"So, when today's reviewers talk about highly "musical" speakers, I wonder if they mean "forgiving." 

-------------------

I think they mean it sounds like music is playing in the room, and doesn't sound like a pair of hi-fi speakers are playing. A speaker that is "forgiving" of bad recordings is essentially a radio speaker. If you limit the response to about 60Hz to 6khz you can approximate the table radio or standard car speaker, and this will be very kind to badly recorded material. This ought to be somewhat self-evident because that, after all, is what recording engineers design their recordings for. 

Reviewers though (the one I am familiar with) aren't referring to that at all when they use the term "musical." It might be easier to first examine "non-musical" as a contrast. Certain distortion signatures, sound decidedly "unmusical" when compared to musical sounds. For instance, a big piano chord, like a 9th, contains an amazing array of tones including a vast complex signature of harmonics. When played on an "in-tune" piano, it sounds "musical." When played on a slightly out of tune piano it sounds "unmusical." The frequency response of the instrument hasn't changed, but the signature of those complex harmonics has changed.

Enter the loudspeaker. Speakers make a lot of distortion. I mean, really a LOT of distortion, and this is especially true as the loudness goes up. All distortion is not created equal. Some sounds better (let's say "more tolerable") than others. 2 speakers, both capable of 30Hz to 20khz "frequency response,"  might have vastly different distortion signatures at different playing levels, or even with different kinds of music. It is easy therefore to imagine that one might sound more "musical" (ala "in-tune") than the other, and that would have nothing at all to do with "forgiveness" which involves simply hacking off a good portion of the content to avoid troubling sounds.

All that being said, sometimes a small radio speaker actually DOES sound more "musical" than a 6-foot, 500-pound 5-way, 9-driver speaker, for BOTH reasons.  

And here's a very interesting extract:

Weaknesses:
Imaging is not as precise as with "studio" speakers, but I really don't care much about this. In real live performances the imaging is already affected by sound reflections, so I do really notice all that much imaging in real live performances anyway. I do agree the electronic equalizer probably could benefit from more state-of-the-art design and components. I'd also like to see perhaps an integrated tweeter somewhere in the array, but that would take away from the beautiful symmetry with 9 exactly equal speakers in each array. That's about all I can think of.

That is, if but an indirect (no pun intended) allusion to the "whatcha' gonna' use them for?" part of the puzzle.

And here's another "piece of the puzzle" (if we were to give a name as to trying to figure out why people would pay $1500 for them expecting them to be the "be all - end all,  alpha-omega speaker solution"...) 

    "... you do need a quality amp with ample reserve power (is 'headroom' the right word?) and you need to give them room all around the speaker. My Carver receiver quit on me one day so I purchased a Harman Kardon 2-channel (120 watts per) receiver, (HK3480). I hooked it up and turned it on, I was not happy. The sound was flat, lifeless, no 'punch'. If this is what the bashers heard out of their Bose than I can't blame them for their reviews. These speakers are power suckers and if you don't give it to them you will not hear their potential. I now have a Carver TFM-35 magnetic field power amplifier and they shine once more. I also think there is something to be said for every driver in the box producing the full range of the music spectrum, rather than different size speakers producing different sounds that mix to produce what you hear. If you like music with a disproportionate bass thump, these probably aren't the speakers for you."

Interesting what we're seeing here. We just might be able to narrow it down a bit more about the "new ones":

• The "new" 901's seem to have the same operating parameters as the Series-I.
• They are an application driven choice (what sound effect do you want?)
• Require specific (and critical) placement.
• Require a good understanding by the user of how the EQ works (This may be one of the 901's greatest weakpoints, because if it's not used correctly, they will sound really crappy, boomy bass, etc.)
• Require a fairly high powered amplifier to work properly at significant SPL levels.

The strange part about the 901 "reviews" is that everyone who had something good to say is usually related to how they are used more so than any comments about fidelity, accuracy, etc.

