Yamaha Stagepas 300 Portable System Survey I first auditioned the Stagepas300 several months ago, along with a friend, and we judged it relative to other portable PA's in the ~$500 - $1000 list price range. He immediately bought one, I soon did the same. We are both acoustic solo players/singers (since the late 1950's) who occasionally work with one or more other musicians doing mostly folk, old time, early country and bluegrass, and ragtime and country blues repertoire. Think acoustic music in small to perhaps 1,200 sq ft sized venues and you'll have an idea where this PA is a very strong contender and good value to boot. Other applications, especially those employing larger ensembles, electric instruments, or high decibel levels in large spaces deserve beefier gear in order not to disappoint. The build quality is very good for an inexpensive portable PA (much more so than the rivals I kicked around a bit). I use only microphones but the XLR, I play guitar in a band that plays 60's vintage soul jazz (sax, keyboard, guitar, bass and drums). We play small venues. Strictly speaking, only I should be allowed to have an amp and everyone else should be playing acoustic "au naturel. " Pure we ain't. At the same time, we are not a rock band. As the "volunteer" sound man for the band, I wanted a PA that would supplement the amps we already have: one for keyboard, one for bass and one powered monitor that I use to hear myself play, along with everyone else (except the drums). The goal was to project a blended sound to the audience that would be biased towards the mid-range/high frequencies. No need for chest thumping bass. What bass we need comes through a dedicated bass amp, the keyboard amp and my monitor. The Stagepas 300 worked perfectly in this role. Before the Stagepas, my bandmates had a lot of trouble hearing themselves. With the Stagepas, we were able to get a good, hi fidelity blend for both audience and band members at a reasonable level of volume. My bandmates were ecstatic! As the default "roadie," I wanted a PA that would be easy to transport, set up and take down. I also wanted flexibility so that I could plug in an iPOD to do sound checks (via RCA connection cable) and have outputs that could go to the powered monitor with an independent volume control. Stagepas 300 totally nailed these requirements. Couldn't be easier to setup. I was ecstatic! In this area, it is great that Yamaha sells a rollaround "suitcase" custom made to transport the Stagepas 300. I can see other applications for the system. I'm sure it would work well as a rehearsal PA if you wanted to jam to recorded music. In larger spaces, I also think it would work well as to drive a monitor system connected to a more high-powered PA that a larger space would probably require. In sum, I'm completely satisfied. . . a hero to my bandmates and audiences alike. I am very impressed with our SP 300 which our church has been using now for about 2 years. The reason for this review is to confirm how durable this system is. We have been taking the system back and forth from our meeting site to members homes and back nearly every week for about 2 years. The system is VERY rugged and durable. I accidentally dropped one of the speakers that had the control box from a height of about 24" (waist high) and it didn't even scratch it. I am not recommending this procedure, but wanted to relate that there was no damage. . . even a scratch on the speaker. We have never had an issue except maybe a little amp noise when we used an extension cable over 50'. The control box is elementary without a lot of bells and whistles, but it was not designed to do so. At this price point you are getting a very good basic system with a few nice features. We especially like the line out feature that allows us to plug in a computer to record sermons and other events. PROS: High quality speakers, robust performance, easy to use with simple controls. Ample inputs for mics with additional support for keyboards and external CD/Ipod/Whatever. Lightweight if you consider how durable they are. CONS: Weak reverb function, sometimes some noise feedback from the amp. These two things are really a non-issue for me, just wanted to inform. Recommend: Buy this if you want an inexpensive, yet durable and VERY reliable PA system. 300 Watts is a lot of power and would be good for most indoor and most
small outdoor venues. OPTIONAL: Stands for the speakers, a nice pull-case. Of course bring your own microphones, cables, Ipod device. . . Yamaha also makes a 500 Watt system much like this with some additional inputs and functionality. So I bought this originally to do some small DJ/dance type things with an eye towards using it for live music. For DJ'ing a small party (under 50 people or so) it does a pretty decent job -- the sound level gets fairly loud. There isn't a whole lot of deep bass but it sounds fairly natural and clean. It makes a reasonable PA for a live discussion sort of activity with, say, two presenters and a third mic for people in the audience. I used it with a Shure SM-58 and got compliments on the sound quality. The amplifier module has a built-in fan that is fairly noisy. Don't set your mic down near the amplifier module even if it is turned down. You'll get electrical noise through the speakers. It's not so usable for live music, and here's why. The mic inputs provide no phantom power, so I can't use them with anything other than dynamic mics such as the aforementioned SM-58. None of my condensers (such as a Rode NT-5 that I like to use for mic'ing an acoustic guitar) will work. I'd have to chain on a separate mixer with phantom power or something. If you're going to sing with a band, you probably want some vocal processing. With this system you have a two-band EQ (low and high). That's it. There's no notch filter to reduce feedback, and no low cut filter to reduce rumble or mic handling noise. When you go to sing along with a guitar amplifier you'll miss the lack of compression and so mic technique becomes critical to maintain volume (although, to be fair, this is a problem with any powered mixer setups that don't provide channel strip options like compression). The reverb effect, as has been mentioned elsewhere, is pretty horrible except when set very low. If you try to put an electric bass through it you'll be disappointed. I have a line out on my Roland bass amp but through the PA, the fundamentals for the lower strings are pretty much nonexistent. You'll need a subwoofer. Unfortunately Yamaha does not seem to offer one that is really designed, powered, and priced to work with this system. I bought the bag and I've carted it around a few times. It is pretty easy to set up and break down and the bag has room for a couple of mics and some cables. So that part is nice. Getting the amplifier module in and out of the speaker is a little fiddly and the little screws that hold it in place, and the foam that keeps it from rattling, are a bit fragile. It doesn't come with a mic stand adapter for the amplifier module; it's a special order item from most stores. That's awkward. The module usually winds up sitting loose on a table or something; once it has a bunch of cables attached, it is a little vulnerable. In retrospect I wish I had gotten something else; I'm not quite sure what. Maybe the 500-watt system, or maybe something else entirely. I will probably be trying to replace it in the near future. I've used this PA on many classical/jazz gigs with solo guitar, two guitars, and flute/guitar - both inside and outside. The good - its very rugged and even with some mild abuse, its always performed great. Its also relatively lightweight and easy to carry. Many times I don't even use the 2nd speaker. Both classical and archtop (jazz) guitars can sound great through this PA. The bad the reverb is really awful - even a mediocre digital reverb would be OK, but this sounds like a weird slap-back echo. I'm not sure why they decided to use this type of "reverb" in the PA. It also doesn't have phantom power - I've only used dynamic mics in live settings, but it would be nice to have options. However, the negatives are minor. The important thing is that its reliable, easy to carry/set-up and sounds good. It delivers on all three. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this PA.
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