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New Break-through for BOSE 901 Owners !!......

174.131.118.245
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 13:30:45
HiFiSoundGuy
Audiophile

Posts: 305
Joined: August 5, 2006
 I did a very cheap tweak to my 901's that made them sound SOOOO MUCH BETTER ! I put two coats of Elmer's Carpenter's wood glue on all the paper cones and dust caps of the speaker drivers.

I put one coat of wood glue and let it dry good for 24 hours and then put another coat of wood glue and it dry good for another 24 hours before playing any music.

My 901's sound like different speakers now, I'm hearing a more extended top end...more realistic and a more extended deeper bottom end and the mid-range sounds cleaner more 3-D.. more realistic WOW !!...

This AMAZING SOUND was there all these years, you just had to tweak it out of them !

 

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RE: New Break-through for BOSE 901 Owners !!......, posted on July 6, 2012 at 13:48:22
John Elison
Audiophile

Posts: 15013
Location: Central Kentucky
Joined: December 20, 2000
Contributor
  Since: January 29, 2004
 You might try a little epoxy in the voice-coil gap of all the drivers. I've heard that makes a very noticeable difference. ;-)

Good luck,
John Elison

 

Surprising Dr. Amar didn't see the value of doping his cones. nt., posted on July 6, 2012 at 17:13:22
Mr. Dick Hertz
Audiophile

Posts: 18444
Location: So. Calif.
Joined: May 25, 2006
 nt

 

not sure if value is in his lexicon...nt, posted on July 6, 2012 at 17:45:36
musiclistener
Audiophile

Posts: 1613
Location: Northern VA
Joined: March 13, 2003
Contributor
  Since: March 24, 2005
 nt
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." -HST

 

That's a good start, but I would recommend more extensive Epoxy deployment..., posted on July 6, 2012 at 18:29:27
willkayakforfood
Audiophile

Posts: 822
Joined: November 30, 2010
Contributor
  Since: December 24, 2011
 As someone who has built my own kayak from wood, fiberglass, and Epoxy, I have a great deal of experience with Epoxy. When it comes to Bose 901s, I can't think of anything more deserving of the best - and lots of it!

To that end--and to begin with, for that matter--I recommend "MAS" resin and hardeners:

MAS Epoxy - expensive, but good

Your idea of applying Epoxy in the voice-coil gaps of all the drivers is a good "backup" measure, just to be safe, but what I have in mind is a more impressive sort of Bose 901 Epoxy Tweak. I say fill those drivers to the brim with custom thickened Epoxy! Different fillers for different colors (WAF, and all that, no doubt); fine wood dust for brown, graphite powder for black (and extreme durability under duress), and silica (perfect for our favorite audiophiles, as it has excellent dielectric properties).

To apply Ultimate Bose 901 Epoxy Tweak®:

1) Turn Bose 901 so that speaker cones are facing the sky (for many of us, that's "up"). Mix large batches of Epoxy with thickener(s) of choice (recommend slow hardener here, as fast hardener on large batches is contraindicated). Fill those babies up to the brim (don't worry about the previously tweaked dust caps - they're protected by Elmer's!). Let cure at least overnight.

2) Crank it.

 

GOOD one John!, posted on July 6, 2012 at 18:40:03
hifitommy
Audiophile

Posts: 12329
Location: shaky sylmar calif, orig from buffalo ny
Joined: June 9, 2000
 at last we agree on something (just kidding).
...regards...tr

 

NOW THESE 901's CAN HANG WITH THE BIG BOYS !! nt., posted on July 6, 2012 at 21:17:00
HiFiSoundGuy
Audiophile

Posts: 305
Joined: August 5, 2006
 $$$$........@&@

 

RE: New Break-through for BOSE 901 Owners !!......, posted on July 7, 2012 at 00:03:38
Iron Knee
Audiophile

Posts: 933
Location: Middle Florida
Joined: May 17, 2009
 I have learned that !!!! (exclamation points, especially in emails) means "bullshit"
I see them, I usually just laugh.

 

Now those owners of $100,000 plus speakers can do too. Just dump glue on your cones. Brilliant., posted on July 7, 2012 at 00:35:19
Elizabeth
Audiophile

Posts: 10274
Location: Great Lakes Region
Joined: December 20, 2000
 With my planar speakers the glue is already in there, on the inside.

