From the early to mid 1980's. Are they worth anything or send them off to Goodwill?

They still gotta sound good I would think.

But not as good as 501s 901s.

EDIT: Fixed speaker model number. Damn senior moments...

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It is what it is.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2021 04:40PM by N-OS X-tasy!.

Rear speakers in an home theater set up?

Office, garage, or workshop?

Recently sold for between $60 and $200 on eBay.

Or 901s



Bose 901s at Reverb

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Good Luck!
Jamie Dresser
Other World Computing

About a 90% chance that the acoustic suspension surrounds are rotted out of the drivers and they need repair. You can tell if you pull off the grilles and lightly poke the speaker surround with your finger...if it crumbles to dust then its dead. If you can't get the grille off, do they distort when cranked up to high volume? That would be another indication of failed drivers. Since those are the low end of Bose's line they probably aren't worth fixing.

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"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan

Quote
OWC Jamie
Or 901s



Bose 901s at Reverb

I meant the 901s, Jamie - revised my post accordingly.

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It is what it is.

Quote
davester
About a 90% chance that the acoustic suspension surrounds are rotted out of the drivers and they need repair. You can tell if you pull off the grilles and lightly poke the speaker surround with your finger...if it crumbles to dust then its dead. If you can't get the grille off, do they distort when cranked up to high volume? That would be another indication of failed drivers. Since those are the low end of Bose's line they probably aren't worth fixing.

Yeah, my 302's are in that shape. I found a place that will refub them for a decent price, but I haven't gotten around to it.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

The still sound decent, but not as good as the new Polks that replaced them.

Can't take the grills off. Plastic housing with the plastic "foam" grilles attached. Surrounds should still be good as they were in use up to last month without issue.

Too big for surround sound speakers. Plus their design really isn't conducive for proper positioning.

I could have bought the 901's for a good price when I worked in a stereo store in college. Spent my money on higher end Onkyo equipment (back when it was really good) instead.

I'd be a little concerned about the surrounds deteriorating, but if they sound good, then back speakers is a good idea.

My brother brought back a set of four 901's when he came back from his stint in Korea during his Army days back in the late 70's.

Those things could really rock, and made me want Bose speakers badly. I settled for some less expensive Sansui speakers with 15" woofers, that did a fine job of rock'n the house down.

There were something about those Bose speakers from that era that was truly magic.

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Stick around long enough, and many of your early fantasies may be fulfilled.

A friend has offered his set of Bose 901s (that have been in storage for over ten years). It is tempting, but my own set of Energy Take 5.1 speakers are already in storage.

Called another friend (about to retire from academia) over the weekend to see if his college has a program to sell off old MacBook Pros. His partner—listening in on the call—informed me she has a MacBook Pro 15 from 2010 that has been in her closet for years. Looks like I'll be able to keep my iPod Shuffle current for a bit longer.

Todd's scavenger board

I had a pair of 301's that I bought in about 1984. Got me all the way through high school and college and into my first couple of real jobs. Sounded great right up until the rubber in the cones (as noted above) disintegrated in about 1999 or so. So I'd check that first, but even if it's happened, there's no reason the cones can't be replaced. Bose will even sell you replacement drivers--or at least they would in 1999...

I was never crazy about 901's. Had a pair that I bought used (with the equalizer), but wound up unloading them pretty quickly. I get the theory, but in practice they lived up to the "no highs, no lows, must be Bose" saying. I definitely preferred their more traditional speakers like the 301's and 501's.

Not worth putting much money into repair. People practically - or do - give away speakers now, as they downsize and just clear out stuff. I've got a few systems for free over the years. If they were special, I'd say fix them, if they are needing repair, and they probably do at that age, but I'm not sure they are worth it.

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Hurts like a bastid...

A friend in high school bought Bose 201's in 1977, so late 70's/early 80's.

I bought Infinity Qa's a few months later, right before I left for college. The surrounds on my Qa's are still quite flexible. I had a nice discussion with Eustace about Pacific Stereo about that era.

Edit: whoops, I got the 201 and 301 models mixed up. Wikipedia implies the original 201 came out in 1982 and the 301 was 1975.

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In tha 360. MRF User Map



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2021 03:46PM by Filliam H. Muffman.

I’ve seen DIY foam surround repair kits for as low as $25. Could be worth a shot, if you mess up no great loss.

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I was never crazy about 901's. Had a pair that I bought used (with the equalizer), but wound up unloading them pretty quickly. I get the theory, but in practice they lived up to the "no highs, no lows, must be Bose" saying.


While I wasn't familiar with the '...must be Bose' saying at the time, I wasn't impressed with the limited frequency response of the 901s, even with the equalizer (which was optional, if I recall correctly).

The bass, or what there was of it, was incredibly tight, as was the rest of the spectrum.

That was impressive, but not enough to get my ching.

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