The plot (a polar plot pun? LOL) thickens!! To be objective in that regard, one could conclude that, notwithstanding placement, and assuming that they are chosen for the "concert hall" effect, the major problem with them may very well be the stand alone equalizer.

I think that Srobak hit that nail on the head with the comments about the 802 pro version and the use of another non-Bose equalizer. In a way, Bose probably hurt itself by not suggesting the use of a PE or GE as an alternative to the home user. Arrogance? Did they assume that most of the owners either could not, or would not be able to do it?  Who knows?

wow, I can't believe all this interest in 901's.  Is this a basic fear thing like on star wars......luke you must concur your fears or you will drift to the dark side...etc...

BOSE 301 and 901 make awesome Garage speakers!   YES, I AM SERIOUS TOO! LOL  Put em in the far corners....Let em rip!

And in a very interesting review by a Klipschorn owner:

    "I used to own two pairs of 901 series IV speakers and powered them with 500 wpc. I used them professionally in a traveling disco (for five years), as well as privately at home (ten more years). To a point, they are impressive, especially because of their small size. In the right environment (a mid-sized auditorium or a large room with plenty of cubic feet), they can fill a space with sound and make it come alive from wall-to-wall, maintaining a stereo image. However, they are not that good beyond their sense of full, bright expansion. Since then I have purchased Klipschorns. As Paul Klipsch used to say about Bose: "No highs. No lows. That's Bose." Enough said. Bose 901s are mostly midrange. Voices can sound clear and seducitve and spacious. But when it comes to the reproduction of live music, they cannot deliver on any of those counts. The 901's bass can be heard but not felt. The highs trail off, as well. My Klipschorns made them sound like weak, thin crap across the board from the lows to the midrange to the highs. They are mid-fi, period. Granted, stacking the 901s helps with bass, but not enough. I enjoyed the 901s for a while, but, having paid only $1,000.00 for my used K-Horns (the two pairs of 901s cost $3,000.00), I can honestly say that for the money they do not deliver. Klipschorns need to be perfectly placed in a demanding room with good corners, tall ceilings, expensive, extremely quiet amplification, and a wide wall, but, with their jaw-dropping live, dynamic presence and concert-level volume (with just a couple of clean watts), they are worth the effort. If you want the experience of an acutal performance in your listening room, from Peggy Lee to Bach to KD Lang to Wagner to ACDC, skip Bose 901s altoghether and buy Klipschorns.

I don't' know who the reviewer is/was (was not me, but could be my evil twin what with old double 901 stacks, then finding Klipschorns, etc....), but his point (even if he doesn't actually discuss in detail the "why" there was no bass or treble) is that one just cannot beat a horn loaded speaker.

SpeakerFritz: The Dark Side!!! For too long we have lived with our fear!! All we have to fear is fear itself!!! It's a good thing to look at the 901 vs Klipsch situation every once in awhile. Most of the time, Bose comments on the forum are, shall we say, less than friendly..... If something really is garbage, I for one, really want to know why is this so. I also think that alot of folks' "bad taste" about Bose relates not so much to the 901's, but to experiences with the other "mass produced" stuff that simply cannot be compared to Klipsch speakers.

And adding to my speculation about the EQ (and amps...) being major pieces of the puzzle...... read this one!! (written in February 2008)

    "I read all the .... reviews before investing in a pair of 901's. I am also choosing receivers still and have three that I will be AB'ing from, but for the moment, all I had was a Yamaha B2 200W Power Amp with the C2 Preamp. Nice pieces of gear. This is how it went.

    As soon as I knew I had everything wired right (took all of 5 minutes) and got them fired up, it was like, "Oh my God Midrange Nightmare!" This wasn't the magical sound I was expecting.....

