Can't get enough of it!

The Bose L1 Compact simply sounds amazing. I use it for my one-man-band acoustic trop-rock act. The sound is so amazingly clear - I can hear myself again. I recently bought a second Compact to DJ. Two is better for more complete coverage (based on advice forums from the Bose site). I have yet to perform live with these but I am anxious to turn it up as another DJ wedding season approaches.

For my solo act, I put my guitar with effects in the 1/4" switched to guitar setting, my JamMan Looper to Volume pedal to the RCA stereo input and my headset (wired) mic to the XLR mic input. The sound is nothing short of astounding. i have been playing for three decades and wish this had come along sooner. Buy it - you won't regret it. If you need more power, get ther L1 Model 2 (on my wish list). Pricy but cheaper than buying a PA and Monitor system together.

Advice to buyers: if you buy this to play prerecorded DJ music do not use the XLR input. You must use the 1/4" input and switch it from guitar to line. The XLR is matched to a Shure 58 type mic and the tonematch modeler cannot be turned off. Initially, I thought mine was defective but found out from the Bose people how to set it up properly. The difference is mindblowing. I still have to boost the lows a bit but the sound is perfect for my-sized wedding events (100-200 people).

The price is for Bose sound, light weight and NO MONITORS NEEDED. Awesome product.

An Awesome First Gig with this Bose!!

I had a once in a lifetime chance to host a backup Andy Mckee and Antoine Dufour concert in Houston a few weeks ago and decided to get (2) Bose L1 Compacts to use for the show. We ran all the instruments through a mixer and then to the Bose. The sound was incredible, as was the music. I will use these in my shows in the future, I love the clean, clear sound...

PERFECT & CLEAR SOUND

I GOT BUY 2/11/2012 ( sat )
listern to classic music everyday

sound is good & clear
i like it bose L1 SPEAKER

The Best in Sound

We have been using Bose equipment for performing for a while now.We have several Bose systems L1 w/ the T1 as well as the L1 compact. After taking a little time getting to know the system we have changed to totally using the Bose systems. Our fans always make a comment on the way we sound as performers and the way the amps sound as a system.
A Thank you to the Bose people

Great !

From the first time I set it up (effortlessly) I was really impressed with this system. Using it with a duo, and playing small venues, it really is just what we needed. Thanks to my rep Bob Mondok for directing me toward the Bose. It sounds absolutely great!!

Best PA Ever!

I am primarily a single act, keyboard and vocals, but also put together duos, trios and quartets for larger venues. I used the Bose 302 system for over 20 years with great satisfaction and success. In 2006 I switched to the EV ZX-1 and was very pleased with it. Last year, I ordered a pair of L-1 Compact systems, and I can say without reservation that it is the best system I've ever used.

Advantages:

- Throw out your monitors, hotspots, monitor amps, and all associated cabling, you won't need them. Speaker stands are no longer needed. Setup time is reduced by 30%.

- Mixing of various instruments is much simplified, everyone hears the overall mix, as it is spread out by the two systems. Arguments about someone playing too loud go away, everyone clearly hears their individaul part. Feedback rarely is an issue.

- No more heavy lifting. System is light, compact and easy to set up. Used just one in a hall with about 200 people, and it was adequate for a monoral DJ setup.

- The sound is very clear and precise. I believe it takes my live performances to a new level.

Disadvantages:

- Few, price being pehaps the biggest one.

- Low end response. With one system, it is adequate for most venues, with two it is much improved. If you want a bass that will give you a punch in the gut, and additional sub is recommended, especially for loud metal or hard rock.

- Shape: Why can't this be a rectangular box that can be stacked, or placed on its side? It would be easy to put a rim along the top rear edge that would protect the controls while making the system stackable during transport. The egg shape in the horizontal plane allows the system to shift around in transit, and it requires it's own unique space in my van. Bose has brilliant engineers, they could address this issue without adding much additional weight.

This is the sound I was looking for!

I tried two less expensive (500.00 range) PA systems before getting the L1 Compact. The first two less expensive (Yamaha stage pass and a Samson XP308) systems just sounded muddy. They just sounded cheap to tell you the truth. No matter what we did the sound was just not clear at all. We play two acoustic guitars and two vocals - sometimes with backing tacks.

When we switched over to the Bose System - the difference was amazing! The sound was crystal clears. Every little strum and breath was right up front. It was just incredible how much better it sounded. This unit is worth every penny!

Big shout out to Carson McClain (our sales engineer) for helping us get the sound that we have been looking for!

Amazing sound and portability!

Excellent! Well worth the price. The sound quality is amazing! Love the portability! The purchasing experience with Sweetwater was excellent as well!

