Put simply, perspective matters.

I have the priveledge of knowing a few people who are themselves very well known, or enough "inside the business" that they're opinions hold some weight with me.

I recall a friend of mine who worked for Bill Graham Productions noting the fact that more people attend a live music performance of some kind with an audience of under 2000 each week than attend musical performances with audiences over 2000 during any 5-year period.. That's an important figure, and if even marginally accurate reflects a reality of which precious few are aware.

The perspective provided by that demographic breakdown reflects the reality that there is a fundamental flaw in the way musical amplification is usually thought of: the design process of sound reinforcement equipment is unnaturally weighted towards design "requirements" having almost nothing to do with the needs of the vast majority of artists and audience members.

Breaking this notion down further for clarity ... the traditional "3-tier" system is almost exclusively designed for the dictates of larger venues. The physical separation of artist and listener is unnatural on its face, and an "unannatural" approach to sound amplification is is the only way to balance all of the competeing factors.

The opposite is true for smaller venues. The physical distance is much smaller, and the only requirement for amplification is "the same sound, only louder". Traditional 3-tier systems actually work against this.

In my own case, I attend a church with a main hall seating 5,000 or so people. The primary worship leader is a nationally known recording artist of some stature, definately a "rock star" type. Playing "rock" style music for worship to a hall that size actually requires an unnatural approach to amplification. Thankfully, we have the budget to provide said same. Nationally known Christian acts (Jars of Clay, Delirious, Toby Mac, etc.) are able to play this venue without need to bring their own FOH systems.

Other parts of the church's ministry are object lessons for the Bose approach. I play in a band consisting of Acoustic, Electric, Bass, Drums + 3 vocalists for 2 of the children's programs. We have "AWANA" in one room on Tuesday nights, and "Powerhouse" on Sunday mornings.

The room where AWANA meets has an installed system consisting of 2x Mackie SRM450 + 18" Mackie subwoofer. Mackie SRM350 are available as floor wedges, and a Yamaha O1r is the mixing desk. We used this system all of last year (prior to my buying the Bose) and it was a consistant hassle. This is all high-quality equipment, adn completely incapabale of producing "good sound" without hours of fiddling and tweaking. Change ONE factor, like a guest speaker who simply wants to roam about a little more, and all bets are off: feedback, hollow sound and inconsistant volume are the rules, not the exceptions.

This year I brought the Bose PAS (single bass) into this room, and we are consitantly able to produce quality sound with minimal effort. The overall onstage volume is lower, but volume throughout the room is consistant and it just plain sounds good. The size of the "audience" is about 50 to 75.

Powerhouse is held in a different room, hosting about 100 to 200. The house system there consists of a very nice Yamaha mixer, OSC amps for both mains and monitors, and speakers sufficient to the task.

It sounds awful. Just. Plain. Awful. We spent 2.5 hours fooling around with everything Saturday night in a desperate bid to get useful sound out of this equipment.

I'm bringing the Bose next week. I know it'll sound great, and it'll take all of about 15 minutes to set up. It'll be PLENTY loud.

I consider the needs of that small 4-piece band trying to break into the business. Are their needs better served by traditional amplification, or by something that allows them to sound good for most of the venues thay are likely to play?

I am well aware of the real and imagined limitations of Bose equipment in the minds of professional soundmen. The "BOSE = Bring Other Sound Equipment" and "No highs, no lows, it MUST be Bose!" sentiments are not entirely without merit, they are simply overblown beyond proportion.

For the VAST majority of live music being played by the VAST majority of musicians ... the Bose solution is simply superior in real world applications.

- dansgold, March 27, 2006 -

full thread here