Best Set Of Portable Speakers

When you need a combination of (trans)portability, enough power for 50-100 people with sufficient low end in a “sounds bigger than they look”-package, you should be looking at either 2.1 or 2.2 systems.

The 2.1 systems will have one (sub)woofer – frankly I don’t think of them as subwoofers, just the low end in a separate box – and two satellite speakers. In most cases the amp(s) will be in the subwoofer with or without a small mixer, the satellites just passive.

LD Systems Dave (with 8 – 10 and 12″ woofers I think) is one of the relatively lower budget sets, HK Audio Lucas (300 and 600) are at the mid-range spectrum. Both sound way bigger than they look, have plenty of umph for a small party, take up very little space in transport and when set up (a bonus in living room environments 😀 ). Another slightly beefier option is the Proel LT812A for example.

If you have the budget to burn, the German company Fohhn makes the Linea Focus series for example. VERY high sound quality. Excellent build-quality. And a 4ft high speaker weighs only 20 lbs. 8x 4″ speakers with an 8-channel 8×100 RMS amp and DSP. This is a truly awesome sound system with a small footprint (although the 4 ft long can be a bit of hindrance in a regular car LOL. Price is matching the quality of course.

This to show you that you can go from low end to top end depending on your needs and budget.

There is a newer range of these sets coming on the market since a year or so. Instead of regular satellites with one 5 or 6″ midrange driver and a high end driver in a traditional case, they will have 3 to 6 small speakers in a line array setup. This provides a better spread of the sound (back/front dispersion). They typically are a bit more expensive, but the line array technology comes straight from high end PA systems as used at festivals and concerts.

2.2 systems often consists of two matched sets of (sub)woofer with satellite. This clearly gives you more power and specifically more low end response. Also the price is higher that way.

If you have the budget to burn, the German company Fohhn makes the Linea Focus series for example. VERY high sound quality. Excellent build-quality. And a 4ft high speaker weighs only 20 lbs. 8x 4″ speakers with an 8-channel 8×100 RMS amp and DSP. Add two subwoofers and this is a truly awesome sound system with a relatively small footprint (although the 4 ft long can be a bit of hindrance in a regular car LOL. Price is matching the quality of course.

Two subs and two LF120 speakers will give you plenty of power for 250+ people by the way. This is a serious PA of sorts.

Based on your needs I’d go for the 2.1 systems, budget dictating “regular” or line array type satellite and brand/model.

From personal experience (listening to both at the Hannover show last year) I would say that the HK Audio is the better sounding unit. This is a matter of personal taste too. Slightly better build quality too I would say. Definitely looked a little more compact.

However, a lot of that is personal taste. If you have the opportunity, go to a showroom that has both, bring your own favorite tracks and do some A-B comparison.

There are reviews on both sets on the blog that could help in your decision making.

http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2013/08/review-video-ld-dave-12-g3-compact-pa-system/

http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2014/03/musikmesse-2014-hk-audio-lucas-nano-600-crossover-pa-system-talkthrough/

I know, but there were only reviews for the bigger models. I think the smaller (LD 8 and HK 300) are about 250W RMS. Roughly good for 25-50 people indoors, depending on the effect you are trying to achieve. If you want it to feel real loud, 25-30 is about it. If you want it firm but not extreme, you can do 50 pretty easy with these sets.

More people, more power needed.

So which size you want depends on your particular needs. I’d feel comfortable doing a 50-60 people party with these and having pretty loud and high quality sound. It won’t be club level with belly-button vibrating bass, but hey, with a compact setup like this …

And I have to admit, until I heard them, I didn’t think you could get that kind of sound from such a setup.

The Lucas Nano does too. I think it’s a bit of an unneeded extra for DJ’s, although a great option for sing a song writers and other (solo or duo) artists.

I think they both accept XLR inputs, so no problem there. The only major difference is that you will run BOTH XLR cables into the subwoofer and then connect the satellites from there.

Check out Numark Lightwave for use at smaller gigs (~50 people). Dimensions are 8.4 x 29.2 x 10.1 and weigh 23 pounds. 100w continuous and 200w peak. They have built in lights if you are playing a small show and don’t want to deal with transporting a full lighting rig. I’d still want a sub, and there are some good powered subs out there that are more compact (15 inch) and lighter. There are speaker stands with cranks on them, making it easier to raise/lower if you go with something heavier. Search for Lightwave on this site you’ll find a some info on them.