Having run my sound thru Mackie, Roland, Peavey, Toa and others, I must say my one Compact would certainly not fill some of the spaces I played in my younger days. But for my present needs and maybe even for past needs (5-6 yrs) the Compact is surprisingly powerful with a full sound.

Take a look at the unit, a 14" main speaker stick with 6 small speakers and a smallish sub unit with an 8" speaker thru a 150 watt amplifier. How many of us would run out for a standard unit like that? I trust not many. But somehow Bose has put together a package that has excellent sound and projection quality, yet weighs only 29 lbs. Is it expensive? Yes, definitely but I haven't read one complaint from any of the owners here - can't say that for all the other smaller PA owners.

Lastly, I told myself that I'd never pay that kind of money for a Bose L1 system, especially just for me and my smaller venues. The Compact lets me play a little stronger without ever hearing a complaint about loudness from any of the seniors I play for. The bass is very sufficient without being overbearing for these groups of 30-100 and I am confident I could handle a larger space and crowd with ease. And the fact that I can carry it easier than a monitor is a bonus.

Yeah, I've come to believe that Bose is/are that good.