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Topic: Amp for Bose 901 (Read 11659 times) previous topic - next topic
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Amp for Bose 901

I bought a pair of Bose 901 several years ago.  I find that many new amps don't accommodate an EQ, which is a necessity.  Can anyone recommend a good amp that will really drive these well?  Oh yeah, without spending too much? 

Do I just need to shop somewhere beside Best Buy?  When I bought these I listened to quite a variety of music, from classical to Floyd and Queensryche.  I thought they sounded great, but haven't been able to duplicate that at home.  I used an old Pioneer amp for awhile, but no longer have it.

I hope to find someone who is a Bose fan who can recommend a few different amps and tell me how they situated their speakers.

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #1 –
You've been sucked in.  Now you will forever be tweaking your audio system.  You might as well spend the big bucks now and buy a seperate pre-amp and audio amp with at least 100 watts per channel.  Alternatively, you could look on eBay for a used Luxman receiver with pre-amp out, audio amp inputs.  I believe the model number is something117.  Good luck.  PS, a tube amp also sounds good with these speakers if you don't turn up the music too loud.  My Dynaco Stereo 70 is what I'm currently using.  For solid state, the best sounding amps to my ears have been the B&K brand.

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #2 –
OK, you are not going to like this.  Solid state amps pretty much sound the same.  As for the speakers, I would get rid of them.  Bose does not sound like real life sound.  Just my two cents.   
Nov schmoz kapop.

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #3 –
When most people say amp, they don't actually mean the real amp nowadays, so now when you say Amp, do you actually mean a stand alone Amp (like one of these) or a receiver with an amp in it (like one of these)?

Note that I do not recommend those, I merely linked so we can establish what exactly you looking for.
The Plan Within Plans

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #4 –
"
Quote
OK, you are not going to like this. Solid state amps pretty much sound the same. As for the speakers, I would get rid of them. Bose does not sound like real life sound. Just my two cents. "

I disagree.  There are double blind studies that prove that all beers taste the same.  Do all beers taste the same to you too?

Listener fatigue is not quantifiable either, and can't be tested, but it is real, from my own experience and the experience of many others, too.  The amp in my experience makes all the difference in this respect.

Why should he get rid of the very speakers he chose after listening to them?!?  You are certainly free to get rid of your own Bose speakers, that is what you said you would do anyway.  That wasn't his question or concern.  If you posted a question regarding the speaker you had already bought, regardless of the brand, you wouldn't appreciate a post telling you to dispose of the very speakers you had already purchased.  That is just not productive or practical.

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #5 –
Quote from: rankrookie on
I find that many new amps don't accommodate an EQ, which is a necessity.  Can anyone recommend a good amp that will really drive these well?  Oh yeah, without spending too much?
I would buy a decent brand second hand solid state amp. I'm sure you will find one at your local second hand store with bass and treble controls - if you need better EQ than that you will likely need a seperate EQ (or do it in software  )

Quote
OK, you are not going to like this. Solid state amps pretty much sound the same. As for the speakers, I would get rid of them. Bose does not sound like real life sound. Just my two cents.
There is a really nice article on amplifier sound on Rod Elliot's site. I tend to agree with you that solid state shouldn't sound different, but differences in design do introduce differences in sound (both audible and measureable).

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #6 –
Quote from: boojum on
OK, you are not going to like this.  Solid state amps pretty much sound the same.  As for the speakers, I would get rid of them.  Bose does not sound like real life sound.  Just my two cents.   
Nope. But I'm not talking wishy-washy stuff like "liveliness" or "warmth" or all those fairy-tale thingies. Improperly designed amps have baaad frequency response, and that needs an EQ to compensate. But using EQ will introduce more noise. Dilemma, dilemma, dilemma.

