Mackie goes mobile with Thump GO portable loudspeaker
If you’re looking for a compact, portable PA speaker, then you’ll be excited about the Mackie Thump GO. Rechargeable power, lightweight and cleverly designed it should be a hit with buskers and street performers. But will the price alienate its target market? We take a closer look at Mackie’s latest PA product.
Mackie Thump GO
If you’ve ever used or purchased a powered PA speaker, then the chances are you’ve used one with a Mackie badge on it. Mackie revolutionised the PA speaker market with the original, powered, SRM series loudspeakers around two decades ago. Clearly then, Mackie’s got form when it comes to making powered PA speakers.
I was excited to learn that Mackie has just launched a brand new, portable, battery-powered loudspeaker called the Thump GO. If you’re a street performer or a busker then you might be excited too.
Mackie describes the Thump GO as “a professional quality loudspeaker with the portability of a boom box”. Let’s dig into the specs and see if that claim holds water, shall we?
Portable Powerhouse
The first claim: portability. At around 8kg it’s light enough to carry single-handed without a 2nd thought. Additionally, you’ll find an 8″ woofer coupled to a proper 1″ compression driver (no home-audio style tweeter here). It should, therefore, pack a decent punch for its size.
In typical Mackie fashion, there’s a basic, simple to use, yet versatile two-channel mixer built-in. Channels 1 and 2 offer a mic/line input on an XLR/Combi input. Additionally, you’ll find Bluetooth and stereo line-in functions on Channel 2.
I like the multiple EQ/voicing modes and clever functions like music ducking and feedback elimination built-in. You can also control the Thump GO’s mixer controls over Bluetooth using the Thump Connect 2 App.
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If you’re a mobile or outdoor performer you’ll undoubtedly appreciate the removable, rechargeable battery pack. Each battery pack gives you up to 12 hours of running time on a single charge. You can buy multiple battery packs if you need a longer running time. Obviously, you can also run Thump GO from AC mains voltage as well.
There’s a lot to like about the Thump GO. It seems a really well-designed loudspeaker that answers a lot of problems. Now for the price: we expect that Thump GO is going to cost you $399 or €399 when it starts shipping. I can’t help but wonder though if the pricing might put it slightly beyond the reach of many mobile street performers? Admittedly it’s a very well-featured piece of kit and I suspect it would pay back that investment if in regular use.
More Information on Mackie’s new Thump GO
Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HhgIcdVocM
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