ive refoamed a million 901 drivers, and to you out there reading this. One thing I highly recommend is taking a full, unopened, regular size bottle of water and setting it on top of the speaker as you refoam it. It will evenly compress the speaker and make it so that when you glue, the speaker will be even with the coil and not vibrate later on. The hardest part of refoaming these is getting the drivers aligned.
Thank you for the advice I just scored a pair of these for free at a garage sale in exceptional shape and just got the repair kit in the mail and have been dreading how I'm gonna keep all these dang speakers aligned.
Well done. I found a pair of old 901's and the foams were deteriorated. I bought the foam kit for 50 bucks which included the caps. I agree that shims are imperative when re-foaming. The Bose 901's sound is very clear at mid and high range. However, they do lack the solid bottom end. If you know the sub that is the accompaniment, please let me know.
Many thanks for spening so much time to show how this procedure is done - just eventually got a pair - of 901s - I'm guessing when I pick them up -or / before I bought them iI thought -what if the foam has gone - /really good to see a repair kit - and -many thanks for showing all he tips on how to restore them - / I know its going be a patient job to do - but wanted a pair of these for 20 years now - just never had the money to buy 2 nd hand - and always wonered about repairs -to the foam -coils and so on - -out of interest are there any components inside the cabinett that can come lose eg wires - terminal - any resistors on a crossover - -is there one inside -.I f you make a mistake centring them can it be re done or is the glue too strong ? .this is great help -10.ot of 10 ! :)
Nice video. I've always wondered how many DIY attempts at this are successful. Just a bit of grit, a slight misalignment from uneven shrinkage or a shim that didn't make it all the way in, or a little too much force could spoil any one of the 9 drivers. I'm sure replacing one that is scuffing would be simple, but finding it after slowly admitting that it wasn't going to get any better would be excruciating.
I had a set of these at one time. They were loud. Like three doors down hear them clearly. But as stated they lack sub frequency bass we hear in all modern speakers. I am considering refurbishing a cheap pair and using them as my side surrounds since the lows are unnecessary for that channel. Plus my current setup has 175w going to each of the 7 channels. Not that I ever use that high of listening level but nice to have the capacity for the odd movie that has abundant sound on the side channels.
I wouldn't advise using 901s as surround speakers. Bose's active equalizer was specifically designed for 901 speakers only. Take away the active equalizer and the 901s sound flat and awful. When in a surround system getting the speaker to sound as intended active equalization will be required. Conversely, the non 901 speakers in the system, not designed for use with active equalization and will sound harsh when subjected to 901 equalization. You can verify negative impact to the sound quality (flat and lacking dynamic range) by playing 901s without the active equalizer and the harshness when using the active equalizer with non 901 speakers. Either way you won't be happy with the sound.
Hey Texasound, great vid on the 901 restoration. I'm doing it now.... series 1. Any chance you are near Austin? I'm in Cedar Park, but my real question is do you know where to get the most original looking fabric to reupholster the grills?
THANK YOU TEXAS SOUND!!! Got a kit that included the "White Glue" and, on your reccomendation found some of the faster-setting Brown glue. Was able to do each one one by one and get them calibrated very easily....WITHOUT SHIMS!! Thanks for the helpful video. They sound GREAT! -Matt
Does anyone know what the internal wire gauge is? I think it's just aluminum wire. Would be a benefit to upgrading the wire or would it change the sound too much?
If you want to do that.....buy a new set if they make em anymore. Honestly...I've had the 4's since 89..I'm thinking about refoaming and selling them...There's better speakers out there...I already have some on my other sound system...Incredible sound..
Howard Mora there are aftermarket ones you can get... tbh I wouldn’t, many haters seems to believe these are junk little drivers. I beg the differ , they were 0.9 ohm each and had a proprietary voice coil. I am sure the aftermarket ones do not
hur funkar det om 20-25 år att byta foamringar om man använder ett sådant lim får man väck det limmet då och hur är det elastik vanligt trälim blir ju endå mjukt tror ljubilden blir en annan om använder fel lim
I have watched the video three times and still have been unable to figure out what the three plastic shims in the center of the cone are for. Why cut the three slots in the center cone and then put the shims in the slots only to remove them later and glue the slots closed if you're not going to use them, or need them, during the rebuild process?
There is a gap between the cone coil and magnet. The shims ensure that the air gap is even all the way around the coil so the cone does not drag and distort the sound. Instead of cutting the dust cap, I put a drop of acetone on the dust cap glue. When it softens, you can lift off the cap, and insert the shims more easily. Then glue the cap back on when the foam is glued back on.
old vintage speakers , HUGE enclosure - small driver nice and good sound at low volume.... i mean in that enclosure they could put atleast 10'' driver thats why vintage radios and vinyl players was a space wasting - they do sound good but you buy today speakers which sound good or better and is 3-5 times smaller
Good video but you took zero consideration for us people with OCD. You glue all around on one dust cap and don't do the other seven. I feel completely unbalanced now.
Many years ago I was a Bose warranty station. They told me they would pull my account if I ever said that to a customer again! They didn't think that was funny.
Why would you take the time to comment on something you don't care about? Why do care what kind of speaker or car someone likes? Find something you like and quit being a jerk,get a life!
You hate Bose, but you watch a Bose video and decide you needed to be a jackass and leave the typical "audiophile-wanna-be" comment. You are seriously bored.
Apparently you've never owned a pair of 901 I use them only when I use my turntable and the room I have them in is 12 ft High 16 ft wide and 35 ft long play sound amazing for my surround sound I actually have a 12.2 system that I use for that so everything has its place but yes I must be like a typical Corvette owner 1974 hardtop convertible
