Okay, now it makes more sense (in terms of Bose's intended use). So at it's best, it should be like listening to an acoustic group but with volume control. Still, this sounds very different from running a group of musicians through one system. Didn't you just lose your 'stage placement'? As I see it, in your first example (1 system/musician), that would be the ideal, and true stereo. Mixing the input signals and distributing them along a left/right axis to recreate the 'perception' of what was done in example #1 would be 'next best' or 'perceived stereo'. I'm making this stuff up as I go along, but I've long been curious about this. We gloss over a lot of stuff because we assume that 'musicians' are supposed to 'know this stuff', but in fact, what we 'know' is years and years of accumulated opinions, street wisdom, flat-out misinformation, and assorted BS.

Let me re-ask the question. Let's suppose we just wanted a great STEREO PA, you know, basically a left and right speaker system (powered/unpowered). WHY WOULD A BOSE OR BOSE COMPACT ANCHORING THE LEFT AND RIGHT SPEAKER POSITIONS PRODUCE A BETTER STEREO SOUND THAN CONVENTIONAL SPEAKERS OF SIMILAR POWER AND PERFORMANCE SPECS BUT AT A FRACTION OF THE COST?



Not sure I understand what that means? Anyway, thanks. Just shedding light on Bose's intended use was helpful (and makes sense). I'm now quite anxious to hear one demo'ed though I'd likely never buy one. I find the new generation of 'conventional' PA speakers just too seductive at half the cost. Plus, there's the familiarity factor.

Can't wait to get up and about and spending money again. A few toys I've still got my sights set on; a new super-duper controller to replace my (perfect condition) A70. Upgrade my VP550 for a VP770. Maybe a few goodies for my 'studio'. Of course, the DM-10 is already on order. Ahhh, so much time, so little money .

chas