What does bose controller do?

[brittjerry]

Hello,

Could someone explain exactly what a Bose "controller" does please? I have sort of inherited one for our church PA system and need to understand what it does and whether I actually need it or not?

Thanks,

 

[MEgamer]

it wont be needed for such PA system.

 

[brittjerry]

Ideal - thanks. As a matter of interest it appears to be a glorified graphic of some sort adjusting frequencise for the BOSe speaker nuits - is that correct?

 

[MEgamer]

ye, its nothing special... its just got its bose name on it

 

[brittjerry]

thank you!

 

[jacobboe89]

it is most likely an equalizer made to use with 402's or 802's . the response curve of a full range driver is typically lacking on the highs and lows and has plenty of mids . that being said an equalizer is the way to overcome these characteristics to acheive a flat response which in essence is clean clear balanced sound .

 

[MEgamer]

equalizing, always results in pushing the speaker over its natural response limit.

 

[jacobboe89]

sometimes , but definitely not always . sometimes the amplifier is a fault for this there is a relation between the speakers and the amplifier driving them . yes the more you boost any one frequency on any eq essentially the more you are asking of the speaker and the amplifier driving. now it also depends on how you use the equalizer , a lot of people start by boosting frequencies , where as i prefer to cut frequencies that are a nuisance to my ear .

now as for the bose 901's 802's 402's which is what the bose controller probably was intended for these are all very hungry for high current power they want a lot of wattage, and if they aren't powered adequately they will cause the amp to clip out instead of playing low bass and the rest of the sound would just be otherwise lacking .

 

[MEgamer]

they are power hungry, yet they also have durable drivers, which was the main reason, that these speakers are used in most indoor venues... or just a PA system like in theme parks.

 

[Emad_06]

Hello,

Could someone explain exactly what a Bose "controller" does please? I have sort of inherited one for our church PA system and need to understand what it does and whether I actually need it or not?

Thanks,

They are intended to use with bose 802 series speakers. i own a pair of them

 

[markwalford]

The Bose 900 series hifi speakers and the 800, 400 and 500 series pro audio speakers are all based on the original bose 900 hifi unit from the 1960's, and the "direct / reflecting" sound concept of Dr Bose.(prof. at MIT)
The idea was to use multiple smaller drivers to gain a more even mid/ high frequency distribution (multiple smaller drivers arranged on a curve act a bit like a point source but with a wider dispersion than the normal 90 degree or so of a standard coaxial driver) The bass was the same, as that is primarily a factor of the square inch of driver area, and the distance the cone will move, this determines the amount of air the speaker can move. The original idea was to bounce the 8 drivers off the wall behind the speaker to recreate the indirect sound in a concert hall, with a single forward facing driver to give the "direct" sound.
when the live sound engineers (often for jazz events) started using them the "wrong way round" as monitors, Bose created the 800 as a "proper" version.
I guess the multiple drivers reduced the "hot spot" that can cause feedback problems with live events.
Thats the potted history.......

The problem with this sort of deign occurs when balancing the stiffness of the cone and the other design factors that fight each other to get bass and treble off the same driver, so the EQ unit was invented to compensate.
So yes, it adds bass and treble, but it is an essential part of the speaker design, else the frequency response will be anything but flat.
The old adage of " no highs no lows , it must be bose" dates back to the early days of the 802 when folk saw the 200 w rating on the cabinet and matched the amplifier to that, not realising that a 500w amp delivers the extra current the system needs to sound good. As long as you don't clip the amps, a 1kw amp driving a couple of stacked pair of bose 802 can sound remarkably good against the current opposition, especially so when you are comparing a basically 1960's design with the latest.
Yes you need a sub (thats what the 302/502 mb4 bins are for!!) to get real lows, but the same would apply for most 12 inch and horn cabs.

The latest digital controllers not only have presets for practically every bose speaker, they are also a lot quieter and more accurate an eq curve, and also include some important additional processing such as limiting.

Hope this helps to give a broader picture that is relatively unbiased!!

YMMV.
disclaimer.... I worked as the system design engineer for Bose for a couple of years about 20 years ago....... but do not own any bose gear these days!!

 

[snake666]

Hello,Do you still have the Bose unit as I am after one. Thanks

Could someone explain exactly what a Bose "controller" does please? I have sort of inherited one for our church PA system and need to understand what it does and whether I actually need it or not?

Thanks,

 

[JackFXC]

The Bose 900 series hifi speakers and the 800, 400 and 500 series pro audio speakers are all based on the original bose 900 hifi unit from the 1960's, and the "direct / reflecting" sound concept of Dr Bose.(prof. at MIT)
The idea was to use multiple smaller drivers to gain a more even mid/ high frequency distribution (multiple smaller drivers arranged on a curve act a bit like a point source but with a wider dispersion than the normal 90 degree or so of a standard coaxial driver) The bass was the same, as that is primarily a factor of the square inch of driver area, and the distance the cone will move, this determines the amount of air the speaker can move. The original idea was to bounce the 8 drivers off the wall behind the speaker to recreate the indirect sound in a concert hall, with a single forward facing driver to give the "direct" sound.
when the live sound engineers (often for jazz events) started using them the "wrong way round" as monitors, Bose created the 800 as a "proper" version.
I guess the multiple drivers reduced the "hot spot" that can cause feedback problems with live events.
Thats the potted history.......