Crisp clear sound may need special mic

I had to find the right mic to reduce the tinny sound in mid to upper range vocals. Because my voice is trained and bright, I could not take the treble out enough until Bose suggested I use a mic with minimal dB increase in the upper frequencies. I now have the Audio-Technica ATM410 mic and am ecstatic with the true, smooth, clear sound of the total system.

Fantastic Sound System

This is actually the second Bose L1 Compact I own. The first is about two years old and works perfectly, but I wanted a spare just in case something happened to the first or if I really needed to fill an extremely large space. So far, my single Bose L1 Compact has filled any and all spaces where I've needed it including several outdoor gigs. It's powerful and SO quick and easy to set up. I very highly recommend it to anyone who is tired of lugging around two heavy speakers, a mixer, speaker stands, extra cables, etc.

Great Product for Zumba!

Purchased the Bose compact for my wife to use with her Zumba classes. While it sounded great in the guitar room I was skeptical about it's ability to fill the room at one of her venues which is a gymnasium!
Just wanted to testify, the Bose Compact does the job! Fills the room with clear sound and plenty of room to spare on the volume control. No db loss in the far corners as we had with the old 500 watt system and standard speakers. The low end thump this little unit pumps out in this big room is also amazing.
One of her venues is outdoors, and the Bose preforms awesome there as well!

Another deciding factor for our purchase was the portability, and the Bose Compact is great in that regard as well (now if I don't want to go with her to a 'gig', I won't feel guilty for not lugging the "system" in for her)! Think of that, she can take in her entire PA system, in one trip, and still has a free hand to open the door!

Great product! I know there are a lot of Zumba instructors out there who would benefit from this product!

Astonishing Sound

I've owned Bose systems since 1984. I am a very busy musician, averaging over 225 gigs per year for the last 15 years. I do a wide range of keyboard and vocal performances with a working repertoire of about 1200 songs, from the 40s through the 80s.

I've used the Bose 802s until I recently switched to the EV ZX-1s in 2006. I have two pairs of these and two different subwoofers that I can configure for wide variety of venues. I was very pleased with the ZX-1s, but was curious about the new Bose L1 Compact.

I use an older Clavinova as a MIDI platform for a Motif ES rack, but use rhythms and bass tones from the Clav. I also use volume control pedals to layer in a palette of secondary voices, from stings to organs and brass. I have two channels of secondary voices with each primary voice. I also have a Casio PX-320 that work very well as a stand-alone instrument, and I use the same layering technique with it. Needless to say, there is a lot going on in my performances, although everything is done live except the drum tracks, which are controlled by a footswitch.

Last night was my first performance with my new pair of L1 Compacts. I tested them out in my practice area and was very impressed with the decent bass and very clear highs. After just a few tests, I realized that I could flatten the EQ on almost everything and still get a very full sound, most particularly the vocals. I took a lot of high and low EQ off and most of the reverb , but still had a very natural-sounding voice.

I went to my venue and removed the EVs and a small sub that I used with them. I was very impressed at how clean the setup is once I removed my monitors and the speaks and stands.

When I ran the system up, the impression that I got was that I was in a room that was perfectly acoustic and that there was nothing between me and the audio that was being created. That night, I had a couple of regulars come by to give the L1s a critical listen. They all commented on how they heard individual voicings in a way they never had before. The commented on the clean and transparent sound. From my perspective, the setup gave me a tremendous amount of confidence in what I was doing because I could hear everything in its final mix state and could make corrections on the fly to make it just like I wanted it to sound.

I think my vocals were significantly better than with any previous setup, because I usually spread the mains out and rely on my monitors to "hear myself", which isn't always a completely accurate way of knowing what the mains actually sound like.

Bottom line, this system is an absolute masterpiece of engineering, convenience, and sonic clarity. Perhaps the best testimonial was that in the afternoon when I was setting up and doing snippets of some of my songs, I had a couple of stragglers from the lunch hour come by and leave me some nice tips!

I think this system will take my live performances to a new level. It was refreshing that there were no complaints about the volume level and many compliments about the sound. Thank you, Bose, for a great piece of equipment.

My recommendation: Buy one! No, beter yet...buy two!

Outstanding Piece

I have produced/composed/programmed since 1999 and purchased a wide variety of studio equipment over the years. Buying the compact was one of the best buying decisions I ever made.

Renting the PA equipment to play music for my own wedding would have cost me over $250, and I didn't see the point in blowing that money on something I had to return. So, I figured I would get my own PA system. After looking at several cabs, I read many reviews on this unit and became convinced.