    Well, about 15 minutes into tinkering with the "EQ", I finally started to get flustered because the speakers did not sound good. So, I decided to start from absolute zero. I made sure to flatten the preamp settings and I set the two Bose EQ faders all the way to the left. Suddenly, the tone cleaned itself up considerably. Then I added more power and started to very very slowly move the faders up to where the sound made more sense. I've left them set in such a way that the faders are 3 or 4 clicks from the left, so not even in the middle. I still didn't have enough bass going on, although the bass started to cut through much better since removing the clutter.

    So I did what the manual said which is to put the speakers closer to the wall for more bass response. I was quite surprised by the results. Well, I spent another hour on the speakers, tinkering with spaces and distances from the wall and each other until the imaging came through where I thought it should be. When I thought that the tone was about right, I killed the -20db attenuator on the C2 and let her rip. The sound had become very big, very airy with a very nice tight bass response which feels like somewhere in the range of 50 or maybe 40hz. I did think it sounded like there was a sub hooked up to the system after listening to it for a while. The bass response is now more than enough.

   The highs are very clean on these speakers. Even though I know there's an active EQ happening, the sound was very natural. Then I realized that I was underpowered. As lovely tonally as the B2 sounds, it became obvious that it'd be much better off powering a 250w speaker rather than a 450W speaker which the 901's are. So I have a second vintage Sony receiver coming in rated at 150W per channel and I can't wait to give all the juice these speakers demand. They really do need a lot of power to sound special.

    When I pushed the B2 to about 15 watts, the tone started to really cook. Perhaps the people who've had trouble getting nice highs and lows out of the system simply haven't put a bit of time into really trying to get them set up right.

    The EQ is not so much an EQ because it only works for the low mids and hi mids. When I had them cranked at the middle or more, the system was just awash in midrange (MY comment: sounds just like what the anonymous Klipschorn owner said). I figured that if I had a much bigger listening space, the mid lows and highs are what I'd be concerning myself with. At the beginning I had been treating the EQ as a Lo/Hi Eq, which it isn't...... Now that I've got the midranges figured out, the system sounds meaty and dynamic.

Makes you wonder now, doesn't it.... Are we looking at a case of "you have to be smarter than the speakers you are working with..."?

My favorite recent review of the 901 Series-VI that I ran across....

"you will need a man sized amplifier to run these suckers"

I thought they were marvelous when I heard them.

Maybe I'll buy a pair one of these years.  People have said in the past that they are insanely priced.  I disagree.

Erik

To wrap up my original comments from last month...  Just finished testing a new (NIB) pair of Series VI.

Plus vs Minus (lotta' minus stuff here folks...):

Some Plus: The new equalizer works better in tuning for a room. Big Minus: There is no off/on switch!! Unless it's on a switched socket on your amp, it's on.... all the time... cannot be good for it...

Debatable Plus: They come in unfinished walnut veneer, as in no oil, lacquer, etc. That allows a nice stain, oiling etc. Big Minus: the average owner could easily mess up a stain, get stuff all over the grills, etc.

Serious Minus: this was the second pair that they had to send me.... The 1968's headed to the shipping center and they sent the first new pair.... Veneer edgebanding separated, hot glue strings all over everything... Called, they immediately sent another pair.... new pair, new problems... also known as the DSDD syndrome ... loose grills, bad veneer; They sent me the "nuts" and two spare grills..... Their tech support/ customer service folks were very nice, and immediately addressed the problems, so that's a good thing for them (especially if this is their normal quality....). But they should not have to be doing that. The techs were embarassed, to say the least. They also got real "nervous" when I mentioned that I had Klipschorns, LS''s, H's, Belles, etc. To their credit, they handled it well though. But it was funny...

The big issue is that if someone spends $1500 on a pair of speakers, then they should be very, very careful before they consider Bose. The workmanship in assembly is horrible - very..... Fortunately, I did not spend $1500.... They gave me a very good trade in on the originals which, while they were very nice, were at the end of their useful life (40 years, and unlike Klipsch, there are no replacement drivers, EQ units, etc. except on eBay.....).

