Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Bose 901 Series VI Speakers by ka7niq

Model:	901 Series VI
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$1500.00
Description:	Direct /reflecting. nine 4.5
Manufacturer URL:	Bose
Model Picture:	View

Review by ka7niq ( A ) on October 07, 2006 at 13:41:06
IP Address: 71.101.7.12

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for the 901 Series VI

I currently have over 10 pairs of high end speakers to compare the 901 to, so I thought I would review these.
I do not want to bash these speakers, but they ultimately did not sound very good, IN MY ROOM.
Now, my room is a converted carport, with paneled walls, not a good thing for speakers that depend on the walls, like the Bose 901.
When I moved to this home from a waterfront apartment, I immediately noticed the colorations of this room.
In the waterfront apartment, I was always in the near field.
Here, I am 16 feet away from my speakers when they are two feet out from the back walls.
The B&W 801's I own sounded bright in the small apartment, as did my Klipsch CF 3's.
In my current room, the 801's almost sound dull!
And I can clearly hear the "sound" of my new room.
The 901's really "activate" the colorations of this room, and they sound awful.
I re arranged everything to give them what they needed, tried several amps/preamps, etc.

Here are my observations.
The 901 really doesnt "care" what is driving it, it sounds essentially the same, no matter what.
I have seldom seen this in a speaker.
Some speakers can sound radically different, depending on what they are fed with.
901 did not care, it sounded awful with everything.
To get them to image at all, they needed to be almost 4 feet from the back wall, in my room.
Any closer, bass increased, but the image shut down,
The EQ setting must be optimized for male voice reproduction, and these are better used with a subwoofer.
IF you use enough EQ to get good bass, you pay the price of coloration and congestion in the vocal region.
The highs are slow sounding, and generally not accurate, to my ears.
There IS a certain coherence I hear, that is common to single driver speakers w/o a crossover.
It would be interesting to hear these in a room better suited to them.
It may have been my rooms fault.
They have been sold, and the new owner is happy with them.
Unfortunately, he lives out of state.
But, based on what I heard, I would not recommend these speakers to anyone looking for a high end sound.
One week was enough for me, and back in their boxes they went.
My non audiophile friends even commented on how bad they sounded.
Very unusual ....
The kid next door that cuts my grass, likes to bring his rap and rock over.
He has some well recorded Rap and Rock that has sounded very good on my other speakers.
He listened to the 901's, and thought they were awful!
I had to agree, voices on Rap were hard to understand, and took on a muffled, room sound.
The neighbor kid just looked at me and said "You aren't keeping these, are you" ??
I said "Not on your life".
He asked me why I even got them, since I own so many good speakers.
I told him I wanted to review them online.
He asked me what I was going to say about them.
I told him I was going to say that in MY room, they sucked.
He asked me to tell everyone that he ALSO thought they sucked, and to let everyone know that, LOL
Of the 10 plus pairs of speakers I own, he likes the B&W 801's the best, and can't understand why I even HAVE anything else even in my home ?
He also likes my huge Von Schweikert Vortex Screens because they "Hit" and do voices OK, he says.
But they do not have enough highs he says ...
He is not real fond of my Magnepans, because they can't handle Rap Bass, and he thinks they do "funny things" to voices ?
He also likes the Von Schweikert VR 4JR's, but considers them "useless" because I have the "big ones" the Vortex Screens.
Though I personally love my VMPS RM 40's, he thinks the 801's and Von Schweikerts "smoke them" ... go figure ??
He thinks my Infinity IL 40's are just "ok", but they are "little speakers"
He actually hated the 901's so much, he even offered to box them up for me, IF I would agree to let him move the 801's back into the room, and allow him to listen to some new Cd's he bought.
I am sorry if this review is not as complete as I wanted it to be.
It became obvious after day two that they were never going to make my team.
Perhaps it was my paneled walls they did not like, I can't be sure.
All I can comment on is how they sounded, and it was not good.
Based on what I heard, in my home, I would not recommend these to anyone looking for good sound.
IMHO, time has passed the 901 by, and one can do a lot better, for way less money.
I find the 50 dollar a pair co axial Insignia's from Best Buy, with a subwoofer, more musically satisfying.
Never once did 901's make me tap my toes, or make me want to "start conducting" the orchestra, sing, or play air guitar.
The ONLY time they sounded decent was on the Star Trek Movie "Nemesis".
I did enjoy the effect they created on THIS movie, I must admit.
But, the movie "The Green Mile" and "The Shawshank Redemption" were less then stellar.

Product Weakness: Where do I start ?
Veiled, muffled, poor highs, bass only at expense of vocal range colorations.
Product Strengths: small size, some single driver coherence, play loud, sounded OK on Star Trek Movie.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Luxman M 177 Power Amp
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Parasound
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Modified JVC CD Changer
Speakers:	B&W 801's
Cables/Interconnects:	14 Gauge OFC
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Everything
Room Size (LxWxH):	24 x 26 x 7
Time Period/Length of Audition:	1 Week
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	PowerVar
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Where do I start ? Veiled, muffled, poor highs, bass only at expense of vocal range colorations.
Product Strengths:	small size, some single driver coherence, play loud, sounded OK on Star Trek Movie.