Bose?

[Mud Flaps]

Anyone ever tried those new, revolutionary Bose amps? What do they sound like? Is what people say about them true?

 

[JMX]

What do people say?

All I can say is that all Bose stuf I've personally heard "did not live up to the marketing claims". Plastic crap.

 

[Mud Flaps]

People say that the new speaker technology (this isn't like Hartke, "we have new technology, buy our crap!" This is like major scientists saying, "The Bose Labs have really made an amazing advancement) completely cut out distortion by eliminating certain sound waves. So, if you are 3 feet away or 125 feet away, it will sound exactly the same.

 

[guyplaysbass]

I played on one for quite a bit (extended demo at GC). The sound quality was very nice at low-moderate volumes. One cool thing (as is typical with line arrays) is that it didn't matter what my proximity was to the unit, it sounded the same. As soon as I started to turn it up though there was a drastic deterioration in the sound quality. This problem was uneffected by using different presets and basses. It was not the unit either as we tried another one. IMO this thing would never keep up with even a moderately loud drummer. In acoustic/low level percussion (hand) situations I think it'd be adequate if every member of the group had one. I don't see it "taking over" the market for amps and PAs though.

 

[Psycho Bass Guy]

People say that the new speaker technology (this isn't like Hartke, "we have new technology, buy our crap!" This is like major scientists saying, "The Bose Labs have really made an amazing advancement) completely cut out distortion by eliminating certain sound waves. So, if you are 3 feet away or 125 feet away, it will sound exactly the same.

No. It's a major advertising campaign to sell expensive plastic crap.

 

[DaveDeVille]

No. It's a major advertising campaign to sell expensive plastic crap.

VERY expensive plastic crap !!

 

[Ericman197]

Actually, it's not that expensive when you compare it to the alternative. Much like all other Bose systems, their cylindrical PA has excellent sound quality and truly lives up to the goals that were set forth. However, as others have mentioned, such a system was never intended for a loud concert. It's primary targets are the conference rooms, coffeehouse gigs, and other situations where you need quality but not high output. You'd have to have quite a few of those things to play PA for a loud rock mix.

 

[robb.]

the alternative being a small PA "head" like a carvin or a peavey and a couple smaller 2-way PA speakers on stands, this most certainly is more expensive, given a few members in a band at $2k each.

not that it isn't good, but i guarantee most companies can offer the same, if not better, performance for a much lower price and with almost no hubris. even if any particular bose product is good (which is rare), i don't buy them because i'm paying them a lot to tell me how good it is. i don't need that. maybe my parents do, but i don't.

robb.

 

[DaveB]

I've read the "scientific" reviews and I think the theory is fabulous. But when I see several articles in credible musician mags that are reviewing this stuff live from the floor of a medium to large clubs, THEN I'll become more of a believer.
Having said that I remember saying "That Line 6 digital stuff will never catch on with real guitarists". Seems I was wrong there.

 

[thejohnkim]

by all means audition them, i never really liked any bose products, and after hearing some positive remarks about their new system i went to hear one for myself out of the hope that they made something half decent.

it wasnt terrible, but i wasnt impressed. for reference i regularly play with mackie active sm450's or 500's with their active 15" sub which i think are durable, sound good, and are reliable. i wont say the same for mackie mixers though

 

[minor third]

the minut i read the ad for the system in this month's issue of bass player i thought that bose is intending this product for small soft performances. if there is a drummer in a club with poor acoustics(lots of reverberation) he will definatley overpower the bise system.

 

[robb.]

in defense of bose (in the interests of being balanced), let's not forget that no one makes anything like this. regardless of their execution of the idea, they deserve credit for being fairly clever in their combination of old ideas. most audio products are refinements of ideas that are 50 to 80 years old.

to combine small speakers in a line array configuration using a pole to ensure even dispersion and a close approximation of a point source, they've clearly done their research on what should work the best. i think that's admirable.

robb.

