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In Reply to: What is Bose all about ... posted by reelsmith. on March 9, 2007 at 12:18:52:
I had a pair of 501 series II, and thought they were darn good. They do take a little effort to set up with ample wall space on both sides, etc. How hard did you try to give them a fair chance?One sleezy local shop had a pair to demo against and put other speakers tight up against the sides so the tweeters were blocked. Sounded awful! Another shop had a pair of Advents and had the tweeter switch set to Decrease-dullsville!
A good friend was in audio retail in this area (near Cleveland) in the 70's and he's told me all sorts of war stories. He worked for a chain called Tokyo-Shapiro.
Follow Ups:
We had all of the speakers we sold tightly spaced on a shelf (pretty typical in those days) and had the 501s mounted on the wall just above them. If anything, they had the advantage.
Dean.
Sorry, no! The owner's manual is quite specific about placement, the 501 is supposed to be on the floor against a wall. Putting them high up will thin out the bass and mid bass and make them unbalanced.I tried mine up on cement blocks (8") and it made a noticeable difference. Even placement on the 6" high hearth in the family room was too much.
I eventually put mine down in the basement rec room where they could be on the floor.
I admit to not knowing Bose numbers well. They were the ones that were bookshelf sized. Maybe a 301. The ones that were supposed to be on a shelf and close to the wall. So we hung a shel on the wall and placed them on it. They had a tweeter that pivoted, I think? It was 30 years ago, that's as best as I can remember.
That sounds like the 301. The early ones had a moveable vane in front of the tweeter (the tweeter was angled out at 45 degrees on one end) so you could adjust the radiation pattern of the tweeter and the precentage of reflected sound. Those were very nice little speakers, quite musical and surprisingly accurate. They were in mirror imaged pairs and could be used tweeters outboard or inboard or set up vertically. I used to recommend those for problem locations as they were so versatile in set up. Later 301 versions lost the versatility and didn't sound any better, or in some cases not as good. I hated the series IV that my son has now.The younger crowd preferred the EPI 100, but older folks liked the 301 better.
The 501 was 24" high by 14.5" square with a 2-3" base under it. Dual tweeters aimed diagonally backwards out of the sides of the cabinet. You needed 3' of clear space on either side of the cabinet, which most rooms don't have. In he third series of the 501 they went to a moveable vane like the early 301 and that made the 501 easier to place.
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