Hey, it's a two-way speaker system with 8 inch speakers. But everyone that hears them is greatly surprised by the sound quality coming from them. I use them for monitoring my keyboards when I play. I also use them for small rehearals (vocals and keys only) as well as for PA when performing as a small ensemble.

The 'Reverb' is questionable. And there's no way so send the left and right inputs on the stereo RCA connectors to both speakers. But having separate controls for speaker level, and for the signal going to other powered speakers (in my case, the band's mixer) allows me to adjust my monitor level without affecting the house level.

The power output, coupled with the number and types of inputs makes this a good value.

I like that the mixer, while in one of the speakers, can be removed so that you can control the mix away from the speakers.

Active Musician and Recording Engineer

Rock and Jazz

I'm going to be careful to not rate anything too high because of my lack of in depth experience with other gear together with the idea that 10 is perfect and NOTHING'S perfect. I'm a solo acoustic guitarist, original music and covers, mostly instrumental, bluesy new agey mixture. I do not use a pickup but rather an AKG C1000s small diaphragm condenser mic, partially chosen for price partly for sound quality and good off axis rejection. This mic is more sensitive than a dynamic and I can get further away from it and still get a good meaty sound. This system has enough power for any solo guitar act in a small venue. The sound is clear and substantial, sufficient bass and does not sound boxy, honky or otherwise artificial. It actually sounds like a guitar. Many people can't tell because they're so used to the sound of piezo pickups. My criteria for purchase were sound, price, and portability, all of which were about equal in priority. This was the best thing I found. I always ask people in the audience how the sound quality is, whether it's too bassy, too loud, clear or overdriven sounding, and I always get positive feedback on how natural my sound is.

The product came with speaker cables and a power cord. I had to spring for a bracket to mount the removable mixer to a mic stand. I'm not complaining. the bracket seems substantial and the mixer unit is light, mounted to a short stand puts it at the right height for a seated performance. Ideally the eq would have a sweepable mid and there would be individual reverb for each channel. This would drive up the price which, as it is, is eminently affordable for what you DO get. One nice touch is that you can place the cabinets on their sides such that they will aim upward such as a monitor or an amp with legs to tilt it backward for better dispertion in an actual room. This, to a degree, negates the need for speaker stands. . . lugging less gear is good.

I can get set up in 5 - 10 minutes and however long it takes to dial in a sound depending upon the room and my position in it. I don't use effects because I'm looking for a natural acoustic guitar sound although I will dial in a bit of reverb if I feel it's needed. This little system just plain sounds good, and I think that is at least partially due to the fact that I'm not trying to do too much with it. I could likely get this system to work with 2 guitars and vocals but anything more would likely require a larger system. One key is recognizing this. The recessed spaces in the back of the cabs for both the mixer and cords enables me to keep everything together so all I have to do is pick up two cabs and that's it. One reason I chose it is that I don't own a car, I generally hire a car to get to a gig. it's quick, only 2 cabs, a couple of mics and one or two guitars and I'm there.

It is well made. Mixers are fragile and I don't think this one would withstand much abuse. When stowed in the recess the control surface of the mixer faces the outside so you have to be careful that it doesn't slide all around the back of a van and accidentally damage the control surface. I've had it for a little over a year now and it's doing just fine. If I were on the road I'd have likely compared the 500 and some other systems, all of which were more powerful, slightly larger, and more expensive. For local gigs this system is just perfect.

excellent value. at around $500.00 you get really good sound in a compact system.

Never had to call. I've owned other Yamaha gear before and they make good reliable stuff.

It's not particularly sexy but it does what it's supposed to and does it well. When I put the little mixer on a mic stand so I can control it from a seated performance position it looks kind of cool.

Active musician, home recordist

new age bluesy strangeness

First thing is its a very affordable portable PA system. I have owned a few over time including Fender. The sound is very good. I use it to practice singing using backing tracks, Karaoke cd+g, etc. I love it. The sound is crisp and the bass is very good something that is usually lacking in a portable system.

