Posted: 5/20/2009 4:16:20 PM EDT
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Alright,
Now, before all the Bose haters come out, let me preface that my employer will be buying this, and Bose is an "approved vendor". Now, my wife and I left our performance careers 5 years ago and started teaching full time (who knew benefits could be so nice?). In three years' time, we built a chorus program from nothing to one that scored third in our county (a HUGE county) with a piddly little group of 19 kids. Anyway, we're looking to get a good mic/sound system for our performances. We're looking for high quality sound that is also portable. Now, we've been using the Bose Acoustic Wave II for classes, rehearsals, and concerts very successfully. For our purpose (accoustic "classical" stuff) the sound quality is perfect (not too bass heavy). We use/abuse the shit out of it all day every day, and they just plain hold up and still sound great. We were looking at the Bose L1 II system with Tone Match (so we can use the 5 different mic inputs). We could get the whole thing with two mics for approx $3200. I'm also taking a look at the 402 extended system, but it costs a bit more. Anyway, do any of you have any experiences with the L1 systems? We typically perform in our "cafetorium" or gym. |
Hardcore Bose hater chiming in.  I really think you can always get a better system for less money. I would suggest that you go shopping at a genuine pro audio shop, not your local Guitar Center or other consumer-oriented music retailer, but one where sound men and bands who have a plan actually go do their shopping. I guarantee you'll find better products that are more versatile and will most likely cost you less. There are no GOOD DEALS with Bose. It's simply not in the cards. Bose seriously pushes the sales model known as the "captive audience". They want to put you into an environment where there are no competing brands to compare to. Their outlets are the simple proof of it, and even their store displays in other retailer's stores make an attempt to do the same thing. I'd rather hear nothing than hear something through Bose garbage. I really would. I despise poor quality. I despise deceptive marketing practices. I despise exclusionary sales tactics. I despise companies that say "specifications don't matter" and doesn't publish any. I despise companies that try to peddle junk and make you think it's awesome. I could continue this line of thought..... CJ |
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Quoted:
Hardcore Bose hater chiming in.
I really think you can always get a better system for less money. I'm not paying for it. I would suggest that you go shopping at a genuine pro audio shop, not your local Guitar Center or other consumer-oriented music retailer, but one where sound men and bands who have a plan actually go do their shopping. They're not "approved vendors"...no joy. I guarantee you'll find better products that are more versatile and will most likely cost you less. See first red comment... There are no GOOD DEALS with Bose. It's simply not in the cards. see first comment... Bose seriously pushes the sales model known as the "captive audience". They want to put you into an environment where there are no competing brands to compare to. Their outlets are the simple proof of it, and even their store displays in other retailer's stores make an attempt to do the same thing. I'd rather hear nothing than hear something through Bose garbage. I really would. I despise poor quality. I despise deceptive marketing practices. I despise exclusionary sales tactics. I despise companies that say "specifications don't matter" and doesn't publish any. I despise companies that try to peddle junk and make you think it's awesome. I could continue this line of thought..... What in your experience makes Bose "Junk"? I've spent a fair amount of time in studios, listening to high end stereo systems etc. For MY tastes and ears, Bose is more than good enough and is a relatively simple solution. Yeah, I've heard all the "Bose is just mid-range" arguments, BUT I don't need the extra low thumping bass or jet whistle trebles. This is NOT for a "band", but strictly accoustic voices and instruments , where the bass and trebles that we've come to know and love in rock, doesn't exist. Like I said, we've been using our systems HARD every day for five years now, with no averse effects. I don't let all that other shit (marketing, exclusionary sales tactics, etc) influence what I buy. My ears do. CJ |
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I would run for the exit on Bose..
Why? You do not find Bose equipment on professional riders, nor offered by any pro audio providers. There is a reason for that. It is product designed to sell. It is not Pro Audio, despite what Bose claims. (see above) You might be well served to audition other products before committing to Bose. Not trying to bust your chops. Buy once, Cry Once. |
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Not exactly a Bose hater here, but I do run a side business doing sound for events and have used some Bose products.
