I do not what is happening, but does speakers get better as they Age. Lately, I have been hearing some warm sounds coming out of the Bose L1 Pro16. Or is it the Sound-craft analog mixer making it happen? Some of the drum sounds, especially snare is coming out of Korg pa3x extremely snappy and clean without over powering the other parts. Accordion too sounds warm. Is the newer arrangers and speakers getting to sharp sounded without the warmth of analog? Does adding an analog mixer, make a difference? As for me, will not change a thing. Customers never complain too loud. Yet they have mentioned they hear the music and hold a conversation.
Warm Sounds
- Thread starter KeysFla
- Start date
I have the Bose L1 Pro8, that has a similar design to the L1 Pro16, just that the Pro16 has more power with a larger base speaker and 8 more treble drivers in the line array. I am very satisfied with the Pro8. I always use the the L1 Pro8 and T4S mixer with my FR-8X. With the equalizer on the mixer, I can shape the sound to a nice smooth warm tone for the lows and can get cutting highs for the sharp percussion sounds. I take the Bose wherever I go, as there is no comparison between it and the 8X internal speakers.
I did a test with my Hammond B3 using the signal output from the preamp to drive my 122 Leslie and also to drive the Bose L1 Pro8. I was very surprised to find the Pro8 had a better low frequency response on the low pedal tones than the Leslie. Also, the 8 treble speaker line array had a better Tremolo than the rotating treble horn on the Leslie. NOTE: I use a Microvent 122 (Leslie simulator) in series with the FR-8X and the Bose Pro8.
I am going to sell my B3 and Leslie speaker now that I have the Roland. A big plus for me is the Roland and Bose are portable!
I did a test with my Hammond B3 using the signal output from the preamp to drive my 122 Leslie and also to drive the Bose L1 Pro8. I was very surprised to find the Pro8 had a better low frequency response on the low pedal tones than the Leslie. Also, the 8 treble speaker line array had a better Tremolo than the rotating treble horn on the Leslie. NOTE: I use a Microvent 122 (Leslie simulator) in series with the FR-8X and the Bose Pro8.
I am going to sell my B3 and Leslie speaker now that I have the Roland. A big plus for me is the Roland and Bose are portable!
Alan Sharkis
Well-known member
Back in the hi- fi days, the “experts” used to say that speakers mellow with age, but by age, they meant several decades. So, I suspect that something else changed.
boxplayer4000
Prolific poster
Everything else in the body seems to mellow with age, varying rates at varying ages. Could it not be the listener's ears that are 'mellowing'?
Speakers may mellow with age due to them perhaps not keeping up with the higher frequencies, but I think our own hearing gets more mellow with age more, due to our loss of hearing high frequencies. That said there are so many things we can tweak these days in terms of how the sound of an instrument gets manipulated before coming out of the actual speakers...
Something that would rather dramatically make the accordion come out more mellow through the Bose if the Tonematch preset goes from "accordion" to "bypass". I don't know if you use or think you use the accordion preset? That preset makes the sound that comes out of the Bose quite a bit less mellow, and I don't like it much at all, but when you listen to it from a distance (5-10 meters) it sounds a lot more like a real accordion than when the preset is disabled (set to bypass). Long ago my small accordion ensemble used two Bose L1 model 2 units, both with Tonematch engine, all set to accordion, and when we played in a quite large concert hall we were asked how it was possible that our accordions produced such loud sound without any evidence of using amplification other than that volume. That just illustrates how good not only the Bose is but also the Tonematch preset. I now mostly play the bass accordion, and for that I do not use the accordion preset.
I just got the Bose L1 pro8 in this morning (to replace a cheap bass amp I used at home) and it sounds really great. My only gripe is that when I plug it into an ungrounded power plug there is a faint hum, while on a grounded plug the unit stays completely silent. The older Bose L1 model 2 with Tonematch engine did not produce even the slightest hum. (Although I must admit that initially it did, but after I had the unit repaired for a different issue, in which case they simply replaced the main board, the repaired unit never produced any hum.)
Something that would rather dramatically make the accordion come out more mellow through the Bose if the Tonematch preset goes from "accordion" to "bypass". I don't know if you use or think you use the accordion preset? That preset makes the sound that comes out of the Bose quite a bit less mellow, and I don't like it much at all, but when you listen to it from a distance (5-10 meters) it sounds a lot more like a real accordion than when the preset is disabled (set to bypass). Long ago my small accordion ensemble used two Bose L1 model 2 units, both with Tonematch engine, all set to accordion, and when we played in a quite large concert hall we were asked how it was possible that our accordions produced such loud sound without any evidence of using amplification other than that volume. That just illustrates how good not only the Bose is but also the Tonematch preset. I now mostly play the bass accordion, and for that I do not use the accordion preset.