I would have given it a 10 if it including the speaker stand mounts. I also purchased the mic stand mount for the mixer and am very happy with that. Most company's nowadays include the stand mounts for the speakers. The speaker cables are very limited in length (15ft) and they do not recommend using 3rd party cables. I found this disturbing as I like to use high end cables with my systems. After some research I discovered the reason was people could short out the system very easily if the cables they used were not shielded properly at the mixer. I intend to use 18ft Mogami 3082 speaker cables and use heat-shrink tubing on the connectors. It has 2 1/4" outputs with a monitor volume control which makes for an easy setup but it only supports powered speakers. Considering the price of the system (600) I do not see this as a set-back but a luxury. I plan to purchase a pair of Yamaha MSR100's to use on the monitor outputs. The included speakers are basically passive 100's. I wish the 100's were a little cheaper (600 pair) as they cost as much as the whole PA. They however could be used as a pa by themselves. Its my choice to purchase the 100's as a small guitar amp will work quite well. I am using the Line 6 Micro-Spider as the monitor now and it sounds great with this system.

It's very easy to obtain great sound with the Stagepas 300. You just turn it on adjust the eq and you are ready to go. The mixer is very well layed out and everything is marked. It used seperate inputs XLR,1/4" and has a 30db pad built in. It is marked as the line and mike inputs but I examined the schmetic's and discovered this. It has a speech and music switch which routes the signal through a HPF when used. The system utlizes a current limiter which will shut down the system if it's overpowered, spiked, etc. This is a more important feature than most people are aware of. I always use an isolation transformer and power filter to both protect my investment and sound quality.

It's up to Yamaha's standard of quality. The mixer case is plastic and very light but all switches, controls, inputs, outputs, etc are of good quality. I have had this PA for 3 month's and not one problem has surfaced. I plan to keep it for quite a while. I am not thrilled about the way the mixer face is exposed but that is a small thing considering the value and easily taken care of. I always protect my equipment from accidental damage as you are better safe than sorry. It also keeps the resale value up there if you like to always have the newest and greatest like I do.

Yamaha speakers are among the best PA speakers I have used. I feel the Portable PA's are a fantastic value and allow you to have a name brand high performance system on a low end budget. I could afford a much more expensive system but the money I saved was put into a high quality microphone. What good is the best PA in the world if you plug a ten dollar mic into it.

I have not had to use support except for the web site which I found to be very useful. I am very careful about which brands I sink my funds into and Yamaha always brings a good return when it comes time to upgrade or just plain change the system.

I am extremely concerned about the looks of anything other people will see and mounted on a set of ultimate TS70B stands along with the optional mixer mount it makes for an extremely impressive set up.

Active Musician

Rock

The sound is best in its price range. I like the sound of the $2300 Bose system a little better, but for $600 this is hard to beat.

Has the most channel inputs of any system of this type.

I have never had a bad Yamaha electronics product.

Speaker mounts are extra, as are speaker stands.

i have not had to deal with Yamaha on this item, but in the past when I have called Yamaha looking for manuals on discontinued items, I received quick and courteous responses.

The systems that fold all into one unit, seem a little sexier to me. This is basically two separate speakers, with built in carry handles. The amp mounts into the back of one of the speakers, and the other speaker has storage space for cables. It is compact, but you still need stands and pole mounts.

Active Musician

Eclectic rock

Nice bright crisp highs. Reverb is not that great, but just a hint of reverb is all we use anyway.

Well designed. The mixer detaches from the back of one speaker, and a compartment in the other speaker holds the cables and mics. The only drawback is there are no speaker stand mounts, so you have to purchase those separately.

Very easy to use and set up. Very good illustrated instructions for someone that has never used a PA before.

Appears to be well made. Yamaha has been making quality products since I can remember. They've never let me down.

A great value. You cannot go wrong with Yamaha.

Never had any issues with any Yamaha products, so I cannot comment on their customer support.

Does what it's supposed to for our needs. Intended for small acoustic gigs or speaking engagements at small venues.

