Lightweight
Carry a bose logo?

Sound Awful
No defined directivity
Unpredictable

Could someone tell me one good thing about these things?

They are possibly the worst 'proffesional' PA speaker ever devised? Every theatre in the world has them littered all over the balconies and without fail, they all sound terrible.

There's no bass, even with the subs in there is precious little below about 80Hz, and the tops dont touch above 15k, and its really uneven about about 6k.

Their directivity is just ridiculous. How are you supposed to set a system up when they just spill sound out in every direction at will? I've just had the mis fortune to have to engineer a concert using 12 802s with their subs, and they held true to my low expectations.

These are nothing more than bad hifi gone wrong being sold off as PA. I'd low to find a serious engineer who can actually make this junk sound half decent.

They are not loud. They are not clear. They are junk.

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Meyersound
D&B Audioteknik
Nexo
Electrovoice
etc. etc. etc

Clear roomfilling sound

Lacks bass but if you have the extra money buy a subwoofer to make up for it.

I use the Bose 802's in my church. We have four of them, the 802-w II on the walls and the 802 III hanging on the ceiling. All I can say is WOW! Dont listen to those Bose bashers because they probably dont even own the product. These things can put out alot of sound. We are using 2 mb4 subwoofers to give the system some bass. The 802's lack bass but they can get by. I would have to say that the 802-w II on the walls sound better because the cabinets are made out of wood which gives the speaker better sound. I recommend these speakers to any dj or sound operator that has the money to get these. Ive heard JBL and all of those brands and these kick the crap out of them WITH A SUBWOOFER.

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JBL, Yamaha

S O U N D Q U A L I T Y portability, reliability, durability, easy to store in transit. can be stacked two high, or can be spread, 2 pair on 4 stands, to encircle or better service a larger outside area. maintain resale value, the best in that regard

high priced new. hard on amps. sound can get scratchy if you don't maintain your speaker cords. they seem to worry a dead spot on the male connectors of your 1/4 " jacks.

I have a band and DJ service, for over 35 years. I've played over 1500 weddings, and several hundred, picnics, festivals, and private parties. Audience size varies from 50 to 2500. I run 4 Bose 802's, 2 older series I's and 2 series II's. I also use a Bose 302 subwoofer, Bose 802 c controller and 2 power amps; an old Bose 1800, at least 20 years old, and a new crown amp, 2 years old.
i am constantly told by my customers how clear, clean and crisp the sound is. The 802's deliver clean virtual sound when bi-amped, but are muddy when run as the only speakers. Bass muddies the mids and highs, and simply not enough bass for most audiences. I have tried Yamaha, JVC and other subwoofers biamped w this system. They provide enough bass, but cannot match the punch of the Bose 302 subwoofer. I have tried Kustom, Peavey, JVC and Bag End and Yamaha speakers as main sound system.. They are masky, and not as clean and clear. In 35 years, I have never blown an 802 speaker. I melted a couple power amps though. Bose 802's are not efficient , consume much power and will truly test a mediocre amp. I have also blown out the 12" bass speakers in the Bose 302 subwoofer, but once in 25 years ain't bad. I even had an early pair of Bose 800's, not bad, but they were part of the learning curve for developing the 802's.
I've always gotten my money's worth with the 802's. I've had over 12 pairs of 802's through the years. At one time I was stacking 4 802's on each side to improve bass. But when the 302's and the 802 c controller came along, i could truly biamp and create a really glorious system. i have bought several pairs through the years, normally buy them for abojut $600 a pair used, keep them for several years and then sell them for about $600 a pair. What other speakers can you say that about?
I must say I've tried other Bose speakers, 501's, 401's and some old 101's for monitors, but they were all disapointing. The 901's are basically backward pointing 802's, they do a pretty go job.. As far as the Bose haters out there, let them hate! They've probably got nothing else. They certainly don't have good sound.

Customer Service

20 to 35 years ago, Bose provided premier service on speakers. I even had them repair speakers damaged in falls, out of warranty at no cost to me other than shipping. But those days are gone. They wouldn't even repair my 302 subwoofer when I blew it's speakers 2 years ago. But were were able to get identical upgraded subwoofer's and the punch better than ever.

Similar Products Used:

JVC, Bag End, Kustom, Yamaha, and (yuck) Peavey

BOSE 802 Speakers & 802C(series I) controller The 802C(series I - before 1992/1993) Controller XLR pinout configuration "DOES NOT MATCH" modern day mixer boards and power amps. SOLUTION: On most modern day mixer boards and power amps the XLR pinout configuration is as follows: 1) shield, 2) "HOT", and 3) ground. PROBLEM: The 802C(series I) Controller XLR pinout configuration is: 1) shield, ground(2) and 3)"Hot". The #2 & #3 PINS on the Bose 802C(series I) Controller "DO NOT MATCH" modern day mixer boards and power amps.

I like the sound of the 802s and the 502BP subwoofer. I play in a high energy contemporary jazz band and we have been using these speakers for about 9 or 10 years and I haven't had a problem yet. Let's say this kinda like this, if my band has sounded good with these speakers OUT-OF-PHASE, then I can't wait to see what we sound like when everything thing is working the way it's suppose to work.

They cost a lot, and you don't get as much bass as a conventional pa speaker, but the 502BP subwoofer makes up for that.

