I've got 2 small bose speakers.. they're the ones that are directional, the tweeter section and the midrange can be turned.. I don't know what the model number is....

Anyway would those work for the back surrounds? Well.. I know they'll "work" but will they sound good? Should I go for something that is more full range? I need something that is unobtrusive to hang from the ceiling..

I may just try them for a little while.. If they are really bad I think I may make my own speaker using the Fostex full range drivers (4" or so)...

I would say try them as surrounds. For movie use, they may very well be fine even though they may lack a little bit in ultimate musicality as compared to the Wilson Audio WAMMs.

I used a pair of Bose 301 series IIIs for over a year as rear surrounds for DVD home theater use and was reasonably satisfied with them. When I got a sacd player, I decided to get rear surrounds that were more of a sonic match to my front speakers.

Paul

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the 1derful1

[This message has been edited by Paul J. Stiles (edited March 09, 2003).]

Just joined the gang-- my 950/7100 is slated to arrive in the next few days and AM I EXCITED!!! I was an old Mac owner-- a C-37, some 2255's and a pair of ML-2 speakers (my wife loved 'em- made GREAT end-tables. About 9 years ago, with the move to a new house that had a built in entertainment area and kids and no dedicated room for the stereo, I cashed it in for low-fi (can't even talk much about this music-reproduction time of my life on orders from my HIFI therapist). Now don't get me wrong---- I would trade my kids for anything but raising kids ain't cheap. All I could do is drool over reviews and ads and stores-- everything was VERY EXPENSIVE as I remembered from the golden days of McIntosh. Then along comes an ad about some weird audio place called "Outlaw"? I investigated, expecting to dicover that I had found another so called "inexpensive" audio dealer where "inexpensive" meant under $30,000. Was I SHOCKED!! I was so excited that I blabbed to my wife about this. This is not a wise thing to do-- she is quite thrifty. So I explained that all I would like is just the 950/770 combo--oops that too much?? Well how about the 950/7100 instead and ON SALE!!!! Those were the magic words for my cute little DUTCH honey and here I am today. This should also have the added benefit of decreasing my therapy sessions. I accidently found this BB and have been reading it ALOT. What a hoot!! Totally enjoy it.

By the by-- what about those rear surrounds for a 7.1 system? Is it O.K. to use bipole/ dipole's like the side surrounds or what?? In my situation, I have a log room with my main listening spot6 feet from the rear of the room. The rear "wall" behind me is the stairwell leading up stairs which means that the rears will probably have to be suspended from the ceiling. I would appreciate some of your ideas.

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I have always favored direct radiators for the rear surrounds. In movie mixes, the rear surrounds are very likely to have sound effects panned to them that are meant to be specific in their imaging, like an airplane flying over. A di-pole speaker would not present these sounds as intended.

The surround array that is used when films are being mixed is all monopole direct radiators. There are usually two on the sides for surround and two at the rear for rear surround.

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The Soundhound Theater

I've had some success with dipole side surrounds and a single dipole rear surround, but my plan is to eventually (next house) replace the single dipole rear surround with a pair of direct radiating rear surrounds.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

Welcome, TANGO! I agree with soundhound and gonk-- direct radiators. I'm sure you will be getting out of therapy as soon as your system is up and running! Best wishes...

soundhound, gonk, steves,thanks for the advice...direct radiators it is. Also, thanks for the warm welcome!!

What do you think about the placement on the ceiling (approx. 7 foot) 6 feet behind my listening position with an open stair-well? Any comments/suggestions much appreciated!

By the way , my Mac Pre was a C-32... so long ago, so lonnngggg aaaaaaggggggggoooo!

Therapy is already working....and the equipment hasn't EVEN ARRIVED. This is such great fun!!!!! Weather experts (oxy-moron) trying to dampen my enthusiasm by forecasting FREEZING RAIN on UPS projected delivery date. A pox upon them I say!

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I've owned just about every decent model of bose speaker going back to an original set of 301s, followed soon thereafter with a set of 501s, 601s, and finally 901s. The 301s (from the 70's) are still going strong at my Mom's place.

I too guess that you're talking about 301s. And if they allow you to control the direction of the tweeter's output then they're an older version (originals or series II - I think). I've been using two pairs of 301 series IIIs for the side and rear surrounds and I have nothing but praise for them. They're each being fed from one channel of two NAD 2200 power amps (probably the most powerful "100W" per channel amp ever made), and have no problem handling it at all.

(And with a model 950 to be installed into my main theatre in a couple of weeks time, I knew it would be important to match all of the surrounds given the 950's single surround cross-over setting. The 301s work VERY well with a 60HZ crossover setting - which I'm doing with my ICBM at this time.)

And by the by, from series IIIs on up, I've noticed no significant difference in sound quality between the series. No need to buy new ones if you can find a good used set (or two) somewhere).

I think what makes them particularly good as surrounds is that you get the best of both worlds: direct radiator AND reflected / delayed sound.

Occasionally I've wondered, just for fun, what a six 901 (three pairs - single rear centre) set-up would sound like. I've never found a dealer that carried more than one open box set of 901s to play with so I'll probably never know. If any of you folks have ever heard such a beast, I'd love to hear about it.

Jeff