Professional weekend musician, been playing 45+ years

Motown, soul

I have had my Stagepas 300 for 12 months. And I dont know how I did without it. I am the keyboard guy in a 10 piece soul, disco and motown band and I use it for my stage monitoring. Previous I had a Peavey KBA150. I can now play in stereo which makes my sound brilliant, both on stage and front of house through the main PA. I use a Yamaha S80 as my main and a Roland G7 and my top keyboard. I was worried about the small size speakers before I bought it but I get a lovely rich sound including plenty of bass. I get plenty of on-stage volume despite being in a 10 piece! I use the speakers in wedge format, sitting on some makeshift stands to give it some physical lift and keep the speakers close in to me. www.SoulDevotion.net

It would be better if channels 7 and 8 had standard jack connections.

I paid 300 euro new

Never needed

Semi-pro gigging musician

Soul, Funk, Disco, Motown

Guitarist for 27 years

the sound is clear, without distortion, and powerful

option to use different inputs for most channels, so you are not really limited in equipment selection

very easy to use

light and compact

This product is a bargain compared to the size, bulk, and expense of similar items

N/A

Simplicity of use and power in a small package with up to 8 channels of input is awesome.

I have attempted to play classical guitar for 7 years

Christian

teclado

pop

Sorry, this system never had a chance with me. When I saw the box they delivered I thought, "that's it?" When I cut the box open and saw the tiny size of one of the speakers, I actually planned to send it straight back. I think it may have been boredom, but something made me actually go through the motions of unpacking it, hooking it up, and giving it a test drive. It's great if you're looking for a nice pair of computer speakers, but it just didn't have enough power to fill even my 12x20 practice space to even 1/2 the volume I was expecting without overdriving. I can't imagine anyone actually using these in any type of a live setting. Ever. My cheapo Peavy amp (barely $150) has at least 2x the volume and more bass out of a single speaker.

Besides the tiny speakers, the rest of the features are OK. Note that it is just a 1 channel amp. The mixer/amp clamps into one of the speakers, making transportation very easy - you can even leave it there while the system is in use - very cool! The size of the product would certainly be a great feature if it were powerful enough to actually be used. The mixer/amp is a nice little unit, it looks very well built. The knobs are sturdy and it's very easy to use. I did notice that the reverb is a little cheap sounding, but no more so than most other inexpensive pa amps.

I did find it very easy to use. Without using the instructions, I was able to plug it in, hook it to my Juno, turn it up, and hear the cheap, overdriven bass-reflex from those impossibly small speakers, and pack it back up again to be sent straight back.

Feels solid enough - I didn't hang onto it long enough to evaluate the quality much beyond that.

I know, it's supposed to be a small, compact system. But even the smallest (and/or cheapest) system doesn't have any value if it doesn't have enough power to be of any practical use!

I didn't call them.

Not really - I was looking for an alternative to lugging around the PA I keep borrowing from a fried. This just doesn't cut it - not by a long shot.

Hobbyist

Pop, Roch

I thought I would wait to send a review until I used this in small coffee house and acoustic open mics, medium to large restaurants, and large noisy bar band settings. I use this mainly for vocals. The speaker sound is not boxy or punchy like I expected out of a small closed cabinets. The best I can describe is its studio quality like or just jaw dropping amazing. For the larger loud venues I use a 15 inch JBL powered speaker for a monitor in front of us. It in itself can fill a room. It also gives a powerful depth to the whole system. Yes the reverb is not 32 bit rack mount. But it adds a little depth if you do not have the latter. I use TC Helicon Tone control and G-Harmonizer that has first class vocal processing and effects.

It comes with speaker cables about 18 feet long. I purchased Monster 20 foot speaker cables because I like Monster stuff. The speakers fit into two 24 inch gym bags even with the speaker mounts attached to the bottom of the speakers. I put some foam weather striping strips on the bottom of the mixer to keep it from slipping on a hard surface. It does not hinder it when putting it back in the speaker cabinet because it squishes down nicely.

Set it up in ten minutes. EQ settings at 12:00, plug in the mics and you're on.

I put a piece of foam over the power supply when I put the speakers into the carrying bags.

Do not anticipate needing any support.

Unlike some of the portable contenders the Yamaha looks like a professional system on stage. The systems that latch together for transporting just defeat the purpose of portability as far as I am concerned. They just create another 60 pound something to lift and lug. You do not need a wheel cart with this using the two-gym-bag carrying method. What makes me lust for it is it doesn't tweak my back getting it to the gig and back.

