Hi Guys, I'm happy to report that despite your thoughts and prayers, I'm still here . No, seriously, I want to thank all of you for your kind words of support during my recent hip replacement surgery. To be honest, I am experiencing slightly more discomfort than I had anticipated, and I'm still trying to get the images of those ugly 'nurses from hell' out of my mind (this may require years of therapy).

I do have a legitimate question, however, although it's probably going to sound totally stupid to most of you, especially those of you familiar with the Bose system. It's this whole thing about using two of these systems (orig. or compact) to create a STEREO effect. Aside from the terrible price premium, how does this even work? At it's simplest, stereo would include a left and right signal that would place different parts of a musical composition at different places along a 190/degree plane to simulate what you would hear from a live group standing at different spots on the bandstand. Bass is omnidirectional, making placement pretty much immaterial, and the addition of a center channel MIGHT make virtual placement of different instruments or vocals somewhat more accurate. So, here is my question. My understanding of the Bose system is that everyone, no matter what your location in the room, hears pretty much the same thing. So what gets fed to the 'left' system and what gets fed to the 'right'? Since both 'systems' are going to distribute their prospective signal in such a way as to 'make everyone hear the same thing', wouldn't their combined, simultaneous output have some kind of 'missional' conflict. It might sound ok, even GOOD, but would it be .....STEREO? I think it be more like CX@5%4KJ&X7A + BASS.

I'm being a little facetious, sure, but given the cost of two of these systems (plus stereo mixer???), is this the best way to spend your STEREO dollars if your goal truly IS stereo?. This whole post is going to sound incredibly stupid if I'm missing something obvious here. But it does seem to me that if a highly rated company like BOSE were truly interested in putting out a premium STEREO system, they would engineer it themselves and not leave acoustically/engineering-challenged users to create some gerry-rigged, Frankenstein with their product label on it.

Let me be clear that this is NOT a bash of Bose products or Bose users. I have no doubt that when used as intended, it is a marvelous system. I just don't understand how someone (ok, I'll use Zuki as an example) could go from 2 Podium 802's (<300.00) being 'sweet' and 'almost there', and 'the stereo effect bringing so much more to the table than a (single) compact Bose', to 2 Bose Compacts (for stereo effect) + Tone Match??/stereo mixer + Thumper or other 'bass boost' appendage + additional complexity of setup (especially for 1hr, multi-gig days), all for marginally improved stereo perfomance. I know I'm going to take a killing for this (especially since I've never heard a 'Bosi' in a A-B comparison with a conventional STEREO PA) but it sure seems like some kind of mass hypnosis to me (I can speak with authority on this subjuct, having been victimized by it many times during my purchasing career ).

I really AM interested in the thinking behind this though, and an explanation of how these systems would be configured for STEREO (detailed configurations, please, including the use of any subs, mixers, etc.

thanks,

chas

Chas glad to see your recovering nicely ...but I will let your buddy Diki lay down a few paragraphs on this subject...all I personally know is IT SOUNDS GREAT!!

chas ... great to have you back ... hope your physical pain ends a lot sooner than your 'mental' pain ...
About your question ... I use an INexpensive alesis mixer with L/R outs ... from my kb, I can pan voices to the left, right, or center... using two powered speakers,one on each side of me, I can separate the L from the R, so when I have a voice panned to the right I hear it from that speaker, etc ... bass and drums are panned to center so they come out both speakers ...
That being said, this sounds GREAT to my ears, but how much separation (if any) the audience is hearing depends on where they are located, I guess ...

I'm sure others will give you more on this ...

t.

Curious, Donny... do you HAVE a stereo Bose system? I thought you had just the one.

Those that DO have a stereo Bose system haven't remarked anything negative about the stereo imaging, and to be fair, one doesn't really expect much accurate imaging beyond maybe 20-30 feet out from the system (at the back of the room, most stereos sound about the same as a mono system). But this is where your dancers are, where those that are paying the MOST attention to what you sound like are. Giving them a spread out sound helps preserve the illusion of reality...

After all, as arranger players, illusion is ALL we are about. No real drummer, bassist, guitars, strings, what have you. But we work hard and spend LOTS of money to sound like they are real. Why compromise that by using a PA that sounds like they were all piled up in one spot?

Chas,

Glad to see you posting again, and I sincerely hope you quickly recover.

As for the stereo stuff--I guess I've posted this more times than I care to recall, but here goes--one more time.

"The only person that will benefit from stereo is the performer. The audience, especially with the Bose systems, may hear a somewhat fuller sound, but stereo--not a prayer unless they're within a few feet of the performer.

I've tried a pair of Bose systems just to see if there was something I was missing. There was NOT! Beyond 10 to 12 feet in front of the keyboard everything sounded mono to my aging ears. Maybe my hearing is shot to hell, but that's the way it sounded to me.

Cheers,

Gary

Nope just one BC for small gigs as stated.

Surprisingly, this is NOT what those that DO have a stereo Bose rig say, though, Gary...

Maybe the imaging isn't as detailed as a point source PA would make it (although, I've yet to hear anyone say they have compared the two side by side and got that impression), but if your poles are set up twenty feet apart or so, why it would suffer is beyond me.

And, bottom line, that twenty or thirty feet in front of you is where ALL the dancing takes place. Further out than that, who cares if the stereo doesn't matter?

Maybe Ian, zuki, leezone (you got two sticks?) or other Bose users that DO use stereo could chime in?

And yet, here you are telling chas how good a stereo system sounds. And I'm the one with the crystal ball?

I used two Bose L1 for several months, and, in my opinion, the stereo sweet spot is enhanced substantially...why else would I spend a lot of extra money...just for a small improvement?

I don't mind spending money, but I do hate to waste it.

I didn't use a mixer...just straight out from the keyboard's L and R...when someone sang, we used the keyboard's mic input.

Regarding the Compacts...

I used (actually demo'd) the Bose Compacts in a large hall, as well as in the store proper, and whilst it was being tested, two (or perhaps three...I can't remember) of the people present, ended up buying (or ordering) two Compacts, where they had initially been interested in getting just one.

So...it wasn't my imagination.

The bigger L1's are the way to go if you expect you will need a fair amount of oomph, but the Compacts are still a very capable system.

I haven't bought mine yet...waiting for some gig confirmations....right now I'm using my Yamaha MS60S powered monitors.

Wasn't trying to start a catfight, here. Actually, from the response, whether you agree with it or not, sounds to me like Gary is the only one who understood and tried to answer the question. In fact, if I just read the specs and listened to Bose's description of the system (regular and compact), Gary's response is what I would have expected. I still don't understand why one would pick that particular system design for a component stereo PA. I think Diki was diki-ering all around the issue by introducing phrases like 'detailed (stereo) imaging' and 'point source' PA. That sounds like it's creeping closer to clearing up some of my confusion about the efficacy of using TWO of these mono-by-design, full range, full coverage systems to create the ultimate flexible, gig-friendly, STEREO PA.

Also, could someone speculate as to why Bose does not offer a STEREO version of this unique design? Could it be that Bose doesn't think STEREO is necessary with this design concept? Remember that old dance, the HUSTLE?

I was just thinking, what if we confused our desire for a FULLER sound with a (perceived) desire for STEREO. Could we end up spending premium bucks pursuing the wrong thing? Just wondering.

chas

"A dirty mind is a terrible thing to waste"