So I got a quick sample of the Bose L1 today

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Jeff Romard

Jeff Romard

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Sep 4, 2006
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And it was much better this time.

I took the demo at a Bose store in Nashville this afternoon. The first time I heard the L1/B1 combo was a couple of years ago and it didn't impress me at all.

At the time I realized there was something done wrong because there is no pro speaker system that could sound that bad. The next time I heard the combo it was better but still didn't impress me.

Today a nice young lady walked through the system with the Eagles - Hell Freezes over disc. In one way I am glad they used that disc because I know what it sounds like on my system but at the same time I wish it was something less well recorded to see how the system would reprodouce that.

The sound quality was good...Not great but good. I found the Bass a little limited but carried very well. The high end and mid didn't carry as well as I expected and or been told it does I did find a noticable difference when standing to the sides than in the front.

I do like the Aesthetics and the weight of the system.

All in all I prefer my system and as for sound quality I see very little difference between the L1 and the old 802 systems but if weight becomes an issue down the road I would consider this system. For the most part clients will hear with thier eyes
 
Jeff Romard said:
And it was much better this time.

I took the demo at a Bose store in Nashville this afternoon. The first time I heard the L1/B1 combo was a couple of years ago and it didn't impress me at all.
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That is funny... the Bose stores in Pennsylvania don't even carry it. :sqerr:
 
Papa Deuce said:
That is funny... the Bose stores in Pennsylvania don't even carry it. :sqerr:
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I was suprised too Chuck I have been in to a couple on this trip and this was the first time I've seen it
 
Was it just a single B1 setup?

There is the first reason the bass was limited.... second I'd bet it doesn't have the preset 58 loaded on it either.

You really need to hear the full system.... even if it's just 1 L1 and 2 B1's the difference is remarkable....

I too got a demo at GC and while I already was sold on the Bose and new that the demo wouldn't be very good... it did impress my wife enough to allow me to purchase... and boy I've got to tell ya the GC demo with just 1 L1 and 1 B1 without preset 58 is a mear shadow of what they truely can do with 2 B1s and preset 58.

I wish some of ya's doubting Thomas's were a little closer to some of us bose user's I'm sure one of us would give ya a show....
 
jokerswild said:
....

I wish some of ya's doubting Thomas's were a little closer to some of us bose user's I'm sure one of us would give ya a show....
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I don't dance naked unless I get paid.... just want to get that out there...
 
Papa Deuce said:
That is funny... the Bose stores in Pennsylvania don't even carry it. :sqerr:
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The new Bose store here in Albany has both the Model 1, and the the Model 2. As I recall, they are both displayed with a single B1. When I got mine over 3 years ago, I had only the one B1, and until I added the second, I wasn't really aware of how much was missing... :sqwink:
 
Agreed.

Cap has said this time and again. Unless the L1/B1 system is set up correctly the full potential isn't gonna shine. I'd guess that a listen to Cap's system would remove most doubts that ill-informed retail sales people have instilled.

Like any system, the L1/B1 has to be set up correctly to do what it's designed to do. :)
 
jokerswild said:
Was it just a single B1 setup?

There is the first reason the bass was limited.... second I'd bet it doesn't have the preset 58 loaded on it either.

You really need to hear the full system.... even if it's just 1 L1 and 2 B1's the difference is remarkable....

I too got a demo at GC and while I already was sold on the Bose and new that the demo wouldn't be very good... it did impress my wife enough to allow me to purchase... and boy I've got to tell ya the GC demo with just 1 L1 and 1 B1 without preset 58 is a mear shadow of what they truely can do with 2 B1s and preset 58.

I wish some of ya's doubting Thomas's were a little closer to some of us bose user's I'm sure one of us would give ya a show....
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Well Rob, that puts us back to where some of us have actually had the stick to play with and found them lacking! (although I don't believe there was a "58" preset when I had mine) But pre-set or no pre-set two 6 1/2" speakers are only going to produce a given amount of bass and it may be enough for a home stereo system or close monitoring of a drum system but it will never be enough for a professional sound system, and I don't care how many you have to add 80 hertz is 80 hertz.

