Battery Powered Speakers

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1

Hi All,

Just looking for a bit of advice regarding some cheap battery powered speakers for those in the know.

I own a mixstream pro go (which is a fantastic little bit of kit btw) for having fun random mixes around the house at various times because of the onboard speakers.

When I feel like having a proper session I plug it all up to some QSC K10s in my man cave (6x3m shed), which at only 1/4 volume on the speakers & just under half gain on the pro go absolutely rumbles the place.

The problem with this is I have no power in the shed so I have to run a 15m extension lead from the house, which is fine but I live in England & it rains a lot.

So I’m looking for a middle ground with cheap house brand battery powered speakers & after doing a bit of research & reading reviews I’ve settled on 3 choices for which I’ll share the details below with you.

Option 1 = Gear4Musics SubZero MP8 8" Speaker RMS = 100w 60hz-19khz SPL 115 Class D amp £200

Option 2 = Thomanns Box Pro MBA1 8" Speaker RMS = 120w 50hz-20khz SPL 120 Class D amp £250

Option 3 = Thomanns Box Pro DSP 110 BP 10" Speaker RMS = 120w 60hz = 19khz SPL 125 2x Class D amps £260

Only option 3 specified on the spec sheet that it runs slightly lower on battery than when plugged in, options 1 & 2 didn’t specify.

All 3 batteries last between 4-6 hrs depending on how much you push them.

All 3 are roughly the same regarding -3db/-10db frequency range (don’t know what this means so)

At this price I don’t care if they blow up after a year or two so there you have it, which one would you choose?

Thanks in advance & I appreciate any feedback/recommendations you can offer.

On a side note, I read to many bad reviews on Vonyx with unrealistic specs for the price & their battery powered speakers don’t have balanced XLR line inputs only unbalanced RCA inouts (balanced XLR mic only).

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hi Andy

I just bought one of these as a Monitor for my gigs, i can do a full 5hr set without needing them plugged in. They have £200 off on the Bose website and you can get further discount by registering an account (£40 off i think), you’ll only need one as its loud as hell with plenty of bass.

Edit:

Thomann seem to have it at a really good price for a new one.

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Hi @STU-C.

Yeah I looked at them & many other known brands in the £300-£500 price range.

But I need 2 Speakers (OCD) ha ha, so out of my price range.

Out of curiosity though, the fact you say they sound good/loud with lots of bass with only a 6" speaker gives me hope on my 3 options, but at the same time are you not paying that little bit extra because of the name & quality?

I realise you should take specs on paper with a grain of salt but they don’t look great on paper.

This is where I’m confused about all this, all I’ve got to go on is my QSCs

4

He says he wants cheap, and you suggest Bose?! :rofl:

As it’s just for the shed, IMO you don’t need hundreds of watts, and you don’t need XLR balanced connections.

Just get a Bluetooth speaker, and make sure it’s got a line input.

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Hi @PKtheDJ.

I need balanced connection only because the cable runs have to go up & over from the speaker position to my controller, by the time they’ve gone from my controller up the wall, over the ceiling & to the position of the speakers you’re looking at 8m, besides eventually I’m going to get some wireless XLR transmitters aswell so I need speakers with XLR line in.

Also I looked at all those bluetooth/partybox speakers with only aux or rca & read about slight audio/signal delay when beat matching so I’m staying well clear.

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Another Bose S1 owner here.

I use mine mainly as a monitor on gigs, & I’m really happy with it.

I’d avoid most cheaper speakers because of the delays you’ve already mentioned, But, If you can’t stretch to the Bose price, I’ve seen a lot of positive reviews for the Mackie Thump Go

https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/portable-battery-powered-speakers/mackie-thump-go-8-inch-mobile-battery-powered-speaker?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=17865987110&utm_term=&adgroup=&creative=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw6auyBhDzARIsALIo6v-k9d3P7-wZR-gznq1EIcfXbDfniK-Sg4CFJ4wKZEpQ0U3iltfCdEQaAoj6EALw_wcB

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The idea of balanced connections is that they reject interference. You’re in a shed. Unbalanced line level will be fine.

Delay is inevitable when using Bluetooth, but line inputs shouldn’t have a delay. Just checked my speakers here and there’s no delay on line in.

Anyway, looks like you’ve got your mind made up, so I’m out.

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So in my case, i used a Proel Flash 8a for around 9 years, it cost me £250 and was rock solid, in fact i sold it to a lad and he is over the moon with it.

i saw the bump in price as paying for the portability, 3kg weight saving, better carry handle, battery power and bluetooth capability… rather than the Bose brand name (which admittedly usually commands a premium).

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@thisisian hi mate, yeah I looked at Mackie, both the thump go & the thrash go. Both of them seem good & I’ve seen the prices fluctuating massively over the weeks but again I need/want 2 Speakers & they’re both out of price range sadly.

@PKtheDJ, I appreciate what you’re saying saying mate, 20 years ago I never had any issues with my 1210s plugged into a Technics stack via rca. As I said I’m just future proofing the idea as I plan on getting some wireless XLR transmitters at some point, so having XLR line in is just another input to have available that’s all.

@STU-C, yeah I looked at Proel’s stuff, looked good.

I really appreciate the feedback chaps, but if money wasn’t an issue I wouldn’t even be on here asking for opinions, I would go & buy the most powerful overkill setup that I could fit in my shed.

Unfortunately the 3 options I’ve given are within my budget & seem to be the best of a bad bunch so regardless of whether they’re no good or not or the fact that you wouldn’t buy them all I’m asking is looking at the specs which one would you go for?

The cheapest, the better frequency range or the biggest speaker?

At the end of the day they’re all going to sound better than the inbuilt pro go speakers & worse than my QSCs

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I had the Bose S1 but got rid of it due to a few quality issues but I absolutely accept that it was just my particular unit. The sound quality was nice but so are these JBL or LG XBOOM party box style speakers and they’re about £200-£300.

The Alto Busker sounds nice for the money and has a similar form factor to the Bose but has more features.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ALTO-PROFESSIONAL-Busker-Rechargeable-Bluetooth/dp/B0CKW8X9MJ/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.g1Io6RgPeqHVbhSTO6vseDmFszOQomBghm8BlJivvmjN4mkop_AXotpHm_ptqTg8900EEHXuRPACUVLP30vG9FlmSlC5RPl2852e1bsYdLz1FYJtnQFEV1vN4WGgRftzg2NhFNO8MXR-4mvvFgvyAufzrMPsjBiGL6blGwUD5-Z_Sqb26ojpgFAO7ET3ay56XOj0wbJgzXha9MR6khQv0g.Gl3VL-WW7WEfYQXcs99-uJ1WS7goTbCyisN4XUfWuCE&dib_tag=se&keywords=busking+speaker&qid=1716209772&sr=8-3

Mackie Thump Go sound really nice too and can be had for just over £300.

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11

If it’s just for the shed, do you need active speakers? I’m sure you could find some decent passive speakers & an old power amp on facebook market place.

:slight_smile:

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Id say aim for the battery powered active though Ian, in case the shed party moves into the garden :slight_smile:

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Yeah mobility is key here, I’m not just limited to the shed (only when the wife’s home) an amp is just another thing to carry about.

1 Like
14

Which speaker did you end up getting?

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Decided to permanently run power down the shed & keep using the k10s instead, cheaper options for me to run power instead of buying extra speakers. Also I just bought extra power leads & xlr cables at different lengths so if I want to move the speakers about I’ve got sets of power & xlr in location ready to just move the speakers to different locations without having to uninstall & pack away the cables from 1 location to another.

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