Use Of A 2 in 1 Splitter For Bose Compact ?

I have heard pros and cons of using a splitter as opposed to running the single monaural line to the Bose e.g. What is the consensus ?

Bernie if a splitter means Right and left channels from the keyboard going into a splitter to a single channel (one wire) into the Bose --- I did not find any difference. Gary said that the keyboard does that internally when going out to the R/L channel.

But two Bose speakers placed on either side of you – aaaaah, now that has to be something. I used two Eon 10” powered speakers one on each side of my Kn7000. It sounded good and looked great.

John C.

I've been using a splitter with the Bose Compact. LIke John wrote I don't find there's any difference in the sound but since I bought one a few years back I just leave it in the setup.

Now, let's add a mixer into the equation. If I run L and R from the KB into L and R into one stereo channel, and a mic into another. Any change? Will the one mixer out pick up L/R ? I am using a Yamaha MG06X with no pan or balance knobs.

Bernie mixers and an extra thing to carry but they give you so many options. In the mixer set up you have the option to EQ what comes through the left and right channels.

When you use the Pa4x for your mike the voice sounds good. But the voice comes through the instrument channel on the Bose. When the voice is plugged into the Bose voice channel directly the voice sounds far better; more quality. I tied to split them – all music out of one channel to Bose instrument channel and the voice into the voice channel. Another learning curve; I never finished the job.

Big question: I read in the manual which stated that you should not put anything into the voice channel but your voice. The Bose Rep said I could plug into either channel. If the voice channel with the bass and treble controls, is used for keyboard and voice will there be any damage to the Bose?

John C.
PS, when using two wires with a mixer you must pan each channel right and left or the same thing comes out of both outputs.

I have looked at the schematic diagrams for nearly every Yamaha arranger keyboard made, up to the Tyros 5 and PSR-S950. The output connections are identical. When you place a 1/4-inch plug into the L/R mono output jack it triggers a latch switch on that jack that automatically connects the right and left outputs together. The Yamaha rep that said you could plug into either and get the same results doesn't know what he is talking about. If you were to plug into just the R output jack, you would only get what comes from that channel.

Hope this helps,

Gary

I have been using the Bose L1 Compact since the first week it was for sale. I have always used the two into one connector. I tried single cables and there is a difference using the two cables.

Also, the idea of lugging around two speakers is a bit silly. I actually did own two Bose L1 Compacts and did use both of them on gigs for nearly a year and just got tired of the extra equipment which really added nothing to the gig situation.

Unless you are playing extremely large venues the single Bose L1 is good enough.

Deane

Hammer I respect your opinion. In what way would you say that the two wire set sounded different?

I lugged two speakers for most of my younger days. I did for two reasons. I got more coverage; was not using them in stereo. And I really liked the way they looked. I played for small groups and large – sometimes well over 500 people.

They gave the bandstand a professional look. If they did nothing else, they made me feel and play better.

John C.
I do agree, the Bose is all I need right now.

I ALWAYS use two speakers. Arrangers were designed to be played back in stereo. The effects work as designed when you use two and pan them. Even if the audience doesn't hear stereo, and they probably won't, you will never convince me that one speaker with the channels summed sounds as good, particularly Yamaha arrangers, and particularly the piano. I know Gary edited and got a good workaround piano sound, but that shouldn't be necessary.
Besides that, I always have a backup in place and ready to go in the rare instances when one fails. And I had Bose speakers fail on three occasions.
So far the Maui 5s have been great and I only had a problem when I tripped over the power cable and loosened the connection. I easily made it through the night with the other speaker and repaired the connection the next day.
Worst case was when I was using ONE original Bose L1 and sub and blew the fuse. Had no spare fuse. (I still have several Bose fuses if anyone needs one! ). I had to call my wife to bring another P.A. system from the garage, so was without a p.a. for half an hour. Longest break I ever took and it will never happen again.
Now if you are doing a nursing home and half the people can't hear well anyway, sure one will work just fine and nobody will know the difference. Except me of course.
Deane, I just KNOW that Genos sounds better in stereo. You'll have to drive over here and play it for me to convince me otherwise!! Dinner's on me!

