20 Most Recent Bose 901 VI Main / Stereo Speaker - Page 6 Questions & Answers

Found on Google Search: "bose 901 internal wiring" You must first identify which series you have. The first two series were acoustic suspension, and used nine 8 ohm drivers in a series/paralel configuration. Series III through VI used nine .9 ohm drivers all wired in series. Series III and IV had an additional terminal for use only with the Bose Spacial Control Receiver. Series III through VI are easy to identify, as there are three ports sticking out the back of each enclose. The 1st two series have no ports.

Yes, if they're all on the same 2 amplifier channels.

If you're pondering some kind of employement in a multichannel system look around fixya for the dozens of post I've made addressing various scenarios. Keyword: Bode 901

I've passed your question on to person (camino3x2) who posted a good article on eBay.

http://reviews.ebay.com/Bose-901-Speakers-A-primer_W0QQugidZ10000000001314034

If you're registered with eBay you could ask him any other questions.

I have series V's with brushed aluminum side panels. As you probably know, a 901 system also includes a series-matched Active Equalizer which must be used with it.

You want them to be your Main Front speakers, right? The news is not good.

There will be some limitations because you can't extract a 'processed' Front L-R from this receiver. The following will give you good stereo and Front L-R from the 901's but it won't allow central volume control or send them any of the DSP effects you may select. Sorry. If it had a Front L-R Pre-Out you'd be good to go for all functions and listening modes.

You'll need a separate stereo amplifier WITH ITS OWN VOLUME CONTROL for the 901's to accommodate the need for the Active EQ. Modest amps would work but at very loud volumes may go into clipping, which is bad for any speaker. I'm using only 100W for mine and it has plenty of steam for the 901's.

With this receiver we have to cheat to get the Front L-R signal out to the 901's (but it's unprocessed and at a steady MAXIMUM volume level)...

For connection I would run a pair of RCA cables from the VCR/DVR Audio Out L-R OUT jacks (*) to the Active EQ's Line IN; then the EQ's Line OUT to a separate amp's Line IN. Attach the 901's to the new amp.

* You'll lose the ability to use these jacks for anything else, but few of us use them anyway. DO NOT select this function for monitoring or you lose all audio in the VSX.

Why not look up Bose on the net and email them the question directly.

Bose makes terrific car radios, table top radios, and many types of very good sounding speaker systems.

Jerry G.

For stereo only, anything pushing a good 100 watts (for real). I use a Carver MT-200.

If you want to use it in a mulitchannel home theatre setup you'll have to have a dedicated amp for it in addition to an AVR for the other channels and control.

Look around Fixya for the dozens of posts I've made in this area. One of them should work for you.

The presence of 1/4" TRS balanced phone jacks instead of RCA inputs is a problem; and the 1/4" TRS speaker output jacks, too. You'll need to acquire cables with compatible ends.

The amp can handle 4-ohm loads so running two 901's parallel on each channel would theoretically work, but I'd put them in series just to keep from presenting too low a load when you get cranking. At 230 wpc you've got the juice. From Series 4 on the 901's are very efficient.

The Tape Deck will attach conventionally to the Tape Loop on the Active Equalizer.

Once you get the physical wiring compatibility issues worked out:

Patch the Active EQ directly between any source you may be using (Amp In from the Pre-Out of the source, Amp Out to the Peavey input).

You can record the external source onto the attached Tape Deck and you can monitor it by pressing the Tape switch on the 901 EQ.

Start out at low volume and see how it works before turning it loose.

If you are using the Bose Equalizer to optimize the sound of the 901s by going through either a tape loop or a pre-out/main-in loop, then the only way to do this without also equalizing the sound sent to the second set of speakers is to manufacture a "zone-2" output from the Luxman.
You'd probably need to split the send from the Luxman's pre-out before the EQ and send it to a second power amplifier for the second pair of speakers (if you want the Luxman's volume knob to control both speaker sets) or from a tape level output (if you wanted independent volume controls for the two speaker sets.
The whole EQ thing made 901s difficult to use on vintage equipment with only one "zone" audio outputs. Unless you want to use the Bose EQ on the second set, too, you can't do it satisfactorily without adding another stereo amplifier. But, go ahead and try it, you might find that you actually like the odd EQ that the 901s EQ gives to the second pair!
If it were my decision, I probably would not do it without a second amp, but it's all about what you like, my opinions really don't matter in your house, do they?
Have fun

Ideally, an amplifier or receiver should have either a "Tape Monitor" selector switch and Tape Input & Tape Output jacks, OR have Preamp Output & Amp Input jacks to enable insertion of the Bose Active equalizer into the circuit before the amplifier stage. Power requirements - according to the 901 Series VI manual:

"Your 901 speakers are designed to work compatibly with receivers or amplifiers rated from
10 to 450 watts per channel."

