Our New System for Musicians

Playing live should be about the music, not the equipment. That's what's so great about acoustic performances. With no gear in the way, there's just the artist and the instrument. The audience also becomes part of the performance, active participants in a unique, exciting musical experience.

Nearly a decade ago Bose® engineers began researching ways to address the problems of performing live. Our study led to the new Personalized Amplification System™ family of products. This system breaks from convention with an entirely new way to play live. Instead of monitor, PA system and amplifier, musicians perform with the unique Cylindrical Radiator™ loudspeaker.

The setup

One of the frustrating things about conventional systems is the complex setup. In addition to three main components — monitor, PA and amplifier — there's a stack of cables and a mixing board, too.

Loading bulky equipment can take longer than the show, leaving you tired before you've played a single note. Audience members might not see these hassles, but with a stack of monstrous speakers they also don't see the band.

The new Bose system is compact and lightweight. Just place the Cylindrical Radiator loudspeaker into the power stand. Plug your instrument in and you're done. In less than a minute you've set up your system and can focus on what matters most—the music. The slender loudspeaker also opens up the stage and fans can see exactly what they're listening to.

The sound

Why do musicians step off stage and immediately say "how did we sound?"

Shouldn’t they know? Unfortunately they don't. Instead, they hear their instrument coming from a monitor while the audience hears a completely different mix of music from the PA system. What sounds good onstage might sound horrible in the crowd. And the sound guy controls the music, not the band, taking the quality of the performance away from each musician.

With the unique design of the Cylindrical Radiator™ loudspeaker, the band and audience hear the same natural sound. There’s no jumble of music from a mixing board, just the clear tone of each note from the instruments and vocals.

The experience

In a traditional system, fans at the front and back have a different experience. PA systems are designed to send out a conical pattern of sound that's very loud in the front, very quiet in the back. And audience members outside that defined area of sound get a very incomplete performance.

The Cylindrical Radiator loudspeaker has a radiation pattern of almost 180 degrees. That means that the band hears their own performance and the entire room gets the same rich sound. Deadspots are virtually eliminated and there's not a bad seat in the house.