their new systems, some have called and said they are having problems and going to return their Bose and purchase a conventional sound system.

When I asked about the nature of their problem, I quickly discovered that many of them never cracked the instruction (user) manual. They just plugged in the amp, plugged their keyboards into the inputs, turned everything on and expected perfection. BIG MISTAKE!

In some instances I drove to where they were playing and checked out the systems. Others were just too far away to drive to, therefore, I was able to solve the problem(s) over the telephone. In all cases, with the exception of one, they were elated at the overall sound they're now hearing and would never consider returning the systems.

Most of the problems were associated with Gain Staging, which is essentially a balance between the keyboard and the amp's input. If you are using the Standard Bose L1, you'll find detailed instructions for gain staging in both the user manual, and on the Bose website.

For those that recently purchased the L1 Compact, the process of gain staging is quite similar, but not as complex. Basically, the master volume of the keyboard should be set somewhere between 12:00 and 1:00 O'clock position--no higher. The same is true with the Bose L1 Compact's master volume. It should be set somewhere between 11 and 12 O'clock, but can be cranked up a bit higher when necessary.

This balance between the output and input devices is in compliance with most manufacturers recommendations and specifications. The vast majority of the sound systems I've worked with over the past 50 years operate at peak efficiency when the master volume and input mixer volumes are set at or near the 50 percent level. This usually results in the cleanest signal from both both the output device (keyboard, guitar, electric piano, etc..), and the amplifier output. If either device is cranked up too high, this will usually result in distortion of low and mid frequency sounds.

Almost forgot. One of the best aspects of using a balanced system, either conventional or Bose' vertical arrays, is that once the system is balanced, and if later during the event you decide you need either more, or less, volume, the only volume control you need to adjust is the amp's main volume. Granted, if you crank the amp's master volume too high you can produce distortion, but you would really have to go well beyond the normal limits of the amp to have this sort of problem. Additionally, the keyboard, guitar, etc.. output volume, and the amp's input volumes should NOT be adjusted once the system is balanced, or with the Bose systems, gain staged.

Hopefully, this will be helpful to those that are thinking about purchasing a new sound system.

Good Luck,

Gary