Post by Owen Y on Oct 14, 2018 20:06:54 GMT 12
I spent another evening this week at an old pal's, a jazz enthusiast & former Jazz writer now in retirement, his Jazz knowledge is (still) encyclopaedic. His system(s) comprises: - Garrard 301 TT (cartridge I'm not sure as CDs are played mostly these days)
- Mission Cyrus Two or Sony integrated
- CD player Sony 338ESD
- Loudspeakers AR-3A (an American classic) & AR58 in Lounge
More recently he has acquired more interesting vintage equipment from a family member: - Cambridge 551P MM phono stage
- Amplifier Perreaux SA1 + PMF 1155
- Loudspeakers Bose 901-II
My pal likes the Bose 901s & they have become his loudspeaker of choice, supplanting the AR-3As. Interesting for me as I had never heard Bose 901s. The Bose 901s are legendary & controversial, after introduction in 1968, receiving a rave review in Stereo Review. And well promoted by Bose's marketing campaign, commercially successful & in production for almost around 40(?) years. However, some other audiophile reviewers like J Gordon Holt (Stereophile) & Harry Pearson, were not so entirely impressed.
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Post by Owen Y on Oct 14, 2018 20:11:18 GMT 12
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Post by Owen Y on Oct 14, 2018 20:12:57 GMT 12
Bose publicity information:  9 x 4-inch full range drivers, 8 of them angled rearward, plus an 'active Equaliser' box. 
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Post by Owen Y on Oct 15, 2018 12:41:02 GMT 12
With 80+% of the sound output being rearward reflected sound, the Bose 901s do a nice job of creating a large, ambient, sense of venue space (which is nice), but I tend to agree with JGH & HP - the 901s do not cut-it when you want stereo focus and/or imaging. Hall ambience & scale is in abundance, but when you want the soloist in crisp relief, it's only vaguely there. They're also placement in-relation to rear/side walls-dependent & given that my pal had them jammed in between furniture at the end of his converted Garage listening room, they sounded very good indeed. I was hankering to listen again to the AR-3as or the AR58s in the Lounge.
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Post by Owen Y on Oct 15, 2018 12:46:18 GMT 12
I took along a couple of discs:  (Orchestra sounded v good, realistic & dynamic.)  (The system, the 901s esp I think, did not convey the intimacy & nuance, tonally & tempo dynamically, of this recording. HF level was curtailed too with the 901s, which doesn't help I think.)
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Post by Owen Y on Oct 15, 2018 13:55:09 GMT 12
Other discs heard: One of our host's favourite Jazz vocalists - Melody Gardot, from this album:  Quite a bit of Erroll Garner:   More piano: 
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Post by cartridgeguyonline on Oct 15, 2018 14:47:33 GMT 12
I've that same model Sony CDP. And a couple of Errol Garner LP's though neither of the ones shown there. Had never seen 901 in that finish before either, the ones ive come across are the walnut and brown cloth version. Long time since I heard a pair and wasnt aufait with soundstaging and image placement back in those days but I thought they sounded OK. Needed a bit of power IIRC ?
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Post by michaelw on Oct 15, 2018 16:05:14 GMT 12
Owen; Was your pal using the 901s with the equaliser ? I seen them used sans the EQ box
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Post by Owen Y on Oct 15, 2018 16:34:22 GMT 12
cartridgeguyonline - I think that the 901 are not a difficult load & not insensitive, but... michaelw - I will need to allow more time next time, check out his EQ box settings or, indeed if he was using it at all. I suspect that, how much EQ you use (eg bass boost) will affect amp power req'd.
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Post by michaelw on Oct 15, 2018 17:15:39 GMT 12
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Post by Owen Y on Oct 15, 2018 19:44:00 GMT 12
Yes I've seen Paul McGowan's story. They actually sound very impressive - 'big', not 'small' like most box speakers. For a lot of music, this is extraordinary for most punters. For 'audiophile' types however, they don't do some of the things what you'd want.
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Post by Owen Y on Aug 9, 2019 11:05:10 GMT 12
Another visit to Forrest Hill. This time the highlight perhaps was this disc: System: - SONY 338ESD cdp
- PIONEER A400 amp
- AR-58 lspkrs
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Post by michaelw on Aug 9, 2019 12:13:37 GMT 12
the bose have gone ? 
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Post by Owen Y on Aug 9, 2019 14:14:38 GMT 12
The Bose 901s are in the listening room (converted single Garage) - only enough seating for a few. This system is in the Lounge. (Not sure where the Mission Cyrus amp went though.) As yet, I haven't heard the Carrard 301 spinning 
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 6, 2019 12:45:19 GMT 12
A pre-Xmas get-together at Forrest Hill. Some classic oldies, some brand new. Check out this snippet of a 2019 album, 'New York to Paris', by Nicki Parrott, who is unusually a jazz vocalist AND bass player, from Australia: The system: CDP - Sony 338ESD Amp - Pioneer A400 Speakers - Acoustic Research AR58
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 6, 2019 13:09:04 GMT 12
Here she is performimg as a regular in Les Paul's band in NYC, for Les's 90th birthday (2005?) 
