L1M2 fan - really no way of turning off?

Portable PA
1

Hi Guys,

 

Enthusiastic L1M2 user since 2012 here. I've fallen in love with it because it is very quiet and incredibly transparent for acoustic instruments. I'm using it in a more or less experimental contemporary-ish context - so small rooms, small and very quiet audience, relatively low volume.

 

After regularly borrowing a second one when I needed it, I finally decided to buy a second one myself... and was very disappointed to hear an unpleasant, continuous fan noise as soon as I switch it on.

 

Some googling told me that post-2014 models have the fan always on and this is described as "normal" (see e.g. https://toonz.ca/bose/wiki/index.php?title=L1®_Model_II#Fan_runs_constantly).

 

Now this might be considered as normal by the Bose team and maybe it's acceptable for most users, but definitely not for me. 

 

So is there a way to revert to the old virtually fan-less behaviour? If yes, how?

 

If not, I'll have to give my new unit back, probably sell the old one and find a reasonable replacement 😞 But pleeeeaaaaase, tell me there's a fix!

 

Thanks for your help!

2

Hello barmin!

Thank you for your post. As stated on the link you provided, the fan is turned on constantly in the L1 model II Power Stands manufactured after late 2014 to prevent overheating - there is no way to turn this off on the newer models. 

3

Hi Dylan_R,

 

Thanks for your answer, although it's not at all what I was hoping. I cannot see why engineers would fight to get the best possible S/N ratio (which is excellent in older L1's), and then add a good measure of fan noise upon that, just for the fun of it (as older units seem to work very well without it).

 

Except maybe... maybe my unit is faulty and the fan makes more noise that it should.

 

In a quiet room, the fan is clearly audible from a distance of 10m (probably more, but my practice room isn't bigger). I don't have the hardware to make precise measurements, but AFAICT the noise of the fan is about 6-7dB at 1m.

 

Would you describe this as a normal noise level?

 

Thanks for your help!

4

Hi barmin,

This level would not appear to be out of the ordinary. I would recommend calling into the Bose technical support team if you wish to discuss this in more detail, to see if there are any other symptoms that may point towards an issue with the system.

5

Hi Dylan,

 

Thanks for your answer. I almost missed it because for some reason the site failed to notify me of your post.

 

I still cannot understand what happened to this high-quality product so that it became so noisy - and understand even less why customers don't get angry because of that.

 

Anyway, thanks for your information - I'll have to ponder whether the L1 is still the best solution for me or if I should switch to something else.

 

Sad.

6

on top of that, the new l1pro fan is quite loud too, and l1pro16 that I recently had, makes high pitch nose regardless volume setting or even muted all, the nose can be heard from 10 feet away