Bought a new practice amp; small PA

I decided I would sell off some older equipment and pick up a small practice amp. My favorite music store, Mike Carey Music, had two of these just coming out of the box. Mike said take it home and try it. It's a pretty dececnt 50w 3-channel PA with a tiny footprint. It sells for about $125-150, but I traded my SC88 and SR16 for this baby. It even has a power sub out jack to really beef up the sound for regular PA use. I'm very satisfied with this new new amp.

http://www.powerwerks.com/page/PW50-20.aspx

Cass you could buy the amp for $125?...and you decided to trade an SC88 and a SR16 for it instead!!!...You lost money

Fran, SC88's have been going for under $100 on eBay lately and the SR16 might bring about $75 tops. Deduct fees for two ads and maybe PayPal fees too; I'd be very lucky to net $150. I feel a quick trade with a good friend is worth it. Thanks for looking out for my well being

Hi Cass,

Congratulations on your new Powerwerks PW50 unit:






I like that it weighs only 14.7 lbs, and in addition, its ultra affordable $125 budget price too.
I assume you can easily link two PW50's together for 'stereo' (so critical imo esp for Yamaha arrangers) and double the power output & room coverage as well.

Are you planning to use it strictly as a guitar and/or arranger keyboard practice amp or for small gigs (solo guitar/arranger keyboard) too?
How does the bottom end (bass) sound?
In addition to acting as an onstage personal monitor, do you think the PW50 alone (or two together) will deliver adequate volume for a small venue and with sufficient bass presence to convincingly emulate an arranger keyboard acoustic combo (bass/drums/piano) as well?
Thanks.

Scott - First, thanks for the videos, they are very helpful. As for your questions, I bought this mainly to use at home with a Roland Discover5 I recently picked up. Since I have a Bose Compact, I don't forsee the PA50 replacing it. But it could easily be used as a decent backup. It can be linked to another amp and used in stereo, as you said. It also has a subwoofer out; a great accessory. I have an EV SXb120 powered sub and I think the two units would be an excellent small crowd setup

Wow Cass, where in the World were you able to get a Discover 5 ?
How do you like it and how does it sound with the PW50?

I'm also curious as to how your S910 would sound on the PA50.

Thanks for the "heads up" on the PW50, and keep us updated on how it performs.

Hi Cass, this looks cool. Have you ever tried a Roland CM30? I'd be interested in a comparison.

@ Larry - I found it on eBay; I did a specific search, it wasn't selling. I've owned one before. I pretty much ran all volumes - Discover, PW50 channel and master volumes at top levels and didn't get any distortion. The Discover piano was very sharp and I had to put treble at 9 o'clock and bass at 3 o'clock, but them all sounded well. I may be sell it, if you're interested...

@Graham - I've owned two pair of CM30's at different times and liked & used them until I bought my Bose Compact. Surprisingly, I like the sound of the PW50 better than a pair of CM30's. The Roland's have a tendency to distort at higher volumes, not the Pw50. Bass response on the Roland may be slightly better, but not enough to make a difference. Controls and channels are pretty much the same. I used my CM30s in a NH situation and feel confident I could use my one PW50 to do the job of two CCM30s.

Wow, thanks Cass, that's quite an endorsement, because I am really impressed with the Rolands.

Cass...
Just to clarify, you feel there is sufficient bottom end on one PW50 for NH jobs.

How big of a crowd do you think a pair of PW50s could handle...and again your opionon of punch on the lower end?

If a sub was needed, do you think the Bose L1's sub would do the trick?
Eddie

I use my little CM-30's every week. Have to check this little guy out. May be useful for my day business, also.


Russ

Eddie, after my last post I sat and thought how one CM30 would have sounded and I can't imagine it sounding as well-rounded as the PW50. I always felt the CM30 were a little on the raw, edgy side. The PW50 is more crisp than bassy, but I was able too take the raw highs out without murdering the mix. Lows are not as punchy as the CM30, but you can hear the bass clearly, pleasantly. Would two PW50's handle 100 people? Definitey. I don't have any experience with the L1 sub other than hearing it, and I feel it would be a good partner with a PW50. I would use my EV SX120b sub with the PW50 and feel confident I could do all my NH jobs with plenty of room to spare. For the job I did today I coould have easily used the PW50 alone instead of my Compact; 15 people.

Thanks Cass. I sprung for one and if I really like it, will get a second. However, there have been a few glitches with the eRetailer I ordered it from. Price was good. Service so far, not so much.
Eddie

I bought mine from my local good guy, Mike Carey Music in Wyandotte, MI. I know he does eBay sales but never dealt with him that way. His phone number is 734-283-4550. He's alsoo on Facebook (Mike Carey Music) Tell him Cass sent you...

Let me know if you do decide on getting two as I'm especially interested to find out how it sounds in stereo,
especially with a Yamaha PSR/Tyros 4 keyboard.
What's the size of the PW-50's woofer?
Will two PW-50's together deliver sufficient bottom end for arranger keyboard auto accompaniment mode performance for a small intimate venue?
Thanks.

Update: This little 14.5 lb gem contains two 4 1/2" speakers and a 2 1/2" tweeter. It certainly is not going to replace a Bose Compact, but for those 1hr shows in front of up to 40 ppl in close proximity, it is ideal. I intend to get a second one and link them together for such shows. I am thinking that two linked together will add some bottom and a stereo pattern, which so many here look for.

As for the larger jobs using a Bose Classic L1, the PW50 is an excellent monitor and has, for the time being, replaced a 50 lb. Roland KC350 I was using. (I know...that's kind of like an apples and oranges comparison...but the KC 350 was overkill for the 1hr NH gigs and not totally necessary for most of my larger jobs.)

The etailer I purchased it from had problems with the order resulting in delivery delay and double billing, which I do not believe was intentional. Even so, I will purchase my next PW50 somewhere else.

Thanks to Cass for the heads up

Eddie

I was noodling on my DisCover5 (for sale) last night and decided to see if I could cause some distortion on my PW50. I raised the volume levels on the keyboard, the PW50 keyboard channel and master volume to full - no distortion, but it was as loud as hell. I can't say I would ever want to perform like that, but I was very pleased to know that it could be done. Yea!

I originally bought this amp for home use, but now I'm tempted to buy a second. No reason other than I think a pair of these would be sweet; versatile, powerful and handy. Yeah, a pair of PW50s sounds like a possibility...


I am blown away to think of the big, heavy equipment I/we were using just 10-15 years ago. Today's equipment is so much smaller, lighter and more efficient. It's simply amazing. I can actually forsee someone (maybe even me) doing a small gig with a micro arranger and a mini PA/amp.

No doubt about it. The PW50 is a great little speaker. I used two at a NH last week and they were more than ample in volume and clarity.
Eddie