YAMAHA STAGEPAS 300 PA SYSTEM
YAMAHA STAGEPAS 300 PA SYSTEM - approx. £300
(Reviewed by John Verity)
Yamaha have a large range of PA equipment, from large concert systems to units suitable for smaller venues and rehearsal situations. Yamaha's portable Stagepas 300 and Stagepas 500 systems look ideal for the classroom and rehearsals so I took a look at the smaller, Stagepas 300 version. Stagepas 300 from Yamaha
THE SYSTEM
The system consists of a pair of speakers complete with powered mixer. The mixer is housed in the back of one speaker cabinet, and there is a compartment in the back of the second cabinet for speaker leads, or microphone leads if required. The mixer can be left housed in the speaker cabinet, or removed to be used free-standing if required. Either way, the only connections needed are a pair of speaker leads (¼" jack) and the supplied power cable. SOUNDING OFF! In use, the Stagepas 300 gave a good account of itself in a rehearsal situation for a group consisting of two vocalists with acoustic guitars and bass guitar. This small PA is remarkably clear and loud in a small rehearsal space. The bass guitar used its own amplifier, so the PA just had to handle the four microphones for the singers with their guitars. The speakers were mounted on stands via the internal pole-mount sockets, and the mixer was placed on a convenient table. Sound was very natural, with just a little of the on-board equalisation used to sweeten the sound, and the group decided not use the in-built reverb, preferring instead to leave to sound 'dry'. The recording outputs on the mixer were plugged into a minidisc recorder to record the rehearsal so that the group could discuss any improvements needed before the next get-together, and also to keep as evidence for their coursework.
SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS
The Stagepas 300 mixer has four microphone/ line inputs (XLR and ¼" jack connectors) plus a stereo input with ¼" jacks, and a further stereo input with phono connectors. Equalisation is simple high and low on each channel, and reverb can be added to the first four (mic/ line) inputs via switches on the front panel. In addition to the 2 speaker outputs and stereo recording outputs there is a pair of line outputs on ¼" jacks for connecting further powered speakers if required. The internal stereo power amplifier supplies 150 watts RMS to each speaker - the speaker cabinets are moulded bass-reflex type, with a strong metal grille to protect the speaker cones. The speakers are wedge shaped - designed to be either mounted on speaker stands or on the floor as monitors facing the performers.
IN CONCLUSION
The entry-level Stagepas 300 worked well in this situation, but the more expensive Stagepas 500 (£600) may be worth considering if more mixer inputs and a higher output are likely to be required. Either way you will be getting a good sounding, compact, quick and easy to work system which should endure the rigours of the classroom without flinching!