The IMHO part:

The new ones, regardless of any alleged improvements..... are still only useful in the application for which they were intended..... I had another Forum member over and we tested them in the "Wall of Voodoo". One on one, the Heresy-I's with the K-28's, E4500 and BEC's tweeters and the bone stock Forte-I's "cleaned their clocks". Used together with the Heresy's, they did the job intended - gave me a better sound stage and helped fill in some sweet spot "holes". But... that's an expensive option for a pair of speakers that has only one real use (especially when used in a room with Klipsch).

Recommendations:

Buying new? Buy a pair of H-III's. First of all they are far more useful, and sound better. Second, the 901 workmanship is really bad. Now, I may have just been "unlucky", or the victim of Murphy's Law, but either way, I know that Klipsch quality control on a pair of H-III's will be perfect.

Buying used? For $1500 you can get a very nice pair of La Scala's, maybe some Belle's, or even a pair of K-horn's that need "cosmetics", or at least 3 pairs of minty Heresy's for a "wall of voodoo"!!

Other....

They are for sale!!! I'm debating whether or not to post them in the Garage Sale, but they will be on eBay in a day or 3. If, by any chance, someone is interested, they are certainly NIB (minus about 3 hours...), boxes, complete docs, unfilled out warranty cards (they would be a "gift" for warranty purposes), spare grills, spare terminal "nut", and very nice "gunstock" stained walnut, hand rubbed with Watco danish, very pretty....

 Interesting report.

I have a set hung from the ceiling in one of my rooms.  No floor space for anything else.  Sounds good enough to be keepers.  Same deal...Bose replaced an 20 year old set with the surround problem with a new pair.  They paid for shipping and even sent shipping boxes for free.

SF: l sent you an email/Regards, GLA

"I also think that alot of folks' "bad taste" about Bose relates not so much to the 901's, but to experiences with the other "mass produced" stuff that simply cannot be compared to Klipsch speakers."

Why can't they be compared to Klipsch speakers?  The simple statement that they CAN'T be compared is in fact a comparison of sorts, is it not? They have been compared to Heresies in this very thread.  Those present seemed to prefer the Klipsch, which is fine.  Others might prefer the 901s.

I love our Klipsch speakers, and found the 901s in the environment in which I heard them also very musical.  They made a very favorable impression on me, and I also thought their build quality was in keeping with their price range.  That they are mass produced is meaningless to me. My car is a mass produced product.  I liked the way they sounded, but would add that some Klipsch products are possibly produced on a similar scale.  To my way of thinking, that is not necessarily an undesirable thing.  I think quality control is suitably high for both companies.

Again:  as much as I love our Klipschorns, there are those who won't even consider horn loaded speakers -- even those made by Klipsch. 

Erik

Comments in italics 

Groomlakearea51:

To wrap up my original comments from last month...  Just finished testing a new (NIB) pair of Series VI.

First off - that ws quick - how much time did you spend on this? Not a criticism - a question..

Plus vs Minus (lotta' minus stuff here folks...):

Some Plus: The new equalizer works better in tuning for a room. Big Minus: There is no off/on switch!! Unless it's on a switched socket on your amp, it's on.... all the time... cannot be good for it...

Not sure that is a big minus - my pre-amp never gets swtiched off - in fact it is true of several of my components - is there a known issue with component failure? not heard one myself but that doesn't mean much. As an aside is the equalizer powered? I was of the impression that it was not but I might be wrong.

Debatable Plus: They come in unfinished walnut veneer, as in no oil, lacquer, etc. That allows a nice stain, oiling etc. Big Minus: the average owner could easily mess up a stain, get stuff all over the grills, etc.

Well there are a choice of finishes - a friend of mine bought them in piano black - if you choose the unfinished veneer then on your head be it if you screw up the staining job. The grills definitely come off - would be a good idea to remove them prior to staining....

