RIP Amar Bose

You are so right Mr. Hogan. I remember where I was (a Queens, NY basement) and what vinyl I was listening to (Allman Brothers Live at Fillmore East) when I first heard the 901. I, too, was in awe. No bashing, please. Rest in peace.

Your friend-Glenn

"I know Bose gets bashed a lot around here, but no one can deny he had a huge impact on audio."

The bashing is the result of rumors started by high end audio reviewers and manufacturers who can only continue to build the same speakers over and over for decades without the ability to come up with any new ideas and therefore feel threatened by a unique design. The Bose 901 was and is a breakthrough in speaker design with drivers all of the same voice, no crossover, attractive styling and amplifier friendly. If a high end audio reviewer ever gave the Bose 901 a glowing review the game would be over. The majority of the bashers continue to bash Bose speakers without ever hearing them while the rest of the bashers recall hearing them 40 years ago. The best comment I heard from a Bose basher is "All Bose speakers are good for is listening to music."

I too can recall the first time I heard a pair of Bose 901s. A record store in Nashua, New Hampshire had a pair suspended from the ceiling. They were playing the just released Layla by Derek and the Dominoes. No idea who the band was and only the album cover was displayed. A great album t be sure, but it never sounded so good as that first time. Ah the memories.
RIP Dr. Bose.

Timrhu, The band was Derek and the Dominos. (Eric Clapton)

The first time I heard some Bose 901s, they were powered by some MacIntosh gear and it was so damn loud I had to walk out of the demo room, and I was young and invincible then. It was loud and clear and favored the high end with no real lower mids and bass and I couldn't get over that fact.

Even my brother had a pair that he blasted in the house, first on stands and then suspended from the ceiling. He couldn't stop fiddling with them, taking them apart and reassembly them and finally traded the broken speakers for something else. :-)

Bose was responsible for getting a lot of folk interested in audio and my hat's off to him for that. I don't begrudge him a bit for how things went later on.

All the best,
Nonoise