$5,000 will buy a lot of sound without being a whole lot more to carry than the a pair of L1s and 4 B1s. This gives you roughly 250 pounds of gear if I remember correctly what mine weighed for just a single L1 I think it was roughly 70 pounds alone.

I wish some of you guys would come to my area and teach the guys who have the Bose systems here how to use them so they can stop coming to the ballrooms I am in asking me to turn my system down so their guest can hear their music instead of mine! I did one last year with the folding wall between the two rooms I was set up on the wall back to back with the other DJ (using a Bose stick with 40 maybe 50 people in a small section room) I was in a much larger section with 250+ people and even when my system was shut down we couldn't hear any sound from the other room, he must have made 5 trips to me asking me to shut down the volume and 25 complaints to the management. By the end of the night we had most of his guest on our dance floor. ( I was using a little overkill though!) :sqwink:
 
Interesting thread.

Had our last wedding of the year on Saturday night in a very nice hall. They have 2 rooms - one seats around 100, the other (our room du jour) seats 2-250. We came to learn that both receptions for that night would be starting/ending at the same time (6-11p).

Anyway...We're in the middle of the dancing portion (using 2 L1s, 4 B1s, preset 58) & Heather steps out for a minute to the lobby. Well, she returns & says that even with the banquet doors to the lobby closed, she can't even hear the other DJs system - using a pair of JBL EONs, I believe. I had to check this out myself, so off to the lobby I go. I had to laugh when the coat check lady even made a positive comment. :)

Oh, and to top it off, there maybe 3-4' away from the one L1 is a table of 5-6 people... some dancers, some not... But those that were there, stayed there even after the volume was raised for dancing.

So, all things being equal, this system will be my system of choice until the brides say otherwise.

Cheers,

Joe

PS: Met with a bride & groom yesterday. She actually wanted me to add an addendum to my contract that we would be using the Bose system....:sqbiggrin:
 
Man there must be some lame DJ sound sytems in your area!:sqlaugh:

But then you are talking about JBL EON's!

I like for the hotel's guest to come down from their rooms and ask for the music to be turned down!
 
Whatever Thunder....

I know I'm not gonna change your opinion.

But when clients say "Where are the speakers?" - but know they're there because they hear music.

As for having guests from hotel rooms coming down to complain- well, I like to be on that list where I'm referred BACK to a venue.

C'est La Vie....
 
Joe,

I have never done a venue where i wasn't welcomed back, in fact some of them I ended up landing weekly gigs in their bars or lounges!

I'm sorry if my taste in systems goes beyond the toy stage. I like big powerful sound when doing gigs, there are line arrays that fit this description but they aren't made by Bose! If they work for you I am certainly happy for you, but I tried it once compared it with a conventional speaker, that was enough for me to see the results and realize that the L1 is perfect for what it was designed for "a stage monitor" but not anywhere close to being an FOH system.
 
For those that are looking for that blow your mullet back kind of bass don't look at the Bose for that... but if your looking for delicious bass the kind that is actually enjoyable to listen and dance to.... then Bose is for you....

I tell you I receive nothing but compliments on my sound and my system.... and trust me if I can drown out a Live Band in the next room so that over 200 enjoy just my music I'd say they are doing their job quite well as a Professional Sound System.... trust me this is no house stereo.

And really until you truly experience the Bose system as it is supposed to be run you really have no room to down talk it at all. I mean do we down talk the folks running JBL, EV, Peavey, Yamaha, B52, Mackie, etc... no.
 
Just like any sound system if it isn't setup properly from the source to the speakers they wont sound right and may seem lacking.... that's true of any sound system and Bose is no different. GC setups are proof of this lack of setup knowledge.

