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Hire of Bose 802


Marshy

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Hey guys! Im currently doing a production where I need quite a few Bose 802 (6 to be exact). Im looking to hire them for a 3 week Period. I need them to be 802 as we are touring the show and the other venues stock is 802's. I was wondering if any one on here knew of anybody hiring there in my area? Thanx V much in advance, Marshy :huh:
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try www.vikingstagelighting.co.uk Yes, they're based miiiles away, but they might deliver for free, and they're cheap, and they hire out nice kit. I've hired (or rather my school has) hired well over £1000 worth of hire fee from them and not had a problem they havn't solved the same day yet!
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Hey guys! Im currently doing a production where I need quite a few Bose 802

 

Marshy... don't do it!

 

Take the drivers out of the ones you have. Pop the cabinets in the garden and then toddle off down to Homebase. You will find that they are running a special offer on early spring potted flowers. They fit just right in the holes where the drivers used to be. :huh:

 

I find the visual impact of an 802 used in this way is far better than the acoustic one. :o

 

Cheers

 

Mark

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Hey guys! Im currently doing a production where I need quite a few Bose 802

 

Marshy... don't do it!

 

Take the drivers out of the ones you have. Pop the cabinets in the garden and then toddle off down to Homebase. You will find that they are running a special offer on early spring potted flowers. They fit just right in the holes where the drivers used to be. :huh:

 

I find the visual impact of an 802 used in this way is far better than the acoustic one. :o

 

Cheers

 

Mark

 

Haha Brilliant stuff! I would but there isnt room to tour 8 speakers to the theatre we are touring too! Thanx for the help guys!

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You could try Theatek in Bristol - 01179 635 927 - I have a feeling they have 802's, although I can't find them on their sound hire list at the moment. As others have said, SLX stock 802s.

 

Google also turned up Edric AV (01454 201313), although I've never dealt with them.

 

Which venues are you touring to?

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Take the drivers out of the ones you have. Pop the cabinets in the garden and then toddle off down to Homebase. You will find that they are running a special offer on early spring potted flowers. They fit just right in the holes where the drivers used to be.  :huh:

 

Or fill the holes with confetti (or little bits of polystyrene will do) plug it into the mains and you've got your very own confetti cannon!

 

Chris

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I heard a story today that if you overdrive 802s too far, the power gets driven into a lamp in the unit. Is this true? If so, thats so cool :huh:

 

Sorry for the diversion in topic, but I'm sure Marshy will understand :o

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try www.vikingstagelighting.co.uk  Yes, they're based miiiles away, but they might deliver for free, and they're cheap, and they hire out nice kit.  I've hired (or rather my school has) hired well over £1000 worth of hire fee from them and not had a problem they havn't solved the same day yet!

Aren't they based in Norwich? Do you honestly think they'd do free delivery from Norwich to Bristol, or South Wales?! ;) ;)

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Why is it that 802s seem to evoke this sort of reaction in people?

 

Some people detest them, others think they're the canine dangly bits. When an old battered pair turns up on Ebay, they usually inspire a bidding frenzy and go for silly money.

 

It's hard to think of any other product for which people have such diverse opinions.

 

Personally, it's been years since I used them (in fact it's been 2 decades - now that IS scary!) so I can't really comment....

 

Discuss!

 

Bruce.

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Bruce,

 

So true! The design of the 802 is what, 35 years old now?

 

Put it side by side with any 'modern' speaker and you will hear a VERY natural, warm sound from the 802 compared to a slight harsh, overpowering HF usually, clinical sound from the modern box.

 

Considering what it inside; 8 x 4" drivers, the bass response is superb; amazing for voice reproduction, compact, lightweight (we all know you can carry one in each hand during a load in)

 

During Lily Savages' final UK tour we took 8 x 802's (4 as stacks, 2 flown for Dress circle, 2 upper circle), 2 x 302's and 8 x 101's (frontfills) to the Theatre Royal, Brighton. The local crew had a giggle about the PA kit coming in through the dock doors but most had to admit the sound was "amazing" and filled the place in a totally unobtrusive manner and sounded fantastic.

 

I know people think of 802's in the same way as Marmite, you love 'em or hate 'em; Mr Bose certainly was, and in some respects still is ahead of his time.

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Is it something to do with the design philosophy? Design a speaker with an unusual response curve, then design a controller with the opposite curve, and put them together?

 

As I said above it's been a looooooong time since I hired 802s, but one of my current systems (I play in a small band, mainly folk/acoustic, and I have a quest for lightness and compactness, as I hurt my back a few years ago) is based around a pair of Celestion SR1s, with a separate sub. In this case, the Celestion is a 2x8" unit, and with the controller it gives a surprisingly "big" sound for such a small box. But without the controller it sounds crap.

 

Bruce.

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Perhaps this discussion of the merits/features/opinions on the above should be a new topic??

 

Just to answer a few points here (mainly from Bruce and Peter), in an effort to try and clarify the technicals before further opinions are formed... Those who are more technically-versed may wish to correct me on a few details (you're most welcome, I believe we're all friends here!), but I hope the details will help any new-comers understand the principles involved.

 

First off, I wonder if their design was to cater for a combination of power efficiency vs. protection, in a similar way to the current crop of D&B cabs? This sounds a bit strange, since boosting some bass and treble frequencies to get an "even" response is hardly efficient!! Perhaps they just worked out that 4" drivers are easier/cheaper to manufacture. Combine this with the fact that a smaller driver takes less energy to move the same distance (with the caveat that it moves less air in doing so), and you may have an idea as to why these may have made the initial prototype(s) worthy of further design time. Power will come into the equation when one considers that these speakers don't use passive crossovers.

 

Whatever the reasons for their design, they do have a very different on/off-axis response to most current cabs, which seems to help them to spread the treble a little more evenly along the horizontal axis, without the "sweet-spot" we get so used to from other cabs. When stacked, to my ear they provide less phase interaction between cabs than others I've stacked, so I find them strangely practical in that sense.

 

To take up the "light bulb" point, I remember seeing a pair of JBL Control 1's with a "lamp" in series with one or both drivers for this purpose. When considering the design factors involved with amps/speakers, I think this method of protection is actually rather clever, since the impedance of the speaker will stay relatively uniform (within the constraints of the driver/s) up until the "protection" kicks in, at which point the impedance of the load on the amplifier will increase, right up to (near) infinity when the coil burns out. Why is this so clever? The rising impedance will actually mean that less power is drawn from the amp - in the majority of situations offering good protection long before the coil actually gets hot enough to burn out.

 

So far as I can tell, Bose 101's, 402's and 802's aren't protected by a passive (internal) cross-over as such, hence the recommendation that they be used with the system controller and suitable amplifier. Bose 802's are actually protected by fuses wired in series with the inputs - same idea as the lamp, but they're quicker to react to overload conditions and more easily serviceable.

 

Their sound has already been described by Paul J Need, and to add to this I can't help but think that these speakers were popular once for a reason - so I still have faith in them in certain applications. Love 'em or hate 'em, I'm glad I have them as a choice, even if I rarely choose them!

 

To go back on topic, Sonix Audio in Flowers Hill Trading Estate, Brislington, Bristol may have some in stock. Can't remember their web address off the top of my head, but I'm sure Google will help you out.

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Peter, as regards the lamp idea, I'm not entirely sure. I'm certain they have replaceable fuses and I'm sure they'd glow if you overdrove the speakers, but probably not for too long...
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