Bose 901 reviews

Page 1

105E. . . the mosiL highly reviewed spec:

The complete text

of an unprecedented
.. series of rave reviews

of the BOSE 901

DIRECT/REFLECTING®
speaker

system

by
Equipment
Reviewers
and

Music Critics

Page 2

Irving Kolodin,

Dean of American

Music Critics,

Reviews the BOSE 901.

Cadillac Quality
in Volkswagen Space

he long-standing contention that

the bigger tlte speaker tlte better

the sound has. iii tlte last decade.
beeit fighting a rear-guard action against
the clear voice of reason embodied lit
the bookshelf types pioneered by Edgar
Villchtir in his AR revolution. But the
heaviness of sortie. the less thart
fulfilling extremes of range of others.
have left the musical optinttimists
vaguely or less than vaguely dissatisfied,
according to their inclinations and
expectations.

In the last year or so,however, aural
extremists have been offered a new
solution to their problems, and, after a
time trial measured in months rather
than weeks. this one can definitely
proclaim that Bose is best big or small
high or low. Like many top innovations,
it is not the cheapest or the prettiest
embodiment of its purpose. but it
combines function with form in classical
proportions of efficiency and
compactness. For the furniture minded,
the well-textured wood frame is
available with a choice of four grill
panel cloths.

The particular novelty of the
MlTAderived design (Amar G. Bose did
graduate and postgraduate work, and
has held a professorship in acoustics at
that institution) is the diffusion of
sound from the rear of a small,
cube-shaped hexagon. rather than from
the front. A mere 20 5/16 inches wide.
12 3/4 inches high. and 12 7/8 inches
deep. it uses the wall against which it is
positioned as part of the sound-dispers-
ing pattern. Two of them properly
powered tiny source is Martititl) cart
provide more sound than even an
oversired sttidto room can absorb. An
adapter netwurk. housed in a less than
book-sr/ed enclosure. enables the speak-
ers to be tuned to the specific space in
which the) are positioned.

As a basis ot comparison. [11)
listening cars |r.t\c been attuned for
more than :i decade (since IJSX. when
stereo catttc iii) to a pair til oversI/e
Kl lls (7\.lllL.t\l|tlltt_1111.lll_\ leet ttltllltt
contentt e\terttletl in range through
electrostatic lltrglt curl) tweeters. .Not
only can 1 not detect arty loss of
response at the e\tteiires of range itt art
A-li test of the Bose part vs. the
KLll-pltis pair. btit there is more
solidity iii the Bose rttitlrange and equal
smoothness through the transient re-
sponse. The pair of Bose speakers list at
$470. btit the prttoff is comparable to
('adtllac qtitilil) in Volkswagen space.

LK.

SR/JUNE 27.1970 80400633

Stereo Review

TECHNICALTALK?

By JULIAN D. HIRSCH

m EQUIPMENT TEST REPORTS as

l ll) 11 irselt-Houek I,r:tliot'tttotit>s

BOSE 901
STEREO SPEAKER
SYSTEM

,II"

. ltrtt'ttiln on out s \t(\\}litnl, the Bow not <[(.tl\'tr
l.t lit tit tonsirttntt .t rtxoltiteonart .1|[ttt,1tlt to

itptorltittioti. or simply a \torkaltle ttllnllllilllttll of
lts.tl\l|\l1ttl rant writttmres tltpretatttlr tcrlmrrpns
'tw llit\t trot tritlmrrtx lttttht' lititt sniall. spt-uallt (lt'
tllt\tt\ thrt lli\L t :ltll ltlHt\ anrl powcrttil tilt.
ot'r \rltttitlll\ ll:'lll or the tlrmrs .tlL atrfilul to tltt' iLJl.

tilt llt ltlltlt is : tullLtl up My tt.:ir oi the (ntltt\tif(

t. llt l\lttl, 1H1 llrx tll ',t'trt!1i is ititttitltt to

, t 31 :wttt', 'lt ~,- r r oi thrttt to rthttul
t.1,-vt,.r,\.o.,,tr]o,HHihtt

lit to! s ttlmtts ,irt tprrir «output. itttasltttiie I. ,
r lo» lttl'lt lr. ,ttt. ll:tllt\ urtlt \Kl'tt nittttrl troitr tt
v .. \rtti tron tl t top. the It.tt Tut il.t tlrLlH\LllL intro! .r

,

~t ,tlurlll tro degrees ltasir to tls operation K lltt 1(
v. o ":tttl lt.tl rt 1»: I'lrttltn't'tl \\tllt the \' tatrnev tht all,

