Fender PD-150 Pro
There may be slightly better sounding or feature-rich PA systems in this price range, but nothing comes close to the outstanding portability of Fender's Passport. It's barely 30 pounds, and when it's packed up and put together in its slick integral case no moving or delicate parts are exposed to scraping or damage. And since the case tapers at each end, it's easy to carry without it bumping against my side with every step.
I use it primarily as a sort of keyboard amp for a laptop, also for playing music from an iPod. I play in a band with some friends and plan to use this Fender PA system for small or outdoor shows. There are three of us in the band, and we needed vocal and laptop amplification. The PD-150 has three mic/instrument inputs, so we're all set.
It's most cool as PA; the mixer is perfunctory but useful and welcome. It is a trade-off in terms of price, portability and integration, like a boom box versus a component system. The advantage of buying the speakers, amplifier and mixer separately is that you can customize the amount of power, mixer features, and speaker quality that you'd like, but it will be more expensive and harder to transport. The portable PA is just so cool in that it does the basics decently and packs itself into a supercompact little suitcase.
I purchased a PD-150 that I found on Craigslist for $150, but the current model is the PD-150 Pro, which supposedly has better sound quality, and adds a second stereo input. It's also 3 pounds lighter.
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A cool tool is anything useful that is superior to comparable items. If you think this tool is inferior suggest a better one. You are welcome to insult a tool, but comments containing insults to individual people will be deleted. Corrections of fact are always welcomed, if stated politely. Recommendations of better tools are dearly wanted and may be elevated to the front page.
brad
An even smaller and simpler alternative would be one of Mackie's little SRM150 powered speakers, which includes its own three-channel mixer:
http://www.mackie.com/products/srm150/
It's about $300; if you really need stereo then you'd have to buy two. But the sound quality is excellent, plus you get a 150 watt amplifier (just as powerful as the Fender), good-quality preamps, phantom power,.
A lot of people are using these as personal monitors, but many musicians are using it as a PA in small clubs.
Grant
Having used many of these small systems I would have to recommend that you look at the JBL Eon or Mackie systems. It is worth the extra weight and expense for the sound quality difference.
Micah
I've carried one of these all across Africa. A bit pricey, but well worth it. Buy an AC/DC inverter and, running the system off your car battery (leave it running), you can have a sound system anywhere a car can go, set up within 4 minutes. Can't offer any comparisons to Mackie's SRM150 or the Eon for sound quality, but for speech it's more than adequate.
Mark
I used one of the early versions of this until it finally failed from abuse. The 150 is big enough, and has enough sound to fill essentially any room that doesn't have it's own PA system. It's not enough to drive a Gym with fantastic sound, but the price doesn't show it to be.
As a live performer with a keyboard, the best part of this was the ability to use one of the speakers as a monitor and another to drive the room. Most live sound is mono anyway. I could easily carry this, sing, play and plug in another vocalist, as well as a guitar or CD/Ipod. Fantastic, flexible compact setup.
Steve
I second the recommendation on the Mackie SRM150, especially if you need even greater portability than the Fender Passport. Weighing 8 lb. it's somewhat easier to tote than the Fender, and the features like phantom power/built-in DI and the ability to function as a monitor while sending output to a bigger powered speaker make it more versatile in my opinion.
Paula Johnson
Wow, this is compact!
Would this work for stand-up comedy? If not, what would be good?
I co-produce an open mic in a restaurant banquet room and our current amp weighs a ton.
Pat Sawyer
"Would this work for stand-up comedy?"
Depends if you're funny.
paula Johnson
Pat,
Heh, heh, heh.
Mojo Bone
You could do worse for your $300, but as Brad and Steve pointed out, you can also do better; the Mackie is only one example, Carvin's Stagemate portable powered speaker/mixer can also eat the Fender's lunch in terms of power, and features, if not price.That particular Fender model is adequate for a small coffee shop, IF the espresso machine's not too loud, and you can forget keeping up with a live drummer, especially outdoors, where there's little to no reflected sound, but that's true of most solutions in this price range. (Fender also makes some more powerful, more expensive ones) Keep in mind that speaker placement has a large role in how much of the rated power reaches the audience's ears-it's much better to mount speakers on stands at ear level, so budget accordingly, and look for speakers with built-in mounting brackets.
Chris
I like the form factor, and how compact they made this.
Yamaha has had a similar solution for a few years now too. They call it StagePas
kinda funny how similar the names are...
http://www.yamaha.ca/content/proaudio/products/speakers/STAGEPAS500/keyfeatures.jsp
Anyhow, they have 4 models like this now, 1 or 2 channel, and big and small sizes.
Hope this helps anyone trying to make a decision on something like this
Cheers,
Gerald
I love the first line in the review:
"There may be slightly better sounding or feature-rich PA systems in this price range..."
In my opinion, sound quality, features and price range are possibly the three most important factors I would consider when buying a PA system. From that line in the review and from other comments here, I get the impression that there are more than slightly better sounding systems in this range...
This PA is portable for sure if you're ok carrying 30lbs in one hand. The bigger models (300/500 Pro) are each reporting 44lbs weight. I think I'd rather have 15 or 22lbs in each hand rather than all lumped together.
Just my 2 cents. Those StagePas speakers look good and Yamaha always has good sound quality.
Leif David
I am a magician and I've personally own the Fender Passport PD80, as well as the PD250.
The PD80 is great for small events of up to 150people indoors, about half that if outdoors.
The PD250 I use for anything over 150people, large rooms, or outdoors.
With both systems I use the provided corded mic, an iPod, as well as a wireless microphone.
If you're looking for a system with a lot of bass, you'll need to upgrade to lugging in Mackies, but for anybody doing voice amplification, simple music, or a small band, the portability of the fender systems are amazing.
I don't have any experience with this new fender series that just came out, but from the specs they look like the old series just a little bit better (and lighter!).
Hope this helps some people.