I just got the Bose L1 pro8 in this morning (to replace a cheap bass amp I used at home) and it sounds really great. My only gripe is that when I plug it into an ungrounded power plug there is a faint hum, while on a grounded plug the unit stays completely silent. The older Bose L1 model 2 with Tonematch engine did not produce even the slightest hum. (Although I must admit that initially it did, but after I had the unit repaired for a different issue, in which case they simply replaced the main board, the repaired unit never produced any hum.)
I use the Bose T4S Tonematch mixer set to accordion when I use the Bose with my Excelsior 960. The Bose set up really adds a new dimension to the sound of my 960.
For my Roland 8X, I have the Tonematch set to "bypass". At times I will use the Parametric EQ to reduce a resonance at a low frequency for a particular speaker arrangement. I really like the "zEQ" of the T4S with +/- 15 dB adjustment for the Low/Mid/High frequencies. There are the Treble & Bass adjustments on the Pro8, but they don't compare to what can be done with the T4S "zEQ".
The Pro8 was a big improvement over my L1 Compact with the higher power output, low frequency crossover at 200 Hz instead of 400 Hz and the "-3dB point" of 45 Hz instead of 65 Hz. Also, the L1 Compact could not supply power to the T4S. The Pro8 can and therefore saves me one cable as the Bose Tonematch cable supplies both the audio signal and power between the Pro8 and the T4S. When I play the 8X, I don't make adjustments on the T4S, so I place it right next to the Pro8. Bose only supplies their Tonematch cable in an 18 Ft. length. I really don't need that length. Once I realized the Tonematch cable was an Ethernet cable, I bought a 3 Ft. length of standard Ethernet cable. and it works fine.
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One of the big improvements was my mic. Used an Sm58 for years. But the Shure Beta 58c is a great upgrade for vocals. Super cardioid which I have the Bose almost behind me a bit to the side. Never a feedback problem. Very direct and covers a great spectrum of frequencies.
Do not use the Bose mixer but use Soundcraft Notepad 12FX. A basic analog mixer, have the Bose presets off. The Bose L16 has tight vertical control and less reflection of sound on hard ceilings. See photo.
Have to deal with a wooden ceiling. Would not change a thing at this point. No matter what we use, the best is what we are accustomed to.
Do not use the Bose mixer but use Soundcraft Notepad 12FX. A basic analog mixer, have the Bose presets off. The Bose L16 has tight vertical control and less reflection of sound on hard ceilings. See photo.
Have to deal with a wooden ceiling. Would not change a thing at this point. No matter what we use, the best is what we are accustomed to.
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You are right. Now I recall, I raised the gain on the mixer channels at their highest without clipping. A good rule to follow. Some mention that their Roland accordions distort at full volume. One part to look at is the EQ settings in the accordion. The gains may be set too high. I found the factory EQ settings on my FR4x work the best for me.
I don't like readjusting the Low/Mid/High gains on my T4S mixer. I use many different sounds/tones when I play out on my FR-8X. I set the T4S to the best overall sound with my Bose Pro8 and the 8X. I treat them as a "system" and tune accordingly. I never play my 8X with out the T4S and 8X. However, what I do, is adjust the on board software equalizer that Roland provides so that when I select an Accordion, Organ, or Orchestral sound it sounds good with the Equalizer setting I have in the T4S. For Example, for the orchestral Vibe tone on the 8X, it comes out too strong on the lower frequencies with a very strong "low end". So for the Vibe tone I have -12dB set at 200 Hz.
Speakers generally need to be "broken in", meaning that the centring spider and suspension achieves the elasticity and stiffness it is intended to have. That takes about a dozen of hours of use across the frequencies. Longer rest periods may cause some returning initial stiffness. The "mellowing with age" is the suspension system losing stiffness. The speakers will lose some high power capacity, they will gain in the mids and the low end and their reaction gets less precise. The audio engineer will not like the results, whether the user does depends on what they are using the speaker for. For instrument speakers (rather than reproduction systems), some changes may feel like an improvement.
If this speaker accepts software updates from the manufacturer, I would think that any DSP software changes that occur as part of those updates would be a more likely reason (than “break in”) for any subtle tonal changes you might notice over time.