;< 'r' _- tlttltl l.111tlt(\frttt',1lllt\\.1ll \\llltllt1[tll|
.; r s an Hr ttt~l.\ll(tl, ll.L sourirl appears to lL unztoritilt

o no.1 ttlir\\llt uall ltt'\\t:ttlllt \ptakrrstott'pltttlt
r, ' w. lolt llrllll lllltltllt tllttl \mtt itttl\ t1 per

m- ~l.v w..n. l\1.ltl.|lttltltlltll\ toruarr', it is .tltltr\l
trttr( to Iotalt/e tlit \t.11lt

to ,r'rttmt part ot tht lirmt Ho] «turn. 1\ art .ltli\L
lltti 'tttt\t\lttrl LtlttJltIL'r tltJi liarirlits lroth tlraiititls, it
row titisttts tor the l1|filtlrL(ttll'ltt\ losses irthcrtnt in the
v . t't,' pron .iritl JIM» tlatttm out the l~.t\\ response
t 1hr titttltlllit11\.ll(tl bass response 1\ tlo\\n lictatise of the
It 1' rial tum roll ott rt-sultirip trorii the \ery srtiall \olirriic ot
'ln tlltl«i\111{ t Housed in .i \taliitit t.il\iiitt Inn, intlies
-l,'ll 1. vi, irithcs \xittc and ('31 inthes deep. this Selt-
pmtrtrt (tILtJllltl unit is toiiricttetl {IillCr lVL't\\cL'n the
ErltJlltllllltr .rntl pttiter aniplitier or in the taptvnttiriitorinp
\rrrial p.it|i of the zintplilter or [C(L'Hl'r lit the latter Last.
'llt .tlltlltlltl \ rape-monitor smith is It-tt set to 1:\11 So
that {lit tripe tttttnlttir trinttion \\(i|tlil not he lost. use has

litirlt it into the tttitalizer r\ rapt I'LLttl'tltl' tan lit tontttttetl
to [lit corralr/tr and the usual monitoringy swrttliing er»
toirnetl tliroueli it

'l'lrert ate ll\C totittols on the equalizer, four rotker
\\\l(tl\k~ and one live-position rotary control One rotket
\Ll\t\ .|\ ,in onoit ~\\llkll anotlitr as the tapenioniror
\\\tltlt, .ttt.l lL th:rtl .h .r lotvttrt tiller that prittt.trtl\
,rt ,w illlt tlL* 1 rl m tll ll/ lltls1K11"(11tlttlfltl'l'tltltC
rtarrnle or .1trv1.\!1t teetlltatk The torrrth ltrtlxt'l witch rti~
ttrarrs \wh .r Iti'lM l|\L)tv§1tltI11 (fL'ltlL'tttnitttlf tonrrot
\\'Iit:i tltc rotktr north 1\ \Li tor NORMAL, the rotary

\\'.ttl1 Iltflltlts ,r lutm' Ittxttttrlt. a position. and tlrrtt
pmrrrons o1 rltricasrng lltL'll trrtrtrtnrt response from tlit
\ptaktrs \\1rtorliv, rorktr mirth is \(l tor titi'ttt 1' 1)FCR1'\\1.
it introtlutts .i tlttrmsttiti in lllL response ltct\\t-en Loon
.Ilttl point 11/ lhc lt\L «ttr'tlrtrl LII!17I)llf\ then not tml\
.tilitl tle \eit ltLlt tittttienrt spraLLr peitorinante. litrt
.ilso the trctprtutsts litruetti titt .iittl Loot) 112 that are
rrw' fltnlLil \\tl 'lt' rotku \\\'ltl1 in its .\()11.\l\l,]"t>§liltitt.
In all. 'tit \llllllt" lllLlt litti.?tll\\ trrrtlratrpe response
roznowrs art rtatla 14,

lot lllt\( m... hm \\tll llJlllLtl litarrtie anti musrtal
ll.«l,1'kfl' pin» tin are; to titrktr it is possible to (1th
tot poor lttttitlltlgx .,, .r 1L!!t.lll\',lltlt decree \rith the
etttirlr/tr titlt'frl\ .\l»\t prtpt \\lll prolsahlt prettr to
(wt

lL,l'~L"lllllll!1"t'l stump

'11: int («tr _,,, am '1tt [t1t(}"tlrlt tlt\ttirllt»tt
\\ t :mamrttt m it w rm n at lL~s :hrzr o t~ ptr L(1ll tor
.rpr. tutpirt t.rr.tr » \oiu. ulirrl is .rita'rr :1 an \\t\llltl l~('

lit] .ota trait.

, .rrirplrt'vt \KL kt up. ot lltt output <1;_'l].|l
is ol .ippimamatth tltt \.llt ltrtl .rs LlL input signal
In tlit \ltL,t.~. ' ms / r / r tol turn. I Urlllllttttlr
ed on tlre tllllik.lll\ ot tlt\t|il:lL \[Kjlkul pttlorritantt tlI
ptrrtlt oluettite rtrrps lliu ltost ool is .I paint tllttfillJ'
tron oi this [ft>l\lt"i .\!ttr .I titllllt ot i.:oit'li\ ot Inno-
ill a Itosc Jttl \\*tt.1' 1 .tr" totixrnrttl that it ranks \\tll1
a handful til tlit lititst lotto, spotlxtr \'\\1L11 s til .ill tinit
BLttHHL' ot its urinarutrittonal nrotlt ot HIL'LIHHH. 1 rathtr
tlottlitetl lltJf .iri. trttiutriryitspotiw rptasuirittrnts l toriltl
tnakt- (lllltl attoiim ttr rlit uttt.ttl\.tltlt' 1L.lll\nl ot its
sound. Dittrtiilt as it IK to intasoit lllL output oi a single
Llll'Lti radiator in .| normal litrrin roortt, ll Is \\Lll1111_'ll rrri
[\tisllllL to rntasrire .rti .Iltlttist perttttlt tlrsptrsttl stttllttl
pritttrti \tlkll .is [lull It 'ltt trot urtliotii sttorip rritluttrtr