Bose Panaray 402

The Bose 402 speaker is a great speaker if if fits the application that you are using it in. It is not designed for a "High Power" type system. However, you can get decent level from these when use correctly. These speakers will provide 120 degrees of horizontal sound pretty much thru-out the frequency range of the cabinet. They wont bounce you around with the bass response and the wont blow your eardrums out with the highs. They do however do what they say they will do. This is a full range cabinet that eliminate beaming effects like cheap horns and tweeters give you. You can be off axis and still get consistent sound. They are small in size and aiming of the cabinet is not super critical. The portable cabinets are made of mica and is fairly indestructible. The wood cabinets, (older style) are made of vinyl covered particle board.

The technical specs can be found on the Bose web site. Again, when used correctly, these are great cabinets. They are small enough to be able to install and not have ascetically minded folks complaining about the size. Again, regardless of what others have said in their reviews, I find the ratings to be accurate unlike some companies ratings that you have to dissect and qualify before knowing what their speakers will actually do.

The sound from almost all Bose cabinets, again when operated correctly, is consistent and uniform. It is a warmer sound than from a 2-way or 3-way cabinet. I would not used these in a rock concert venue. You would need too many of them to be worth the effort or the cost. These are not just for vocal reproduction. To say a speaker is for "speech" is a crock. There is a lot of dynamics in the human voice. When coupled with a sub, you can drive the cabinet to higher levels. Anytime you don't make a full range cabinet have to reproduce below 150hz, you can get more from the speaker. Most people tend tend to say that there is not a lot of "punch" to them. I would agree. if you come from a rock background and expect that same sound, you will be disappointed. I installed a lot of these in churches where there was a lot of different programs being run thru the sound system. Worship bands, CDs, DVDs, speech, and so on. When trying to amplify folks who really don't want to talk into the mic, there can be lots of feedback problems. I had much less feedback problems with the Bose that with good 2 or 3-way systems. To key points. Power the speakers with enough power. Seems a lot of folks short change this. Clean power provides cleaner sound. And second. EQ EQ EQ.

Again, you can find this info on the Bose web site.

I use to be an EV dealer and have install many of EV cabinets and components. I love the EV line. Go and test the EV cabinets at a music store where you can AB them to others. I believe, hands down, you would would go with the EVs every time. I have also installed many Bose cabinets. Much easier to install and much easier to control feedback problems. Most don't want to spend the money. AB the Bose the same way, If you can find them. Not to many stores carry the Bose because of cost. The music store business has become so diluted that there are few actually qualified personnel that know their business. When you compare the cabinets, don't just stand right in front. Check then at the side. If it claims to disperse sound 90 degrees horizontally, see if it does. High frequency is very hard to spread and low frequency is hard to focus.

these are a smashing speaker they go loud with the mb4 bass bin and they are fine for both disco and live bands and they push every other brand under the carpet and as usual bose live up to their name very special speaker i cant rate them highly enough.

neutrik , 120 wts 8 ohm

very clean sound , and involving the mid is clean not wooly bass need a mb4 bass module covers a wide area .no distortion at any level if there is distortion youve not put a contoller into the system and not set it up properly

easy to move about due to their light weight, very flexable about positioning which is handy, and getting a very wide coverage from a slim speaker is amazing where as normally you need substantial speakers to do this keep up the good work bose.

it has performed so well with my allen and heath gl2400 its like having big speakers but in a small package. i wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to other musicians cause they are worth every penny. if i had the stolen i would buy bose again cause i love them so much . last thing never listen to people who slate bose this is because they have never heard quality equipment in their lives.

I agree more with the first review below than the second. A club near me used to have a bunch of these in the small second room (WITH the Bose controller + Panarray 502B subs) and they sounded shouty and distorted due to the tiny drivers. Some guys I know run a local sound company that was eventually hired to sort the system out. They pulled out the 402s and put in some more conventional PA speakers (HK Audio Premium series). It sounded ten times better, and probably cost less.

