I bought the Mipro MA-101 from Kenosha Magic, with AC and battery and wireless built in.
As a former sound engineer (studio and live), and as a former user of the Fender Passport 150 and 250 and the terrible Florida Magic PA, I can tell you that this thing is wonderful!

I used it this weekend for a stage show at the mall where there was lots of ambient noise. Used the battery, the built in wireless lav mic, plugged in my iPod with the AirClick (even has a separate volume control for the 2nd input), and that thing was crystal clear for approx. 150 people. I didn't approach half volume. And best of all - NO FEEDBACK! I don't know how they did it with a 5 inch speaker, but I love the sound.

I use Mackie stuff in my studio and they make great products, but this had the wireless built in, so even when I'm outside, I don't need to find AC power for the mic. And it's 6.5 lbs. The whole bag fits in the bottom of my Lefler table along with the rest of the show.

Here's info: http://www.avlex.com/mipro/ma_101.html

Keith,

Do you have a US Listing of a Dealer? All of the Electronics online store in the US do not carry it.

Goggle has lots of foreign dealers.

I did find one location for $600 US dollars.

Yes, I bought it from DJ Ehlert. He owns Kenosha Magic in Kenosha, WI. He was using it for his shows, kept two of them on hand. And he would mention how great they sounded. I knew he was a worker so I listened. I'd been finally fed up with the sound of my Florida Magic PA for small shows, and knew that with today's technology, leaps were people made in the quality of sound vs. the size of the package. Features were important, and I did like the matched up wireless, built into the body of the PA. But sound quality (after price) was my most important consideration this next time out.

Here's their info:
http://www.kenoshamagic.com/

I should point out that he is a dealer and the one he sold me was brand new. My wording might have left you wondering. Sorry.

If memory serves me, the MA-101 is used by a few other magi's here on this board also.

Here is actual link on Kenosham: http://www.kenoshamagic.com/product/item/46

Looks like Lefler stocks them also: http://www.wearefun.com/catalog/product_......_id=1086

Didn't Ken Scott use to use something similar before he went Hollywood (joking)

The ad copy states: "Crowds of up to 400 people".

If a standard movie theatre these days seats about 400 they might as well just start using these????

Some PA specs. inflate their numbers and some do not. In this case, I think they are inflating their numbers drastically.

In comparison, a much larger, 2-speaker system, The fender PD-250 specs. claim 300-500 people. This seems realistic.

I would hate to think that people would look at that spec. only to make their decision.

Take that particular spec. with a HUGE grain of salt.

The Mipro could handle a crowd of 400 easily if indoors.
I think outdoors would be too much for it.
I know its hard to believe looking at the specs, especially a 30W amp compared to a 100 or higher.
But I replaced a Fender 130W amp with matching speakers, and I know I'll not use the larger PA in ballrooms anymore.
Hope that helps.

Fender used to sell this same unit under their brand and it is impressively powerful. The problem is that doesn't reproduce music very well. For voice amplification, I thought it did a pretty decent job. It might cover 400 people but I don't like the quality of the sound in that circumstance. I still look at this as a unit for smaller shows.

Michael

I wish there was a site where mp3 clips from different PA's could be compared.

I know that it would be far from scientific, but it might help hearing the differences.

For example, what does it sound like when one is good for voice but not music, etc.

Dan McLean can explain this better than I but I'll give it a shot. The big difference between amplifying voice and amplifying music is the range of highs and lows. Since we magicians are speaking and not singing, we're not using a lot of lows and a lot of highs. Our voices stay within a certain range.

Music, on the other hand, is filled with highs and lows. The smaller speakers used in smaller PA's have a great deal more trouble reproducing those highs and lows, especially since most of them use a single speaker. In particular, it is harder for a smaller speaker to give a good bass sound. My bigger speakers all have a tweeter for reproducing the higher notes and woofer for reproducing the lower notes. Some higher end speakers have three speakers in their cabinet: one for highs, one for lows and one for mid-range.

