OT - Bose PAS Question for Bose PAS Vets

Help! A friend of mine runs a murder mystery business. Her troupe (5-6 actors) performs in restaurants and clubs for audiences which vary in size from 50 to a max of maybe 175 people. She uses wireless mics for the performers.

She wants to avoid putting a speaker 5' from some diners and blasting them out of the room while at the same time she needs to make sure the folks not so close can hear all the dialog. I suggested the Bose PAS might be a solution.

I steered her to the Bose web site where she saw the photos w/each musician using their own PAS, vice all going through a single unit. That bummed her out, but I think the photos are suggesting that in a large venue for maybe 1,000 people it would be prudent to have each player w/their own system.

So my question to the Bose PAS vets is, for crowds of up to 200 people, will a Bose PAS cut the mustard? I suspect the answer is yes but have no experience with the system

Thanks to all who can shed light on this subject!

Randy


[This message has been edited by saxxman (edited 01-27-2008).]

I played for a Mardi Gras dance last Saturday, with about 300 rabid Catholics raising the roof.
The Bose covered it fine, with lots of volume to spare. It will handle anything she is liable to do, and will be perfect for her needs.
DonM

Don - thanks so much! I kinda believed the Bose would do the job. Which keyboard are you using w/it, and I assume you really like the way your board sounds through it?

Do you have the model w/the mixer input?

Randy

I agree with Don,

I played plenty of gigs with the PAS system, with my SD1+ my SD5, and my PA800.

Me, a guitar player and singer.

no problem

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www.Audioworksct.com
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Korg, Ketron, RCF, Samson, Mackie, Freehand MPP, DB Technologies, Behringer, Audio-Technica

The largest venue I've ever performed was a Concert In The Park in Aberdeen, Maryland, an area the size of a couple football fields. I never turned the L1 beyond 1/3 volule and everyone, including those sitting 600 feet away, could hear me just fine. The largest indoor job was for about 500 people and I never turned the volume beyond the 25% level. Anything more and I would have blown the windows out.

I use a Yamaha PSR-3000, do lots of vocals, use a few midi files, and on breaks some MP3s.

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

I currently have PSR S-900. I have also used Tyros 2, Ketron SD1, Korg PA800 and Ketron Midjay through it with great success.
Stand by while a bunch of people tell you it won't sound good. But they will be people who don't own one.
DonM

I had pretty much the same experiences as Frank and Gary ... a couple of large outdoor events with a horn man, singer, 3 keyboards. I was concerned that I wouldn't fill the large areas and I used 2 b1 bins. As I was concerned, I turned the volume up to over half and it was very shortly requested that I turn the volume down. As for a large indoor venue experience, I annually work a LULU temple hall that seats 1,000 and the PAS with 1 b1 adequately fills the hall. I would advice that if you intend to feed a half dozen mics via a mixer, be sure that it is a very good one, many of the smaller mixers and brands of lesser quality will produce a lot of unwanted noise, especially with wireless condenser mics.
Ciao,
Jerry

One night a week I do a karaoke show using my T1 tuner with my PAS Classic with one B1. I have three mics,my laptop, a karaoke machine, and my PA800 connected. Everything sounds great, and I have to keep my volume down also.
Bernie

Indoors, outdoors, the L1 has done a sterling job for every size crowd I have played, 300 being the largest.

For most jobs I run a PSR 3000, 1 or 2 mics, MP3 player and, sometimes a laptop, into a small Alesis mixer. No problems with anything other than the audio out of the laptop, which can be corrected with an adapter changing the plug from 3 prong to 2 prong.

I highly recommend the L1 to everyone except those who compete with me in my market.

Eddie

Well said Eddie

Just remember, theater sound reinforcement is quite different to an OMB situation. Multiple wireless mics, well in front of the PA (most dinner theater is 'in the round'), spoken voice not singing...

This is not to say the PAS won't do the job, just that there are different concerns in a theater situation...

Diki has a point, and I had the same concerns about 7 months ago when I was seriously considering the purchase of a Countryman E6 mic. However, my fears were quickly aleviated when I went to my daughter's church for my grandson's Christening. The church was huge, had lots of hard surfaces, high ceiling, etc..,the worst accoustics anyone could imagine.

Hanging on wall on both sides of the alter were a pair of Bose towers stacked three high instead of two-high, which is how the L1 is configured. Both preachers, the choir director, a lady minister, and a half-dozen singers were all using wireless Countryman E6 mics. At times they walked within two feet of the towers, and not once during the hour we spent there did the system experience any feedback at all. I've had similar experiences using the Samson Q7 handheld and Crown CM311A headset mics. I imagine that if someone were to use an inexpensive, omni-directional mic with the volume cranked up high and then stand within a foot of the tower it would likely produce some feedback. And, of course, the mic's EQs will also have a bearing on this as well.

The best aspect, though, is that if the system doesn't work out, they can always send it back to Bose within the 45-day prescribed trial period for a full refund.

Good Luck,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

All - thanks so much for your thoughts on the Bose PAS! I sent her the link and she's encouraged by all the expertise on this forum - and of course, hearing first-hand accounts based on performance certainly lends more credence than just reading the Bose ads.

Thanks again and I'll keep you posted!

Randy

My brother is basically Head of Deptarment in Media for a Major University in Brisbane Australia (Brisbane being a Major City) and has installed one in their lecture theater.

I say this because they do nothing BUT lectures/spoken word events, and so as far as I'm concerned, the L1 should cover any Dialog beautifully.

See if she can afford the Model 2 which has better coverage (wider dispersal of sound) than the Model 1 - either way, I doubt she'll be disappointed.

I use my L1 for a few school functions in a 400 seat church, and it's soooo good, we chose to use it even for the performances when the church's built in system is available. Mind you, the audio in this church cost over $250,000 dollars. It's a good system. For our needs, the Bose does the job almost the same. (VERY serious)
Small area of difference is in the feedback area. The church's system is far more prone to squeal than my system is !

I had my first "issue" today, if you can even call it that. I did a birthday party in a finished basement that has a 7ft ceiling. The tower was too tall to fit, so I gently rocked it backwards and tilted it to face upwards. it rested nicely on the wall, I propped the bottom up, and the sound was just as good as when it is in the upright position. I'm so glad I didn't have to haul that 500lb Traynor coffin down the steps like Donny would have had too !

Dave,

Im relieved that at least I dont have to carry 4 pieces of Bose PAS sound gear anymore & 4 tight covers to put on & off
The K4 is a blessing & sounds great put it on the Rk & Roller and off I go.
Beats carrying two 450's (51lbs each & two stands, no more lifting high up.. I also had that happen to me on a stage with a low drop ceiling ....had to shove the Bose pole up thru the ceiling panel about 8 inches
everything has its flaws...its just about what your happy with and can tolerate so your comfort level zone is adequate..FOR YOU!
but you know that

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 02-02-2008).]