I’m a beginner thinking about buying a small portable amplifier for a newly acquired Yamaha FGDP-50. It would be used for accompanying a casual, small (unamplified) vocal group with guitar and harmonica. I don’t need wireless connectivity or microphones and my budget is around $100.
Should I be looking for a PA\voice amp, one meant for guitars, or is there something else? Any advice appreciated.
I would avoid wireless bluetooth speakers, because even with Aux inputs they usually have a lot of latency. Allthough I found one that doesn’t have much latency, which I could even play with the FGDP-50: The Anker Soundcore Motion+. So bluetooth speakers may be well in your price range, but you’ll have to do some research if they really work (usually aux in latency is not documented and just tested by end-users).
But probably you’re better off with a small active PA speaker, an acoustic amp or maybe a modeling guitar amp which has fullrange speakers. But getting something somewhat decent for 100$ will be difficult.
Is size a problem? Maybe a used active PA speaker or acoustic guitar amp could be fine. With used and “bigger”, it’s easier to get something good.
Hi!
I am using a Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 8 with great sound, relatively portable and lots of bass for around US$150…
The HK Go Play is another good option, but it is heavier, a bit bigger and more expensive, around $250…
Both work wired using the aux input.
Nice to know that the Harman Kardon bluetooth speakers have low-latency, too! Especially the HK Go Play looks like it could have enough power to be used in a live-playing setting.
Btw. it’s clearly out of the desired price range, but I’m using a single (used) “IK Multimedia iLoud MTM” monitor speaker for this. It first sounds a bit weird to use a studio monitor, but it has surprisingly much power, goes rather deep into bass frequencies, is very portable (I can easily put it into my backpack and it has speaker grilles) and has obviously very good sound quality. I only got one, so it’s mono only.
I use this as my “guitar speaker”, combined with a multi-effect pedal, but with an audio interface I can use it for anything full range.