The small systems that I have tested that don't sound good with music tend to be tinny. That means they don't have a fullness that comes with reproducing the low sounds well. Some of them sound like the music is being played in a can. Others just are dull sounding.

The Amplivox Portable Buddy would buzz if there was much bass in the music because the speaker couldn't handle it. Quite frankly, it would buzz from the mid-range coming from my voice. On top of that, it didn't have clear high notes either because it used a single full-range speaker that was too small. (It uses a car speaker which is fine for the volume needed inside an auto but not adequate to pump sound into a much larger area.)

I'm not a sound engineer so, hopefully, I haven't made any glaring errors in my explanation.

Michael

I agree, a room with 400 actual people in it may test the limits of a small unit like this. Certainly is does not have the same frequency range (actually, nice job explaining it, Michael) as the larger units. But I'm still impressed with the way the music sounded. It may just be that I'm so used to hearing the Florida Magic unit that anything sounds better, eh?

So I've heard!

As I've said many times, it really depends on the individual. I would have to say that I'm at the top of the chart for picky when it comes to sound systems. I know plenty of people that think I go overboard!

Michael

Ok, call me stupid then, but if this is the case, why don't manufactures make the main speaker a bit smaller and install a small tweeter and subwoofer beside it? Or would this sacrifice sheer volume/output for the sake of clarity?

P.S. Thanks to everyone who has suffered through my many novice questions. Hope I haven't been a nuisance.

The momment we get into the sub woofer, we are talking larger speaker with heavyer magnet, and yes, they are out there, plenty of them, however, it is a weight factor we are considering as important as music and voice.

I do like the Fleco PortaSound 5 ($600) with 80 Watts, 3 speakers, a wireless handheld and wireless headset mic., and a REMOTE CONTROLLED DVD player which plays mp3 files and CDs. This unit is 32 lbs, more than my Fender Passport 150 and Passport 250.

Next to me I have a 180 watt 4 ohm 5-1/5 inch speaker with the base, treble and tweeter built into it, but I don't have an small amp to power it. A 50 watt amp barely moves it. This is why I am waiting for the Mackie to come out. It has a quality speaker but it needs a powerful amp to move it.

Michael,
Your post is on target, and your experience is very valuable. Thanks for your input.

Karol,

The larger a woofer is, the better it can reproduce the low sounds. (Just to clarify, a standard speaker uses a woofer. A subwoofer is separate speaker that reproduces even lower sounds.) For music, it is generally accepted that a 15" woofer is the smallest speaker that can reproduce bass acceptably. (There are 12" woofers that are very efficient at it but, generally, 15" woofers are the norm for music.)

Since these are small PA's that we're looking at, there isn't room to put a good size woofer and tweeter in the speaker. (If they put a woofer and a tweeter in the speaker, they don't generally put a mid speaker in the cabinet until you get to the higher end larger speakers. (To give you an idea of how large a typical cabinet with a tweeter, a mid and woofer speaker is, look here: http://www.carvin.com/products/single.ph......p;CID=LS . That's a 58lb speaker and is the smallest three-way speaker Carvin sells.)

In order to make speakers small, there have to be some sacrifices. For instance, it is rare that a 10" speaker will do a good job with heavy bass sounds. That's why the JBL Eon G2 10 is such an amazing speaker. It reproduces low sounds better than any small speaker I've ever heard. (I own a pair of them.) http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EON10PG2/

The Carvin StageMate (also a 10" speaker) does a very good job reproducing low sounds but not nearly as well as my JBLs, which is why I have both. I use the StageMate for my everyday shows where I use some music. In my illusion shows, I want the music to be more dynamic so I use the JBLs. Please note both of these are two-way speakers. They have a larger (10") woofer and a tweeter.

In order to keep the speakers small for the smaller PAs, they typically use a full-range speaker or a coaxial speaker. That means a single speaker that is intended to cover the full range from lows to highs. (A coaxial speaker has a midrange/woofer with a tweeter placed over the cone. The Roland CM-30 I bought has a coaxial speaker.)