Serious Minus: this was the second pair that they had to send me.... The 1968's headed to the shipping center and they sent the first new pair.... Veneer edgebanding separated, hot glue strings all over everything... Called, they immediately sent another pair.... new pair, new problems... also known as the DSDD syndrome ... loose grills, bad veneer; They sent me the "nuts" and two spare grills..... Their tech support/ customer service folks were very nice, and immediately addressed the problems, so that's a good thing for them (especially if this is their normal quality....). But they should not have to be doing that. The techs were embarassed, to say the least. They also got real "nervous" when I mentioned that I had Klipschorns, LS''s, H's, Belles, etc. To their credit, they handled it well though. But it was funny...

That is bad for sure - who knows what happened. I havent seen too many straight from the factory but the ones I have seen appeared in good condition on delivery - could this be a one off or a new production problem?

The big issue is that if someone spends $1500 on a pair of speakers, then they should be very, very careful before they consider Bose. The workmanship in assembly is horrible - very..... Fortunately, I did not spend $1500.... They gave me a very good trade in on the originals which, while they were very nice, were at the end of their useful life (40 years, and unlike Klipsch, there are no replacement drivers, EQ units, etc. except on eBay.....).

Again - first I have heard of this - certainly a worry - but I guess there is a return policy for sub-standard items.

The IMHO part:

The new ones, regardless of any alleged improvements..... are still only useful in the application for which they were intended..... I had another Forum member over and we tested them in the "Wall of Voodoo". One on one, the Heresy-I's with the K-28's, E4500 and BEC's tweeters and the bone stock Forte-I's "cleaned their clocks". Used together with the Heresy's, they did the job intended - gave me a better sound stage and helped fill in some sweet spot "holes". But... that's an expensive option for a pair of speakers that has only one real use (especially when used in a room with Klipsch).

Not sure about this - as with most speakers they are dependent upon both the driving equipment and the room. I am certain we could put them on one setup and they would appear to be better than Heresies on that setup in that room but the reverse would apply in another room on another setup.

Mixing them with Klipsch is certainly not the intended use. These are, as far as I am aware, designed to be used as main speakers (with the option of adding more as surrounds). Setting them up to fulfil this role takes time - it does with any speaker - but in this case - with the additional complexity of setting the equalizer in combination with the postioning issues and the driving equipment issues its not a plug and play option. This is a disadvantage for Johny Average who just wants to dump them into his system and play but meat and veg to inveterate audio players such as ourselves.

Recommendations:

Buying new? Buy a pair of H-III's. First of all they are far more useful, and sound better. Second, the 901 workmanship is really bad. Now, I may have just been "unlucky", or the victim of Murphy's Law, but either way, I know that Klipsch quality control on a pair of H-III's will be perfect.

Quite possibly true in your room with your driving equipment - quite possibly not in another room / setup - quality issues not withstanding.

Buying used? For $1500 you can get a very nice pair of La Scala's, maybe some Belle's, or even a pair of K-horn's that need "cosmetics", or at least 3 pairs of minty Heresy's for a "wall of voodoo"!!

I dont think it is ever fair to compare buying new and old as new would almost never win. It would apply equally to new Klipsch product verses old. I pair of Palladiums, for example, could yield 4 pairs of Khorns used. The palladiums may be better - but that is a lot to make up.

Other....

They are for sale!!! I'm debating whether or not to post them in the Garage Sale, but they will be on eBay in a day or 3. If, by any chance, someone is interested, they are certainly NIB (minus about 3 hours...), boxes, complete docs, unfilled out warranty cards (they would be a "gift" for warranty purposes), spare grills, spare terminal "nut", and very nice "gunstock" stained walnut, hand rubbed with Watco danish, very pretty....

Original text in normal text 

Maxg's comments are in italics

Comments in underlined normal text

____________________________________________________________ 

Just finished testing a new (NIB) pair of Series VI.

