Bose PAS (PA System)

[m98ter]

My band just bought one of these over a traditional PA....the sound quality is amazing, and I don't know why anyone acoustic would play on anything else. I know these come up from time to time on the boards, so I just thought I'd let it be known that I own one if anyone has any questions about them still. They actually aren't hard to lug around at all honestly..the speaker tower splits in half and they go into their bags, but the base is pretty heavy (bout 40 lbs I think)...nothing too crazy though...but the sound...ohh the sound...I can't wait to play with it on Wednesday!

[sfmartins]

Link to the product?

[m98ter]

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=602075

[GSR]

I've always wanted the bass package.

[sfmartins]

It looks awesome... It's incredible how that can be a PA system...

I've always heard that Bose makes nice products.

[Kahn]

I would want two of those to get a good stereo sound. They are really nice though

[6_strings_for_life]

For me it would be hard to spend that kind of money on a pa, when you could get so much more. I think Bose sells a name, like harley davidson. Ive heard these live before and I think they sound fucking amazing, but 2000 amazing? not so sure...

[m98ter]

I read A LOT of stuff online before I purchased this, and managed to find some long thread by some acoustics engineer talking about it's Stereo and Wattage issues. The general gist of it was that any "stereo" effects that Stereo PA systems have is gone after you get any further than about 15 feet from the stage...apparently they do suck for keyboards though. As far as buying "more for the money," the the guy explained it really well and it made sense to me. It's only 750 watts of power, but that only measures power and not the relative "loudness" of a system. Basically, from a distance on the stage of say 80 feet, the bose might register 15db (I'm just throwing out a number), but it takes a normal pa something like 8000 watts of power to have the same level of sound because of the way the bose speakers work in comparison to normal PA's. Basically, the sound doesn't drop of much in level from a distance (and this I can attest to...it really is about the same level whether you're right in front of the stage or fifty feet away...its really kinda weird), so the 750 watt pa is like a 5000 watt at a certain distance and so on and so on. Of course the sound finally drops off at a certain level, but I haven't ever played a venue that would be big enough for that to happen. The quality of sound is just crazy though...it really sounds like my band is playing really loud acoustic somehow rather than being amplified. When I first plugged in my Martin, at low levels I had trouble figuring out what was the pa and what was the guitar...they were almost identical. I'm sure half of this sounds like hype, but you guys really should try them out if you play live much.

[buffjam9011]

if i could afford it i'd probably get it

[sunglassesatnight]

I read A LOT of stuff online before I purchased this, and managed to find some long thread by some acoustics engineer talking about it's Stereo and Wattage issues. The general gist of it was that any "stereo" effects that Stereo PA systems have is gone after you get any further than about 15 feet from the stage...apparently they do suck for keyboards though. As far as buying "more for the money," the the guy explained it really well and it made sense to me. It's only 750 watts of power, but that only measures power and not the relative "loudness" of a system. Basically, from a distance on the stage of say 80 feet, the bose might register 15db (I'm just throwing out a number), but it takes a normal pa something like 8000 watts of power to have the same level of sound because of the way the bose speakers work in comparison to normal PA's. Basically, the sound doesn't drop of much in level from a distance (and this I can attest to...it really is about the same level whether you're right in front of the stage or fifty feet away...its really kinda weird), so the 750 watt pa is like a 5000 watt at a certain distance and so on and so on. Of course the sound finally drops off at a certain level, but I haven't ever played a venue that would be big enough for that to happen. The quality of sound is just crazy though...it really sounds like my band is playing really loud acoustic somehow rather than being amplified. When I first plugged in my Martin, at low levels I had trouble figuring out what was the pa and what was the guitar...they were almost identical. I'm sure half of this sounds like hype, but you guys really should try them out if you play live much.

I stopped reading right there because that is absolutely an enormous crock of shit.

[m98ter]

yeah, its stuff i know nothing about...i just know it sounds amazing...

[6_strings_for_life]

Also I like the fact that a normal PA has so many more options. What if you are having a big party and you want to plug in a mp3 player and blast some rage aginst the machine? Or even if you are taking a break from a set and the place youre at doesnt have a jukebox or anything. just something for thought.

[m98ter]

Who says you can't? Our singer has it set up in her room with her computer hooked up to it blasting CCR right now. Just plugged her laptop speaker out into a 1/4 adapter and plugged it in. I don't know why you think it's any different that a normal pa except of course if you wanted to split the speakers up into different rooms...in which case you could add more speakers to the bose.

[freshead16]

I had the opportunity to play through that system a couple of times. I really like the fact that as the artist, you can hear what other people are hearing. For me, having a single monitor shooting at me doenst do justice to what my mains are producing. For once I can hear what the audience is hearing, making me at times more confident ahah. I like to think what i am able to hear, is the quality of sound others are hearing which isnt much worth comparing....Maybe i need therapy???

[crowdedstr]

Also I like the fact that a normal PA has so many more options. What if you are having a big party and you want to plug in a mp3 player and blast some rage aginst the machine? Or even if you are taking a break from a set and the place youre at doesnt have a jukebox or anything. just something for thought.

if you wanted to plug an mp3 player into the bose, you can. it's got 1/4" and XLR inputs just like any other PA/amp/etc. not sure where your confusion is coming from.

but anyway, i'll second the endorsement for the bose (i run the original bose with one B1)... being able to play with the PA literally behind you is even better than a monitor IMHO. plus it's small and easy to transport. setup takes 10 minutes. you dont really even need to have a mixer or DI if you don't want/need to... personally i take my acoustic straight into the bose (well, with exception to a tuner pedal).

i've played small bars, big bars, restaurants, outdoor festivals, to packed crowds, to empty crowds, and i've always felt that the bose is versatile in handling all those situations, and very natural sounding to boot. their tonematch system is fantastic, which allows you to use presets on the base to most closely match the sound of your PA to the guitar and microphone combo you happen to be using.

between the tonematch and the unique layout of the PA, the $2k is quite justified in the R&D alone. and you will be hard pressed to find a company with better customer service than bose.