Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 26 to 45 of 45

Thread: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

  1. #26
    Registered User Tom Wright's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Rockville, MD
    Posts
    1,919
    Blog Entries
    7

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    Bose has always tried to produce a more natural, less clinical tone and listening experience. The early indirect speakers did what they promised, a generous room-filling sound that felt quite real.

    They used multiple cones, and indeed EQed them substantially. They also innovated in compact enclosure design, like the folded-path () Wave systems. I think some of the natural tone is those small cones, which avoid the need for a crossover and the phase problems. Also, a modest falloff in the high end would be more natural---highs do not carry well so listening to a live acoustic performance like a string quartet should not be loaded with sparkling highs but a sweeter midrange with some highs.

    I like the earbuds from Bose---very warm and natural tone, not clinical. In the studio I prefer the surgical clarity of JBL, but I have an early Wave (a little tubby in the bottom for my taste but still a good sound) and would enjoy hi-fi speakers from Bose.

    I do not think of Bose when I want power and efficiency, but their stick and subwoofer personal-PA design sounds really sweet, if it can do the job.
    Bandcamp -- https://tomwright1.bandcamp.com/
    Videos--YouTube
    Sound Clips--SoundCloud
    The viola is proof that man is not rational

  2. #27
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Posts
    5,293

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Griffin View Post
    Yes. It’s a weird company and unusual stuff. If you ever take their gear apart it’s obvious how cheaply it’s made yet they charge a premium. It strange to me that they never put tweeters in their speakers. The 201, 301, 501, 601, 901, 802 all used 2.5” midrange or larger. For some reason beyond me people think it’s good stuff.
    That old series has to be put in context. Back then, they actually were better in some situations (i.e. smaller rooms) compared to the run-of-the-mill passive speakers in heavy plywood cabinets that were the norm.

    That all changed with the powered speaker and Class D amp revolution, where suddenly you could bi-amp a PA speaker at an affordable price and manageable weight. I remember when I first bought a Mackie SRM450. Wow! What a game-changer it was, for those of us running our own compact PA setups. Then QSC took it up a notch with the K-series, and others have followed.

    What bugs me about Bose is mostly the advertising hype. I don't know if they still do this, but they used to call the L1 a "line array," and it can't possibly function as one. At least in pro sound reinforcement terms, when it's located low on the ground like that, and without separate amps and tweaking for each element in an array flown high over the stage. But it's a nice buzzword that helps move product, I guess.

    They also promoted the L1 as a system where each musician should have one next to them on the stage, as both sound source and personal monitor. What a feedback nightmare that would be for live mics, at any appreciable volume. But hey.... if you could sell an L1 to every member in the band, that's a lot of product out the door!

  3. The following members say thank you to foldedpath for this post:


  4. #28

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    I’m s big believer in simple preamps and small powered PA speakers. I’ve never owned an “acoustic amp.”

  5. #29

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    I would disagree about them sounding more natural. The paper cone drivers they use don’t have wide dispersion of natural high frequencies. The overwhelming majority of speaker manufacturers ( pro and home audio) use high frequency drivers that try to reproduce the way high frequencies occur naturally. Bose uses drivers that are more directional and don’t have the transient response of a smaller faster driver.

  6. #30
    Registered User Tom Wright's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Rockville, MD
    Posts
    1,919
    Blog Entries
    7

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Griffin View Post
    I would disagree about them sounding more natural.
    I report my experience. I loved the JBL 15" monitors from the 70s, I think they were 4320s, but when I first heard a set of 901s I felt they were more friendly and warm, the reflected-sound thing was a pleasure to hear. As I noted, I like a technical sound in a studio but a friendly tone for listening, which means a gentle falloff of aggressive high frequencies to match the experience of hearing musical instruments from a bit of distance/

    I can't see where a 2.5" cone is all that much slower than a 1" tweeter--they all use a voice coil and permanent magnet. The dispersion is addressed by using multiple cones in larger systems than my little Wave radio, whose dispersion seems fine to my ears. Best control of dispersion is through horns, with the walls dragging the wavefront to make it more spherical and less planar, as I understand it.
    Bandcamp -- https://tomwright1.bandcamp.com/
    Videos--YouTube
    Sound Clips--SoundCloud
    The viola is proof that man is not rational

  7. #31
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    High Peak - UK
    Posts
    4,171

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    The Bose 301s were, in their time a perfectly acceptably sounding speaker. Yes, you could do better but what else could you carry from the car to the stage in one trip? Bose accepted that they needed more bottom end in some circumstances by producing matching bass bins (can't remember the number - it was a long time ago) but I do remember occasions when the combined 802s/bins produced too much bottom end and the latter ended up as expensive speaker stands.