 

There is some basis for this., posted on July 7, 2012 at 04:24:42
Dave Pogue
Audiophile

Posts: 9191
Location: DC Area
Joined: October 9, 2001
Contributor
  Since: March 18, 2003
 The speaker mod kits from a company called Soundaids included some white glue to be painted on woofer cones. But this was to mod Radio Shack (Optimus?) Model 7 and 77 speakers. So I'm not sure I'd try it on anything worth more than these good but cheap speakers. As to Bose, no comment.

 

RE: New Break-through for BOSE 901 Owners !!......, posted on July 7, 2012 at 08:42:47
Presto
Audiophile

Posts: 5111
Location: Canada
Joined: November 10, 2004
 Cone and dust cap "mods" without before/after measurements are of no value. You can't know how you changed the response, and you can't claim it's better simply because it's different. But, this is the mantra of all tweaks really: "I tweak therefore I am", and; "If it sounds different, it's gotta be an improvement".

Nice thing about a 901 is that you'd be hardpressed to make the sound any worse.

 

You raise an excellent point..., posted on July 7, 2012 at 09:07:15
Mr. Dick Hertz
Audiophile

Posts: 18444
Location: So. Calif.
Joined: May 25, 2006
 ...that seems lost on many tweaksters. Different isn't necessarily better. In the case of the 901's, since they use an equalizer, who is to say that after the "glue on the driver cone" mod, changes in driver impedance and frequency responce due to the added mass to the cone, won't just be equalized out? Then the user is basically back to square one.

 

umm...this is tongue-in-cheek, right?, posted on July 7, 2012 at 09:40:36
triode
Audiophile

Posts: 399
Location: south Florida
Joined: January 18, 2001
 A bit of satire?

"Your liver suffers dearly now for youthful magic moments...so rock on completely with some brand new components"

 

RE: That's a good start, but I would recommend more extensive Epoxy deployment..., posted on July 7, 2012 at 10:15:47
IEaudiodude
Audiophile

Posts: 2382
Location: So Cal
Joined: February 11, 2010
 I think you really have something with that epoxy tweak. Finally a tweak so good it assures the speakers will need no further modifications .
Photobucket

 

Totally eliminates all the distortion., posted on July 7, 2012 at 15:37:54
M3 lover
Audiophile

Posts: 3740
Location: So. California
Joined: May 29, 2005
Contributor
  Since: July 4, 2007
 Then just try that LP with 16 minutes of silence. Bet it never sounded better. ;^)

"You can’t know what the “best” is unless you have heard everything, and keep in mind that given individual tastes, there really isn’t any such thing." HP

 

RE: There is some basis for this., posted on July 7, 2012 at 20:43:36
hahax@verizon.net
Audiophile

Posts: 1616
Location: New Jersey
Joined: March 22, 2006
 If I recall correctly Elmer's white glue is PVA or related to it, the material that is the shiny coat on top of all bextrene cones and sometimes on other cones. It's a damping material which is why itwas used on bextrene which had some bad break up problems. And it will damp resonances in other cones, of course making them smoother sounding. So it's entirely possible it did the same thing here.

 

RE: New Break-through for BOSE 901 Owners !!......, posted on July 7, 2012 at 21:13:18
Bill the K
Audiophile

Posts: 4742
Joined: June 3, 2006
 I have seen radial scratches on the woofer of Sonus Faber speakers. I did read somewhere about the designer himself showing how those cuts were made which improved the sound of the woofers. Perhaps the OP can try that on one of his 901s? It should be done gently, not hard.

Cheers
Bill

 

Yeah, right, posted on July 8, 2012 at 17:56:09
Gregg
Audiophile

Posts: 1178
Location: New England
Joined: April 10, 2001
 You may have improved them with the glue, but do you really think smearing Elmers Glue on a 901 will make it "hang with" high fidelity speakers?

I do recommend that you refrain from getting any of the glue into your ear canals. I'm sure there must be an physician in your area who can remove it for you.