To summarize, it's a matter of the manufacturer juggling size, weight, efficiency and price in trying to put out a PA speaker.

I hope this makes sense.

Michael

I've heard those Eon's from other acts at corp events. They do have an amazing frequency range.
Again, nice job explaining, Michael.

Karol, to help clarify: we also need to guage the uses of the PA. For example, though I expect to be able to use the Mipro in certain situations up to 400 people that I otherwise would have used a larger PA for, there are still going to be times when the larger PA (with accompanying sound quality and bass) will be more appropriate. If I get a call for a high dollar or high profile gig, where the extra quality may be noticed or needed, I wouldn't use the Mipro.

But there are shows that fall in between the typical birthday-sized audience and the 400 people in a ballroom that these small units are perfect for. Depending upon the unit, most people won't miss the bass.

I would compare it to watching a movie in a theater with all of the attendant vibrations and placement of sounds, as opposed to watching the DVD at home coming through your home speakers. You'll enjoy the movie at home and likely won't be sitting there thinking 'I wish the sound were like the theater', but there's still a difference.

These smaller PAs make our lives so much easier, but I think the audio industry is in a transition period as it sees that these small models are selling and they try to up the quality. The Mackie PA mentioned above is an exciting development. And as is usual, other manufacturers will likely follow Mackie's lead and design their own improvements. I love Mackie equipment for a lot of reasons, but at the moment, my needs were to have the wireless mic built into the unit and not have to carry the receiver and its power needs separate.

Thanks for the compliments, Keith! I appreciate your comments, as well. It's nice to see such good information being shared here.

Karol,

Let me also compliment you on trying to understand sound and PA systems. In my 25 years in magic, one of my biggest frustrations is that many magicians really don't bother to learn anything about sound systems or what's best for them. They just get whatever's cheapest and can amplify their voice.

I don't expect everyone to become as fanatical about sound as I am but they should know something about it and what they need. I remember working with a top ventriloquist and he was using an extremely inexpensive Radio Shack hand held microphone. I asked him why he didn't get a better mic and he said, "this one works fine." One day, before his show, I switched one of my nicer mics for his and let him use it and he was amazed at the difference in sound quality.

My point is he made his living with his voice and he hadn't researched the best way to reproduce his voice. Magicians need to be heard and need to amplify their music so a little research to find out the best way to do that is in order. Or, you could do what a good friend of mine does: he just calls me whenever he needs something and asks me what to get! All you need is a friend who's good at it.

(My friend called me yesterday while getting ready for a show. His microphone and receiver were on different frequencies - he has a multi-frequency system - and he didn't know how to synchronize them. I talked him through it so he could go on with the show! I told him it must be nice to have 24 hour free tech support! )

Michael

Michael, I am picky about sound too! I agree that the manufacturers are recognizing that there is a large market for smaller PA systems. There is so much more available now than just a decade or so ago. Quality keeps improving while the size and weight keeps dropping. However, I think it might be a while before they can put a real subwoofer in a small, lightweight, portable sound system. Really, the subwoofers handle frequencies that are not essential for my needs anyway. (Except when I used to DJ). There are some amazing small speakers/speaker cabinets available now that can handle quite a bit of bass, and it is untelling what is just over the horizen.

Regan

If a subwoofer is really what you need then buy just that. An amplified subwoofer. All these systems have a line out. The Mackie has a line throughput which can go to another speaker. There are bigger Mackies that can handle that base blaster if needed.

Others have a line out. Add a small mixer then you can do all sorts of things.

The trade off... a big box and more weight.

Dennis wants to keep this thread going. Here is my next question:

Where can I find a decent wireless Headset and Receiver that sounds GOOD? I already own a CountryMan Wireless System but I would like to purchase a seperate one for my little Roland CM-30. I would like to stay under $ 200.00 if possible. I do not need a Handheld just a Wireless Headset and Receiver.

Rodney