I know many of you swear by stereo, and I admit, there are aspects of the separation that I too, enjoy. There is, however a real issue with line array setups, like the Bose, Eon1, Maui etc when frequencies cross in the center. I've always enjoyed my vocal harmonies separated, but there is little else that I "need" to hear in stereo. I've tried many times to make the stereo deal work for me, and quite simply ... it doesn't work in my rooms. One tower sounded better than two almost always. Example:
I work a noisy, crowded shore resort that has all the acoustic properties of an airplane hanger. Great job, but horrible acoustics. I've used literally dozens of combinations in there, and nothing covers as well as a single Bose tower.
I DID, however have a revelation last week that improved my sound ALOT.
I found the sweet spot for my Compact tower, and placed the second Bose base unit only (no tweeters connected) in a corner of the stage. I fed the bass unit from the headphone jack in my teeny tiny mixer. This gave me the option to add or remove bass from the total mix without altering the general volume. It really filled up the sound at lower volumes, and added the extra ooomph for dance tunes later in the night. The Bose sub unit is just the right compliment to my PA900 speakers at very low volume, and adds even more when the full tower is engaged.
So, I now run only one upright column, but a dual mono bass. It's soooooooo good.

Good luck...

Dave, can't argue with that. It's what vertical array system's do best. Provide good, clean crisp music to our audiences with excellent, undistorted bass. And, in all the years I performed, I never had a single complaint about not having stereo. No one really cared.

Gary

Stereo (And multi-channel) is designed to allow listeners who cannot be at the venue to experience it in their home, and for this you need at least stereo. (Hence Arrangers promote stereo as they are designed primarily for home use) Pro keyboards don’t prioritise stereo, but instead talk about channels needed to achieve a particular result

Trying to create a live feel in a live environment is pointless, as it’s already live.

Bill

Actually a very important part of the stereo spectrum is to create room for every sound in an orchestra.... if you for example have 2 sounds in the same frequency band, you can move them in the stereo spectrum to allow people to differtiate and hear both instruments....

You need to ask yourself if this is a requirement in a live and crowded setting for your music to sound better... or if you want to make the whole musical performance come from one corner of the room, allowing the people more room to talk to eachother..

Wait, hold the conversation for a minute. I want to go make some pop corn😉

Dave,
that has been my experience too! I simply had no reason to lug around 2 Bose systems and have been using only one for nearly 5 years. One thing is for sure - NONE of my audiences noticed when I made the change.

Deane

I like to hear my sound in stereo. When I set up between the left and right speakers, it's almost like I'm in a studio. You get the effects as they were designed to be heard.
Besides, I always have a backup in place. Earlier this year, I had a speaker fail to work and I was so glad I had the other one. I still got paid! No, the audience didn't notice, but I certainly did.
My jobs tend to be 3 to 4 hours, and a lot of the time I can leave my equipment set up from night to night.
If I were doing short one hour nursing homes, I might leave one speaker in the truck.

It's not a lazy move ... I bring the both units anyway, it's just that in the rooms I play, with the noise level and the acoustical properties, the stereo creates more issues than glory. There is a definite lack of detail due to overlapping frequencies. The simple fact is ... the Bose works TOO well by itself to just set up another one and expect it to be better. If the room allowed alternate placement, and the natural reverberation was different ... maybe it'd work, but for this stage, with this gear,, amplifying this entertainer ... stereo is too much of a good thing. More conventional speakers may handle this better, but I stand by my statements. I can fill any room I play more efficiently, and with a more detailed sound when I use the config I described.
When I use my QSC's ... I go the L&R pan route, but not with my go to system.
'sall guuuuud.

STEREO always all the way for me, .....but enjoy whatever works for you ...