It has sufficient headroom and has a clear sound. This will not give you stereo (buy two, then you have both L and R), but dispersion is wide enough to make you feel like you aren't listening to just one speaker (about 6 or 7 drivers are installed in the top array). I use a 1/4" to 1/4" cable going from my Allen and Heath board that sends a mono sum to the 1/4" input on the L1 and it sounds great. The cable is balanced TRS and going into an unbalanced input on the L1, but I like overkill. =) If you need extra bass, add a little in your mixer and you are good to go. You won't quad with this unit, but you will have good, clear bass. Clear sound all around, and it gets loud, too. It takes quite a bit for this unit to clip and distort. Don't underestimate its capabilities... I thought it might sound like some glorified computer speaker, but man was I wrong. Being from Chicago, the design actually reminds me of the Sears Tower.

Excellent value. Strongly recommended. And thanks for the candy, Sweetwater.

Versatile unit, gorgeous sound

Outstanding sound and portability. It's really designed primarily for a solo singer/guitarist with or without tracks, but a lot of us are using it as a PA and it's great. So portable! I use it (in collapsed mode)as a 23-lb kybd amp for my laptop Reason/Selig B3 and it delivers the organ bass like you wouldn't believe.

If you're a singer and want the best sound you can get, place two of these behind you on either side of the band, crank it, feed the main PA if you have to, and the band will love your vocals and you will HEAR your vocals like never before. Not designed for metal or high-volume gigs, though. It is what it is.

If you sing jazz or acoustic music, look no further. Perfect for small to medium venues. The silhouette is so slim it practically disappears against a dark background. Perfect for female singers - carry it in with one hand and show up with outstanding sound without being at the mercy of whatever PA is at the gig. Sounds studio-like in quality, especially when used in conjunction with a small mixer and a nice condensor mic. I use a condensor and have no feedback problems at all standing three feet to the side, two feet in front of it!

Cons: while the bass response is pretty good for an 8" woofer, it is not chest-thumping. I have a JBL EON 18" sub I use with the two Compacts and it is unreal good. Others use Yorkville, K-sub and get good results. Does not have phantom power, but you'll probably end up using a smal mixer with it anyway. Preamping the signal before going into the Bose makes a lot of difference. Proper gainstaging really pays off with this unit. I do not like the sound of my Strat through a Rat into this. Sounds fizzy. Maybe the small speakers just aren't cutting it for me. Acoustic is awesome, though. Backing trax and pre-recorded music sounds excellent.

Bose L1 Compact is True and Unbelievable Sound

UnbelievableI have used other Bose L! systems and found that they were not what I needed for larger performances. How ever I was in GC and tried my Godin Grand Concert SA guitar, and was blown away with how the sound filled the room. Im a Flamenco/Classical/Rock and Jazz guy who is crazy about tone and clarity, This system has it all. Im glad that Mark Magdich recommend it and thought it would work for what I needed. I wanted a small system that was easy to transport for smaller venues. I pulled the L1 out of the box, set it up in less that 1 min, Plugged in the power cord and that was it. The Godin, and all the synths sound great. I will be using it this weekend and think this will make my life much easier. For me the fact that there are no speakers in the middle of the column are great theres noting hitting the guitar and I think this helps keep the bass separate from the treble freq. I am really happy and will be keeping my Bose L1. And you cant beet the 3 payment option to get one of these. Thanks Mark and Sweetwater.

V

Unbelievable

Just used this for the first time Friday night. I can't believe how good this unit sounds. I played a little cafe that has their own cheap PA; however, I elected to bring this to try out. It blowed away there setup. It sounds like whatever you plug into it. I used an EV wireless mic and my gibson J45. After the show, everyone was coming up to take a look at the Bose L1. Some people actually thought I daisy chain the cafe's rear speaker into the unit..that's how good it was.

L1 Compact exceeded my expectations...

I took delivery of my L1 Compact about a month ago...I have basically been using it in my home and have taken it to various locations to test it out. I even took it to work (I am a paramedic full time) and amazed my co-workers with the sound quality. They found it unbelievable that a unit that size could produce such amazingly clear and crisp sound. Our ambulance station is fairly large and I had the gain control turned less than a quarter of the way up...the sound filled the room, in fact was a bit overwhelming so I had to make adjustments using the volume control on my laptop.
Now for the real test. I did my first gig with the L1 Compact this past weekend. I was a bit apprehensive and was almost tempted to bring a back up system along just in case the L1 didn't put out enough power to handle the room. The gig was an open house event at a local fire station. The room was a very large "barn type structure" used to house fire trucks. The fire apparatus had been pulled out and the room was outfitted with picnic tables, kids games, small carnival rides etc. My DJ rig was set up in the corner of the room..I positioned the L1 Compact in front of my table. I got to the event an hour early and after set-up there were only about 15 - 20 people there. I was a bit nervous when I did my sound check, afterall this wasn't a room with optimum acoustics. My system utilizes a single space rack mounted Rolls mic/source mixer which allows me to mix in 3 mics and several audio sources. I powered everything up and turned the volume on the L1 Compact up to half volume. I cued up a song, started the player on Traktor software and began raising the volume on the mixer. To my surprise, I filled the room with awesome "Bose quality" music and barely turned the mixer knob up to 1/4 volume. I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew then that my L1 was going to be more than enough PA for this event. As guests started to arrive, the ambient noise with all of the kids games, rides, etc was pretty high. I just kept tweaking the music volume to stay above the noise. There were no less than 200 people in the room throughout most of the event I did a walk around the room and was very pleased to find that the music coverage was very consistent. I had many positive comments about the sound and when I pointed to the L1 unit people generally took a double-take and say, "you mean all of that sound is coming from that?". I would just laugh and say, "Yeah, amazing isn't it".
The L1 Compact completely exceeded my expectations. The Bose company rates this product for venues of up to 100 people...I am here to tell you it will do way beyond that. I plan to purchase a second unit in a couple of months. This should be all of the shound reinforcment that I should ever need. I am just waiting to see how it will perform at an outdoor show. I am a very happy Bose customer.

Perfect!!! (for me)

I have been playing/gigging with the Bose L1 (original Model 1 with v2 tonematch settings) and 2 subs for the past 3 years and absolutely loved the sound. We used it in a three piece setting where each of us had our own. As the lead singer and guitarist, I would use a Taylor 814ce and T5, Beta 58A, and Boss ME70. I rarely had to go pass half volume in rooms of 300-500 people.
When I first got a glimpse of the compact, I immediately wrote it off as being underpowered for my needs. Then my neighbors each got one and it knocked me off of my feet - not so much the power, but the fidelity was completely absurd (in a good way). The portability was also a bonus, so... I'm now in the process of selling my original L1 with subs and my Roland AC60 which now has been replaced by the compact without the extensions. I've actually made money on the deal!
By the way, get the T1 with the compact - you'll understand once you start playing out with it. Bose designed this thing so that the T1 is a necessity if you want a master volume or if you use a condenser mic.

BOSE L1 Compact

This audio system is pure top of the line engineering from design to sound quality. I would recommend this audio system to any performing musician out there. It will make your presentation be exceptional, even for thoses places where they don't want you to be loud. I have it for 3 weeks so far and I am extremely happy with it. I have mainly used it for indoors presentation and it has performed very well. Don't know yet how good it will be for outdoors, but I expect it to be not much of a difference. I don't know why did I wait so long to buy it. If it is within your budget, you should definately get it.

L1

I have the Model I and Model II systems as well, and just purchased the new compact model. The compact model has more high end and less bottom than the other two systems. However, the sound works great with my Motif XS as well as with an iPod. I haven't performed in a medium-large venue to test the sound fall off that apparently occur with the compact. However, I just love these Bose systems.

Paid for itself

I bought the Bose L1 in January of 2012 and it has already paid for itself. I get more gigs than ever, partly because of the versatility and great sound of this system. I can play small cafes and bars, without blowing the audience out the doors. I've even played large convention rooms without turning up too far past the midline. The sound is amazing. The only changes I would like would be to have more versatility without shelling out $499 for the ToneMatch. When I play with a standup bass player I have to use a mixer and run the line out into the guitar side of the L1. It's not that big a deal, though, and the sound is still great. If you are a working musician this system is like having a soundman and a roadie in the trunk of your car, without the personnel problems.

Greater Unit weith the Tone match

Boise has the best speakers around. I think we all know that by now. I bought the L1 compact with the Tone Match mixer and although it seemed alright with just the L2 compact I wasn't blown away until I hooked up the Tone Match unit with it. It totally transform the sound to a rich full sound. Although I tried to download the other presets into the Tone Match unit and it would only keep two of the guitar schemes. haven't researched it yet but it is probably something wrong. I would strongly suggest spending the extra $499 for the Tone Match.

Really impressed

I tried the L1 Compact for the first time last weekend at a Community Center in front of an audience of more than 200 people. I played solo. My tracks totally filled up the room. There were quite a few speeches. The speakers could clearly be heard all accross and in the back of the room. I'm really impressed the system. I'm planning to buy another one as soon as possible for even bigger sound. Can't wait to play my next gig.