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From: djb@riccb.UUCP (Dave J. Burris )
Newsgroups: net.audio
Subject: Re: Re: BOSE PA Series Speakers
Message-ID: <559@riccb.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 14-Oct-85 11:24:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: riccb.559
Posted: Mon Oct 14 11:24:00 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 15-Oct-85 20:24:10 EDT
References: <72@ecn-aa.UUCP> <1404@teddy.UUCP> <1404@hound.UUCP> <1558@hammer.UUCP> <1408@hound.UUCP>
Organization: Rockwell Telecommunications, Downers Grove,Il.
Lines: 57

> If it was a Bose 802 and it sounded awful, I can think of several possibilit-
> ies - other than outright malfunction:
> 1) Not driven by Bose amps
>   a. Not using Bose spec equalizer .
>   b. and or overdriven (not so easy to do - would take over 100 watts
>      (Bose says 240)) More likely you were listening to a light amp
>      itself being overdriven)
> 2) Driven by Bose amps with equalizer.
>   a. Horribly overdriven on the amp input?
>   b. Can't think of anything else.
> 
> Like I said before, the ones I have heard were excellent. A might "sweet",
> perhaps, whatever that means, it just comes to mind when I hear them.
> They are really exceptional on voice and acoustic instruments, like
> small bands. My daughter recently bought one for the Illinois 
> Community College where she is Audio-Visual Person. They use it mostly
> in what was a very problem room and everyone says its great.
> 
> 
> "It's the thought, if any, that counts!"  Dick Grantges  hound!rfg


I really wanted to stay out of this Bose discussion but I can no longer resist.

The bose P.A. speakers are glorified to even be used for P.A. speakers for
anything other than speech. Their frequency range is far from adequate to
satisfy my conscience if I am to charge an admittance. They roll off
drastically on both ends of the frequency spectrum. Their dispersion
characteristics and the Bose crossover combination create extreme inefficiency
which requires an impractical amount of power for all but the smallest of
rooms. They are "peaky" within their frequency range, particularly in the
mid-bass ( 200-500 Hz. ) range.

So what about their advantages? Giving credit where credit is due they do have
some advantages (none that I would consider in the audio quality). Some
advantages are:

1. They are small and relatively lightweight allowing those with limited
	transportation to transport them easily.

2. Given enough power they will get extremely loud.

3. Their response characteristics all but eliminate feedback problems
	in most small room environments, especially high frequency feedback.

4. Their dispersion characteristics allow a wide coverage at the expense of
	efficiency allowing two of them do reasonably well 
	covering small spaces.


The limitations of the Bose speakers can easily be demonstated in both
listening and testing but for someone who needs loud reproduction at a minimal
cost and maximum portability the Bose may be a workable compromise.
-- 
Dave Burris
..!ihnp4!ihopa!riccb!djb
Rockwell Switching Systems, Downers Grove, Il.