Mini Amps

[John Bertotti]

So I'm curious, my nephew has one of the hog miniamps and for his guitar it sounds good easy for practice and space efficient. How about for mando any of these work with a mic worth using? Obviously not for a band situation but for oneself. Thanks John
heres a link to a few. http://www.zzounds.com/cat--Guitar-Mini-Amps--2593

[mandroid]

http://www.galaxyaudio.com/galaxy/galaxyPRODUCTS.html#COMPACT%20PA%20SYSTEMS
small size, XLR mic & 1/4" input with separate level controls, 5" internal speaker big spl(100w rms), will also power another cabinet . an 8ohm or, 2 16ohm
[- the rest ot the compact pa is 4 more of the same 5" drivers in 2 16 ohm cabs of similar size.

about $250, way more capability, the usual minis are sorta toylike 9v battery powered. or ;pignose uses a stack of AA's

Instead, this is the core of an expandable system.
Mic stand socket in the bottom. useful as a monitor.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[John Bertotti]

Mandroid, a bit more than I was planning on spending but doable and probably worth the wait. I'm in no hurry. I did like the physical size of the minis. Just seemed easier for my travels to travel electric and bring something that will fit in my bag. Head phone jack would also be good. I am going to check out the site you listed now. thanks John
Just checked them out and wonder about the frequency response. I don't know what is normal for speakers but 200 hz seems not quite low enough. Or am I mistaken, I am working on what I look for in headphones and that isn't an apple to apple comparison. If recall correctly my headphones response started at 20 hz. I found a pair as low as 15 hz but they were very expensive. Thanks John

[mandroid]

A discontinued combo was the >shoebox sized< Galaxy core 140, as a removable head and higher frequency driver, and another larger #diameter driver for the lower frequencys as a separate cabinet, 8" or the like, for more frequency range, its 140w internal amp would allow even a 15" to be driven, that will move a lot of air.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/blues.gif
see also: www.partsexpress.com #[& offers to pay for the 12+# shipping , currently]
looking further at specs. another preamp output (rca type) [post EQ, post level,] can run a powered slave speaker, sub woof or a bridged mono earthquake generating poweramp.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[John Bertotti]

Mandroid the light in my brain just came on. I see what your saying the expandability is good. The frequency response is not because of the capability of the electronics but of the speaker in use, by adding another larger with a lower starting # all would be good. That galaxy core 140 is tempting and portable. Do you use something like this or have you tried them? John

[mandroid]

I have a small PA, ETEK ,[ another Brick,powered 90+90W stereo, small but heavy], notemix. old thick notebook computer like; all the slider controls are in the lid [6 with aux sends ,pan and tone pots,& 2 stereo with aux loops]
(www.musicindustrys,com) and currently use stereo pair of EV SX 80's on speaker stands , first I bought Carvin PM5 another moulded small speaker (125w rms) cabinet, 2 way, mic-stand mountable.
Compact Mix/amp was kind of Pyrric, the samsonite with all the various cables in it is still needed.
My small condenser mic likes the available 48v phantom source, and I have channels left to add friends signals in too.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Amandalyn]

Have you guys heard of the AXL Thin Amp? it's only 2 " thick, weighs 5 lbs. has 2 high output 4" speakers, 10 watts RMS, 3 band Eq, digital effects, In & Out Jacks. It's pretty cool because it has a carrying case- kinda looks like a laptop- & you can get a battery pack with it.
Teri
info@musicgrowshere.com

[John Bertotti]

Thanks Teri I looked it up. Kind of unique I think I'm going to save a while and go the route mandroid suggested. It just has more potential. Thanks John

[mandroid]

One addendum to consider: John, #in 2way speaker systems is the crossover, its #a bit of electronics that detemine where one speaker takes over at the frequencys it does best, and sends lower frequency to the other larger one , crossovers can work overlapping in the mid range if they both function well in that range,
say a guitar 12"speaker works from 150 to 3K; smaller 5"works from 200 to 18k
high cut low pass for one , and low cut and high pass for the other.
theyre in mostall stereo speakers [a coilof wire, some capacitors, a resistor, not too costly ]
good luck. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[John Bertotti]

I was aware of that but thanks. Funny the only reason I remember that is because while stationed in Japan i the marines the base had an electronics store. There were a set of speakers that to this day still sounded the best to me. They were Klipsch loud speakers. About 2.5 to 3 feet tall. They speakers had some crazy specs. Rated to like 3000 watts and at the time I never heard of that much power. The crossovers however were rated to 100 watts. The story on the brochure said the woofer actually caused some heart problems it was so forceful and the resulting legal problems caused the cross over change. When we ran a stereo through it and put in about 15 watts it blew away virtually any thing else in the store. Just sharing. John