See the speakers Bose uses in their Critical Listening Room

I don't like Bose but I have heard more  than one system based around 901's that sounded good . Not easy to do, but can be done .

they are room dependent.. you need walls for the 901's to sound half way decent. Reflective sound adds a certain ambiance but almost sounds like the performance is taking place in a different room than the one your in.

From what I have heard from associates in Boston, there are a lot of audiophiles who are engineers working at Bose. There job is not to make audiophile products, but products that sound "good" and easy to use. Just like they are engineers who love racing working on the next plain Jane Honda Civic. You do your job.

A number of us audiophiles are using their QC35s for traveling,  better than PSB, or Sennheiser in noise cancelling and they sound descent.

By the way, what Bose, and Harmon are able to do with OEM systems are incredible, especially if you knew how little they are paid per car vs what you would pay aftermarket.

The 901 is no longer being sold.............(thank goodness).