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