Is it necessary to use the Bose active equalizer for my 901 series 5 speakers or will any equalizer do?

I've passed your question on to person (camino3x2) who posted a good article on eBay.

http://reviews.ebay.com/Bose-901-Speakers-A-primer_W0QQugidZ10000000001314034

If you're registered with eBay you could ask him any other questions.

I have series V's with brushed aluminum side panels. As you probably know, a 901 system also includes a series-matched Active Equalizer which must be used with it.

Ideally, an amplifier or receiver should have either a "Tape Monitor" selector switch and Tape Input & Tape Output jacks, OR have Preamp Output & Amp Input jacks to enable insertion of the Bose Active equalizer into the circuit before the amplifier stage. Power requirements - according to the 901 Series VI manual:

"Your 901 speakers are designed to work compatibly with receivers or amplifiers rated from
10 to 450 watts per channel."

If you have questions not answered by the manual, you can contact customer service at The Bose Corporation in Framingham, MASS toll free at:

1-800-999-2673
Hours of operation:
7 AM - 2 AM ET, 7 days a week

I hope this helped & good luck!

Get a separate amp for the 901's and the rest falls into place.

1,2, 5) Place the 901 Active EQ between the pre/main front OUT of the receiver and the TFM-55X. Attach the 901's. Keep track of the jumpers you remove from the receiver. Or replace the jumpers with RCA splitter cables so you still have pre/main connection but can share the output with the TFM.

3) Pinnacle subwoofer (self-powered?) to the subwoofer out of the receiver.

4) Bose (AMS???) 5. As surrounds on the receiver. Place the sub module toward the rear so it mates sonically and directionally with them.

What? No center speaker? I'd get something more robust with bass capabilities, like a pair Bose 301 series 1's because the tweeters face in one direction only.

Except for the amps and the cube stuff that is essentially what I have. 6.1 with full-range speakers everywhere.

Only a careful experiment with steadily increasing volume would reveal the answer. Or measure the resistance of your cobbled work to see if it sufficiently high to avoid amplifier stress.

Original Bose 901 drivers in many series' are available on eBay and other places. I would NOT mix drivers within an enclosure. They should all match in every respect. Bose typically uses some very low impedance that totals to 8-ohms as wired inside.

There are many 'golden ears' who have used 901's without the Active EQ at all or improperly configured and they have been happy with the sound. Sonic beauty is in the ear of the beholder.

I would NOT forgo the EQ.

There is no direct connection between the 901's and their Active Equalizer. It is designed to be inserted between the source and the DEDICATED amplifier driving the speakers. Typically, this would be in a Tape Monitor loop on a receiver.

Tape Rec/Out to EQ In; EQ Out to Tape Play/In on the receiver. If you have a tape deck(s), it(they) would go into the back of the Bose EQ as if it was the receiver and you would use the Tape and 1/2 buttons for selection.

Or,if you have access to any other point that doesn't use the Tape Monitor, like a Pre Out/Main In jumper set, place the Equalizer there. That way it's always in front of the speakers and doesn't take up the Tape Mon.

Flip in the Tape Monitor and leave it on or the speakers will not receive the essential ACTIVE Equalization they require for proper frequency response. DO NOT place non-901's onto any amp using the Active EQ.

Like any speakers, the 901's will attach to the speaker terminals in the conventional manner.

have you tried EBAY

Yes! When the Bose ~Steve901 first came out that was the amplifier of choice -like the McIntosh classic amps. The 901s have their own equalizer as that speaker system is a phased-array, 

yes, it goes where you said.

i, trying to hook up a powered subwoofer to my hafler dh 110 and dh 500 running a bose 901 series v active equalizer and series v 901s any info would be appreciated

- Bose 901 Series I and II speakers have 8 Ohm impedance each.
- A row of 3 speakers in series gives you 24 Ohm.
- 3 parallel rows gives you finally 8 Ohm.

Front with 8 speakers (view from the rear):
(1) (3) (5) (7)
(2) (4) (6) (8)

Rear speaker is number (9)

Row 1: -(1)+ -(3)+ -(7)+
Row 2: -(5)+ -(9)+ -(2)+
Row 3: -(8)+ -(6)+ -(4)+