the box MA100

I needed a powered speaker for a stage piano. The low-end keyboard amps I've used in the past have always sounded very 'boxy' to me but I am really impressed with the MA100. There are good high ends and the bass is perfectly adequate, without the mid-range boominess that you often get from small speakers.

The XLR out is post-fade, which means that if you use that to feed the mixing desk then the keyboard player can't adjust the monitor volume without also changing the front of house mix, which is a slight annoyance.

I just wish that Thomann had used combo XLR/jack sockets for the inputs. Not all stage pianos have a balanced XLR line out, and it's a minor inconvenience to have to carry around a special jack to XLR lead.

The singer in our band wasn't loud enough. She is now!

Some reviews complain about the box having no handle. So what? Our singer is a petite 1.5 metres and she has no trouble moving a 14kg box.

The MA100 is excellent value. It is very solid, looks good and gives an excellent amplification with no distortion.

All the necessary connections are here for microphone or instruments.

The only thing I would like to have seen is the power socket below the front face, so that it doesn't have to twist so much when the power supply is behind the box.

As the title of this review says, just because this is a very good price don't think for a moment that it's going to be cheaply put together. This is worthy of a place on any stage. It's a heavily built cabinet with a good sounding speaker set and the basic EQ system works very well. No rattles or vibrations even with the volume up relatively high.
At the price Thomann are charging for these units there can be absolutely no criticism. In fact in most places I looked you would have to pay twice as much for something this good. A cover would be useful but then 'the moon on a stick' would cost much more.

While sounding way better than you'd expect at this price there are some obvious drawbacks.
The speakers perform great at almost any volume, no distortion when they are put to the test. They work well in both monitoring use as well as being used as active speakers at smaller venues (although the front-mounted input-output panel looks a bit awkward in that context).

HOWEVER, handling these kind of heavy pieces are everything but a blessing. No handles whatsoever, and the stackable corners just feels wiggley like an egg in a frying pan.

Still a really good buy, if you can live with the mentioned drawbacks.

I bought this active monitor to make a pair with the MA100 I had bought previously and been impressed with. This generation of MA100 has some slightly different features to the original, such as a green LED to show power, but essentially it is the same product. My usage is for pub/bar gigs with my band and I can honestly say, that for the money, these monitors are great. There is no hiss or buzz from the unit. The EQ and volume section is very good and gives control to the user without going over to the mixer. Also, another great feature is the speakon out, which allows you to run another 4 ohm passive monitor from the active MA100 unit.
Delivery and customer service from Thomann was excellent as usual and the unit arrived in perfect condition.
The only downside of the MA100 is there is no carry handle on the wedge. It is not overly heavy, but can be awkward to move due to it's size. The MA120 does come with a handle as a standard feature.
I would recommend these wedges to anyone playing in a pub/bar band or for use in any small theatre/venue as a quality, but affordable monitor solution.

the main one being no handle! This means two trips to the van while loading and unloading.
for the price you cant go wrong they have a very slight hiss but not enough for anyone to complain about.....yet!
The fact that you plug a microphone into a socket labelled microphone and a line input into a socket labelled line input is a lot better than a small switch hidden at the back of the unit that can easily be missed, it makes it a lot easier for me to send this out with non techie musicians and they are able to figure out what plugs in where. I mainly use these as wedge monitors on stage, but they have coped well as front of house at a couple of small (100-120 people) gigs