range was severely limited in the bass due to extremely heavy demands on the power amp at low frequencies. Treble was also heavily equalized and not of top quality.

Back in the late 70''s when I was in the Air Force, Bose was sending sales reps to all the military bases because Bose was selling the 901 through base exchanges at a discount. The rep bragged about how much power the 901 could handle, and he pegged the power meter on his 400 watt Phase Linear amp on a 28Hz organ note just to prove it. They were fairly loud, but nothing spectacular. It you did that to my Vandersteens, neighbors would come pouring out of apartments to see if a tornado had hit, or something to that effect. I went back to my barracks after the demo and heard just as much detail on my cheap Fisher 10" 3-way speakers. They were just not as euphonic as the Bose speakers. I did not know what audiophile sound quality was at the time, and neither did most airmen at the demo. But the sound was euphonic and the rep had great sales pitches. Bose has sold a lot of euphonic but not too accurate or too detailed 901 series speakers to alot of folks over the years. Just look at the number of reviews! My Vandersteen 2Ci speakers blow Bose 901 speakers of any vintage into the weeds from just about any sound quality standpoint, but the average potential buyer has probably never heard of Vandersteen, Magneplanar, Martin Logan, or Thiel, all of which can put a much better speaker, sound quality wise, into their hands for about the same price. Bose has done a good job of marketing their product, but it isn''t true high end sound. The ambient 360 degrees of sound thing was done sooner and much better by Ohm in their model F. Any of their Walsh driver series of speakers will blow the Bose 901 into the weeds, but they are just not as easily marketed. The Bose 901 was designed to sell to the average person who really doesn''t want accurate sound, so it seems. Bose has really studied noncritical consumers'' biases in sound in order to arrive at the euphonic character of the 901.

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I have never owned a similar product to these. The Ohm Walsh series of speakers are similar in that they radiate sound in all directions, but they are true audiophile grade loudspeakers. The Walsh dri

Marketing, Paul Harvey

Cheap construction, no imaging, poor design that needs equalizer to work. Physics dictate that 4" full range speakers will NOT produce any meaningful bass. Studio mixing is done with CONVENTIONAL speakers, not reflecting garbage. If you like splattered, garbled sound with no real soundstage, then perhaps these are for you, and if you have the bucks to buy the paper coned speakers. I had to laugh when I took the grill off of a 901 and a 301 the first time. Research has been going on for so long, we are still waiting for any improvement in Bose speakers since they are virtually the same since the late 1960's (well, they have cheapened them a little, the current 301 looks like hell compared to the series 3)

Have been exposed to many other speakers in my life, and buyers who actually listen will choose many others. People who are ignorant and are lemmings who listen to intense marketing and believe that Paul Harvey really likes this stuff and isnt' getting paid to shill these deserve to spend bucks to buy inferior products. Paul Harvey has shilled for Aladdin Thermos company too, and car companies. He has recently started to Shill for Wal-Mart, so Wal-Mart must be in the same class as Bose! Bose, the Wal-mart of the speaker world.

People, use your ears and your brains, and not some Marketing ploy to get your bucks and some Bose fanatic who obviously puts fake posts on here. Notice they don't tell you to actually LISTEN when you choose speakers, they just tell you to buy them. Listen to others, you won't be disappointed.

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Lots of other products

Lifelike, full, rich sound.

Highs could be crisper.

I simply do not understand the rabbid anti-boise propaganda on here. Get real. Review, don't act like a spoiled child.

I find the Bose 901's to be absolutely astonishing. I cannot imagine any one of you comming into my home, listening to the Bose, and in all seriousness telling me they sound terrible. Ridiculous. I know from personal experience that these speakers are some of the best, if not the best, I'v ever heard for the price range. I've compared, I've listened to plenty of other speakers and these 901s are FAR AND AWAY better. The difference is incredible. What are you people ranting about? Do you perchance work for a Bose competitor? The professional reviewers give the Bose rave reviews. What planet are you on? In my book, "it's made out of paper" don't cut it as a review bud. The SOUND is what matters.