For your needs, the Bose L1 system is a compact and flexible system that is fairly well regarded for acoustic and coffee shop gig set. It is expensive and has some very distinct limitations, but can be fairly effective if used correctly in small venues. Properly processed, Bose 802s can be decent for vocal range performance, but you need to get mics, mixer, processor, and power amps. If it were me, a passive mixer, a few good mics, and a few powered cabinets (QSC HPR122i) and a powered sub (QSCHPR151i) would be ideal for most small to medium indoor gigs and would be cheaper and more flexible than any Bose system you could run. The reason we sound guys do not care for Bose include: 1. Refusal to publish any measured specifications for frequency response. 2. So-so build quality. 3. Rather exaggerated claims of suitability (sorry, an L1 will not fill a 500-seat hall with band-level volume 4. Expensive. Good luck and feel free to IM me for advice from someone in the field. |
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Quoted:
What in your experience makes Bose "Junk"? I've spent a fair amount of time in studios, listening to high end stereo systems etc. For MY tastes and ears, Bose is more than good enough and is a relatively simple solution. Yeah, I've heard all the "Bose is just mid-range" arguments, BUT I don't need the extra low thumping bass or jet whistle trebles. This is NOT for a "band", but strictly accoustic voices and instruments , where the bass and trebles that we've come to know and love in rock, doesn't exist. Like I said, we've been using our systems HARD every day for five years now, with no averse effects. I don't let all that other shit (marketing, exclusionary sales tactics, etc) influence what I buy. My ears do. 
I've never heard a Bose is just mid range argument. Bose doesn't have much mid range. They prefer to use lows and highs to disguise their lack of quality midrange, which is where most human hearing is. I suggest you look into another portable sound system. Bose is insanely overpriced and won't perform as well as cheaper portable systems. |
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The "no highs, no lows, must be bose" mantra dates back to the early days of the 901, an appalling piece of garbage engineering if ever there was one, but nonetheless it sold well to the functionally deaf, generally stupid, easily swayed by advertising crowd. Each 901 consists of eight very mediocre 4" midrange speakers facing away from you and one facing toward you, and they're used with an outboard EQ box that boosts bass and treble considerably. Which is hard on smaller amps. It's possible to EQ any speaker to work full range but everybody else in the industry knows that when you do that, it's gonna suck. And it does. I evaluated a 901 driver for frequency response and it's a very mediocre speaker when used only as a midrange, which is what it's best suited for. It's only fairly good and fairly accurate over a smaller range of frequencies than most cheap midrange speakers. I've always said that the reason eight out of the nine drivers in a 901 are pointed away from you is because if that many crappy speakers were directed at you at once, the suckage would overwhelm you. The bose method: Take a piece of crap with limited performance and EQ the hell out of it, making it do things it wasn't intended to do because of its own physical design limitations, and of course, when you do that, the performance in the "new" ranges is worse than anything you can imagine. If the driver's a mediocre midrange driver, it's an AWFUL bass driver and an AWFUL tweeter. All that EQ really does is boost the bass and treble suck factor by way too much. To this day bose still uses some of the cheapest 2" paper cone speakers imaginable as their tweeter in many models. EVERY other company you ever heard of uses any tweeter design you can think of EXCEPT for a 2" paper cone speaker, which is pretty much the worst kind of tweeter imaginable. On any RESPECTABLE speaker, something different is used. A dome tweeter, or an inverted dome, maybe even a horn (Klipsch uses those a lot), hundreds of design variants, and almost every one of them is much smaller than 2" which is far too big for a tweeter. This is because paper cone 2" speakers suck as tweeters. The rest of the industry got away from those by the mid 70s. Bose still sells that crap to the dumb. Technical specs? Bose doesn't publish them. Says it doesn't matter. Well, I could GENERATE their tech specs by putting their equipment through tests on my own test bench. I could then show those specs to you along with specs from any cheap drug store stereo (Emerson, GPX, any other low end brand) and also the specs from any "good" brand (Pioneer, JVC, Sony, whatever) and you'd look at them all and see that you're getting better electronics from a drug store brand. And the drug store brand's specs might not be all far off the specs of the "good" brands. I can not think of a single reason to buy Bose. It's NOT competitive in performance OR price. Its only positive attributes are ease of use and setup, and slick packaging that doesn't draw attention to itself. CJ |