In every post where the Bose is labeled as less than a professional system or lacking or whatever it is they want to down play it's sound qualities with... they usually admit that it was setup by GC or some other non-bose user or it isn't updated or there's only 1 L1/ 1 B1.... in every case they are not getting the full sound out of it due to lack of proper setup....

I will be the first to tell you that it is not going to give you chest thumping bass, they are simply not designed to do that.

What they are designed to do is give you thick and rich bass that is deep and resonant but not overpowering.... this does not mean the bass is lacking or weak far from it.

Furthermore, Bose pro-sound equipment from the 802s to their line array systems to the L1/B1 systems are far from being "toys". How dare you refer to them that way. These are not simple plastic speakers...
 
Best Systems

As first preference, 3 way/4 way Electronic systems works for me every time. That configuration is hard to beat. Want more bass? Add a Sub Harmonic Synthesizer between the Low outputs of the Crossover and the Bass Amps and you'll have Bass thats deep and solid. Round that out with a reverb on the whole system and the ambiance created is to die for. Thats an ideal system for me.
 
ahoustondj said:
As first preference, 3 way/4 way Electronic systems works for me every time. That configuration is hard to beat. Want more bass? Add a Sub Harmonic Synthesizer between the Low outputs of the Crossover and the Bass Amps and you'll have Bass thats deep and solid. Round that out with a reverb on the whole system and the ambiance created is to die for. Thats an ideal system for me.
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That's fantastic and further proof that a well balanced and setup system can sound f'n awesome... and guess what with the Bose system there is no need for the Sub Harmonic Synthesizer.... but if you what chest pounding bass then simply add a 18" Sub to it.... what will happen is you'll still get the down to 40hz with the bass bins and the Sub will give the thump that many here complain is missing.... I'll tell you though none of my clients have ever said they thought something was missing.

Bottom line here is no matter what system you prefer.... Bose or conventional... if it's setup correctly only delicious sound will be produced... unless you put on Achy Breaky Heart... and then you're on your own with that one.... LOL :sqwink:
 
I will say again, I have had and compared the output of the L1 to a single 10" and then a pair of 10" mains with 250 watts to each conventional speaker, and there was no comparision the conventional speakers went well beyond the capabilities of the Bose in both frequency and DB levels. I admit that this was done without the use of the B1 module, but that has also been tested and the results of those test show that after 80 hertz at a -3 DB drop it is rapid in loss (to the point of being below hearing levels for most of us) from a -10 db drop at 70 hertz. I generally cross from my mains to the sub frequencies at 90 hertz.

I ran test on both the L1 and the 10" conventional speaker from the same source for DB drop in an open air situation (outdoors) on a 190 degree arc setup in 1 foot grids and took readings at every three foot crossing. The drop of was undiscernable between the two systems until I was off axis by 60 degrees at which point the L1 indeed did have greater coverage area (with two 10" conventional speakers splayed at 18 degrees to each other the coverage area was greater than that of the L1.

No the L1 I had didn't have preset 58 installed! Perhaps I don't know anything about sound and how it works, perhaps the knowledge I have of sound and my experience with it is out dated! But I have always assumed that sound is sound regardless of it's point of origin! The L1 I tested was first generation and maybe that was the problem but Bose claims 110 max DB, at 1 meter from center mass and the unit did indeed reach that output it didn't like it but it did reach it. On the other hand a single 10" speaker with 250 watts of power easily reach 123 DB at 1 meter from center mass without even breathing hard. It's not that hard to do the math on this and see the results on paper. Now I know the typical Bose response "it not what's on paper that counts it's what you hear", but I beg to differ with that theory! If you have different results please post them.


Sorry about the toy comment but if you ask most of our wives it is all toys!

As for Bose owners talking down to or about other systems, yes in fact that has been done many times on this board as well as others. It was done in this thread as well.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do!

If I am wrong about the weight of the systems please correct me!
 
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