First off - that ws quick - how much time did you spend on this? Not a criticism - a question..

A week, every day, about 2 hours a day, sometimes working (background), sometimes just listening, looking at the Forum, other "stuff" and all day Saturday (had visitors)

Plus vs Minus (lotta' minus stuff here folks...):

There is no off/on switch!!

Not sure that is a big minus - my pre-amp never gets swtiched off - in fact it is true of several of my components - is there a known issue with component failure? not heard one myself but that doesn't mean much. As an aside is the equalizer powered? I was of the impression that it was not but I might be wrong.

It is powered, has the plug, light but no switch. I asked the Bose tech and he told me that usually it's plugged into the back of the amp's "switched" outlet.

The average owner could easily mess up a stain, get stuff all over the grills, etc.

Well there are a choice of finishes - a friend of mine bought them in piano black - if you choose the unfinished veneer then on your head be it if you screw up the staining job. The grills definitely come off - would be a good idea to remove them prior to staining....

The piano black is not a US option, only the unfinished walnut and simulated black ash vinyl. The front grills are still permanently "stapled" and glued on these. The rears do come off, but very flimsy and difficult to put back on evenly. The down side of the unfinished walnut is that they do not advertise, or describe the walnut as unfinished, etc. To the average user, this would be an important piece of information. According to the tech, when asking about the finish, he explained that most purchasers in the US buy the black vinyl. The techs were also unable to answer the question when posed on the arrival of the first pair as to what had been done at the factory. About three days later, I received an email that confirmed the lack of any wax, oil, etc.

the second pair that they had to send me....

That is bad for sure - who knows what happened. I havent seen too many straight from the factory but the ones I have seen appeared in good condition on delivery - could this be a one off or a new production problem?

 Possibly, I'm inclined to agree that there is likely a production problem. Apparently the 901's were assembled in a Canadian facility until very recently. These are assembled in Framingham per the tech. The biggest problem appears to be the "hot glue gun gone wild" syndrome. Tiny threads of the stuff all over everything. Really bad on the first pair, and there was some on the second pair, but confined to the side panels.

The big issue is that if someone spends $1500 on a pair of speakers, then they should be very, very careful before they consider Bose. The workmanship in assembly is horrible - very.....

Again - first I have heard of this - certainly a worry - but I guess there is a return policy for sub-standard items.

And that is a good thing; I approached this comment from the viewpoint of someone who has no experience with Bose 901's, just to make sure that if they do purchase a pair, to carefully examine them before hooking them up. My comment, of course, is certainly biased after two successive "failures" to send a pair of properly assembled (and inspected) speakers. 

The IMHO part:

The new ones..... are still only useful in the application for which they were intended..... ... they did the job intended - gave me a better sound stage and helped fill in some sweet spot "holes".

Not sure about this - as with most speakers they are dependent upon both the driving equipment and the room. I am certain we could put them on one setup and they would appear to be better than Heresies on that setup in that room but the reverse would apply in another room on another setup.

You could very well be quite correct. I tried them with solid state, and with tubes. The room is "treated", etc. I put them at 18", 24" and finally at 40". The 40" height worked best. The primary single difference is the clarity. That is a function of the direct horn vs the reflecting technology.

You are right as to use with a Klipsch speaker in the same room. I "wandered" them out to the living room with a spare amp and CD player, and they were "ok", but until I pushed the treble slider up 3/4 of the way, they did not have the clarity. They were on the whole, better in a larger room than in the voodoo room.

Mixing them with Klipsch is certainly not the intended use. These are, as far as I am aware, designed to be used as main speakers (with the option of adding more as surrounds). Setting them up to fulfil this role takes time - it does with any speaker - but in this case - with the additional complexity of setting the equalizer in combination with the postioning issues and the driving equipment issues its not a plug and play option. This is a disadvantage for Johny Average who just wants to dump them into his system and play but meat and veg to inveterate audio players such as ourselves.