Active Musician

Blues, classic rock, and acoustic solo.

The sound quality is suprisingly good. If you're looking for Marshall-like sound levels, get real... This is a small system and it will out-play some larger rigs, but it's meant for smaller venues. And in a small to medium room, you can't beat this Yamaha.

I was suprised that there were no speaker brackets included. Remember to order a pair when you order the rig. Do yourself a favor and order the travel case at the same time. It's well worth the money.

Simplicity it self. A couple of times we had an impromtu rehearsel at home and I didn't even bother to take the mixer out of the back of the speaker. Just plugged-in, turned-on and go.

It's YAHAMA!!! Does it really get any better?

See comment under "Quality".

Haven't had to use it.

This system definitely falls into the "Good things in small packages" catagory. We perform for a lot of Pros, and they're always amazed that such a small rig can sound sooo good.

I've worked and performed in and around the music business for over 40 years.

Jazz, Standards

I thought I would wait to send a review until I used this in small coffee house and acoustic open mics, medium to large restaurants, and large noisy bar band settings. I use this mainly for vocals. The speaker sound is not boxy or punchy like I expected out of a small closed cabinets. The best I can describe is its studio quality like or just jaw dropping amazing. For the larger loud venues I use a 15 inch JBL powered speaker for a monitor in front of us. It in itself can fill a room. It also gives a powerful depth to the whole system. Yes the reverb is not 32 bit rack mount. But it adds a little depth if you do not have the latter. I use TC Helicon Tone control and G-Harmonizer that has first class vocal processing and effects.

It comes with speaker cables about 18 feet long. I purchased Monster 20 foot speaker cables because I like Monster stuff. The speakers fit into two 24 inch gym bags even with the speaker mounts attached to the bottom of the speakers. I put some foam weather striping strips on the bottom of the mixer to keep it from slipping on a hard surface. It does not hinder it when putting it back in the speaker cabinet because it squishes down nicely.

Set it up in ten minutes. EQ settings at 12:00, plug in the mics and you're on.

I put a piece of foam over the power supply when I put the speakers into the carrying bags.

Do not anticipate needing any support.

Unlike some of the portable contenders the Yamaha looks like a professional system on stage. The systems that latch together for transporting just defeat the purpose of portability as far as I am concerned. They just create another 60 pound something to lift and lug. You do not need a wheel cart with this using the two-gym-bag carrying method. What makes me lust for it is it doesn't tweak my back getting it to the gig and back.

Active Musician

Blues, classic rock, and acoustic solo.

The sound is great. I use it for vocals in a classic rock band. Just used it in a large club. Two loud guitars one with a Fender twin, a bass and drums. It was just fine. Plenty of volume. And didnt get it up close to maxing it out. It is just amazing for the price and size.

Walk in with two gym bags with a speaker in each and stands. In ten minutes you are set up.

I like it better than the Passport. One Passport 250 user saw and heard it and liked it better I think.

Active Musician

Classic rock, blues, country

Amazing sound quality... Especially when you consider the size of the unit. It easily out plays some of the larger, more expensive systems.

It's got a very good and useful feature list. I'd be hard pressed to ask for anything more.

Setup and tear down is a snap. I can get the whole system up and running in under 15 minutes.

It's a Yamaha. Just doesn't get much better than that.

This outfit would be a bargin at twice the price. In my own humble opinion, it's the best system you can get without spending a ton.

Haven't needed to use the support. Probably never will.

Super easy to use and the design never fails to get a compliment from the sound techs.

Part-time Musician/Singer

Jazz, Standards

Good sound for the price.

No phantom power for mics. not able to put on speaker stands without buying extra stuff,BIG disappointment.

easy set up and break down.

great for small venues and practice times.

worth the price definitely. Priced just right.

haven't had to use it, hopefully don't have to.

like its ease and size. Again missing the phantom power.

musician, recording

Jazz

has excellence sounds have had it for a few weeks and use it for gigs and it sounds great my friend has a 1000 dollar pa and this sound blows that one away

not that great of features

i havnt had it for long but it seems to be put together good

it is a great pa for the money i would paid alot more for it

havnt needed to call them

Active musicians

Alternatiive/punk