Bottom line: if you are seriously looking for AUDIO (these definitely are NOT home theater speakers), then LISTEN and compare yourself. Just keep in mind that with anything Bose, positioning of the speakers are CRITICAL. In other words, you have to have some sort of BRAIN to set them up properly. THEN you will see the difference.

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Acoustic Research, Boston Acustics, etc.

Loud boxes

Everything but loud

They are loud, they do produce more bass than one would think they could, they impress at insane levels. They really sound bizarre at anything less. I am sure placement is an issue - but laughable for most.

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Can't think of another speaker that relies on driver-wall reflecting stage as it's forte

Brand Name

Brand Name

There are lots of Brand Name products that cost too much and don't deliver. But Bose seems to be the one that pisses people off the most. If someone writes that they love the sound of their Bose speakers they immediately become a target for Nazi-style hate mail. I don't think any 'informed' audio enthusiast would select Bose. While it might be easy for some people to conclude anyone satisfied with the sound of Bose is 'ignorant, uninformed, gullible, even stupid'. . . the ranting/raving personal attacks and fanatic idealism that the 'Bose-People' should not only be humiliated but also, probably, killed is unbelievable!

To all those insecure, small-minded people who love to hate Bose . . . Your self-serving arrogance is far more disgusting than the poor ignorant slob who says he's happy with the sound of his Bose speakers. Get a Life!

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Too many to list

Looking through the list of reviews its obvious that there is a divided camp - lovers and haters of the 901's. As for me - I'm converted.

When I first purchased the 901's (series IV)for $300NZ (approx. $150US) about 6 months ago - they sounded like crap - however still quite a bit better the AR 60's that they replaced (on loan from my brother).

After doing a bit of homework - I decided to replace all the speakers and recondition the equaliser. This cost $980NZ. The next thing I did was to hook-up the equaliser correctly! Previously I had the equaliser sitting between the pre-amp and amp (WRONG - but I'm not an expert). Even though this was an acceptable set-up (as per the speaker manual) - the sound was horrific. I'm only guessing - but this could be the reason why people are experiencing sound quality problems, and publishing comments like "the 901's needs a tweeter array and a subwoofer!".

As undoubtedly everyone on this list knows - the equaliser really needs to be hooked into the processing loop of your pre-amp (if your pre-amp is lucky enough to have one). This also has the advantage that you can easily turn off the equaliser if you want to run another set of non 901 speakers.

The final jewel in the crown was to power the speakers via a Plinius SA100 III. If you do all the above and you still think they sound like crap - well - then I guess they do. As for me - they sound absolutely amazing! Mind you - I'm not a classical or opera lover, I'm into Dub, House, and Techno - so I'm sure that will discredit all my views - as I'm just a musical pleb.

However, one thing that no one can deny - they are one sexy piece of furniture. So if you're into function and design - get a pair!

Spacious sound, Natural bass

High frequency

Bose 901 is still one of the best loudspeakers ever made,regardless of price and/or size. Its sound is spacious, balanced, and natural. Considering its overall size and design feature (nine 4.5" drivers),it produces outstanding low-frequency sound. I find it particularly suitable for classical music reproduction. The only minor drawback is that its high-end sound is not as crisp as that of other good conventional loudspeakers. On balance, however, I still think that 901 is a very fine instrument.

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KEF, B&W, M&K

loud lots of bass at low volume clarity gives you every noise in the music

cant turn up loud with bass up price like all bose products

a great speaker i cant believe how bad some people rated this speaker it sounds great and mine are older than 95 they still sound great but they could sound better for the price

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yamaha kenwood teac advent sony onkyo

Too many to list

not enough to mention

I own a Hi Fi store that carries many lines of speakers. Polk,Klipsch,Paradigm and many,many other. I must say of all the speakers Bose 901 are the hottest speaker we carry. Bose have been making great music year in and year out while alot of these other companys are fly by night. If i gave 100 people in my store a test of 10 different speakers in the Bose class,this is with the customers back to the speaker and 94% picked the Bose 901. Excellent sound and value. A must for the audiophile.