Bose demoed at Bose outlet store.

Bose now on the way to me...

Cool!!! Good luck with it.

I went to Guitar Center to check out the Bose Compact....I must say..I was impressed with the sound..even the bass response..Point blank in front of the unit..it kicked..solid sound , clear..A big sound from a small "array" of speakers and I guess a small sub woofer (maybe 6 1/2")..

I was ready to buy..even though being ripped at list price..

I walked around the room..back 20-25 feet ..to the right..to the left...The honeymoon was over....The bass dropped rapidly off at 20 feet...and that "same sound anywhere in the room"...wasn't true at all...No miracles...sound disbursement is like other systems...I believe that the mids are more noticeable..giving it the impression the sound fills the room...In fact that is the same scenario with the Podium 802's..

What makes the Bose sound good is the proper tone mix EQ..actually pretty much "right on"..

When I left Guitar Center"..empty handed..I headed back to my place..Set up my 802's..and as always..they made me glad I had them..EQ is the trick with the 802's...EQ ing the bass...the 802's kick butt...The 802's also have more power..Both the 802's and the Bose Compact can be too much for nursing homes...so beware when the gray haired lady gets wide eyed..

Final thoughts from me...Yes the Compact is nice..and will be great for most small jobs..It won't make me sell off the 802's for it...and to think ..pay more than I would for 4 pair of 802's..NO WAY!!!!

If you are happy with paying list price, happy with hype...and don't own 802's...It can be ok for you..

DonM..when you get a chance test the Compact next to a pair of 802's..keep in mind ..the EQ is just as important on the 802's as it is on the Bose...See if your results are the same..bass drop off, and overall volume drops as it does with conventional systems (802's)...

I think the Bose compact has an 8" subwoofer..

I actually have tested both the 802s and the Compact in the save venue, although not at the same time. The Compact fills the room much better with very little drop-off in sound.
I must say the 802s did a good job also, but they are more directional. There are a couple of tables directly to my right and slightly behind me, and they sound is better there with the Bose.
I only had one Compact, but there is another on the way as we speak.
DonM

I did the best I could...remember I was in a high end Bose outlet store in a mall versus a music store where I could have ripped.......so I had to take it easy as their were other customers browsing with Bose reps also....first I was shown a Bose demonstration video played thru a 50" Plasma TV hooked to the L1 Compact....it was a guy playing & singing with an acoustic guitar OMG!!! the clarity of the sound was stunning....as I didn't expect anything less coming from Bose since I already have owned & performed with larger the L1 Model 1 many times...after the nice demo video...I asked if I could play thru it myself with my S900....again I was very satisfied with the results....sound was crystal clear, my EQ's worked well. The sub gave off enough Bass & the tower speaker array filled the room with clear highs & mids & vocals with no problems or distortion at normal playing levels, more then enough for my small gig needs of which was my initial reason for looking at the unit in the first place. Then I was done the Rep plugged in an Ipod and put in some
Bon Jovi "Living On A Prayer" & again it really sounded fantastic & kicked throughout the musical spectrum range all instruments came through the mix & vocals soared. This was enough for me....I went home and ordered a Bose compact L1. one thing I didn't know was that the two extension poles don't have speakers only connection plug....the Speaker array that goes on top has the speakers at different angles. I guess I was thinking of the bigger L1 model that has speakers all the way down the poles. But after the demo it all made sense. I'm sure it will serve me very well in the future. It looks & works great & sounds fantastic.
Well worth the $999.99 price tag.
Comes with covers also which is nice.

I'm also thinking of getting the Bose L1 Model 2 w/tone match Mixer also down the road as my bigger gig rig....

....more to report after I gig with the Compact in a few days.

Ciao

What is the actual power rating of each bose systems? L1, L1 m2, Compact?

Thanx BB....

just talked to Gary Diamond he is ordering a Bose compact in the morning also.

I have now used the Compacts on 10 gigs - including one today which was my largest room in which I play. I have tested both single and twin units and walked the rooms I play using styles, midi files, and WAV files and I have not experienced dropoff of any kind - at least to the point where it is noticable.

I even tested my Compacts right next to my Classic L1 and the sound dispersion is remarkably enough the same between the two as to be unnoticable.

One note here, I do not use the Guiter setting on my Compacts and I wonder if that makes the difference folks are hearing. There is a two-way switch from which you can select a Guitar EQ or Keyboard or other instrument EQ which is built into the units. The next time someone does and instore check - try both settings and see what happens.

By the way, today my room size was about 200 by 150 - very high ceilings and full of folks - still no issues as I walked the room before the gig. The comments I get with them is the sound is really nice and is not so loud that those up front are blown away for the people at the back to hear - typical Bose.

If anyone is interested email me and I will glad to send you the WAV and MIDI files I use for the tests. The are nothing special.

hammer

Thanks for the reviews guys.
Donny, I'm looking forward to your post gig insights. I’d be interested in hearing if you get the same impression of the bass response that Fran got. I play in a couple small restaurants – about 120 seating capacity each – and I find that the Bose L1 with one B1 is a little too much. Also, I didn’t care for the L1 sound without the B1. I’ve been using one Barbetta for these smaller gigs, but even the Barbetta is a bit much for such close quarters with tables 3-4 feet in front of me. I’ve read several times what Fran observed – that the bass response weakens at 15-20 feet.
DonM, what’s the approximate size of your regular gig space?
Has anyone used a mixer other than the T-1 with the Bose Compact?
Ciao,
Jerry