Quote from: Taz PA-C on
Listener fatigue is not quantifiable either, and can't be tested, but it is real, from my own experience and the experience of many others, too.  The amp in my experience makes all the difference in this respect.
You may have a point. Unfortunately, listener fatigue is waaaaaay overrated; the all-in-all amazing wunderbar explanation for an audiophile to claim the reason why he/she failed to ABX 2 amps tuned to the same response (usually one is a (relatively) cheap amp you can buy at the nearest electronic store, and the other is a uber-hyper-ultra-mega-wunderkind amp sold at half the price of Hawaii) ... when scientific measurement prove beyond any reasonable (and unreasonable) doubts that the amp has exactly the same response etc.

Oh and to you tube-lovers that love the "warmth" of a tube-amp: That "warmth" is actually tube-noise & tube-distortion you're hearing. Gee, I thought you tube-lovers are high-fidelity-seekers?

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #7 –
Quote from: Taz PA-C on
Quote
OK, you are not going to like this. Solid state amps pretty much sound the same. As for the speakers, I would get rid of them. Bose does not sound like real life sound. Just my two cents.


I disagree.  There are double blind studies that prove that all beers taste the same.


I should think that long before you'd got even half way through a double blind test of "all beers", they would all start to taste the same! I mean, how many thousands of glasses of beer are we talking here?!

Serious point: link please.

Another serious point: if you want to say things sound the same without providing ABX results, you've come to the wrong forum.

Cheers,
David.

Quote from: rankrookie on
I bought a pair of Bose 901 several years ago.  I find that many new amps don't accommodate an EQ, which is a necessity.  Can anyone recommend a good amp that will really drive these well?  Oh yeah, without spending too much? 

Do I just need to shop somewhere beside Best Buy?  When I bought these I listened to quite a variety of music, from classical to Floyd and Queensryche.  I thought they sounded great, but haven't been able to duplicate that at home.  I used an old Pioneer amp for awhile, but no longer have it.

I hope to find someone who is a Bose fan who can recommend a few different amps and tell me how they situated their speakers.


Did they sound good in your home with the older amp, or have they never sounded as good as they did in the shop?

One possibility is that the other equipment in the shop was very well suited, or just better.

A much more likely explanation is that the acoustics of your home are very different from the shop. An honest hi-fi dealer or fan will tell you this: moving your speakers into a different room (or even moving them around in their current room) will change the sound much more than changing the amp.

Given the design of the 901's, this is even more true for them than for typical speakers.

Or maybe you need an amp with the kind of EQ which you particularly like? Whether it's 5- 10- or 30- band EQ, or just simple bass/treble controls, they don't all sound the same when set the same. Different circuits, different responses.

Cheers,
David.


P.S. They're supposed to come with their own active equaliser (to "correct" their sound, I guess) - are you using this?

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #8 –
My current set up is

Harmon Kardon hk380i reciever
with Bose 201 speakers on A
and Paradigm Titan speakers on B. This reciever has no EQ on it.

I also own a technics with a parmatric eq and Bose 2.1's on it.

The Harmon Kardon blows the technics one out of the water. I use the harmon Kardon for listening to music on my computer I should add.

I find Bose are GREAT speakers for listening to classical music. For rock, or pop however my Paradigm's are better.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #9 –
As I recall, the inline Bose EQ was assumed to be used in a tape monitor loop most of the time but it can also simply be interposed between a pre-amp and a power amp. Details can be seen in the Bose 901 manual:

http://www.bose.com/controller?event=VIEW_...rstanding_index

I wouldn't use a tube amp; for all their charm, the fidelity and output impedence limitations would really detract from the 901 approach.

I don't have a set of 901s, but I have listened to several installations. When properly setup, they are tremendously musical speakers, and a lot of fun.

I am assuming that the orignal poster is referring to the official Bose 901 EQ and not some generic equalizer. I would definitely NOT recommend using the 901s with anything but the Bose EQ, it is rather a customized affair. I doubt any other unit would achieve decent results.

