First of all the physical format, they have a 15" driver and a 2" horn, are 750w RMS (500w & 250w), spl of 131db and only weigh 18kgs. They have a dual jack/xlr input on the back and a pass through XLR, as well as an input for a mains IEC, on/off switch. power led, signal/limiter led and a signal control. I ran the cabinets on both nights with the control set at about 2-o-clock, this gave an amazing amount of volume, but with very little (had to listen hard) background noise/hiss.
The first gig was in a moderate sized room with about 100 guests (in fact it was for DJ Frankie's sister in law) and they coped easily with the gig, although I was only able to get the signal LED to light at all during the louder part of the evening. The cabs were barely ticking over and did very well, although I found that the bass seemed quite 'boomy' (is that a word?) behind the deckstand, but from the front, the sound was fantastic. Very clear, great punchy bass and all frequencies seemed to be reproduced perfectly.
Last nights gig was in a larger room 'The Devonshire' at the Grand Hotel in Torquay, room is suitable for about 150-180 people and I set my small system up (picture below), 600mm deckstand, 1.5mtr powerlite truss, 4 lights, pair of ART525As, Mixer/HD2500 case and a couple of stands. Great thing for me was all the gear was in in four trips (and out in three). Started at 7pm with background music of all genres and decades until 9pm, during which time the signal lights on the 525as never lit. From the first/second dance the volume was slowly increased and the Art525As responded beautifully, the full frequency sound was great and the additional lower end from what I have been used to lately made a pleasant improvement. The sound fall off at the back of the room did seem to be more noticable than I experienced with the Bose (I have used the Bose at the same venue), but I do not see that as a bad thing, as the sound was louder where required (on the dancefloor) and not so at the back of the room beside the bar.
As a pair of ART525As are the same power rating as a pair of original Bose L1s with 4 B1s at 1500W RMS per pair, the SPL for the Art525As are specified as 131db, Bose do not seem to make the SPL information for the L1 system available, I think a side by side comparison is not unreasonable.
Pros: for the ART525As: Weight (carried the pair in a single trip, Bose L1s could take 5 trips), Power (although the same RMS value I suspect the higher SPL makes a difference), Sound (Greater Bass response than the Bose L1 system but with a similar clarity at higher frequencies) Connections (2, Signal & Power, Bose, at least 3 with remote). Price (They are normally around £1800 a pair (I got mine for £1655) A pair of Bose L1s with 4 B1s will cost you circa £3300).
Cons: They look like normal plastic cabs, the Bose do look different.
Conclusion: It is easy to be pleased after only a couple of gigs, but the future looks bright, not sure how often I will now use my ART310As and ART705As as I cannot see a venue that I am likely to play at that would not be adequately covered by the ART525As. I will have to try to get a gig at a large venue as I would love to try the ART525As on top of the ART705As.
The PS1 base units have three 250W amplifiers built in, one powers the bass bins and the other two each power half of the pole. Due to criticism of the lack of bass in the original L1s, Bose changed the configuration in the new L1 Mk11s and reduced the power of the pole to 250w (these are the ones with the H shaped bass. The original L1 style with the D shaped base are still 500w poles).
