Comparison thread Bose S1 vs EAE D6-8
 

I am trying to pick between these two for 20-30 person intimate gig stuff playing fingerstyle instrumentals (no singing). Will be using the battery power and K&K equipped guitars through a ToneDexter. Don't want to bring a pole, would set on a chair at my side or on table etc...

I love the idea of eliminating beaming, but want good sound quality too.

Thanks Gents!

For that size gig absolutely nothing I've experienced sounds better than EAE equipment. Many people have compared the balance and clarity to high-end studio monitors and within their volume parameters that's not an exaggeration. Even compared to my AER Compact 60 it was a revelation, but the Compact 60 will definitely handle a larger room. For a house concert of the size you're describing The EAE should be just fine.

have you had a chance to compare the sound quality to the S-1? dispersion seems to be more effective, but i haven't tried either (just based on the array in the s1)

Nope, never heard the S-1. I did compare my Compact 60 to the L1 Compact and just on the basis of tonal accuracy I much preferred the Compact 60. The EAE stuff is even better than the Compact 60. Of course your mileage may vary. Can't speak to the dispersion characteristics of the S-1, but EAE uses high frequency drivers with excellent dispersion which should be more than adequate for the setting you're describing. If I sound like a fanboy, I am. Apart from absolute volume, EAE and Sunburst Acoustics equipment, for me, is just in another league from what's been available up until now for compact, portable acoustic guitar reproduction.

Comparison thread Bose S1 vs EAE D6-8
 

I just got the EAE D6-8 the other week, and the sound is simply spectacular. Like others have said, this isn’t a high volume system.

My main thing is finger-style acoustic plus two vocals, so the standard to channel amp configuration wasn’t enough for me. For my style, I use no fingernails, so the sound coming from the guitar is very soft. This means that it is also prone to feedback even if the levels aren’t that high. The D6-8 has a full featured stereo mixer built in which goes well beyond what you would expect. You have full EQs on each channel with sweepable mods, high pass, a notch filter and phase reverse. You have compressors, gates, tweakable reverb and chorus set up as aux sends. You have an insert delay that you can assign to one channel. You can plug in an extension speaker, mix two monitors, and send a mix to a house PA! The speaker sounds like a really good reference monitor. In a small intimate setting, this is the best sound you can get! For something like a school auditorium or a theater, you can feed their house PA and get a wonderful sound as well.

The only issue is the overall maximum volume level when you use it by itself.

Because I wanted to be able to go a little louder and get a bit more area coverage, I just bought a Bose S1 to use as an extension speaker.

By itself, the S1 is surprisingly good. like the D6, it is 40 Watts. If you use the basic formula of 1 watt per maximum audience size (a pretty decent rule), either system should hand about 40 people. Between the two of them I figure I could handle about 80.

Comparing the two: the S1 sounds really good but the D6-8 sounds exquisite. I really like the notch filter, high pass filter, and three band EQ with a sweepable mid frequency. On the S1 you just have treble and bass, but you also have the tonematch preset which might be a good match for your guitar. It doesn’t match well with mine. I have an Epiphone Masterbilt DR-500 with a dual under saddle/magnetic pickup system and I find the tonematch artificially bright with this guitar. I don’t like it with my LR Baggs M-80 equipped Martin either. I’m sure it sounds good with a stock undersaddle piezo though.

Where the D6-8 has compressors on each channel, the Bose has some sort of preset multi band compression system built in. It works well and is a large part of why you can drive this amp so hard. Is a compressor on each channel better than an automatic compressor that you can’t adjust yourself? For me it is. Others may prefer not to have to mess with the extra settings. Bose certainly set the automatic compression well.

The EAE has an 8” speaker and a high quality tweeter. The Bose has a six inch speaker with excellent porting to bring out the low frequencies, and three two inch speakers pointed slightly right, Center and slightly left. The EAE speaker and tweeter sound incredible but I doubt it has much throw or spread. The S1 sounds very good compared to most PA and is likely better for audience coverage. In my setup, the EAE is mostly for me, the S1 is mostly for the audience.

On the D6-8, if I drive the amp too hard it starts to distort pretty easily. This is not a great sounding distortion like a tube amp, but it is pretty even across the guitar pitch range.

On the S1, if you drive the amp to hard, you will hear it compress the sound automatically, much like the L1 series. I also hear the S1 give out a little on over-pushed low notes first rather than the whole instrument range. Extra low notes from drop tunings or a seven string guitar are going to distort first. You can push the S1 a little harder than the EAE, but they’re both 40 Watts and very close to each other.

If I was to buy just one, it would be the EAE D6-8. Like others have said, in an intimate setting it bests even the AER stuff (though the AER will leave either the EAE or Bose S1 in the dust if you need more volume). You certainly would likely be happy with the S1 though.

The S1 seems to make a great stereo extension speaker for the EAE. That way the excellent mixer on the D6-8 is feeding both speakers.

The D6-8 is similar to what you would get if you had both a Bose S1 and a Bose T4s mixer.

How will you power the Tondexter?

How do vocals sound thru the EAE.?

James May chimed in this would work:

http://www.pedaltrain.com/volto/

$100

BTW, I have one and it works well. Jon

Comparison thread Bose S1 vs EAE D6-8
 

The EAE is incredible for vocals! It has phantom power for condenser mics. Good dynamic mics sound great as well. The vocal sound I’m getting sounds more like a recording session than a live gig!

i've been looking at both the s1 and the d6-8 also the a4-8.
so this thread is timely for me..
Do you think for a relatively quiet venue
of 45 people you as a singer/ songwriter would
prefer one over the other?

For me it had to be the D6-8 because I need the channels. One D6-8 can handle two singers plus a guitar, or two singing guitar players. The extra stereo input could be a keyboard or a Play Acoustic (or VE 8). Also, the D6-8 has extra features like high pass filters, notch filters, EQ with sweepable mids, and multiple DSP effects that aren’t on the other EAE models.

45 people might be pushing it as far as output levels go on any 40 watt system. That’s why I also bought the Bose S1 for extra coverage. The D6-8 mixer is stereo and designed to be used with another EAE system. The specs between the d6-8 and the S1 are close enough that they work well as an 80 watt total stereo pair.

I read a review (I think here) where someone had a 100 person wedding gig outdoors. He said two A4-8's covered it volume wise but just barely. He also said the sound quality was amazing.

they don't make an a6-8 do they. ? a = analog D=digital i assume.
I always have a fear of frying digital boards although i never have.
always use a surge protector.
I have a compact 60 3 and love it with guitar
but have never been happy with the vocal
sounds from it. Do you think this would replace it?
I am thinking of selling the AER and buying a D6-8?

You’ll be ecstatic with the sound of the D6-8...right up until the point where you need to turn it up for more coverage! That’s why I bought a Bose S1 Pro to augment the sound. I’m using and the D6-8 as a stereo pair just like you would with two EAE amps. The sound and output levels from both are similar.