I’m saying it. Don’t be angry.

[mike o]

Hey folks,

The wife and I had just enjoyed a 10 day vacation down in st. Augustine, fl. A place we love to visit a few times a year. The town is very dog friendly so plenty of places to go with the pups and enjoy live music. We enjoy a bunch of music run through a bunch of different PA gear. So, what am I about to say? I listened to several EV pole systems, Bose, QSC and sadly one fellow running through a guitar amp with vocals. The Bose systems to me are still the best sounding as a patron for solo and duo’s. EV’s were decent and sounded OK. Something about what Bose does that makes the listening experience so much more enjoyable. Better coverage and super smooth/easy on the ears. I’ve mentioned this before, anyone looking for Decent portable PA go out and listened as many folks as you can with different PA’s. Let your ears be the judge as a patron.

[Petty1818]

I am going to assume that you are going to say that the music mattered more than the sound of the pickup or pa. My guess!

[mike o]

Sorry. I posted before finishing. You are correct!

In full disclosure, we have used Bose for many years and a huge fan.

[lkingston]

I’ve used both EV (50M & 30M) and Bose tower systems (L1 Mk ii, L1 Compact, & S1 Pro) for quite a few years and prefer the EV mostly. I’ve also used quite a few standard PA systems. The tower systems share common weaknesses: they are fine for a moderate sized seated audience, but are pretty bad for a standing crowd that is talking and mingling. The towers are also bad for a crowd that is in a theater type room with the seats angling up.

In a quieter room, the wider dispersion of the Bose towers is nice. When it gets a little louder, the EVs pull ahead where the narrower dispersion becomes an advantage.

The tower with speakers running down to the floor of the L1 Pro Mk ii was nice for better dispersion at low volumes with a large space where the volume had to be controlled. That advantage evaporated when there were a lot people standing near the front. In that case a regular point source system with high frequency drivers over the crowd is far better.

The EV30/50M design can work around this by putting them on top of a table, where having the array higher, with some downward aimed drivers to handle people near the front is helpful.

[martingitdave]

I have to agree. I’m a Bose fan too. I think they make a great sounding system for vocals and acoustic instruments. I play through EVs also and they can be really great too, but I think you have to be a little more savvy to dial them in. It’s a good time to be a performer. When I think of the boxes we had to lug around and hoist, sheesh.

[Chriscom]

As an acoustic guitarist/singer, I'm a big fan of both the Bose and EV lines and have used various examples of both. The Evolve 30m is my main ride now. I gigged with the Bose L1M2 and loved its sound, but those heavy columns were a pain to lug and down stairs, and that L1 era had lots of separate elements and cables, which combined with a mixer made it a big pain to move, setup and tear down. Still, and I repeat myself, if Bose had so much as added a master volume to the PA there's a very good chance I'd have one today, very possibly a Pro32 (with its much less heavy, and less stable, column stack).

That's what set me on my quest for a replacement and I've been very happy with my 30m. The builit-in mixer with app control and multiple inputs is a dream, setup is crazy quick, it's built like a tank, and it sounds great for what I do. I do wish I had the Bose dispersion but apparently you can't have it all!

The Bose sound in the current Pro line? Also amazing.

Originally Posted by Petty1818

I am going to assume that you are going to say that the music mattered more than the sound of the pickup or pa. My guess!

There's a local solo guy who is pro-level with a deserved big local following. He still performs with his Bose L1 Compact. Now I love my Compact and gigged with it, but for sure the Pro8 and up are a step up quality wise, never mind volume.

Nobody cares.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by Chriscom

As an acoustic guitarist/singer, I'm a big fan of both the Bose and EV lines and have used various examples of both. The Evolve 30m is my main ride now. I gigged with the Bose L1M2 and loved its sound, but those heavy columns were a pain to lug and down stairs, and that L1 era had lots of separate elements and cables, which combined with a mixer made it a big pain to move, setup and tear down. Still, and I repeat myself, if Bose had so much as added a master volume to the PA there's a very good chance I'd have one today, very possibly a Pro32 (with its much less heavy, and less stable, column stack).

That's what set me on my quest for a replacement and I've been very happy with my 30m. The builit-in mixer with app control and multiple inputs is a dream, setup is crazy quick, it's built like a tank, and it sounds great for what I do. I do wish I had the Bose dispersion but apparently you can't have it all!

The Bose sound in the current Pro line? Also amazing.



There's a local solo guy who is pro-level with a deserved big local following. He still performs with his Bose L1 Compact. Now I love my Compact and gigged with it, but for sure the Pro8 and up are a step up quality wise, never mind volume.

Nobody cares.

Loved your last line! It’s really true. We have AGF members who are sensational playing through smaller systems with less features. And, the audience can’t hear the difference between a good system and a great system. They can probably detect a bad system (maybe too loud a system) but you don’t see too many of them around anymore. The master volume is a pain point on the Bose, and I think they use it intentionally to sell T series mixers. It’s one of the reasons I held off so long buying a system. “They’re not gonna make me spend the money!” But they won’t let me lift anything heavier than the L8Pro base unit. So, yeah, they got my money too. [emoji23]

[mike o]

Thanks for sharing folks. Keep in mind I’m not stating any other systems are not up to the task. Just an observation.