The problem with this sort of deign occurs when balancing the stiffness of the cone and the other design factors that fight each other to get bass and treble off the same driver, so the EQ unit was invented to compensate.
So yes, it adds bass and treble, but it is an essential part of the speaker design, else the frequency response will be anything but flat.
The old adage of " no highs no lows , it must be bose" dates back to the early days of the 802 when folk saw the 200 w rating on the cabinet and matched the amplifier to that, not realising that a 500w amp delivers the extra current the system needs to sound good. As long as you don't clip the amps, a 1kw amp driving a couple of stacked pair of bose 802 can sound remarkably good against the current opposition, especially so when you are comparing a basically 1960's design with the latest.
Yes you need a sub (thats what the 302/502 mb4 bins are for!!) to get real lows, but the same would apply for most 12 inch and horn cabs.

The latest digital controllers not only have presets for practically every bose speaker, they are also a lot quieter and more accurate an eq curve, and also include some important additional processing such as limiting.

Hope this helps to give a broader picture that is relatively unbiased!!

YMMV.
disclaimer.... I worked as the system design engineer for Bose for a couple of years about 20 years ago....... but do not own any bose gear these days!!

Thanks so much Mark - this was very clear and to the point and helped me understand both the design aims and limitations of the speakers and the processing need for the controller.

 

[weebs2004]

The Bose 900 series hifi speakers and the 800, 400 and 500 series pro audio speakers are all based on the original bose 900 hifi unit from the 1960's, and the "direct / reflecting" sound concept of Dr Bose.(prof. at MIT)
The idea was to use multiple smaller drivers to gain a more even mid/ high frequency distribution (multiple smaller drivers arranged on a curve act a bit like a point source but with a wider dispersion than the normal 90 degree or so of a standard coaxial driver) The bass was the same, as that is primarily a factor of the square inch of driver area, and the distance the cone will move, this determines the amount of air the speaker can move. The original idea was to bounce the 8 drivers off the wall behind the speaker to recreate the indirect sound in a concert hall, with a single forward facing driver to give the "direct" sound.
when the live sound engineers (often for jazz events) started using them the "wrong way round" as monitors, Bose created the 800 as a "proper" version.
I guess the multiple drivers reduced the "hot spot" that can cause feedback problems with live events.
Thats the potted history.......

The problem with this sort of deign occurs when balancing the stiffness of the cone and the other design factors that fight each other to get bass and treble off the same driver, so the EQ unit was invented to compensate.
So yes, it adds bass and treble, but it is an essential part of the speaker design, else the frequency response will be anything but flat.
The old adage of " no highs no lows , it must be bose" dates back to the early days of the 802 when folk saw the 200 w rating on the cabinet and matched the amplifier to that, not realising that a 500w amp delivers the extra current the system needs to sound good. As long as you don't clip the amps, a 1kw amp driving a couple of stacked pair of bose 802 can sound remarkably good against the current opposition, especially so when you are comparing a basically 1960's design with the latest.
Yes you need a sub (thats what the 302/502 mb4 bins are for!!) to get real lows, but the same would apply for most 12 inch and horn cabs.

The latest digital controllers not only have presets for practically every bose speaker, they are also a lot quieter and more accurate an eq curve, and also include some important additional processing such as limiting.

Hope this helps to give a broader picture that is relatively unbiased!!

YMMV.
disclaimer.... I worked as the system design engineer for Bose for a couple of years about 20 years ago....... but do not own any bose gear these days!!

Hi Mark,

All being said, do you have power recommendations for running a system with two 802 mains, two mb4 subs and panaray controller? Thanks, Eric

 

[Renkus Bose]

Hi - The Bose 502C Controller equalizes the speakers for optimum sound quality, and also provides a crossover.

I would only bypass it if you have another EQ that you can program to emulate the same settings.

You will need 6 Band Parametric EQ + LF roll-off and maybe HF roll-off to enter these settings.

Here are the settings for the high speakers (502A):

LOW CUT BW 18dB/Oct - 112Hz
HIGH CUT BW 24dB/Oct - 20kHz

Parametric EQ:
Boost 2.5dB BW 0.7 Freq 126 Hz
Cut 5.1dB BW 1.6 Freq 282 Hz
Cut 2.4dB BW 1.7 Freq 799 Hz
Cut 3.5dB BW 2.2 Freq 2.51 kHz
Boost 6.3dB BW 0.9 Freq 5.01 kHz
Boost 12.9dB BW 1.25 Freq 14.1 kHz

This should sound exactly like the 502C sounds.

Cheers Craig

Hello,Do you still have the Bose unit as I am after one. Thanks

Could someone explain exactly what a Bose "controller" does please? I have sort of inherited one for our church PA system and need to understand what it does and whether I actually need it or not?

Thanks,