[Fish-Head]

Hello all....I'm trying to find some replacement woofers for my Bose 201's....I believe they're a 6 1/2 inch fairly full range speaker. I'd like to get Bose replacements, can anyone tell me where to look, and where the best price might be?

Fish Head

 

[Joe Bloggs]

We'd like you *not* to get Bose replacements

Where to look: someplace where they sell something other than Bose

Best price: better price than Bose for better quality

 

[MacDEF]

The best place to find replacements for Bose speakers is...


















any place that doesn't sell Bose speakers.

Sorry, couldn't resist

 

[Fish-Head]

OK, OK, I suppose I was asking for that....but here's my dilemma: I don't actually have 201's, instead I have an enclosure which I made myself based on specs that don't exist at a time when all I had was a circular saw, hammer and nails....well, maybe that's stretching it a bit, but no joke! I came out of it with some real nifty sounding speakers and the 6 1/2 inchers were part of the componentry. Now, they're not sounding as good any more (after 20+ years) and I'd really like to replace the woofers. The tweets still sound great - they're a Pioneer soft-dome with a very sweet, soft sound and I will keep them. For all you really astute audiophiles, here's a little more ammo: I use a Radio Shack crossover and it also sounds very fine.

So, what WOULD you recommend as an alternate choice for these enclosures in terms of a woofer ( It has to play up to about 3500Hz) and where can I get them?


(somewhat tentatively)
Fish Head

 

[chych]

Check www.partsexpress.com

The Vifa woofers are good.

Also try www.madisound.com

Fostex woofers are great full rangers.

Also, try www.gr-research.com

Their woofers are supposed to be quite good as well (I'd be particularily interested on these woofers, not sure if they are the right size though).

Oh and the Bose 201 is a poor design for a speaker to boot... oh well!

 

[Neruda]

the problem is that for the speaker to work properly you need to get a driver with the same parameters; Vas, Fs and Qts especially. This may cause problems...

 

[gerG]

Yeah, what those guys said.

I applaud your interest in building your own speakers. Fair warning, however, that this is another dangerous obsession.

Talk to the guys at Madisound. They have lots of drivers and lots of good advice. You will easily find something that betters the old (or new) Bose drivers. I just threw a couple of the 901 drivers away, but I think that they were 5". Sorry.

There is lots of software out there for tuning cabinet/driver combinations. Some of it is free, so look around.

If you start down this slippery slope, order a copy of Vance Dickenson's Loudspeaker Design Cookbook. It covers the subject pretty thoroughly and is fun to read.


gerG

 

[Neruda]

Quote:

Originally posted by Greg Freeman Fair warning, however, that this is another dangerous obsession.

he's not kidding guys, wach out! I've only built one pair of speakers so far, but I spend more time thinking about other speakers I want to build than headphones these days. It never ends!

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Quote:

Originally posted by Neruda he's not kidding guys, wach out! I've only built one pair of speakers so far, but I spend more time thinking about other speakers I want to build than headphones these days. It never ends!

Chalk this up as the #1 bad obsession for Head-Fi members

 

[Gluegun]

Yo, Fish-head! The bose designs suck.

My $36 headphones beat the Bose 901's that I have downstairs. When Bose designs speakers, they generally make the drivers point every which way, which is the opposite of what you should do if you know anything about waves cancelling each other out. Plus, Bose tends to make speakers that don't have the woofer/midrange/tweeter setup, which allows for the widest frequency response....

I'd say, if you wanna go DIY, at LEAST copy off of people who *know how to do it right*, you know?

 

[Neruda]

Quote:

Originally posted by Gluegun Plus, Bose tends to make speakers that don't have the woofer/midrange/tweeter setup, which allows for the widest frequency response....

uh oh, misconception alert!

 

[Gluegun]

Which allows for the widest frequency response in a standard set of speakers for a living room without doing something extravagent.....?

 

[Neruda]

nah, you're right for the most part I guess; the easiest way to get wide frequency response is to use more drivers. still, you can get really wide response with just two drivers easily enough as well. And the more drivers you add the more crossover points you have, and that can affect the sound quality in bad ways. this is why I prefer that a speaker has as few drivers as possible.

 

[skippy]

i'm reading way to many generalisations on a complicated topic here...