Recently, I found out one very important thing about the BOSE 802 PA SYSTEM (BOSE 802 speakers, 802C Controller(series I) and the 502BP subwoofer. Make sure the 802C controller(series I) XLR input pinouts(1-shield, 2-cold and 3-hot) corresponds with (ARE THE SAME) the XLR pinout on your power amp. This is the NEW BEGINNING of the BOSE PA SYSTEM story for me. I have had a BOSE PA SYSTEM for about 9 or 10 years. I have tried my best to understand why my system sounded great on some gigs, and not so good on others. Not until about a week or so ago(June 27, 2005) did I understand the differences and why the sound seemed to come and go. My signal was OUT-OF-PHASE!!! In the past, I noticed that when I used the BOSE 802 PA SYSTEM with the XLR input cables my sound wasn't like I thought it should be. However, when I used 1/4" input cables the sound was fuller sounding and everyone seemed amazed how such small speakers(802s) and one sub(502BP) could sound so good. Make sure the 802C controller(series I)XLR input pinout(1-shield, 2-COLD, and 3-HOT) are the same as the XLR pinout for your power amp. If NOT, your input signal will be out-of-phase, and the result is a pair of speakers that sounds THIN and BRIGHT; NOT FULL.

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401s, 501s, and 901s.

Clarity and smooth midrange, good dispersion.

Lacks bass response and hi frequencies above 16k

Differences between Series II and Series III Bose 802s? I know the grill looks different and the connector on the back of the Series III is a "Speak On" type connector, the series II is XLR. The port is also different, is bass response less or more? Also the controller is now the "Digital Pan Array Controller." I tried a pair of the Bose 802 Series III yesterday for three hours with my Yamaha digital piano and could not hear much bass. I was using the Pan Array Digital Processor specifically for the Series III. Is it indeed lacking in bass compared to Series II or was are they the same in the bass?

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Mackie SRM 450s

Unreal imaging and sound stage, life like music, indestructible speakers.

Poor BASS response, need to run them with an active EQ or controller.

I bought these 802 II's from eBay over a year ago when I decided to build a new home stereo system. I have these running through a BOSE 901 series VI active equalizer, a carver ct-17 preamp, and carver tfm-55 amp powering the setup. Between the active EQ and the treble / midrange / bass adjustments on the preamp, the speakers sound amazing, especially with a high quality recording of some classical music. After using these speakers for about 6 months, I decided that they did lack bass, but that was about it. So, I went and bought another amp (carver av-220) for $180 and a kick-ass, 18" bandpass sub (Fender 118sA) for $150. I also purchased an inline crossover (100Hz) that connects to the RCA before it goes into the AV-220 amp which I run bridged. Let me tell you what, this sytem sounds amazing! It really makes you feel ike you are in the 1st row of a concert performance. The sub delivers very clean, deep bass, while the 802's spread the sound throughout the room in a very natural, live-like manner. And for movies, I don't even bother with surround sound, this system does it for me without the extra SS equipment. For all you BOSE haters out there, i will admit that a lot of their stuff does not sound great for the price you have to pay, but these speakers are the exception. Before I had the sub hooked up, I turned the babies up to test for distortion, but there wasn't any! I actually cracked the plaster on one of my walls during the test. All in all, i love these speakers and I am very happy with them for the price I paid. I am not saying that they are the best, but I like they way they sound. Bose does things a little different than everyone else, and maybe that's why I like them.

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Other BOSE speakers, Cervin Vega, McIntosh, Marantz, Polk, Carver...

portabality, durability,versitility, stackability, sound is good.

price,needs sub-woffer if you need base

My 802'S were purchased second hand from a local sound store.I had heard them in another venue similiar to ours. (portable church) and was impressed with the sound they produced. I must admit that the name badge may have biased my opinion. (marketing) In any event we use them in a grade school gynaysium and they have been great for us. They sound as well as can be expected in the environment that we are using them in. If you are in need of a set of speakers that are truly easy to transport I don't know if you could make a better choice. They are also very durable. We had one free fall from it's speaker stand about 7ft onto the hard gym floor and it never missed a beat.I would not recommend that anyone pay full or new price though.They are worth the effort to search e-bay or some other venue for used price instead.

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community,peavy

Mid range is fine. Cool bose stores that hype up this stuff.. To bad B&W or Paradigm didn't set up their own stores next door to Bose.

Base, Price (bose has the worst price to quality ratio in the biz), Quality (cheap parts). I would rate them a 2 but the price...

I notice that Bose fans rarely ever review other kinds of speakers... They will say they need not to. Nothing could be further from the truth. Bose need to be compared side by side with other speakers... as to show the their glaringly poor sound stage, weak base, and poor highs. No highs... no lows... oh you know the rest, and if you don't then do some real listening and reviewing and find out. I used to sell bose and other speakers and can say that Bose is a highly over priced speaker. they use $9 paper drivers, crappy crossovers, and plastic cabinets. They spend their profits on marketing to the masses while most speaker companys use their profits for research and quality parts/construction. It is really sad that marketing works so well. do your self a favor before you by bose and go to an audio store that does not sell them and ask them which is the worst speaker company as far as price/quality. Everyone will say bose. Bose does not make the worst speaker but it does rip people off the most. Also notice that bose will never allow it's speakers to be compared in a side by side with anyone...

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Paradigm, Boston, Klipsch, Martin Logan, Monitor, and some other lesser brands.

clear sounds for everyone who knows the real sound,

none

the bose 802 simply the best, the music comes out alive, best for live music,no other can match these speaker, i had many brands but for me with bose i`m satisfied,if you want to break the roof of the house just add the bose 502b.

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none