I'm trying to find a system that will work for my former a cappella group. Typically 14-18 people total. In the past we have used a set up that included 2 mics (solo and harmony) as well as 2 boom type mics to try and pick the rest of the group. Results have been mixed in the past. Most performances are held in lecture hall auditoriums that seat somewhere around 250-350 people. Any suggestions on systems/configurations?

Hi, eagle86bc! Welcome to your first post on this Bose L1 forum!

As I think about an a capella group of this size, an ideal setup might consist of 4 or 5 L1's -- with 3 as kind of an "ideal minimum".

Why? With a minimum of 3, there can be an aural "Left - Middle/Solo - Right" configuration to match the "staging" of a group that large.

One or two L1's would, in my opinion, be better than most any comparable "two speaker" setup, but could still be a bit frustrating to easily get "great" vocal reinforcement.

However, the biggest thing, in my mind, has to do with micing and the ways in which the group creates music.

-- Does the group "stand in place" (for any particular song), or do they move around, as performers in a musical stage show might?

-- Are there many solo/featured harmony singers in any song, or just one or two?

-- Do the "stage" areas typically have at least 10-15 feet available behind the singers? (The L1's would be best for a group of that size if they can be rather far behind the singers.)

If the answer to the first two questions is "YES" to all parts (lots of movement at times & lots of folks being featured within some songs), then you may want to give serious consideration to small "ear mics" (NOT lapel-type mics!) for everyone ... and that's a non-trivial expense.

Even using boom mics (for the non-featured singers), however, you may find the L1 Systems could really help if the mics can be higher than the top of the L1's (since the L1's project most of the sound horizontally and very little vertically, which can really help when micing voices -- voices *do* project vertically).