Over the years I’ve had a number of Australian Apple User Groups ask me for suggestions on a suitable portable public address system for use at their meetings. Unfortunately there weren’t many selections available at a reasonable price. There were plenty that I had investigated myself, but most started around the $1,000 mark and sky rocketed from there. Obviously, these are out of reach of most Apple User Groups.

Well, now I’ve found one for under $300… and until November 30, 2012, for this price you can add a couple of useful extras for a similar price!

Recently, I visited a Jaycar store for something totally different and happened to notice the DJTECH Cube 50 Portable Rechargeable Speaker with Amplifier on display and checked it out.

The first aspect that attracted me to the Cube 50 was its’ small portable size, measuring just over 26x27x26cm in size and weighing a mere 8kg, so it is perfectly suited for transporting to and from a User Group’s monthly meeting and simple to store in between.

The next selling point was the fact it comes with THREE microphones included and they are ALL WIRELESS.

There is a handheld mic, a lapel mic and a lavalier (or headset) mic. The handheld unit is self contained, while the lapel and lavalier mics plug in to a battery pack you attach to your belt.

Now while the DJTECH Cube 50 ships with three wireless mics, you can only use a single wireless mic at any one time… if you have two or more on they’ll cause interference with one another… but for most groups I don’t think this will present too much of a problem. If your group does request two mics then you could could give the Lapel Mic to your “main presenter” and have the person introducing them use the handhand held unit… just ensure the introducer turns off the hand held before the presenter turns on the lapel mic.

Alternatively, the Cube 50 does support a wired mic to be used simultaneously with a wireless mic, so you could purchase a Dynamic Unidirectional Professional Microphone and plug that in as a second mike – either for someone sitting at a computer demonstrating from there or for the person introducing the main presenter. This microphone is only $29.95 and comes with a 4m long cable, so you’ll have plenty of flexibility with the placement of this mic.

The third input included on the Cube 50 is a standard stereo-RCA plug that allows you to connect an external audio source, say a computer, iPad or MP3 player. And the DJTECH has a built-in mixer for controlling the volume of each input source, including an adjustable talk over for microphone priority feature.

The DJTECH Cube 50 can be mains powered, but it also includes an integrated rechargeable battery, which will give you up to 12 hours use and this can useful if power sockets are at a premium, or you need to place it somewhere that’s not near a power socket, or you wish to mount it up on a speaker tripod (it comes with a standard with a 35mm pole mount).

So for $299 the DJTECH Cube 50 Portable Rechargeable Speaker with Amplifier should be within the budget of most Apple User Groups and provide plenty of flexibility.

However, until November 30, 2012 Jaycar have the DJTech Cube 50 on special for only $229, a massive saving of $70 and the amount you’d save on the unit could be used to purchase a couple of extremely useful accessories.

Optional Accessories

The first we recommend you consider is the Nylon Carry Case. At only $29.95 it will be a worthy investment for any User Group, as it will store all the mics and standard cables in a single bag for easy transport and storage.

As we mentioned above, the Cube 50 supports an optional wired mic, so we’d suggest spending $29.95 on the Dynamic Unidirectional Professional Microphone, which comes with an appropriate 4m long cable included.

If you think your group could ever plan to use either the Wireless “handheld” microphone or the optional wired microphone next to a computer or in front of a person or two seated at a table, then we seriously suggest you consider purchasing a compact Desk Top Mic Stand. It may be worth considering buying two – one for each of the two ‘handheld’ microphones… you’ll be amazed at how often you will end up using them, but only if you have them available!!!

Also we strongly recommend you have a 3.5mm Stereo Plug to 2 x RCA Plugs Audio Lead on hand so that you can easily connect a computer, iPad or MP3 play to the DJTECH. If you budget has also been stretched to the limit, we strongly recommend you get the $9.95 5m long cable for maximum flexibility in speaker placement. But if you can afford to spend a few more dollars, you may also want to consider having the 30cm ($5.50) and 1.5m ($6.50) versions of this cable on hand as well – this way if you don’t need the full 5m length for a particular presentation, you won’t have an excess of cable dangling around.

So, for under $300 you can get a very good portable Public Address Speaker System and for around $400 you can get a fully equipped system that would should just about any need an Apple User Group could require out of a PA system. Remembering that if you act before November 30, 2012 you’ll save even more money!

[Images courtesy of Jaycar]