JBL Eon One Compact

I love having a very portable setup, and portability is critical if I join my wife’s street-busking team. We’ve used Bose S1 Pros for most everything - super compact and portable, great sound and long battery life. But I found that I had to work around a resonance on the open A and very little fundamental came out on the lower E frets. They’re great speakers, but a serious compromise for bass.

I just got a JBL Eon One Compact and this thing is fantastic for bass! It’s specified down to 37.5 Hz - your low E is 41Hz. (I haven’t tried it with a 5-string with a low-B at 31Hz, so I don’t know how sharp the rolloff is.) It has a high-impedance guitar input, and the sound is comparable to my Roland keyboard amp when it’s set for flat response. Additionally, with a smart phone you can program a full 8-band equalizer to customize the sound. It’s powerful enough for small street gigs. The battery lasts for hours, and it’s easily replaced (unlike the Bose), so if you plan on long gigs, you can swap in a spare battery quickly. It’s got USB charging outputs also, so you can plug in your tablet to read music and set lists.

If you’re looking for something small(ish) and portable and battery powered, definitely take a look at these speakers. The lead guitar and vocals still are great on the S1 (and the S1 is more intuitive and easier to use), but the Eon Compact is head-over-tail better on the bass.

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Ahhh, you blew my cover! I have one and haven’t spent much time with it yet. I’ll write more about ideas in a few days

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