CASE STUDY / CORPORATE
BOSE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE CENTER
About the Project
When Bose Professional became an independent company, it was a chance to rethink everything—from how products are developed to how they’re presented. One of the clearest expressions of that transformation is the newly opened Bose Professional Experience Center in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.
Equal parts demo facility, engineering lab, and customer showcase, the Experience Center embodies the company’s renewed focus on flexibility, clarity, and control. Designed from the ground up as a fully integrated and immersive space, the 3,500-square-foot room features every major product family in the Bose Professional portfolio. Loudspeakers, amplifiers, processors, and software are all installed and operational—giving visitors a real-world sense of how the systems perform and how seamlessly they integrate.
“You can experience anything in our portfolio in the right environmental context,” said Adam Shulman, Director of Audio System Design. “This isn’t just a room with speakers in it. It’s built to reflect complete systems and how they are actually used—whether that’s in a hotel, stadium, classroom, or house of worship. And that makes it instantly relatable to integrators, consultants, and end users.”
The Bose Professional Solution
The Bose Professional Experience Center includes the complete range of installed and portable loudspeakers and electronics—from compact FreeSpace FS2C ceiling speakers and AMU outdoor models to the new Forum series and stadium-ready DeltaQ systems. Demonstration areas include a floating ceiling grid for in-ceiling and pendant speakers, a wall of surface-mount loudspeakers, and a full truss with large-format products like ShowMatch and ArenaMatch. All are powered and controlled by Bose Professional DSP and amplification.
It’s a hands-on environment that showcases the full breadth of the Bose Professional portfolio and gives visitors—from integrators and consultants to end users and internal teams—a place to experience powerful, precision-tuned sound in real-world conditions.
“Compared to the previous Experience Center, the biggest difference is now we have our entire portfolio on display, and that this room was designed from the outset for this specific purpose,” said Sales Engineer Chloe Sokol. “That means we can be completely responsive to each visitor’s needs.”
And with product designers, engineers, and operations staff located just steps away, visitors can engage directly with the teams behind the tech—reinforcing trust, transparency, and confidence in Bose Professional as a partner.
From the outset, the Experience Center was designed to deliver reference-grade performance. More than 8,000 square feet of acoustic treatment were installed—anchored by a five-inch-thick cellulose spray ceiling to provide low-frequency absorption down to 50 Hz. Dozens of wall-mounted absorbers add broadband control while also enhancing aesthetics.
The result is a room that not only sounds pristine, but functions as a high-resolution canvas for audio demos and engineering development. It also allows the team to showcase key product attributes—such as consistent coverage, precise voicing, and great sound quality—in a meaningful, measurable way.
“We’ve tuned the space to show exactly what our products can do,” said Sokol. “You’ll hear how we’ve optimized for clarity, control, and coverage. And because every speaker is placed with intent, you don’t have to imagine what it might sound like in your space.”
While the audio system takes center stage, the lighting system plays a critical supporting role—elevating the space and guiding the demo experience. Lighting cues create a sense of rhythm and narrative—general washes welcome guests, dramatic dimming focuses attention during key moments, and bold color changes reinforce product transitions.
Powered by an ETC Element console a variety of conventional and moving lights, the fully programmable rig includes moving gobos, washes and spots that bring a sense of theater to each presentation. The team can illuminate specific zones or even individual products with precision. One moment the room might feel like a rooftop bar or theater stage; the next, it’s focusing a spotlight on a wall-mounted loudspeaker. An important element of the design was the elimination of dimmers and traditional incandescent lighting for improved efficiency, flexibility and sustainability.
“We use lighting to guide attention,” said Sokol. “It’s more than just mood—it’s intentional storytelling. If we’re demoing EdgeMax, we can bring down the house lights and highlight that zone only. Then we can move to Forum, then to ShowMatch. It’s dynamic, theatrical, and highly effective.”
Behind the scenes, a sophisticated infrastructure powers the Experience Center. Over four miles of speaker and data cable run through 1,000 feet of metal conduit, and the system is driven by more than 70,000 watts of power.
The entire room is unified through QLab—the engine that syncs lighting, audio playback, microphone activation, and video cues. All control runs through a single iPad, allowing presenters to navigate the entire demo with just a few taps and easily switch loudspeakers, advance slides, play audio tracks, trigger lighting cues, and activate microphones—all synchronized to match the moment. It’s a streamlined approach to complexity, and a powerful proof point for Bose Professional’s commitment to reducing friction and enhancing usability.
That simplicity doesn’t limit flexibility. The space can be adapted for training sessions, client walk-throughs, small performances, and engineering tests—all without reconfiguring the infrastructure. For example, a Yamaha QL5 mixing console, variety of wired and wireless microphones, and both floor monitors and IEMs are also available. The room’s systems can seamlessly switch between “live” and “demo” modes of operation.
“It’s not a space we’ll ever outgrow,” said Shulman. “It’s built with the headroom to evolve with us.”
Every decision, from lighting upgrades to cable routing, was documented in detail to support future updates. “There’s a 30-page internal guide that explains exactly why we made each choice,” Shulman added. “We built the room so we could do anything we can think of—not just today, but years from now.”
The Experience Center is a curated journey through Bose Professional’s story—one that begins in the museum corridor showcasing the company’s legacy and ends in a future-facing space filled with motion, light, and sound.
“This isn’t just a room,” concluded Shulman. “It’s a reflection of who we are and how far we’ve come.”
In every product, every zone, and every carefully crafted cue, the Bose Professional Experience Center brings the brand’s promise to life: to make great sound easy—so customers can create unforgettable experiences of their own.
INTEGRATORS
Partner: PRO AV SYSTEMS
From one-room installations to full building renovations, Pro AV Systems recognizes that each project is unique. Our team is detail-oriented, talented, and always has your best interests in mind on a job site, testing each and every component so you can be assured your system will work when, and how, you need it to. We’re passionate about our craft, driven by becoming your partner and supporter, and inspired by your ideas and how we can bring them to fruition.
Partner: Port Lighting
At Port Lighting, we create unforgettable experiences through innovative lighting solutions. Headquartered in Seabrook, NH, Port Lighting serves a wide range of clients including event producers, designers, general contractors, and venues throughout the Northeast and beyond. Specializing in event lighting, theatrical and architectural installations, and advanced lighting control systems, our team blends technical mastery with creative vision to deliver flawless, impactful results.