So true. It took time to set them up in the wall of voodoo, but other than the issue with the high mid range and top end "clarity", they did what I expected them to do. If (IF), I were to keep them, they would have to be stand alone in the living room.

Buying new? Buy a pair of H-III's. First of all they are far more useful, and sound better. Second, the 901 workmanship is really bad. Now, I may have just been "unlucky", or the victim of Murphy's Law, but either way, I know that Klipsch quality control on a pair of H-III's will be perfect.

Quite possibly true in your room with your driving equipment - quite possibly not in another room / setup - quality issues not withstanding.

True, however in the analysis of comparing them with the Heresies, I take into account (a) cost, (b) ease of placement, (c) ability of use (applies to the requirement for an external equalizer that must use a tape deck circuit on an amp), and (d) overall quality.

Buying used? For $1500 you can get a very nice pair of La Scala's, maybe some Belle's, or even a pair of K-horn's that need "cosmetics", or at least 3 pairs of minty Heresy's for a "wall of voodoo"!!

I dont think it is ever fair to compare buying new and old as new would almost never win. It would apply equally to new Klipsch product verses old. I pair of Palladiums, for example, could yield 4 pairs of Khorns used. The palladiums may be better - but that is a lot to make up.

Now that's funny!!! LOL!! I did throw that into the comments because many folks will look at "used" Heritage for economic reasons.

_______________________________________________________ 

In the end, as so often noted on the Forum, it's going to be the user's "ears" and "wallet". Are they a viable option for a pair of speakers? Yes, they are certainly that. Are there distinct factors a potential buyer should know? Of course. If I had a large room, consistently lots of people all the time, and needed a pair of speakers that I could "plug and forget", not break the bank, then maybe a choice is there. I would also be looking at Klipsch Professional, JBL's, etc.  For home use, it's should be a decision made after listening to various brands in the same price range, before that decision is made. Hopefully, before someone "plunks down" that amount of money, they will be able to test various speakers in their home. Alas, and unfortunately, most stores do not have a "prospective buyer loaner" program any more. Shame about that.

Erik Mandaville:

"I also think that alot of folks' "bad taste" about Bose relates not so much to the 901's, but to experiences with the other "mass produced" stuff that simply cannot be compared to Klipsch speakers.....

 and found the 901s in the environment in which I heard them also very musical.  They made a very favorable impression on me, and I also thought their build quality was in keeping with their price range. 

I will be the first to admit that my latest commentary is certainly "colored" by the disastrous results of my experience in attempting to obtain a pair of 901's that were at least assembled correctly. Max's observation that it was likely an anomaly (and that's what the Bose tech also said), is probably true.

That "musical quality" that the 901's exhibit to many listeners is there, but I think that I am biased towards "horns" from way back.... When I transitioned from my original pairs of 901's in 1974-1975 to the JBL 4311/4312's, it was based alot upon the very powerful and "punchy" clarity and also because of the "presence & brilliance" crossover adjustments that I could make. For some reason, I like "direct" radiated sound, especially in the midranges and low end of the tweeter. When I discovered the Heresy (and later the Klipschorn) I was "sold", so to speak because of the apparent (and to me very real) effects of the horns. Over the years, I have listened to other speakers, some very expensive, some not so. I still like the horn loaded speaker.

It's a shame about quality control problems, I'll agree on that for sure. What makes it particularly annoying is when it appears on the high end of a well known company's products. It certainly does not help.....

Maybe I won't sell them; I have to wait until SWMBO gets back from Little Rock and see what she would like to do. She may like them in the living room instead of a pile of Heresy's (my plan A...), or HT flanking Belles with Heresy's as centers (Plan-B). It's a space consideration, and that is a powerful factor in many decisions. Maybe I just ought to finish the Belles and put them in the "wall of voodoo" (and that would pretty much wipe out any remaining "wall" space...)

Well, the kids are on the buses, and I'm headed to the oriffice.....