 

[Ericman197]

in defense of bose (in the interests of being balanced), let's not forget that no one makes anything like this. regardless of their execution of the idea, they deserve credit for being fairly clever in their combination of old ideas. most audio products are refinements of ideas that are 50 to 80 years old.

to combine small speakers in a line array configuration using a pole to ensure even dispersion and a close approximation of a point source, they've clearly done their research on what should work the best. i think that's admirable.

robb.

That's the main point. There's really no other similar product to compete with this... Bose is definetely an innovator. However, there aren't all that many practical uses for such a system unless you were to buy one or more for each performer, and that'd be too costly. It'd be great at a more upscale coffeehouse gig though.

 

[Funkster]

I work at Bose and I usually stay out of these threads because it always turns into a flame war against Bose and myself.
All I can say guy's is, it's a very innovative design and they are really onto something, It's only a matter of time before all the bugs are worked out and are working everyday to improve the problems that need to be worked out..

Someone said that the system targets small combo bands, Jazz ensemble's and GB bands! You are absolutely correct. It is not designed for a all out Rock&Roll assault. I have had the opportunity to try out the system playing in a ZZTop trio type thing and a GB thing and it worked flawlessly for us and your talking about all seasoned players who like there certain tone. The Gospel bands are buying them up like hotcakes..

Give it a chance and if you get a chance to see the Bose band that demo's the system around the country, do it they are a fabulous Blues R&B type band that gives the full effect of a 6 or 7 piece band.
That's all from the peanut gallery..

 

[Psycho Bass Guy]

I work at Bose and I usually stay out of these threads because it always turns into a flame war against Bose and myself.

That's not a fair thing to say. I thought it was made plain in last thread about Bose that it's not anything personal against you, so no flame war. Bose has EARNED a strong negative reputation with their marketing tactics and "customer support."

I HAVE demoed the system and it left me thoroughly unimpressed. For a bass player, a good clean-toned moderately loud combo can do the same thing far better, cheaper and be much more tonally flexible. I've used high-end line arrays, and the comparisions made don't really apply. The best thing I have heard from Bose is their first point source PA speaker that looks like a backwards telephone receiver. It's a little lacking in the extreme high end, but the dispersion is excellent, especially once you fly them. The sub for the system sucks, but I've commented on that before.

I think it's a great thing that Bose is "working the bugs out" based on customer input, but they have a LONG way to go if they want the system to be considered professional.

 

[geshel]

So, from their website you can order them directly. Let's say I want the "double bass package". So, for $2300 I get a system that:

- covers what frequency range? who knows
- can play at what sustained volume level? who knows

The only technical spec they do provide (in the "User's Guide" pdf file) is impedance. Who cares? You can't use the speakers with any other amplifier anyway.

 

[VicDamone]

in defense of bose (in the interests of being balanced), let's not forget that no one makes anything like this. regardless of their execution of the idea, they deserve credit for being fairly clever in their combination of old ideas. most audio products are refinements of ideas that are 50 to 80 years old.

robb.

In defense of a small company called Pipdreams Audio the bose sounds just like their wave radio in comparison to a high end Hi-Fi. While I don't much like the sound of the Pipdreams they do present a much larger sound stage than the bose. Granted these are two different intensions of design still...

What the bose system does do is it breaks down into very managable pieces. Playing my AMT/Realist upright through it at trio volumes sounded OK but once the Tenorphone kicked in and the drummer ramped it up the system simply started to break up, this was using two bass moduals.

Personaly I feel bose produces an inferior product at a premium price and succesfully markets those products to people who have know idea of what, even marginal quality audio can sound like. Ever wonder why their displays are off by themselves?

 

[MikeBass]

I work at Bose and I usually stay out of these threads because it always turns into a flame war against Bose and myself.
All I can say guy's is, it's a very innovative design and they are really onto something, It's only a matter of time before all the bugs are worked out and are working everyday to improve the problems that need to be worked out..

Someone said that the system targets small combo bands, Jazz ensemble's and GB bands! You are absolutely correct. It is not designed for a all out Rock&Roll assault. I have had the opportunity to try out the system playing in a ZZTop trio type thing and a GB thing and it worked flawlessly for us and your talking about all seasoned players who like there certain tone. The Gospel bands are buying them up like hotcakes..

Give it a chance and if you get a chance to see the Bose band that demo's the system around the country, do it they are a fabulous Blues R&B type band that gives the full effect of a 6 or 7 piece band.
That's all from the peanut gallery..

My friends band is one of the bands that endorses your/Bose's system (well, not YOU exactly). The Brothers Groove.
Anyway, unless the whole band uses it, it's essentially a overpriced, can't cut it pole of tiny speakers. But, if the whole band buys into it, JEE-ZUS!! it sounds great!!
That was my impression of it. And I played through it a few time at GC and theirs.
They play pretty damn loud too, and it's clear and clean as hell. But again, the WHOLE band needs to use it.

 

[adouglas]

I tried one at GC last Saturday. Naturally it's hard to tell what's really going on with the store PA blasting and the Steve Vai wannabe over in the other corner turning everything up to 11, but from what I could tell this thing would be really great as a replacement for a small combo PA. An acoustic guitar plugged into it sounded amazing.

My band is three people and a drum machine...three vocals, amplified acoustic guitar, flute and electric bass. Yeah, we fit the profile...we play acoustic rock/pop.

We lug around a PA that's adequate for our needs, but it's big enough to be inconvenient (drum machines into a minimixer, power amp and set of cabinets; vocals and guitar amp output into a rack with mixer, reverb, eq and compression, then into a second power amp and set of cabinets, then my rig...pre/power, 212).

So we're hauling four rack cases weighing God knows how much all told, four PA cabinets, speaker poles, my bass cab, an acoustic guitar amp plus lots and lots of cables and other junk.

Three of these things could replace most of that equipment...assuming I didn't use it for the bass. One for the drums with multiple bass modules, and everything else except the bass going through two of the towers.

We'd be able to carry everything we need in the trunk of a small car instead of two station wagons.

Of course, the system would wind up costing about five grand...but wouldn't it be COOL to be able to pack up at the end of the night in less than ten minutes?

BTW, I poked around the Bose discussion board and found several answers to giving the thing more bottom end for electric bass use. Simplest and cheapest is to add a pre/power amp stack and extension cabinet (yes, you can do that, and it doesn't have to be Bose). Or you can buy another power unit and add more bass modules. They show a system in the user manual with eight bass modules, one tower and two power units.

Bose says that the three amps in each power unit put out 250 watts apiece. So if you did that extended system you'd have 1500 watts and eight drivers plus the tower.

Those who have demoed it...did you have the multiple bass units that they recommend, or just one attached? Did you stand off to the side or right in front of it?

 

[robb.]

Personaly I feel bose produces an inferior product at a premium price and succesfully markets those products to people who have know idea of what, even marginal quality audio can sound like. Ever wonder why their displays are off by themselves?

that has been my experience. at the store where i used to sell hi-fi, they picked up the bose line because a ton of people came in asking for it. they dropped it because it didn't sell and people returned it a lot and complained about it a lot. it was a hassle. bose didn't fare too well when demo'd against denon for half the price.

i sold several denon desk systems to people who came in asking about bose and were impressed by the sound of the denon system. i felt like i was doing them a personal favor whenever i closed a sale.

i've heard (and i'd believe it, though i've not investigated the claim) that bose's advertising budget is four times its next three competitors combined. as i've said before, they take a good idea, execute it marginally, and then replace facts with hubris -- lots of it -- and sell to people who buy without listening. rush limbaugh -- who has a cochlear implant -- used to advertise heavily for how great bose sounds.

with all of that said, though, i still think that bose deserves credit for coming up with a fairly unique idea. it's clever. i think there are many audio companies that could execute the idea in a much more affordable way that also has much better performance. but none of them came up with the clever idea in the first place.

robb.