From k2mojo@groovedaddies.com Tue May 31 10:45:16 2005
Subject:OT: A really small subwoofer? & Bose & HotSpots

As I was reading Walter's post the Bose subs came to mind, mainly just because I got to see the Bose system in use for the first
time, and it was set up in kind of a unique way. I just recently saw the Todd Rundgren/Joe Jackson tour in St. Louis and this show
is just Rundgren on guitar, Jackson on piano and a string quartet backing them up - no band and primarily acoustic oriented. The
venue (the old Orpheum Theater) had a traditional P.A. set up for the audience, but onstage monitors were three of the Bose systems,
with two of the towers placed upright in each back corner of the stage, and the third tower was laid on it's side at the front edge
of the stage and pointed back at the performers, which I thought was pretty clever. If you already know what one of these looks
like, you can imagine that it made for a very low profile for the front monitors - you had to look for it just to see it. I've
since read an interview with Rundgren where he sings the praises of this system and I can see why performers who move around a lot
(like he generally does) would prefer it.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure that you can't use just the sub from the Bose system by itself (without spending $$ for the PS1 power
stand), but I can certainly see the usefulness of a small powered sub just like it. For a short while I borrowed a pair of Galaxy
HotSpots to try as personal monitors for my live keyboard rig, and while they were plenty loud and I could hear what I was playing
(in stereo!), there was absolutely no bottom end. For one gig as an experiment I used them in tandem with one of my Mackie SRS1500
subs, and actually that sounded great, but there's no way I'm hauling one of those around - the whole point of the HotSpots was to
lighten my load, not add a 90lb. subwoofer. At the time though, I was thinking that a pair of HotSpots and a more suitable
(smaller) powered sub might make a great little personal monitor system for a keyboard player who wants to hear himself in stereo
and keep his overall stage volume to a minimum. I imagine that if such a small powered sub for pro musical application doesn't yet
exist, it probably will soon if there's a market for it.

Ed Fliege
k2mojo@groovedaddies.com

(Peter wrote)
> FYI... The B1 Bass Module for the Bose PAS system ("tower"speaker) runs in
> conjuction with the P1 Power Base (tube included). The entire package runs
> under $2K. I use the setup with my ES6 and have gigged extensively with it
> for over a year now and have been thrilled with the sound quality and
> coverage. -Peter

(Norm wrote)
> Walter, check out the Bose sub that goes with their "tower" speaker. www.bose.com

> Does anyone know of something in this product line or similar that
> would work along with the simplest, least expensive basic electronic
> item to get you that subwoofer out from your regular keyboard line
> outputs? I'm pretty sure some of the one-man-band and keyboard/guitar
> duo musicians that play more in community service venues vs lining up
> gigs use sound systems closer to "surround sound" with a sub as part
> of the keyboard's system or the little all-inclusive system PA's. I'd
> really like to give something smaller a try on occasion for some
> dinky little joints me and one or two friends can play without
> hauling my DB500 or similar just to get "a little" more bottom end,
> bass thump : ) All info/tips greatly appreciated. Walter j