[Marty C]

Hi Jake,
Bose goes on sale at 15% off November 1 - December 31.

I am in the same hunt. I went to GC last week and tried out a few. I was surprised at the Harbingrr MLS 800. I did a side by side (just with my iPhone plugged in playing acoustic recording) and actually liked the sound of the MLS 800 better at higher volumes. It sounded more full.

However, anything I sing and play through lately seems to have too much mid for me. Seems no matter what I play through I find myself cutting back in the mids. I feel sure it is my preference and what only I like to hear.

All I have read recently is people’s reviews saying the Bose system lacks mids. The bass is present and the highs are clear... lacks mids. For me, this sounds like my perfect setup.

I tried the Fishman unit at GC, since it was in the acoustic room and I had a guitar there. It sounded great as well. I did not sing through it.

My choice for my purpose will be the Bose since I think it sounds similar at different levels. Eveything else I tried seemed to change more at different volume levels and I Found myself wanting to cut back in bass and mids as the volume got louder. I did not get this with the Bose. I also use either a Play Acoustic or a Behringer xr 12 so I will have one these units attached to whatever I buy, so the onboard effects don’t really matter much to me. I don’t think I will ever need more than the Compact for my purpose.

I agree with Jseth. My salesperson at Sweetwter did say that the compact might have issues if I tried to add too many people and competing frequencies. Stepping up With Bose one or two levels above that would work fine. Only on one ocassion do I find myself playing with another person and we are usually using house provided sound.