Talk me into a Bose L1C

[YamahaGuy]

With the sale price of $849, all the rave reviews, the fact it comes with a cover and carry bag, and the Bose reputation have got me eyeing the L1C.

I have many powered speakers, speaker stands, a few mixers, a couple subs, all the mics and cables one could ever need, and a few good a/e guitars. I love the rich tones I get from my MSR400 12s and the ability to dial up effects with my mixer and shape tone when necessary. Also, I truly don't mind making a few trips in and lugging around large gear that sounds good. My Chevy Cruze has a surprisingly large trunk.

I must admit, there are times I wish the setup didn't take as long, or especially as many cables, cords and stands.

My only reservation is the perceived volume and the ability to get loud and sound as clear as my MSR400s.

So, please talk me into a Bose L1C...

[Acousticado]

Read this thread which just a few down in the subforum. It should convince you.

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=487528

[YamahaGuy]

I read all 11 pages...waiting to hear more praises about the perceived volume. Just one of my MSR400s can cover a room of 250 and blast everyone out of the room when necessary: can the L1C do the same? My situation requires LOUD at rare times, but it IS required at times to get the attention of people at the venue. I fear the six tiny speakers on a stick won't be able to match the SPL of a biamped 12" powered speaker.

121db@1m vs. 112db@1m and I know, I know the Bose sounds the same 180 degrees out and far out, but 9db is quite a big deal.

[The Bard Rocks]

I play almost exclusively with mine. The Mackies, which are every bit as good sounding, have been pretty much relegated to larger outdoor venues. Why? The Bose Compact is the best combination out there combining light weight (27-28lb total, with cases), simplicity (I don't like fooling with things if it cam be avoided), good clean sound that works with my voice, and dispersion. I don't need loud but I need folks to hear me. It seems to do that well.

There may be something that does all this better, but I haven't found it.

[Riles]

What about the Bose L1 model 1S- the next step up? I don’t own but am thinking about this also

[gfsark]

I’m no expert, but I’ve used the Bose for quite a few years. As regards clarity, I think that Bose is about state of the art in that department. Let’s say, crystal clear, pure and wonderful tone, provided you’re using a preamp. I use to run straight into the L1C and found that the sound improved quite a bit with a pre-amp. I’m now using the Bose T-1.

As far as “blasting” the audience, I don’t think the Bose is a first choice for that application. The wide dispersion allows everyone to hear clearly, without drowning out the conversations, as designed. So if drowning or blasting is needed, you’d probably want hook up your powered speaker and hook up to Bose.

For enjoying the sound of your own playing, I don’t think anything can beat the Bose or similar arrays where you stand in front of the speaker (and a bit off to the side). I’ve gotten spoiled by the incredible sound washing over me when I play, and knowing that’s what the audience hears is quite reassuring. It’s always dispointing when I’m plugging into some random PA and have to listen to myself through stage monitors. And unless I ask someone in the audience, I have no idea what the sound is like.

Finally, the L1C is incredibly easy to carry and setup. You won’t regret making things easier for yourself. It’s not a “blaster” but its about the cat’s meow for a solo artist in smaller venues. For the larger gigs, take your powered speaker and blast away. Cheers!

[troggg]

To directly answer your question with something that wasn't in the other thread, although L1C seems optimized for acoustic guitar, today I put my Roland Jupiter 50 though it with decent enough results. I say decent enough cause it definitely wasn't bad at all ... wouldn't be my first choice for keyboards, but 98% of people at a cocktail party or wherever who aren't compulsive maniacs like us wouldn't think twice that it sounds fine.

To not directly answer your question, you need something else to go with it, as in something else that has EQ and effects which the L1C doesn't except a simple treble and bass control just on the mic channel. Or should I say you need that to get the most out of it. Of course, I could plug my guitar and mic straight into it, and once again 98% of listeners who don't obsess about this stuff would buy the results.

Getting back to your question, it seems to do really well with most voices and with combining voice and instrument. And then there's the oft-mentioned dispersion thing.

Oh, I forgot: I also found out today that the cover's washable!

[gfsark]

PS, my current system is the L1S which is the midsize model, with the T-1 preamp. It’s a versatile and great sounding. But quite a bit more expensive than the L1C (more than double) and heavier to carry because of the separate bass speaker and heavier tower speakers. Wish I had hung onto the LIC just because I play more small venues than big...and the C is just so easy. But as Troggg mentioned, it does need some box in front of it to get the most out of it.

[Paultergeist]

Originally Posted by YamahaGuy

.......Just one of my MSR400s can cover a room of 250 and blast everyone out of the room when necessary: can the L1C do the same?

No.....

I am very fond of the L1c, having test-played one several times recently. What you describe, however — high volume and large crowds — is not what I would say the L1c is going to excel at doing.

[Andy Howell]

Originally Posted by Riles

What about the Bose L1 model 1S- the next step up? I don’t own but am thinking about this also

It depends on the size of the room you are playing. The L1 is superb but in a smaller room - say 40 to 50 people - I think the Compact has a nicer sound as the L2 is too much.

[Marty C]

I will order one before the end of this sale period. For me, I want the same sound to disperse no matter what volume. Every powered speaker I buy/try sounds way different at low volumes than at high. It’s hard to eq at home at low volume then get to a venue and be disappointed. I have not tried this yet, but from all my research this is my main reason to purchase.

I also like the sound dispersion everyone speaks of. I like lower volumes, but still be able to hear and people be able to talk. I don’t want to blast.

I can’t speak from experience. I can only tell you the reasons I will purchase. I just want clear, clean sound.

[YamahaGuy]

Originally Posted by Paultergeist

No.....

