Is the Bose L1 mono or stereo?
All of the Bose L1 systems can accept a STEREO input, but as they are designed to be used as a singular stand-alone sound system, they output everything in MONO.
If you run a stereo input from any stereo source such as a phone, laptop, or DJ mixer, you can either run a “stereo cable”, or run left into ch1 and right into ch2.
But the L1 Pro will sum or “combine” all of the inputs and make a single mono output.
For those used to using traditional speakers on stand setups, it can seem odd or completely foreign to not be using “stereo”.
But here’s the thing – your audience doesn’t care. More importantly, they won’t be able to tell.
Here’s why:
Part 1 – the original audio: To generate true stereo sound, you need a different signal or tone or sound in the left compared to the right. Live bands are generally mono because the guitar or drums or singer can’t play and split their output to supply a slightly different sound in each channel. Even with two speakers, it’s the exact same sound in each one.
If the live band’s sound engineer was to be fancy with the mixer and put all the vocals on the right speaker and the guitar on the left unless your audience is dead centre of the stage/room/between the speakers, they will not be able to hear the other channel. They will be missing out on the vocals, or even worse – the guitar!
As a side note, there are ways for band audio engineers to run “stereo” audio at a live show. This usually involves utilising a number of large stacks or arrays, at least four. The two stacks on at stage left would actually be left and right audio, one channel in each stack, and on stage right, the same again – two stacks, left in one, right in the other. Arguably this isn’t so the audience thinks they’re hearing stereo, but so that they don’t miss any part of the audio no matter where they’re standing. It’s incredibly complicated and often involves high-end line array systems worth tens of thousands each.
Part 2 – recorded material, ie DJs: Even if the original recording is stereo, your audience will have to be dead centre between the left and right speaker in order to hear true stereo. If they are on the right of the room, they probably won’t hear everything coming from the left. While the output would be stereo, the audience won’t HEAR stereo.
All that aside, the Bose L1 systems are designed to be easily used singularly. Due to the 180 degrees of sound dispersion, in many venues or scenarios, you only need one anyway. The sound to the left or right or straight out in front is the same so no matter where your audience is dancing, listening, or stumbling, they hear everything.
