I’ve heard mixed opinions on the Positive Grid amps but might try one of these out for garden practice over the summer :
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Mobile opions to amplify are always useful.
Don’t expect wonders from small speaker, especially when distorted.
Consider headphone solutions too, like the Amplugs ju just plug in your jack and you attach a headhpone. The quality was more than enough for me to do some jamming.
I had the Spark 40. It was a decent enough amp and was decent value for a small amp, but it was suffered from muddy sound (most of the Youtube video demos were via USB recording, rather than from the speaker).
It was also massively over-hyped (e.g. “50,000 tones” nonsense) and, frankly, didn’t really do much more than devices like the Yamaha THR, Boss Katana Air, and others which have been around for years.
The tones from it were decent, but I didn’t think it was significantly better than similar amps, and it was a bit restricted in how you could use the onboard effects. For example, if you use the EQ effect to try to fix the muddiness, you lost the ability to use modulation effects, and the effects chain cannot be adjusted like it can on the Katana AIr and others.
I do think Positive Grid traded on their name a bit, and a lot of people thought you would get all of the capability and flexibility of their PC software products in the Spark series, which you don’t.
I understand the subsequent models have fixed the muddiness issues and are pretty good.
Again, I think they are decent value for money, but they aren’t the only game in town. They have very aggressive marketing and I would take any gushing about them on Youtube or other social platforms with a huge mound of salt.
However, the Spark Go does look interesting, and I don’t think there’s that much else in that form factor. I do wonder how good it can be. In my experience, bluetooth speakers of a similar size are pretty sonically compromised, but if you want something that small and don’t like using headphones, it could be fun.
Cheers,
Keith
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I don’t disagree, which is why I’ll go and give it a play when it’s available. On the other hand I’m not expecting it, or anything in this category to be a panacea for anything other than what it is - which is a small fun’ish mobile amp to use when I’m in the garden.
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I’ll look forward to you reporting back on this Stephen when you’ve given it a try. I’m really not keen on using earphones these days if I can get away with it, so something like this would be pretty neat, if it’s decent’ish.
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My mobile option is a plug-in amp with headphones. I don’t need to be heard by others when practicing. I can add a usb cable with audio from my tablet when I am listening to lessons or playing along with something. The sound is pretty good. Battery life is maybe 5 hours.
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I have the Spark 40 and I would agree with everything that has been said about it. The biggest (only?) selling point I can see with this iteration of the Spark is the form factor. However, if size is a consideration, I personally might look at some of the competing products first before deciding on the Spark Go.
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Hi Stephen,
I have had the Spark 40 and the Mini. Both are very good, though I do agree with the points made by Majik. The 40 has now been sold, but the Mini will be kept. It is loud enough and the sound is much improved.
For me the smaller Go has no advantage over the Mini, if you are able, check both out prior to purchase, or eBay might be worth a look and cheaper.
Or even a Blackstar Fly.
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