It was.
There are three different threads discussing this to death over at Gearslutz.
But to answer Tex's questions:
They're loud.
They don't feedback (except sometimes the subs). Even if you stand right in front of them.
Yes, everyone controls their own sound, which i agree creates an entire new set of problems.
My evaluation:
PROS:
They are cleaner sounding than most small club PA's.
They are great for acoustic groups, duos, etc.
They are very portable, with almost no setup time.
In the horizontal plane you get a 180 degree pattern of flat sound, i.e. no high frequency roll-off off axis.
Very narrow vertical dispersion results in minimal floor and ceiling reverberations.
Audience and musicians alike perceive sound as coming from the actual instruments, not from a floor wedge or a side stage speaker.
Floor monitors and Backline instrument amps/speakers can be eliminated.
CONS:
Expensive
Musicians need some retraining, as they will be hearing a more natural house mix, rather than a more-me mix.
If you need more than two subs per unit, you will need additional power amp(s)
Internal DSP is for EQ only at this point. No implementation yet for compression or for reverb/effects. (Maybe in next version)
Not good for highly elevated stages (because of narrow vertical dispersion).
If a sound man wants to control the whole band's sound, you will still need a mixer with lots of sends.
Final evaluation: still on the fence. I give Bose credit for designing a product which brings line-array technology to the groups using small-PA systems. Whether it is worth the price is another question.