There is no tweeter, just some small full range drivers on an angled baffle. Unsurprisingly, the high frequencies get muddled because the full range drivers interfere when the wavelength gets shorter than the spacing between them. The power response of this configuration falls off at the high end, which is why the mfr's EQ is needed.

Bose claim 120W power handling, but this will effectively be derated by the active EQ (which boosts the top and bottom end beyond the natural range of the speaker). It's worth bearing in mind that the (thermal) power rating of a speaker is just the continuous power it will dissipate before blowing. Even hefty PA speakers don't handle their rated power without distortion, but with these tiny drivers don't expect much sound pressure before it sets in.

The speakers are too heavy on the midrange and sound distorted at moderate sound pressure levels. They might be okay for speech and possibly background music.

They are light and portable, but certainly not as sturdy as a plywood cab. The so-called Articulated Array does seem to cope better with "difficult" acoustics than many speakers, presumably because the power response (as opposed to the on-axis frequency response) is flatter.

Overpriced and underspecified. It can often be seen providing background music in bars and restaurants, where it is at its best, but even here there are better and cheaper solutions.

This is in response to the last review. I wanted to make sure these speakers don't get a bad wrap undeservedly. The 402's (as well as the 802's, and the 901 home speakers) REQUIRE A SPECIAL EQ!!!!! If you buy the speakers from BOSE, or if you buy them from an authorized BOSE dealer, they will tell you this. Heck, the won't even sell them without the eq unless you can prove you have one. I used to own a pair of 402's and I ran my bass pod through them before I got a new bass rig. They can handle full range sound. They sound more warm and realistic than any PA I have ever heard (but they cost an arm and a leg) If you can afford one of the "OLD '02" pa system (802 or 402) give them a try.. the are awesome!!

Small portable and load

true Hi fidelity

get the 802's, they are bigger and are unbelievable sounding. But if these are all you can get, go for it!

Designed for vocal range only.
Four tiny speakers per cab.
Molded plastic box with angled baffle.

Using bogus "peak power" ratings, the maker states these can handle 200 watts. realistically, they might handle 40 watts a side, RMS, so long as you NEVER put any full range audio through them.

Even for the narrow range they are useful, they sound like an AM radio under a pillow. They disperse sound well, because of the line-array effects. At their maximum volume, assuming there are no noisy people in your venue, those with 12 feet should be able to understand fire-drill instructions. The dispersion is simply an artifact of any line array and not because of any high-tech scientific design.

they are small and lightweight, (about 15 lbs) but Bose wants to charge you extra for handles and mounting hardware. That's great for "add-on" sales-boosting, but terrible for customer-value.

I have not and would not use these under most circumstances. That's because I have repaired them, seen inside and know how they are made.

The 402 is typical of the famous Bose philosophy. They use Radical EQ and other gimmicks to make up for deficiencies in the cheap small drivers. They take good advantage of naturally-occurring acoustic phenomena, then advertise that they have some unique high-tech science behind their designs. Bose also takes advantage of ignorant consumers. These speakers are a case example.

They advertise "smoothness and warmth" which is really a marketing-euphemism for "muddy and indistinct." The "Articulated Array" is nothing more than a mini line-array which naturally disperses sound horizontally. That isn't high tech or unique. The "acoustic diffractor" is a fancy term for "stick." It just reflects sound to the sides, which is also not high tech.

So long as you NEVER put any significant amount of power into these, use them only for VERY low level vocal reproduction they will sound as good as most other Bose products. If you can tolerate that "Bose" sound, know nothing about audio, and don't mind getting duped, go ahead and pay the ridiculously inflated price for these under-engineered, cheaply-made speakers from the most over-rated audio company in the world.

Knowledgeable audio pros would never pay more than $30 bucks for something like these. You can build better-sounding speakers yourself with four $6-dollar drivers and a cardboard box. I know, because I have.