Boombox or small amplifier with rca or aux inputs?

Depends, what’s your budget and what quality do you want. A very nice and pro-level stereo PA speaker (with battery-operation) is the Roland BA-330.

Not cheap up a very complete product, suitable for many situations where a compact speaker is needed. The stereo spread is actually pretty decent, the mic preamps are good. It’s good some EQ and a reverb on board for those impromptu singers. Hook up an iPod or iPad or something and play a playlist or, obviously, hook up your controller and play away.

I can vouch for the quality of the unit and the sound. I sold one to a customer (a singer) who uses it for garden parties and such. I borrow it whenever I need something like it.

http://www.roland.com/products/ba-330/

Ok. There is quite a bit of it around. But if you don’t need anything specific like mixer capabilities and battery operated and you don’t mind going mono, you could just get a small but good (used) active 10″ speaker.

Most of the boombox, tailgater kind of systems are usually pretty bad to the point that I’d rather NOT hear music than listen to it on speakers like those.

One option is the speaker I use for monitor purposes (that takes stereo inputs and does the summing internally which is nice) and that might fit your purpose is the Numark NPM100. You may have to look for one, they are no longer carried by Numark I think. But with two 5″ all-range speakers and a 100W RMS amp they come in a very small package that you could set on a mic stand (or speaker stand, but thats much bigger) or on any flat surface at ear height.

G’day Danny.
I used the Cerwin Vega XD5 system outdoors at a pool party 2 weekends ago. I had to push it to max volume to let the bass out. Having said that, we did get a noise complaint from a neighbour. Also, there was a little breeze flying around and didn’t have to wear headphones to hear the mix. Performed above my expectations for a set of desk top speakers.

In house its more than suitable.

Positives: Clarity, relative portability and won’t break the budget. Not pretentious. Perfect for small gatherings. RCA cables.

Addition: A guy at the pool party gave me his old pair of Peavey SP Subcompact 18X subwoofers. These things are freaking massive. Now I have to think about getting an amp and other stuff….aaaaarrrgh!!

http://www.cerwinvega.com/home-audio/desktop-speakers/xd5.html

i agree.