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 12, 2020 11:46:56 GMT 12
The last get-together before Xmas & for such a disrupted year, a special one. Special also were the music selections.... ARTEMIS - is described by the Blue Note label as a debut album by a - " ... jazz supergroup comprised of pianist and musical director Renee Rosnes, clarinetist Anat Cohen, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, drummer Allison Miller, and featured vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant.. A snippet featuring Cecile McLorin-Salvant (3-time Grammy winner Best Jazz Vocal Album of the Year & a Downbeat Critic's Poll 'Jazz Album of the Year' winner)...
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 12, 2020 12:03:22 GMT 12
We got to hear a sample of the just-released, latest (& probably his last) album by KEITH JARRETT - Budapest Concert (2016): You can hear a bit more at the ECM webpage. 
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 12, 2020 12:31:42 GMT 12
This was a treat... A copy of an 'extremely rare'. Japan-released bootleg live recording of BILL EVANS - Treffpunkt Jazz Festival 1979, Stuttgart. " This recording rivals Evans's Paris Concert and, in places, exceeds it. Evans's pacing is terrific, his tone is moving and his fingering is magical. It's easily one of his finest live recordings. " (All About Jazz, 24 Jun '20) Indeed, the sound quality is clear, close & richly harmonic especially in the upper registers. The playing & the piano (the whole trio) sound 'enveloping', great. Only a snippet below but can hear the whole album on Youtube - here
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Pundit
Post by peter0c on Dec 12, 2020 14:39:28 GMT 12
Returning to Bose 901s - the Mk II pictured were infinite baffle whereas from Mk IV (I think) they were ported (as in the other illustration) and more efficient but still needed an equaliser. From memory the Mk II equaliser provided a bass boost (from about 100hz) of just over 30dB and a treble boost of about 12dB from around 7khz. They therefore required a very beefy amp - I had a 200 watt ss Dynaco before I saw sense and went the valve way with bridged Quad IIs and more efficient speakers - and although providing a vast soundstage they didn't image and the treble wasn't flash. Without the matching equaliser all you are likely to get is midrange. When they came out the drivers were proudly advertised as "computer matched". They damn well had to be because if you put 9 drivers in one box (they were cheapish and wired three in series and then the three sets paralleled) and if they didn't have identical parameters especially impedance, one would do much of the work. I have seen one in which one driver had expired and had been replaced and when repaired, 8 were visually idling whilst the replacement pumped merrily. I wonder how carefully current manufacturers match their bass drivers when there are two or more in the cabinet? Tighter manufacturing tolerances might provide some relief.
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Post by Citroen on Dec 12, 2020 16:01:43 GMT 12
We got to hear a sample of the just-released, latest (& probably his last) album by KEITH JARRETT - Budapest Concert (2016): You can hear a bit more at the ECM webpage. (2-LP - available January 2021) 
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Post by Citroen on Dec 12, 2020 16:26:49 GMT 12
The last get-together before Xmas & for such a disrupted year, a special one. Special also were the music selections.... ARTEMIS - is described by the Blue Note label as a debut album by a - " ... jazz supergroup comprised of pianist and musical director Renee Rosnes, clarinetist Anat Cohen, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, drummer Allison Miller, and featured vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant.. A snippet featuring Cecile McLorin-Salvant (3-time Grammy winner Best Jazz Vocal Album of the Year & a Downbeat Critic's Poll 'Jazz Album of the Year' winner)... I ordered this a few days ago
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 12, 2020 19:29:59 GMT 12
Something about Thelonius Monk always appeals - his sound seems timeless, his playing style full of turns & surprises, always sounds fresh to me. This album THELONIUS MONK - Palo Alto (1968) - the tape of a live concert at a Palo Alto High School was 'rediscovered' after 50 years forgotten 'in a box'. The recording, by 'a janitor' at the school, has such clarity & directness, freshness, it puts some big label recording engineering to shame. See video below - the great story about how a 15 year old entrepreneurial student got Monk's quartet to come play at his High School - in a 'white' neighbourhood). 
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Post by Citroen on Dec 12, 2020 20:02:48 GMT 12
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Post by Citroen on Dec 13, 2020 18:22:54 GMT 12
Listening to the Tidal download of this album, and I can confirm that the wow and flutter isn't due to the warped vinyl but more probably the tape source. The sax also sounds muted and recessed, but the piano in general seems brighter and more forward than on the vinyl.
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 13, 2020 21:17:28 GMT 12
My recollection (from the small sample that I heard) was the the sound was 'stand-out' clear & fresh, but maybe the bassist & drummer and/or tenor were a bit unnaturally forward in the mix.
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