    Does anyone remember the bass canons they produced? They wouldn't sell them, you had to have them installed; apparently for safety reasons.

  8. #32
    Quietly Making Noise Dave Greenspoon's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Leesburg, VA
    Posts
    1,102

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    Was at a friends' last week, practicing for his gig. That little S1 sounded sweet. Out live on the coffee shop porch it was perfect. It sounded much better than the Roland Street Cube I used for a parking lot gig on Labor Day. My buddy can add his ToneMatch from his old L1 system which makes him even more thrilled. Lots of time on the battery per charge, and the S1 is perfect for the solo solution. If you really don't like the limitations, the marketplace offers you alternatives. I can appreciate that for many, this is a great $600 solution (before sales and coupons!). My only gripe: no FX loop.
    Axes: Eastman MD-515 & El Rey; Eastwood S Mandola
    Amps: Fishman Loudbox 100; Rivera Clubster Royale Recording Head & R212 cab; Laney Cub 10

  9. #33

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    S
    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Wright View Post
    I report my experience. I loved the JBL 15" monitors from the 70s, I think they were 4320s, but when I first heard a set of 901s I felt they were more friendly and warm, the reflected-sound thing was a pleasure to hear. As I noted, I like a technical sound in a studio but a friendly tone for listening, which means a gentle falloff of aggressive high frequencies to match the experience of hearing musical instruments from a bit of distance/

    I can't see where a 2.5" cone is all that much slower than a 1" tweeter--they all use a voice coil and permanent magnet. The dispersion is addressed by using multiple cones in larger systems than my little Wave radio, whose dispersion seems fine to my ears. Best control of dispersion is through horns, with the walls dragging the wavefront to make it more spherical and less planar, as I understand it.
    A 2.5” paper cone driver has poor transient response. Bad for accurate reproduction of high frequencies. This is why no high quality speaker manufacturers use them. Bose marketing is very successful so people buy the product anyway.

  10. #34
    Registered User Perry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Rockland Cty, NY
    Posts
    2,145

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    Quote Originally Posted by almeriastrings View Post
    Without digressing.... this is easy. No problem at all. I do it every day. I'll PM you.

    Bose do make some interesting stuff, and it does tend to "just work"... um... anyway, that is fine in many situations but if you need to repair it or use it in more unusual situations the lack of technical data can be a bit of an issue. Bottom line: if it work for you, then enjoy it, as they make some nice sounding systems with (definitely) unique features.
    I'd love to hear that solution for archiving photos off a macbook w/o using their iPhoto software. Thanks!

  11. #35
    Registered User mcgroup53's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Indianapolis, IN
    Posts
    306

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    Looking for a battery PA/amp, and this is high on my list. But does it include phantom power for the mic input?

  12. #36
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Columbus, GA
    Posts
    1,360

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    Nothing in the sparse information they provide shows phantom power.

    Here's the manual:

    https://assets.bose.com/content/dam/..._system_en.pdf
    David Hopkins

    2001 Gibson F-5L mandolin
    Breedlove Legacy FF mandolin; Breedlove Quartz FF mandolin
    Gibson F-4 mandolin (1916); Blevins f-style Octave mandolin, 2018
    McCormick Oval Sound Hole "Reinhardt" Mandolin
    McCormick Solid Body F-Style Electric Mandolin; Slingerland Songster Guitar (c. 1939)

    The older I get, the less tolerant I am of political correctness, incompetence and stupidity.

  13. #37
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Posts
    5,293

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    Quote Originally Posted by mcgroup53 View Post
    Looking for a battery PA/amp, and this is high on my list. But does it include phantom power for the mic input?
    Not many compact battery "acoustic amps" supply phantom power. With the Bose, you could use a relatively inexpensive battery phantom power supply ahead of the mic input.

    Or, for the cream of the crop battery acoustic amps, get an AER Compact Mobile, the battery version of the excellent Compact 60. I believe both amps include 24v phantom power on the mic input, which is enough for clip-on mini condenser mics like the Pro 35 or DPA 4099, and many other standard condenser mics. AER makes great amps, I used to have the smaller, non-battery AER Alpha for coffee shop gigs. Very solid build quality and performance, with a high price to match.