If you have questions not answered by the manual, you can contact customer service at The Bose Corporation in Framingham, MASS toll free at:

1-800-999-2673
Hours of operation:
7 AM - 2 AM ET, 7 days a week

I hope this helped & good luck!

You won't need the equalizer - just connect the speakers to the receiver's speaker output for the front.

Since tha Active EQ is designed for use ONLY with the 901's you'll need a separate power amp to drive them in a multichannel environment. I'd get something like a Carver M-200 (2x100 watts) or larger. That's what I use.

This receiver makes it easy for you.

This is exactly how mine are connected.

Run a pair of RCA cables from the Front L&R PRE OUT to the Active EQ's Line IN; then the EQ's Line OUT to a separate amp's Line IN. Attach the 901's to the new amp, run through the receiver's setup procedures for volume, etc and you're done.

Optimal placement of these like speakers of any design will vary depending on room dimensions and your listening distance from them.

A good place to start with them would be the same distance apart from each speaker as they are from the listening position. In that position they should also be placed closer to a rear wall than any side wall, approximately half that distance.

I have this exact setup. 901s are my Mains.

The AVR247 has PreOuts on all of the channels.. No jumper to remove either. Just get a power amp or two and place the 901 EQ between the AVR247 and the Power Amplifier.

Jeff

Ok when you say best set up options what do you mean? I assume you know how to connect them all together, correct? Or is that what you mean? Anyone with such high end components would know how to connect them all I would think, so you must mean what are the best settings on the individual components then? Such as EQ settings and things like that? That will depend entirely on the environment they are place in, the size of the space, and the layout of the walls and other objects that sound will bounce off of.

Please let me know what exactly you are looking for and I can help get you started with it for sure. Just reply to my answer here and I will be right back with you.

Thanks,
Tim

Hi.

Running thru tape deck before equalizer will not do any good. The manual simply states that if the receiver has a tape monitor connection, then you can connect the 901 equalizer through this connection (basically an aux preamped output), the R-406 does not call the output tape monitor.It is the plug called Remote Control Output -Tape - tape1 cassette deck. Since the connector present in amp tape monitor does not use twin audio cables, you will need an adapter.

Connect a preamped (not final) Output from amp to 901 equalizer, and then connect output from equalizer to input on amp. In input the amp has twin cables, then you can use tape 1 or tape 2 input connecting the other end of twin cables to output on back of equalizer.

The R405 out can be connected directly to the back of r406 using tape2 input (twin cables).

Regards.

G.

If you purchase the Bose Active Equalizer you will in fact need a receiver or amplifier. Personally I would just skip the Bose Active Equalizer and go right for a more high end receiver. It will do the curve response that you require for these speakers without any need for pre-amplification. If you read around it looks like this is what most people are doing with the speakers, and the ones that have purchased the Equalizer are not very happy with the results they are getting.

The 901's are great speakers and with a matching quality receiver or amp you will have fantastic results.

Thank so much, please let me know if you need further clarification, but you definitely do need a receiver with this unit.

Thanks
Tim

I found this info on shopping.com, in a review of the Bose speakers:

As far as upgrading the amp is concerned, you can do that at any time. As long as you've got an eq in/out connection on your amp, you will have no problem running these speakers.

Haven't messed with an A/V Receiver in years, but the Yamaha has accomodations for different types of speaker plugs, so I would think it should be compatible.
Good luck, hope this helps!

Just remove the Pre-Out to Main In jumpers and connect the Active Equalizer there. This way it will affect only the power output to the amp and speakers but not to any of the Tape Loops. If you need more, look around on Fixya for 901 advice and you'll find about a million posts by me for many scenarios, including multi-channel.