Mitch--if you're still interested in this issue after 3 months:
I have experience with Bose 901s--I worked at an audio store that sold them along with other state-of-the-art speakers of the time--Ohm, Dahlquist, ESS, Infinity, Advent.
The 901s are probably the most discreet speaker for filling a very large area, and I think they're particularly well-suited for the surrounds and rear surrounds of a multi-channel HT setup. I think they'd do fine with the High channel as well. I'm less sure about having them for front left and right speakers. You're better off getting a triad of same manufacture L-C-Rs to get timbre matching for voices, 1st-level effects, and music. Unlike speaker placement in Tone Audio's review, you're better off placing the speakers about 1 foot from the wall behind. This will give you a more seamless enveloping sound and give better bass response with less effort. I'd go with more rigid speaker stands that also make the speaker terminals easily accessible for cleaner sound and so you can use whatever cable gauge you want.
Although I don't use Bose 901s in my home theater, I *do* use omnidirectional Mirage speakers all around and they make for a very natural, seamless soundfield. Dispersion is so wide you don't hear one speaker "handing off" to the next. Bose 901s should give you this as well.
Used Series VI 901s w/equalizer run about $300-500/pair on eBay. You could put in some real room-filling sound for not much money, and if you need more room-filling sound, doubling up the speakers per channel won't be that expensive. For your room size, I'd probably go with two 901s per speaker location. This should create an effortless sound, what with 18 drivers per channel.