 

Some things I have really done to 901's, posted on July 8, 2012 at 22:41:45
soldermizer
Audiophile

Posts: 599
Location: Brooksville, FL
Joined: April 15, 2005
 I seem to be one of the few here who actually has listened to and likes 901s. They are hi-fi's "go-to" whipping boy, so I guess people either love or hate them. In any case, they are easily had used and suitable for restoration or other Frankenstein-like experiments. While I haven't done the Elmer's trick, I did something similar. I was putting a coat of polyurethane on the cabinets of a pair and I had a "WTF" moment and did the same for the drivers. Sound change? Coundn't tell, but it did make them nice & shiny. My "inspiration" was from an old DIY book that suggested impregnating the paper cones of CHEAP drivers with melted parrafin, which might improve the sound quality.

I suspect the OP's enthusiasm reflects a clever troll, since Elmer's is not volatile. Otherwise, his thinking that the speakers had improved could have been forgiven by his inhaling fumes of organic hydrocarbons causing light-headedness and/or brain damage :)

Nearly all of my listening to 901's makes use of extensive EQ (DEQ2496 or miniDSP) in place of the Bose EQ.

I would also like to report that I finally found a set of "original" 901s (series I, II) that did not have its original drivers! This surprised me, having had three pairs previously that appeared to be 100% original with no defects ("Other than being Bose", mutter the wiseasses!). They look like crap, but no major defects after much listening. Another benefit of dealing in the low end is I can sell stuff back to other low-brows on Ebay when I tire of them :)

 

RE: New Break-through for BOSE 901 Owners !!......, posted on July 9, 2012 at 10:08:17
HiFiSoundGuy
Audiophile

Posts: 305
Joined: August 5, 2006
 I have three pair of 901's and I have one pair with coated paper cones and another pair without coated paper cones and there is a night and day difference I'm hearing here.

To my ears, stiffening the paper cones with wood glue produces far less distortion and improves smoothness, transparency, detail and extension on both ends !...


I coated my 901's paper cones with wood glue more than two months ago and they have improved even more as the months have gone by !...

 

RE: New Break-through for BOSE 901 Owners !!......, posted on July 9, 2012 at 23:49:03
John Elison
Audiophile

Posts: 15013
Location: Central Kentucky
Joined: December 20, 2000
Contributor
  Since: January 29, 2004
 What is your technique for getting an evenly thin layer of glue on the speaker cone? Can you post a picture?

 

RE: New Break-through for BOSE 901 Owners !!......, posted on July 10, 2012 at 12:05:19
HiFiSoundGuy
Audiophile

Posts: 305
Joined: August 5, 2006
 I just used my fingertip to put the wood glue around the paper cones.

I put the wood glue on as is, I DID NOT use a 50 50 fix of water and glue together.

No, I have no way to post pictures.

 

RE: New Break-through for BOSE 901 Owners !!......, posted on July 11, 2012 at 17:39:47
ErikM
Audiophile

Posts: 44
Location: New Jersey
Joined: November 13, 2004
 No highs no lows, must be Bose...

 

RE: New Break-through for BOSE 901 Owners !!......, posted on July 11, 2012 at 17:47:53
IEaudiodude
Audiophile

Posts: 2382
Location: So Cal
Joined: February 11, 2010
 Old Bose hazing video but still funny
Photobucket

 

RE: New Break-through for BOSE 901 Owners !!......, posted on July 12, 2012 at 08:55:00
Travbrow


 
Talk about polishing a terd....

 

RE: New Break-through for BOSE 901 Owners !!......, posted on July 12, 2012 at 09:11:40
Travbrow


 
As long as you are happy though that is all that matters, I owned the 901 series v for a few years, they sounded okay but I never missed them when I moved on. If glue dopping transformed them, that is really an impressive tweak!

 

I'm hopping that Jeff from Tone Audio Magazine will..., posted on July 12, 2012 at 12:27:50
HiFiSoundGuy
Audiophile

Posts: 305
Joined: August 5, 2006
 Try this wood glue tweak on his 901's and do an updated review on a much improved 901's ...

 

These modified 901's sound their best turned around backwards...., posted on July 13, 2012 at 19:27:11
HiFiSoundGuy
Audiophile

Posts: 305
Joined: August 5, 2006
 These modified 901's put out powerful deep bass and to our ears, sound their best turned around backwards.

So 901 owners that want to try this tweak out on their 901's should keep this in mind because they don't sound as good turned around the other way now....

 

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