Don, I agree with you... Stereo is a must... The effects are designed to be stereo.... and samples are now usually sampled in stereo..

If folks think mono is fine... they are being misguided..

Also movement of the sound from the drum kits...toms or location of cymbals in the stereo field..

Just the sound of a Rhodes sound... has to be stereo..

Horn sections and falls without stereo ..

yuck..


As for the audience not hearing the difference .... they do.. they may not know why the difference but will hear the difference..

Now I still think the design of Bose in stereo (2 units) has cancellation with overlapped sound.... and the sound suffers..

Stereo speakers still have the advantage.. If you need the best sound.. STEREO..

I think the Maui's reduced horizontal angles, as compared with the 210 degrees of the Bose is an advantage. I have tried to hear cancellation, as we have discussed it before, but it isn't there. The placement of the speakers is important too of course.
The best all-in-one stereo package, as far as size an weight, has to be the Nano series. You can use one and still separate the two high-end speakers, and they are panned left and right, or you can use two and run them either stereo or dual mono. I have a set of the 300s, and they sound really good. They aren't line array, but you don't always want or need that type of coverage. They are more fiddly to set up and take down, but not bad in that respect either. I generally use them in the dual mono mode, but since I run the left output to one and the right output to the other, they indeed reproduce true stereo that way. It's a really flexible and ingenious design.
Occasionally I have them set up in one of the dining rooms where I work, and my Maui's in the Club Room, so I can do an early party and still do the regular night without moving everything.

I totally agree with everything Don M & Fran said ..

Thanks guys

Before the thread turned to a stereo war, I gleaned what I needed.

John
Thanks for the mic tip

I shall refrain.

If a player can’t tell that stereo sounds better, something’s missing somewhere. Trading my two compacts at GC tomorrow. Just want something different-----such as XLR line inputs, more EQ, and a speaker line out for the instances where I need to go to a house system.

Good luck so whats next for a sound system....

Speaker out, and line out are very different - please be careful when you hook into another system. You can cause serious damage if its a mismatch.

Check out the EV Evolve 50!

Look at my signature. All three of my PA’s have L/R inputs. I’m sure two speakers work well. Thing is, to me, it didn’t sound like I gained much advantage with two speakers in many of the smaller rooms I played in.

On the other hand, my PA’s that accept L/R inputs, seem to sound better to me.

Evolve = 60lbs?

Rock N Roller Kart no problem

I've been waiting for EV to market their line array/sub combo for years since I was tipped off from engineering it was coming. But I'm also surprised at the weight. I have always championed EV for their low weight stuff. Can't get behind this. I do love my Maui 11's.

60 pounds is insane, especially with today's technology. The days of lugging around monster speakers on refrigerator dollies or a R&R Cart are long gone for the majority of the players I know. Though I did see some "have guitar will travel" guys in the Florida keys still using those old, distorted sounding, monster speakers. I guess they couldn't afford a Bose or Maui system.

Merry Christmas,

Gary

The EV Evolve is 60 pounds combined weight! 44.66 for a 12” sub!

1000 W... 12 inch subwoofer speaker package with Bluetooth control from an iPhone. So you can make adjustments without even touching the box . Now $1600 is a lot of money to spend and 60 pounds total is more weight then you need compared to other models... but I would listen to it because of some of the other features. I’m sure you could play a room of 30 with it and a room of 200 people with it. Covers a lot of situations.

Sub: 44.66 lb (20.3 kg)
Column: 10.34 lb (4.7 kg)
Pole: 2.75 lb (1.25 kg)
Sub cover: 0.9 lb (0.4 kg)
Bag for column and pole:1.87 (0.85 kg)

Bluetooth is still to short on range for me. I've tried several mixers and couldn't make adjustments from more than 20 feet away. Drop-out city.

Thank you for explaining it. I used not to trust this “mono” label on Yamaha’s keyboards because I never pictured that a keyboard could be smart enough to do this kind of switching (and I was too lazy to check), but right now it became essential and your finding proved to be useful.