Udate and review...
Folks, I've had some time today to put the Stagemate through its paces. Guess I should start at the beginning.
As most of you know I do not perform scientific nor engineering tests. No signal generator nor o-scope was used. When I test new gear I do what I would normally do at a show with some extra pushing for good measure. Not only do I need to know what my business equipment will do, I need to know what it won't do.
Input sources were a Pioneer CMX-5000 CD player (DI), CD player through Carvin Pro-Mix 7 DJ board, Shure UHF wireless with SM58 element and a Carvin wired CM68 mic.
All testing was done on internal battery power only. The AC cord was not connected to the Stagemate during testing. Testing time was just over two hours.
Please bear in mind that the Stagemate is not designed for deep bass reproduction. The specs state frequency response low at 85 Hz.
Input and gain results: With the CD deck DI (patched directly in to the Stagemate RCA jacks) the master and channel levels had to be boosted. This is to be expected. When the Pro-Mix board was used, the Stagemate level was reset to unity all around. Mic responses were equal for gain and matched the line-in setting well. On board EQ was set to 12:00 or center detent. Exception was made for lower frequency ~ that was set to 1:00 for bass response tests. If the low frequency level is set much higher than that, it can't be heard from the unit proper at far field and will waste battery power. Center detent for EQ is suggested to start. Make adjustments as needed.
Battery life results: Testing involved over two hours of continuous program material at high volume, some bass-heavy. After two hours, the battery level LED began flashing red during lower frequency hits. The overall sound was not affected. 15 minutes later, the LED indicated steady red and the output became noticeably affected. Lowering the volume cleaned up the sound and the low battery charge LED went dark.
Overall sound results: I must admit that, after reading many horror stories about active cabinets I was prepared for anything. However, the Stagemate produces a very pleasing tone, even at high volume levels. This cabinet reproduces and projects the vocal range and sibilants very well without harshness. The overall tone and projection are superb for a 10" 2-way cabinet.
Projection: I set the Stagemate outside and walked across the lawn with the wireless mic to listen. At 70-some yards away, the full range could be heard clearly. Even at high volume levels, the vocal range wasn't warbled nor muddied by lower frequency kicks. This phenomenon is often noticed at a distance with less-than-professional equipment.
Mic feedback: This unit contains no internal limiting or compression. Mic feedback could be an issue in close quarters. Each input channel sports a three-band EQ should mic tweaking be necessary. I could not get the Stagemate to feed back at a distance of 10 feet, FOH. Rings occurred when the mic was closer. Adjustment of the on board EQ helped to reduce near field ring. Bear in mind that a three band EQ has a wide swing and could adversely affect your mic tone. I suggest orienting mics so that there is no ring. There was no ring with the mic behind the unit.
Overall performance: The internal amp is rated at 60 WRMS without the external or slave cabinet. The Stagemate is excellent use of 60 watts. I tried to overload the amp with high volume and lower fequency boosted. No soap. The amp did not go thermal, even after two hours of continuous duty in 85 degrees F ambient. I tried feeding it with a very hot signal. The amp would not clip no matter how hard I pushed it.
All in all, this unit is a nice portable PA for the price. I highly recommend it. We don't own an iPod or other portable playback device. However, the Stagemate could serve well as portable amplification for such a device.
CC ~ Carvin bbs