I am very fond of the L1c, having test-played one several times recently. What you describe, however — high volume and large crowds — is not what I would say the L1c is going to excel at doing.

Thank you for making this clear. That's what I wanted to know.

[YamahaGuy]

Originally Posted by gfsark

I’m no expert, but I’ve used the Bose for quite a few years. As regards clarity, I think that Bose is about state of the art in that department. Let’s say, crystal clear, pure and wonderful tone, provided you’re using a preamp. I use to run straight into the L1C and found that the sound improved quite a bit with a pre-amp. I’m now using the Bose T-1.

As far as “blasting” the audience, I don’t think the Bose is a first choice for that application. The wide dispersion allows everyone to hear clearly, without drowning out the conversations, as designed. So if drowning or blasting is needed, you’d probably want hook up your powered speaker and hook up to Bose.

For enjoying the sound of your own playing, I don’t think anything can beat the Bose or similar arrays where you stand in front of the speaker (and a bit off to the side). I’ve gotten spoiled by the incredible sound washing over me when I play, and knowing that’s what the audience hears is quite reassuring. It’s always dispointing when I’m plugging into some random PA and have to listen to myself through stage monitors. And unless I ask someone in the audience, I have no idea what the sound is like.

Finally, the L1C is incredibly easy to carry and setup. You won’t regret making things easier for yourself. It’s not a “blaster” but its about the cat’s meow for a solo artist in smaller venues. For the larger gigs, take your powered speaker and blast away. Cheers!

This helps immensely, thank you. I have played through an L1C once before and ran my Yamaha MG8cx mixer into it. What impressed me the most was that I stood about 8 feet to the side of the speaker and heard myself just fine.

The versatility alone apeals to me and the quick setup lends itself to some of the venues I play. Santa might as well put one on his sleigh for me.

[John Bartus]

Perhaps you should consider something in between the Bose L1C and the bigger (and more $$$) Bose systems. I have the Bose L1 1S with the B2 double sub, and it's great. But what I've been using at a majority of my gigs is the JBL Eon One. Same price point as the L1C, extremely portable and ergonomically amazing, great sound, a better sub than the L1C, and a built-in 2-channel (they say six, but...) mixer. Plus Bluetooth to hook up your iPod BGM wirelessly!

And an important spec: 118 dB peak SPL (from the JBL website).

Good luck in your search!

[open-road-matt]

Originally Posted by gfsark

As far as “blasting” the audience, I don’t think the Bose is a first choice for that application.

I wholeheartedly agree!

I've been using L1 systems since January of 2005. I recently took a two year hiatus but came back to the L1s after realizing that nothing else out there works as well for me and what I do. I have the L1 Model 2 and the the L1 Compact.

A criticism you hear often about the L1 systems is that they can't "cut through" a noisy audience.

"Noisy audience" is a bit of an oxymoron. That usually implies that people would rather talk and make noise than listen to the music.

Someone wisely once wrote (I don't remember where) that no one really ever wins a volume war! If people want to talk and make noise they tend to just do that anyway. If the music gets louder, they get louder until they get annoyed and leave. Then they tell people that the music was WAY too loud!

Originally Posted by YamahaGuy

I read all 11 pages...waiting to hear more praises about the perceived volume. Just one of my MSR400s can cover a room of 250 and blast everyone out of the room when necessary: can the L1C do the same? My situation requires LOUD at rare times, but it IS required at times to get the attention of people at the venue. I fear the six tiny speakers on a stick won't be able to match the SPL of a biamped 12" powered speaker.

To me, the key to your decision is how often this happens.

I've ended up in a couple of situations where a Bose L1 wasn't the right system for the situation. It's only happened a couple of times but those were times when people wanted me to be really loud and "blast" away at the audience.

The Bose systems can get loud but that isn't usually a good solution. The things we (Bose users) love about the Bose can become detrimental when you are forced to "crank it up."

1) The Bose sound doesn't really ever get any more "direct." So even as you raise the volume you still have that room filling, evenly distributed sound. That smooth, room-filling, evenly distributed sound is what people love but often a louder version of that still doesn't "cut through." You might, depending on how you position the system, get loud enough to be heard but that brings up:

2) Many people like the fact that, "they hear what the audience hears," with the L1 systems. This falls apart VERY quickly when you need to be loud. The louder you need to be the more difficult it becomes to be close enough to the system to hear yourself well without running into feedback trouble. You reach a point where you can't (or shouldn't for the sake of your hearing) have the system behind you.

Now you have to have the system out in front of you like a regular FOH speaker. You can still hear an L1 from behind it but if you are in a noisy enough environment that you need to be loud enough to be behind the system, that same noise will make it difficult to use the L1 as a monitor.

If you know about this ahead of time and still want the room filling benefits of the L1, you can set it up out in front and use a separate monitor. The real trouble is when you didn't know this was going to happen and you "get caught" with the L1 behind you and not enough room to get away far enough away from it!

So if you know about the noisy shows ahead of time and you decide the Compact is a good fit for the non-noisy shows you could do as someone suggested and run a line out of the Compact to your speaker. But if those loud shows are the norm and you don't get the opportunity to use just the Compact very often, is it worth it?

I have both the Compact and the Model 2. Now if I know I need to be really loud (those times are very, very rare!) I will put the Model 2 in front of me and take a line out to the Compact that sits behind me.

I love the L1C. So much so that I just re-bought one after selling mine a couple of years ago. But I use mine as a practice system at home and for small venues. For larger outdoor shows I use the Model 2. If I needed to be loud, I wouldn't rely on just the Compact.

Matt