  14. #38
    Registered User Billy Packard's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Grass Valley
    Posts
    885

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    HOLY COW Eighteen hundred buckaroos, It better be good!
    Billy Packard
    Gilchrist A3, 1993
    Stiver Fern, 1990
    Weber Fern, 2007
    Gibson F4 Hybrid #1, D. Harvey 2009
    Gibson 1923 A2
    Numerous wonderful guitars

  15. #39
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Southampton UK
    Posts
    198

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    I spent a very pleasant two hours in a Music shop last week trying one out. Needs a good preamp or EQ pedal in front of it, but actually the sound was extremely good. I couldn’t give two hoots what the spec was on paper, it’s the sound I listen to.

    Robbie

  16. #40

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    Quote Originally Posted by mandroid View Post
    Yea, in the bike shop Q1 is cost, Q2 what's it weigh ?

    But a transformerless switching power supply
    Or just all DC circuits, and a wall wart rectifier/voltage limiter in the cord,
    and amp weights can be lower too...

    For electric guitars, I find myself asking about the weight even before the price.
    "your posts ... very VERY opinionated ...basing your opinion/recommendations ... pot calling ...kettle... black...sarcasm...comment ...unwarranted...unnecessary...."

  17. #41
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Posts
    5,293

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    Quote Originally Posted by Billy Packard View Post
    HOLY COW Eighteen hundred buckaroos, It better be good!
    I'm sure it is, based on the smaller AER Alpha I owned for a while.

    As for the price... I think we've all been spoiled in the last 15-20 years by almost every music gear company moving production to China and other offshore suppliers. Many years ago, I remember things like guitar amps and PA gear being fairly expensive. There's been a downward push in pricing that makes us think anything not made in China is outrageously expensive now, when it's actually at about the same price we used to pay, in adjusted dollars, before outsourcing became the new normal.

    Anything you buy that's still made completely here in the USA like Royer ribbon microphones, or in Europe like the DPA 4099 clip-on mics, seems outrageously priced by comparison. You're paying for the higher standard of living, and for local quality control that doesn't have to deal with managing an overseas factory.

    tl,dr: The AER amps are expensive because high quality materials are used, there is local quality control, and they're made in Germany not China. The exchange rate between the US dollar and the Euro might also have something to do with it, but I think the main factor is that it isn't an outsourced product.

  18. The following members say thank you to foldedpath for this post:


  19. #42
    Registered User Perry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Rockland Cty, NY
    Posts
    2,145

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!


  20. #43
    Quietly Making Noise Dave Greenspoon's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Leesburg, VA
    Posts
    1,102

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    Reviving this thread. I just got back from the Bose store where I tried one with the Rigel. I was only able to fill the room dimed. Clearly it snd the piezo aren't getting along. I presume it would be great with the Venue DI in front of it. I may yet end up with it.
    Axes: Eastman MD-515 & El Rey; Eastwood S Mandola
    Amps: Fishman Loudbox 100; Rivera Clubster Royale Recording Head & R212 cab; Laney Cub 10

  21. #44

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    Wattage ratings are so inflated these days, with almost all consumer watt ratings stated as peak wattage. Thus 300watt amplifiers are realistically more like 75 watt. Depending on the speaker sensitivity, a far greater measure of likely volume, a true thirty or forty watts should do the job. My home stereo amp puts out 3 watts and will drive my 105db sensitive speakers to Led Zepplin volume.

    So if Bose takes the view they would rather use other features as marketing hype, and forgo wattage ratings, so be it. Does it do what you need it to? That's pretty much all you need to know.
    Silverangel A
    Arches F style kit
    1913 Gibson A-1

  22. #45
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Location
    Chicago area
    Posts
    65

    Default Re: Bose S1 Pro rechargable amp, backpack unit. Love it!

    I use a Bose S-1 in a variety of ways. Mainly as an amp for acoustic guitar. The sound is great and whatever the wattage, it is loud. Plus it disperses the sound in a wonderful way. As a stand alone P.A. it is no less wonderful. In my trio we sometimes use it in conjunction with an L-1 Compact to widen the field.
    As far as wattage, a lot of people say 40, but that doesn't tell the story. Early documents said 140, but this docs were withdrawn. There is info on DB.
    Here's my observation on volume: it does the work of a 150 watt P.A. No, I can't support that belief with anything but experience. It works, and it works very well. I never have to turn it up past halfway.

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •