The BOSE Thing (PAS)

[aron]

I forgot about it. I remember people asking about this unit and I finally got to try it on a gig.

First off, it was setup by the local guys that have 4 of them and yes, they setup all four. This was the full units, with subwoofers.

Extremely impressive looking but don't get me wrong, I think they are heavy. The unusual shape made it so that if you had to carry more than one, it might be difficult to stack etc....

I played keyboards through it, not guitar. The guitarist and the bass player also played through their own PAS.

We got on stage and the first thing that happened was loud feedback from the mics. Oh well. Despite Bose saying it shouldn't feedback easily; it did.

I plugged into my unit and the first thing I did was play a chromatic scale and I noticed that the frequency response of the unit was really weird (Yes, the EQ was set flat). About 2 octaves above the A above middle C it really dropped off. I mean a lot, there's a big dip in the frequency response.

I tried to compensate with EQ, but it didn't really fix the problem. Loudness-wise the unit was OK. Even though there are subs, it's just not as tight sounding as a real pro system w/subs. All night the frequency response problem drove me nuts.

In essence, I didn't like it. I asked the guitarist what he thought and he was so mad that I can't repeat what he said except he never wants to use one again.

The next band set up and right in the middle of the set, the bass player stops the whole band and requests his amp to be carried to the stage and set up so he can use it. He can't stand the PAS either.

The keyboard player in the 2nd band is way too soft for some reason, then he turns up and he's now way too loud. Hmmm so much for personal mixing.

Overall, I don't like it and not only that, the keyboard patches sounded much worse in mono; which the units are unless you purchase 2 of them.

My sax player friend bought one and I mentioned the frequency response and he agreed saying he couldn't figure what was wrong with it. He couldn't stand it so he sent it back.

[MartyMart]

Interesting read, I've never been a "Bose" fan, nor have I ever been impressed with, or inclined to use any of their systems !
The 802's seem to have been designed so that "Female singers" can carry them to their small "duo" gigs!, they have what are essentially "TV" speakers in them, they think that somehow using eight of them makes a difference and that the "Eq contour" box, which just puts a huge "smiley face" across the system, will make everything well in "Bose" land.
It's the biggest "Marketing Hype" sucess i've ever seen in my life !!
Well done Mr Bose :roll:
PS: Put up any small "Peavey Hisys PA" system against them and it will knock the socks off them, also costs about a quater of the price !!!

Marty.

[bwanasonic]

Thanks for the info Aron. I certainly had my doubts after seeing the ads for that system. I imagined it would would work about as well as their wave radio. :roll: Back in the mid '70s, I took a course on acoustics at the MIT Research Lab of Electronics where Bose was developing stuff. I remember walking by a room where a Bose guy in a lab coat had a hockey helmet with 4 speakers mounted on brackets, pointing front/back/left /right. This was in the heyday of Quadraphonic, so I imagine he was working on some kind of quadraphonic headphones. Anyhow, since then I've always associated Bose with interesting ideas that are executed somewhat half-assed.

Kerry M

[Gilles C]

Thanks for the info. I though I would have liked to have one, except that the price was too high  

Now I know I don't want one, at any price. Maybe an ear monitor would be better.

Gilles

[william]

We sell them at work, and I know about the feedback problem.  I was asked to demo one for a woman and her fussy mother.  I'd asked her to hold the mic, but it didn't seem to sink in, so I had to hold it while messing with the controls.  And it fed back, but the mic was just a few inches from the speakers.  The mother then replied, "I thought these were not supposed to feed back......" in an accusitory voice.  To which I had to explain the "science" of feedback.  They are ok, but not the dimond bose would have you believe they are.

On a side note, Guitar Center gets a lot of customers like that.  People come in wanting the world for a penny, and then get snotty when they can't.  It gets old.  Be nice to your GC salesperson.  Sure, they're not always on top of the gear, and so much of music is personal opinion.  But their people just like you, and 90% are just trying to make ends meet.

[aron]

Let's say they fix that frequency response problem - it would be a lot better I think.

In addition, add effects BUT - I believe a large part of why it has "less" feedback is the lack of fx.

For instance, take your resonably flat response PA. Now turn off all effects and see how loud you can make the mic when you don't have reverb etc...

For the record, I like most BOSE things. I did like the concept of the 802 and for keyboards/vocals, I thought it worked. You are right, it's basically tiny 3" speakers.

[petemoore]

' Pound for pound, inch for inch, watt for watt....is...'
 
 With the same amp, same settings, comparing this cabinet, 1/2 the size to a 'normal' cabinet [we picked X cabinet for these tests], with the same speaker we found the following results:
 Amplitude of bass waves traveling through the air [our test mics were set 20 feet away] was increased.
 Accuracy of the Wave was GREATly Increased by a little bit.
 Accidentally [on purpose] we were also able to find a way to increase the dispersion area.
 A cabinet of 1/2 the size of a conventional bass cabinet, produces wider dispersion, greater amplitude, and more accurate response.
 We also found a diet pill, it:
 Makes sleep obsolete
 Makes food distasteful and unnecessary
 Makes you live forever.
  Back in the day before smaller, less sizey, more conveniently compact cabinets being competetively marketted, there were speaker cabinet test done by numerous individuals and companies. SOme of these tests were done by people who were merely testing speakers and cabinet types and sizes to determine the:
 Best sound per watt
 Greatest Accuracy of the wave
 Highest percieved volume attainable
 >or best mix of the above three criterion.
 They often picked a high quality driver, opted for a 'larger' cabenit, and tried various designs, and found there was a 'ceiling' for cabinet size/improved performance.

[Zero the hero]

On a side note, Guitar Center gets a lot of customers like that.  People come in wanting the world for a penny, and then get snotty when they can't.  It gets old.  Be nice to your GC salesperson.  Sure, they're not always on top of the gear, and so much of music is personal opinion.  But their people just like you, and 90% are just trying to make ends meet.

OT
What a pity: I work in a big computer store and everyday I meet people like these (expecially on Sunday, when people have nothing better to do than bugger salespersons on my shop)...
Few of us know what kind of work clerk is!
:cry: