Power conditioners are paramount

[dhurley]

Just to let everyone know, if you haven't yet, go purchase a voltage corrector/power conditioner. I won't give the name of the manufacturer on here, but everyone knows the industry standard. It's a must-have. You're stick will have more dynamics, head-room, sound better and be more fidelic. You'll love it even more! : )

[Bill-at-Bose]

Hi All,

I hate to rain on anyone's parade, but we Bose designers do not believe that a power conditioner provides more headroom, dynamics, better sound, or more fidelity for our equipment.

There are a number of technical reasons for this that I won't go into online, but a good way to think of it is that we have already put in all the power conditioning required to make the products sound as good as possible.

Yeah, we thought of that

Bill

[Dan_Cornett]

... however ... if your "source" power fluctuates outside the 'design range', things can get weird.

Even if -- or, maybe especially if -- it's that big A/C compressor kicking in, or the massive stage lighting starts flashing, or lightning struck 4 blocks away, or ...

Failing 'surge strips' can introduce odd behavior, too, so don't forget about swapping "power strips" when diagnosing problems which you might initially think are just "audio signal" issues.

[mikez-at-bose]

Strange things can happen with power, like lightning strikes or A/C's kicking in on a poorly wired building, as Dan mentioned. These are really rare.

To mitigate these scarce events beyond what the L1 already provides would require a large power regulator with a battery back up supply. This is not something you will want to move to a gig.

As far as everyday fidelity being improved, Im sorry to say there will be no difference. In fact, we test for this sort of thing. If there is 'bad' power and the fidelity is degraded, its a sign of a faulty design or component.

This is not to say that the companies that make power conditioning equipment don't make good stuff, as Bill mentioned we already have the situation well under control inside the L1.

Mike

[captacoustic]

Aaaahhhh..... he sighs in the contentment of knowing Bose is watching his back...

[rainjaudon]

yea, like when the only available power source is shared by the restaurants freezers..

[theleo]

Sorry Bill and MikeZ...but I gotta go along with DHurley.
There is no question in my mind that I got better sounding results when I used a Furman power conditioner.

Now that being said. The reason I started back using the Furman, was because at my regular all season long resort gig, I had a bad power source that was causing my Tone Match to shut down and other wise act goofy.
I had been working this same stage for two months, two gigs per week and had problems the whole time but didn't know it until it got so bad it caused temporary system (Bose) failure.

After connecting the power conditioner all my problems went away and everything sounded more clear, stronger and just plain better.

Now back to DHurley's comment and with respect to Bill and MikeZ. I have not used it at other locations because, in my opinion, it was not needed....now didn't we all just win this discussion?

BTW...I just made my last payment and now it's mine all mine!!..buwaaa ha ha I'm a happy camper with the best and best sounding PA in the world and it's steady makin' money now

Leo Dean.con

[dhurley]

Yeah, there's no argument here. A good voltage regulator/power conditioner will always make things better in terms of consistency and fidelity. End of story. It's common knowledge that power straight from the wall is, well...not good. If you doubt me, simply book a four hour gig somewhere in which you're sharing the same circuit as the fridge in the club. Play the first set off the conditioner and the second set on it. The difference is staggering.

[dhurley]

Guys at Bose,

The flaw in your thinking is "strange things happening with power"...is rare. It happens all the time. Line sag and voltage compression is a very real thing and it's very, very audible. The gear performs much better on consistent power.

So much so, that when I was the only guy in my band who WAS conditioned...we simply couldn't dial in a mix. I was consistent and present sounding, while the other guys fluctuated in volume and tone all night. I even considered taking myself off of the conditioning unit for a while so that at least I would line-sag with the other guys. Since then, we've all gotten conditioned and been happy ever since. : ) To quote my other band-mate. "I can't even say that the conditioned power is better...it just works and unconditioned power doesn't."

[dhurley]

Guys at Bose,

In other words, your math may work on paper, but use your ears. : ) There's definitely a difference. : )