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REVIEWED
REVIEWED: Yamaha STAGEPAS 100 BTR
We all love shiny new stuff don’t we? Shiny new stuff is always good. But shiny new stuff that sounds great and fills a gap is especially good. One of the giants in the PA industry, Yamaha, have now further expanded their battery-powered speaker range with the Stagepas 100 BTR. New and shiny it is, but an even better word is - versatile.
Battery powered technology in the DJ world is most definitely here to stay. Whether it’s lighting, lighting controllers, DJ controllers, radio microphones or even PA. In PA in particular, the amount of choice has grown exponentially in a very short period of time.
Battery development has been supercharged in a relatively short period. Power cell technology and chemistry continue to develop at a pace that makes it very difficult for product designers and manufacturers to keep up. Most recently, the development of chemical pastes that improve heat dissipation have resulted in huge strides in terms of increasing both the efficiency and durability of both cells and batteries.
So, battery-powered technology is powering product development and the use for it is growing. TikTok especially has allowed brides and grooms to be much more creative when organising their big day.
The ability to deploy a powerful speaker at a moment’s notice is becoming increasingly important. I’ve been successfully working with battery powered speakers for some time - the flexibility to have a speaker set up in unusual places in a moment’s notice has brought a great deal of adaptability to my approach.
Rapidly deployed PA allows you to immediately respond to situations such as a boquet toss, a spontaneous outdoor first dance, or produce a DJ set during cocktail hour or room breakout.
This type of PA can also be very helpful when adhering to a venue’s noise regulations. As we all know, there is nothing worse than the sound going off altogether during an event. But using speakers that are designed to deliver high sound pressure levels utilising only mid-top frequencies with the benefit of battery backup may mean less disruption.
Sensitive and unpredictable sound limiter? Battery powered PA is the perfect answer.
The compact market which includes the type of speaker featured in this review has been evolving rapidly, and there are some huge brands making a lot of brilliant new products, not least of which is Yamaha’s STAGEPAS 200 (reviewed in issue 118 of Pro Mobile), the bigger brother of this new product.
As battery power improves, the speakers it’s used for get larger, when in fact, this little unit is probably the smallest portable professional PA. So they’ve gone the other way - Yamaha might be on to something.
With a maximum SPL of 120db, the stagepas 100 btr is utilising every watt of the 100w class-D amplifier. It’s extremely punchy for such a small unit and will be useful in a lot of situations as previously described.
Aesthetically speaking, it’s very different and really interesting. Out of the box I’m immediately thinking “where’s the top hat for a speaker stand?” and "what’s with the angled base?" Instead of a top hat, there is a thread for a microphone stand that is perfectly positioned and nicely balances the speaker in pretty much any position.
It’s a small unit at 24cm x 31cm x 21.5cm and weighs 5.5kg, astonishing considering how much sound comes out of such a small unit. Connectivity is versatile too. It has a three-channel mixer on the front of the unit with connections on the rear. Channel one is a Neutrik Combi Jack with a mic/line level switch. Channel two is the same, but incorporates a Hi-Z switch too. Channel three is a mini Jack and can also be used for Bluetooth. It even has an XLR output for connecting to other speakers.
It’s very well put together, as you’d expect from Yamaha. But where it really wins is in the quality of sound. A single 6.5" LF and a 1" throat compression driven coax create a really punchy sound that really cuts through. I know I’ve already said it, but give it a listen as soon as you can, there is so much more sound than you expect.
Battery life is impressive too. Recharge time is two and a half hours, and can run for up to six hours. That’s certainly enough for a ceremony, drinks reception and wedding breakfast.
Overall, I’m very impressed. It’s like a perfect sounding Japanese Swiss Army knife of a product that gives the competition much to worry about!
Battery powered technology in the DJ world is most definitely here to stay. Whether it’s lighting, lighting controllers, DJ controllers, radio microphones or even PA. In PA in particular, the amount of choice has grown exponentially in a very short period of time.
Battery development has been supercharged in a relatively short period. Power cell technology and chemistry continue to develop at a pace that makes it very difficult for product designers and manufacturers to keep up. Most recently, the development of chemical pastes that improve heat dissipation have resulted in huge strides in terms of increasing both the efficiency and durability of both cells and batteries.
So, battery-powered technology is powering product development and the use for it is growing. TikTok especially has allowed brides and grooms to be much more creative when organising their big day.
The ability to deploy a powerful speaker at a moment’s notice is becoming increasingly important. I’ve been successfully working with battery powered speakers for some time - the flexibility to have a speaker set up in unusual places in a moment’s notice has brought a great deal of adaptability to my approach.
Rapidly deployed PA allows you to immediately respond to situations such as a boquet toss, a spontaneous outdoor first dance, or produce a DJ set during cocktail hour or room breakout.
This type of PA can also be very helpful when adhering to a venue’s noise regulations. As we all know, there is nothing worse than the sound going off altogether during an event. But using speakers that are designed to deliver high sound pressure levels utilising only mid-top frequencies with the benefit of battery backup may mean less disruption.
Sensitive and unpredictable sound limiter? Battery powered PA is the perfect answer.
The compact market which includes the type of speaker featured in this review has been evolving rapidly, and there are some huge brands making a lot of brilliant new products, not least of which is Yamaha’s STAGEPAS 200 (reviewed in issue 118 of Pro Mobile), the bigger brother of this new product.
As battery power improves, the speakers it’s used for get larger, when in fact, this little unit is probably the smallest portable professional PA. So they’ve gone the other way - Yamaha might be on to something.
With a maximum SPL of 120db, the stagepas 100 btr is utilising every watt of the 100w class-D amplifier. It’s extremely punchy for such a small unit and will be useful in a lot of situations as previously described.
Aesthetically speaking, it’s very different and really interesting. Out of the box I’m immediately thinking “where’s the top hat for a speaker stand?” and "what’s with the angled base?" Instead of a top hat, there is a thread for a microphone stand that is perfectly positioned and nicely balances the speaker in pretty much any position.
It’s a small unit at 24cm x 31cm x 21.5cm and weighs 5.5kg, astonishing considering how much sound comes out of such a small unit. Connectivity is versatile too. It has a three-channel mixer on the front of the unit with connections on the rear. Channel one is a Neutrik Combi Jack with a mic/line level switch. Channel two is the same, but incorporates a Hi-Z switch too. Channel three is a mini Jack and can also be used for Bluetooth. It even has an XLR output for connecting to other speakers.
It’s very well put together, as you’d expect from Yamaha. But where it really wins is in the quality of sound. A single 6.5" LF and a 1" throat compression driven coax create a really punchy sound that really cuts through. I know I’ve already said it, but give it a listen as soon as you can, there is so much more sound than you expect.
Battery life is impressive too. Recharge time is two and a half hours, and can run for up to six hours. That’s certainly enough for a ceremony, drinks reception and wedding breakfast.
Overall, I’m very impressed. It’s like a perfect sounding Japanese Swiss Army knife of a product that gives the competition much to worry about!
The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 122, Pages 84-85.
