Bose Cylindrical Radiator - what is it?

[TheoM]

Bose cylindrical radiator

This is out-there. Obviously some sort of line source - but is it a piezo, or what? Very strange. What moves air?

[joe carrow]

I was able to have a close look at one (and have a listen) in a guitar shop once, and they appear to be regular drivers in a line array- nothing special. I was able to walk across the store as it was playing at a decent volume, and the transition from nearfield to farfield was observable, but at least 20 or so feet from the device.

Overall, I think it could be an OK monitor on stage. It would probably allow a small area of solid monitoring without any extreme SPL hotspots that performers would want to stay away from. Considering that $1,700 gets a visually attractive, portable, self powered monitor- I say that it's of decent value. You could probably DIY a bit cheaper, and it's not the last word in sound quality- but for a a few acoustic instruments that need to hear each other and travel light, you could do a lot worse.

Oh- and your question "what moves the air?" -it's probably just the Bose marketing talk that's got you thinking this is anything unusual! I could see surrounds and dustcaps on what looked to be 2 to 4 inch (what a spread! but, it's been a while) drivers.

Joe

[imix500]

It's possible that they use the same drivers from thier line array in a smaller configuration with built in amplification. (Bose likes to reuse drivers and claim they are custom made for that enclosure) If so, they sound ok but nothing to write home to mom about. And forget about anything below 100Hz.

[TheoM]

Interesting. You can't see the drivers in the Picture.I thought they had wrapped a piezo membrane on a pole or something.

I am thinking of doing an array for bass but using a bunch of 10's - a line array for live/ stage. It makes sence for small club work where you don't have a Big PA, and you want to send more sound to the room and less to the stage. We were thinking of making a long skinny box that folds in half or thirds. Then you open it up like one of those woodworking rulers and preseto, instant line array. Any thoughts? Ted.

[joe carrow]

Originally posted by TheoM
Interesting. You can't see the drivers in the Picture.I thought they had wrapped a piezo membrane on a pole or something.

I am thinking of doing an array for bass but using a bunch of 10's - a line array for live/ stage. It makes sence for small club work where you don't have a Big PA, and you want to send more sound to the room and less to the stage. We were thinking of making a long skinny box that folds in half or thirds. Then you open it up like one of those woodworking rulers and preseto, instant line array. Any thoughts? Ted.

I think it's a great idea- you ought to get a lot of sensitivity out of something like that. Definitely read up on the theory behind line arrays as they relate to frequency- it would be an expensive thing to do wrong. Key point- horizontal dispersion is only as good as the individual drivers. 8" drivers might be a better choice for a portable line array if it will play very high.

Also, just from a mechanical perspective- i think you would be far better off to have seperate boxes that connect to each other with screws or bolts or clamps or a frame- not a hinge like a carpenter's ruler. Something that stacks well. Take a look at how the pros do it- they tend to hang line arrays from big scaffold type things.