We graduated from the old PAS system to a L1M2 years ago and haven’t upgraded that part since. Also have a Bose Mini for the rehearsal room and small tight shows.

For me the Bose system sounds really nice to the side of us. I’m gonna guess that most folks here being the performer prefer to bond with the blend of stick type PA minus monitoring in thier proximity to the speaker. Heck, why wouldn’t that be a consideration? That said, keep in mind my statement was from the audience side. Please share what systems to you find sounding best from the patrons seat? I know you all check it out .

[Goat Mick]

I agree that Bose has the most pleasant and smooth sound of any brand out there and I used them for years. However I had a few bad experiences with my L1 Pro8 that killed my confidence with that product and I moved from my Bose systems to ElectroVoice products. Now that I've had some experience with my Evolve 30m and my Everse 8, I can get really dang good sound out of them and can fill a room with really pleasant, clear sound. Not as simple as with my Bose products, but with some work I can get dang close and they are extremely dependable. IMHO Bose killed it's dependability when it moved to systems that required an app to operate. Yes I do operate my EV systems with their app, but it is a much more stable and dependable app. And I really like having a Master Volume and not having to hook up a mixer.

[noledog]

Originally Posted by mike o

Hey folks,

The wife and I had just enjoyed a 10 day vacation down in st. Augustine, fl. A place we love to visit a few times a year. The town is very dog friendly so plenty of places to go with the pups and enjoy live stmusic. We enjoy a bunch of music run through a bunch of different PA gear....

Hey Mike,
I'm glad you enjoyed a great time in St Aug! I play there a lot as it is in my rotation as I play up and down the First Coast. So next time you and your bride come down, look me up, would love to meet y'all. See my contact info and schedule when you click on my signature below.

I know many musicians there and there are some really good ones. My two favorite venues to play there are the Conch House and Beaches At Vilano. While I agree the Bose systems do sound good, I prefer my Loudbox Performers. They give great power, throw and hi fidelity for my solo shows... but around here the Bose systems are the most popular... I'm heading back to Islamorada, then Key West next week and my musician friends there use Bose, house pa, and I've seen Fishman too. Anyway, cheers and come see me next time yer down!!

eric

[leew3]

thanks for the insights, sounds like you had a fun trip. We here on the AGF spend excessively more time and attention on specifics of PA and other gear than our audiences will ever notice.

While I always want to sound as good as possible, when I'm focused on gear and tone to the exclusion of enjoying the experience I've lost the main reason I play out. Having said that, I love my Bose S1 (and Fishman SA 330x, and Alto Troupers and LB Artist)

[Chriscom]

Originally Posted by mike o

That said, keep in mind my statement was from the audience side. Please share what systems to you find sounding best from the patrons seat? I know you all check it out .

I find that once you get to a certain level of quality--note Dave's comment about most in the audience not noticing the difference between a good and great system--the experience depends much more on whether the person running the sound knows what they're doing. So I hear lots of Bose L1s (of all types), EV Evolves, and conventional PAs-on-a-stand, and tweaked properly they all sound great to me when operated properly. And when not, not. One of my memorable experiences was walking into a local brewpub with a duo playing through a stick system I didn't recognize at first and me thinking hey that sounds pretty good. Turned out it was a Harbinger, the Guitar Center house/value brand.

Oh and quality conventional PAs I've heard around here include EVs, JBLs and QSCs.

My main local hangout has two Evolve 50s used by a variety of musicians and boy howdy is there a difference in quality depending on who's running it. And that was true previously when the house mixer was a Behringer, as it is now with, I believe, a QSC Touchmix.

[Petty1818]

Speaker technology is interesting in that it's definitely gotten lighter and in some cases more digital (interfaces), but it doesn't always mean a huge improvement in sound. I love my QSC K12 legacy speakers but I have played speakers 20-30 years old that sound just as good. Even the newer K.2 series to me isn't an improvement over the legacy models. I think as long as you are buying something half decent, you can get a good sound.

[LAPlayer]

Originally Posted by Chriscom

..... There's a local solo guy who is pro-level with a deserved big local following. He still performs with his Bose L1 Compact.

I don't think it's as much that people don't care. I think it's that most venues are not capable of showcasing minor improvements in sound quality. They just suck. My philosophy on most technology is that you can spend a lot of (read too much) time chasing the newest tech., and iff what you have has worked great/fine since you bought it, unless your needs have changed, that equipment/tech is still just as good as it was.

[shufflebeat]

Originally Posted by leew3

We here on the AGF spend excessively more time and attention on specifics of PA and other gear than our audiences will ever notice.

I agree and am also wary of becoming a “system builder” rather than a musician but, to be fair, a good muso should have at least one eye (and ear) on the tech producing the actual sound for the audience. Small operators like most of us are even more on this task as there is no Quality Control Dept. but ourselves.

I do come across players from time to time who really don’t care enough. It isn’t pleasant and the audience do notice, although they may not discuss it in the same terms as we might.