Acoustic Combo Amp vs Small PA or FRFR ?
 

Just looking for a healthy discussion on the pro's cons of each. My application is mainly to practice with at home. Normally I plug into larger PA's when I play out, but sometimes I take a combo with me to gigs as either the only speaker or a monitor.

My main concern with combo amps is that my experience is that they tend to color the sound a fair amount compared to FRFR... which kinda drives me crazy. (why do they do that?). But combo amps are very convenient. I think I'll eventually get a combo amp, but there just aren't that many out there now that seem to impress me. I was going to try the Carvin AG200... but they just went out of business.

The allure for me on FRFR... is exactly that, a Flat Response.

Okay, maybe I'm the only person who is confused, but I have no idea what a "FRFR" is......sorry if I'm being dense......can you define this term?

I have a Bose L1C I use with a Behringer xr16 mixer. It's a fantastic combination and for once I don't wish for anything different.
But if it was an acoustic amp I was looking for SR technologies would be at the top of my list.
I believe there are other names with the same design. I know Godin uses SR.

FRFR: Full Range Flat Response
 

FRFR means "Full Range Flat Response"
In other words your typical PA speaker; e.g. QSC K10.2 or Yamaha DBR10.
Usually a powered speaker, as opposed to a full PA system.

Why? Please elaborate.

Take a look at the Line 6 L2t. It's probably the best FRFR/PA/Acoustic combo system on the market. If you're truly looking for those features, look no farther. I owned one and regret selling it. It's got truly excellent tone for voice and guitar. And, you can toss it on its side in monitor position and use it as a FRFR electric guitar rig.

Well that IS interesting. A little more money than I wanted... but definitely what I’m looking for.

Thanks!

I have the xr12 and will order the L1C. How do you have this set up/plugged in? Are you using anything else other than your guitar plugged directly in to the xr12?

Sorry to the OP. Don’t mean to highjack your post.

Hi there. You don't need to have anything between guitar & mixer. Not sure of the xr12 but the 16 has 2 inputs made for this.
I have a small pedal board with a red eye preamp on it, but it's not necessary. The mixer only has xlr outs so I have a cable that goes from xlr to 1/4" so I can go into the Bose on the guitar side and turn the modelling off. Otherwise the "mic" input has modelling you cannot turn off.

Thank you Roger.

Mackie FreePlay
 

:cool:
My Mackie FreePlay is serious business .

https://www.markertek.com/productIma...K-FREEPLAY.JPGhttps://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...fyPWfdLUPBXs5w
http://mackie.com/sites/default/file...151b6b1fe5c9c8

150 watts RMS in a biamp'd P.A./Acoustic guitar amp and totally portable .
75 watts summed mono to the 8" center channel driver and 35 watts to
each tweeter in stereo .05 THD .

My dread sounds beautiful on this and so does my synth bass and other
synth instruments as well as the electric guitar with my T.C.Helicon
Voice Live 3 X pushing it .

• FX are super .
• 2X XLR/TRS and Bluetooth stereo sound and or Aux input .
• Controls FX via you smartphone too .
• Shoulder strap gig bag
• Lithium Ion battery with 10 hours of life
• Heavy Duty Tripod Speaker stand gives it great projection
• Mono output to the front of house P.A.
• ABS exterior cab is tough and won't break if it falls
• 15 lbs makes it a real pleasure to haul around
• Tilt stand and or pole mount make it a great personal monitor

I'll get a second one too and a sub-woofer and I'm there for a small room that's noisy .
As it is coffee house gigs are a real sweet deal to perform with this unit by itself stand
alone with just an acoustic guitar and a mic as well as for busking .

Some say it looks like a boom box ghetto blaster and do not like it's looks , I like it's modern look
as well as I think it look's like Sloth :

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/c5/0d/ea/c...id-the-ice.jpg

EZ :

HR

Acoustic Combo Amp vs Small PA or FRFR ?
 

Like Ramon, and a few fellow AGF members, I am on the Mackie FreePlay bandwagon. It’s an excellent option for lightweight, moderate volume, acoustic and vocal reinforcement. In fact, I like it better than most everything I have for this purpose. However, I was not quite as pleased as Ramon using it as an electric guitar FRFR system. Perhaps, it was my setup? That said, I do fancy the idea of adding a small subwoofer to make it a more powerful system.

I concur with David. I love my Line 6 L2t. At 39 lbs., though, it isn't exactly a lightweight but is highly versatile with great sound and features. The optional rolling gig bag makes transportation easy and an Ultimate speaker stand can round out this great-sounding active PA speaker.

A member of our guitar group suggested the Mackie Freeplay to me for rehearsal work at my townhouse. For open mic we use the JBL Eon One and it can easily over powers the room at half volume.

The Fishman Loudbox Performer has also been suggested to me because I play Baritone Acoustic. Works well for a low tuning song writer I know as well.

Is the Mackie good on the low end for low tunings? I'd like to run my analog pedal board into something as well. In a perfect world, I'd like to run a Kemper or Axe/Fx into the same mini PA rig for electric playing as well.

Thanks