I'm reading the thread about the Compact arriving in the States and getting envious. Has it arrived in the UK yet? Has the UK price been set? I thought I remembered seeing that someplace but now cant find it.

Hi Jim,

We anticipate getting European stocks of the L1 Compact in during late May so they should be in stores by late May/early June. The UK SRP is £899 inc VAT.

All the best, Andy

The US price is $999 and the UK price is £899 is this a joke?

It seems a bit odd since there is a post by Bose at the top of this forum category announcing common pricing?

quote from Bose in That post


we have decided to make our live music products equally affordable to all musicians worldwide, effective immediately. Musicians can use US pricing as a reference, but should consult their local Bose offices for the specifics.

That should make the compact about £625 in UK - are Bose going back on that commitment?

Doesn't seem to be much point in buying it at that price.

Hello All,

The price quoted for the L1 Compact in the US is excluding VAT. That is common in the US. Our EU/UK pricing is included.You will see that brings the prices are a lot closer than what you feel is a 'big' difference.

We are making considerable efforts to make this happen in Europe consistently.

In the end... The L1 Compact is a great 'experience' product at an attractive EU/UK price point.

There is no such thing as VAT in the USA...

There is a sales tax that varies State by State. The minimum is 8.25% and the average isn't much higher than that.

With exchange rates as they are, I think us Europeans are getting a very raw deal.

If the L1 compact price in the UK is quoted excluding VAT, it would be £781.84

So we should be comparing $999 with £782.

And £782 at today's exchange rate is $1305

Or, out another way:

$999 at today's exchange rate is £598

Wchichever way you do the math(as our American friends would say) i's not a good deal really.

andyc,

Our U.S. sales tax can be much less than that in some places. The town I live near is 7.4%, & the tax is only 3.4% where I live because I am in a rural area & don't have to pay the town tax - only city & county.

Tom

... and Delaware has NO sales tax ...

... ... (except for large-ticket items such as boats, cars, and homes -- but they don't call that a sales tax ).

Just a footnote to the comments above - I was in my local music shop yesterday looking for a new mic stand and suddenly noticed in the corner an L1 Compact. All of a sudden my plans for upgrading my acoustic amp which would have cost me about £450 - £500 took a new line and I began to think about a possible Compact purchase. We already have 2 L1 Mk1s in the band and the thought of one to myself was appealing.

However, as mentioned above the price was £899 and the dealer couldn't come and go on it at all. Interestingly his view of the sound quality was very high ( he uses it to demo his top end acoustics) but he was holding out no real hope of selling one any time soon because of the price.

I know the quality of the Bose and have already put my money where my mouth is so to speak, but even for me there comes a point where you do feel that a company isn't trying as hard as they might to keep things equal. Surely the comments above provide food for thought for Bose UK? Even at £750 I think I would have been sorely tempted.