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #10 –
[quote name='Taz PA-C' date='Sep 4 2006, 05:47' post='427265']
"
Quote
OK, you are not going to like this. Solid state amps pretty much sound the same. As for the speakers, I would get rid of them. Bose does not sound like real life sound. Just my two cents. "

I disagree.  There are double blind studies that prove that all beers taste the same.  Do all beers taste the same to you too?

Listener fatigue is not quantifiable either, and can't be tested, but it is real, from my own experience and the experience of many others, too.  The amp in my experience makes all the difference in this respect.

Why should he get rid of the very speakers he chose after listening to them?!?  You are certainly free to get rid of your own Bose speakers, that is what you said you would do anyway.  That wasn't his question or concern.  If you posted a question regarding the speaker you had already bought, regardless of the brand, you wouldn't appreciate a post telling you to dispose of the very speakers you had already purchased.  That is just not productive or practical.


Well, it may not be productive or practical to you, but it is damned good advice.  I just visited the BOSE website.  No info on power rating, frequency range, distortion.  Price; they tell you how much they cost and the size of the boxes.  Woohoo!  Super tech talk!  Just a general "they sound good."  Yea! If you can swallow that kind of BS and poppycock go for it.  People who sell good speakers are proud enough to post the specs.  I'll bet they sound even better with some expensive "sound pipes" feeding them from the amp.  Yeah, right.   
Nov schmoz kapop.

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #11 –
So Guinness tastes the same as a Pilsner? A light beer tastes the same as Elephant beer?

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #12 –
Quote from: hangman on
So Guinness tastes the same as a Pilsner? A light beer tastes the same as Elephant beer?
There was a competition a while ago that a friend and I entered. You were given nine glasses of beer and you had to match them up to the lables. Complicating this, all of the nine beers were commercial fizzy lagers (four from SAB). Both my friend and I got nine out of nine correct. While this says something about our chosen leisure activity, it also suggests that beers don't all taste the same. The test wasn't blindfolded (but was double-blind  ) (so differences in colour and fizziness level also counted), but there were no gimmes (like a glass of guiness among the blonde beers). The only one I had to guess was to tell the difference between Stella Artois and Cobra (which I guessed based on carbonation, rather than taste).

I don't have the same confidence with matching up nine amplifiers with their sound.

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #13 –
Quote from: hangman on
So Guinness tastes the same as a Pilsner? A light beer tastes the same as Elephant beer?



Rather than comparing apples and oranges you are suggesting we compare beers and amps. 
Nov schmoz kapop.

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #14 –
Quote from: rankrookie on
I bought a pair of Bose 901 several years ago.  I find that many new amps don't accommodate an EQ, which is a necessity.  Can anyone recommend a good amp that will really drive these well?  Oh yeah, without spending too much? 

Do I just need to shop somewhere beside Best Buy?  When I bought these I listened to quite a variety of music, from classical to Floyd and Queensryche.  I thought they sounded great, but haven't been able to duplicate that at home.  I used an old Pioneer amp for awhile, but no longer have it.

I hope to find someone who is a Bose fan who can recommend a few different amps and tell me how they situated their speakers.



The 901s come with their own EQ box.  THis can usually be inserted into the tape in/out loop, if you don't have a pre-out/amp in loop on your AVR.

Bose used to make its own receiver especially for the 901s -- the 'Spatial Control Receiver'.  I used to have one, back when I have 901's (this would be the early/mid-80s).  Huge brown jobby, quite the looker.  Tailor-made for 901's, though of course it could run other speakers, it eliminated the need for the outboard Bose EQ.  If you're really diligent you might be able to scout one out on Ebay.  Do a google search and you can find pics and links.


Otherwise get a Bose EQ box if you don't already have one (also on Ebay) and a receiver that can put out lots of clean power at whatever level you plan to listen.




Quote from: Taz PA-C on
"
Quote
OK, you are not going to like this. Solid state amps pretty much sound the same. As for the speakers, I would get rid of them. Bose does not sound like real life sound. Just my two cents. "

I disagree.  There are double blind studies that prove that all beers taste the same.


Really?  Hefeweissen tastes the same as Guiness in a blind test? Show me one that comes to that conclusion.

Btw, many wine competitions are performed 'blind'.  Do you think this would be the case if blind testing made all wines taste the same?

Quote
Do all beers taste the same to you too?



Of course not, but amps are definitely not beer.


Quote
Listener fatigue is not quantifiable either, and can't be tested, but it is real, from my own experience and the experience of many others, too.  The amp in my experience makes all the difference in this respect.


You can;t possibly know if its the *amps* that make all the difference, *unless* you eliminate other factors.

Btw, does the 'fatiguing' amp sound good again after you've rested from it for awhile?

Quote from: cabbagerat on
Quote from: rankrookie on

I find that many new amps don't accommodate an EQ, which is a necessity.  Can anyone recommend a good amp that will really drive these well?  Oh yeah, without spending too much?
I would buy a decent brand second hand solid state amp. I'm sure you will find one at your local second hand store with bass and treble controls - if you need better EQ than that you will likely need a seperate EQ (or do it in software  )

Quote
OK, you are not going to like this. Solid state amps pretty much sound the same. As for the speakers, I would get rid of them. Bose does not sound like real life sound. Just my two cents.
There is a really nice article on amplifier sound on Rod Elliot's site. I tend to agree with you that solid state shouldn't sound different, but differences in design do introduce differences in sound (both audible and measureable).



But he does not show that the measurable differences one can find between almost any two amps are audible.  Even he says at the end, that these are exactly the tests he would like to see done.

Of course 'everyone' knows that if you drive an amp into clipping, that will likely be audible.  And amps do not all clip under the same loads.  So to that extent, of course, amps can sound different.  Some can drive 'tough' speakers at high levels, some can't.  And of cousre I'm referring to amps that aren't in fact 'broken' (i.e., either in fact or just badly designed so that they act as, say, crude equalizers)

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #15 –
Hey, now this is cool: "tough speakers."  Sheesh, what are "tough speakers"?    And, I guess you missed the analogy: because one unique group of observations is distinguishable has no bearing on another unique group of observations, as in "comparing apples and oranges" or "comparing beers and amps."   
Nov schmoz kapop.

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #16 –
Quote from: boojum on
Hey, now this is cool: "tough speakers."  Sheesh, what are "tough speakers"?


Does loudpeaker sensitivity mean anything to you?

Quote
And, I guess you missed the analogy: because one unique group of observations is distinguishable has no bearing on another unique group of observations, as in "comparing apples and oranges" or "comparing beers and amps."   



I think it's you who've missed the point.    Everyone who has commented so far probably thinks it's silly to compare beers and amps, including me.  What's also silly is the claim that that all beers taste the same in blind tests.

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #17 –
Quote from: boojum on
Listener fatigue is not quantifiable either, and can't be tested, but it is real, from my own experience and the experience of many others, too.  The amp in my experience makes all the difference in this respect.


It's real, but not quantifiable [or] testable? So, it's supernatural? 

-Chris

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #18 –
Quote from: WmAx on
Quote from: boojum on


Listener fatigue is not quantifiable either, and can't be tested, but it is real, from my own experience and the experience of many others, too.  The amp in my experience makes all the difference in this respect.


It's real, but not quantifiable [or] testable? So, it's supernatural? 

-Chris

no, no, it is possible to be real and not testable/quantifiable/etc, haven't you heard Light propagates through vacuum because there is no vacuum, but Ether that accomodates the wave propagation. Qantum mechanics is wrong! Ether Theory all the way!

</sacrasm>
The Plan Within Plans

Amp for Bose 901

Reply #19 –
I have a set of 901 series VI and a hafler 2800 amp with the EQ between the reciever and amp

Works great

Main thing with the 901's is room placement and if you have less than 300 watts/channel your not going to be happy with the sound

I run 700 watts per on mine and it sounds great