the box MA8/2 CL

good little monitor, great for vocal clarity, the 70WATTS RMS is very loud out of this 8'' gem. it is very quiet when turned on, no noticeable hissing, and what amazed me was the vocal sweet spot to my ears averages around 100-120 degrees left to right, and you can sing over the monitor and 6-10 ft back with full projection of your vocal! this being said make sure you don't have to much volume/gain on the mic as you will incur a slightly higher chance of feedback.The monitor has enough punchy bass notes at around the 70 hz range and is enough, plenty of mid range and high notes too. But all in all i am very impressed with this monitor and have now purchased another one. The handle needs a re-think as it's a very basic luggage style design, but no real problems here. (p.s) DO NOT BUY THE THOMANN COVER !!! IT REALLY IS RUBBISH AND I MEAN RUBBISH. IT NEEDS A TOTAL RE-DESIGN!!! AS IT ONLY COVERS ONE SIDE OF THE MONITOR AS IT SLIPS ON SIDEWAYS ? buy a padded zipped dj lighting case instead. cheers everyone phil (uk)

I saw this little monitor being used by Gordon Giltrap at a local venue. As he was playing mainly acoustic, and it was an intimate venue, I thought this would be an ideal product for me to use with my acoustic band. So I googled the product, and was very pleased to see that it wasn't some mega expensive piece of pro kit.

Had I not seen a professional use it, I would have been sceptical that such a small box at such a reasonable price would cut the mustard.

But when it arrived - WOW! I plugged my acoustic in directly and had to flail for the volume as the feedback was insane!! I managed to dial it back and was struck by the crisp clarity of the speakers.

I then used it as a monitor in a band, with the guitar and keyboard going through it. I was amazed that it cut through over the top of a noisy drummer behind us!

Saldy, I managed to be somehwat enthusiastic after a little use and pop the tweeter. However, replacement was reasonably straightforward, if a little Warranty-Busting... (see my other review for the Tweeter)

Overall, I cannot fault this device - a great little practice amp with my electric and effects pedals as well as a crisp, compact clear monitor for stage use in smaller venues.

Brilliant work, Thomann!!

I play in a five piece band playing rock/pop with lead and 2 backing vocals in pubs and the occasional club. We are often playing small venues and are cramped up for space, so even though we were worried about the size of this thing and whether it would be loud enough, we took the gamble and bought one.

We are very pleased with this monitor. It has proved itself loud enough for our needs, and it is very small and light. It just has a volume control, so there's no messing about with settings on it, you just eq the sound from the mixer.

We are seriously considering buying another one to position at the back of the stage for the drummer. (It's not a slight on the unit, I reckon any monitor would struggle to carry a clear sound back to the drummer).

It also seems to be built pretty solidly, we've no worries over quality. It has gigged with us 15 or 16 times since we've had it and we've never had a problem with it.

Highly recommended. If you are a typical pub band like us it's unlikely you will need anything bigger or more expensive.

I play big stages all over europe but when not on tour i like to play small bars. its then all about getting everything as small as possible but maintaining quality. I still use top end gear...allen and heath, shure, QSC but try to keep everything as small and light as possible. But i dont want to compromise on quality. im playing these small bars for fun after all. I use 10" monitors but couldn't help thinking about an even smaller wedge. when these cute little 8" monitors arrived my heart sank. I wasn't expecting them to be THAT small and felt sure i'd gone a step too far. Imagine my delight when i found them to be tight, clear and better sounding than my 10" ones. Ok im only putting acoustic instruments, vocals and a foot stomp through them but the clarity was alarming and the kick pedal kicked like a mule. They take up no room on stage and look smart. Even as i was setting them up other musicians were casting envious glances. No E.Q. but found i didn't need it. Sound way better than the Personal mic stand mounted monitor that does a similar job.

Very pleasantly surprised by the sound and build quality of these compact monitors. Wanted small foldback speakers for use by church worship band & singers - modest sound levels but need clear sound with flat frequency response to reduce risk of feedback.

These fit the bill perfectly. Max SPL is around 105 - 110 dB. Not much bass below 100Hz ( unsurprising given small enclosure) but after that the frequency response is roughly +/- 2dB from 150Hz - 10kHz+ . Remarkably good given low price.

Just two small issues.
Firstly: The input is really too sensitive and this is compounded by an unusual 'law' on the volume control - it has to be turned almost all the way down to get about -20dB attenuation (normal volume controls would give this at the mid-position).
Secondly: I wish Thomann would also do these as passive boxes - then could feed from central multi-channel amplifier without requiring separate audio and mains cables to each speaker.

This is a very clear and loud little monitor. Don't expect it to do everything, and its low end lacks but for vocals/keys etc. it works great.

I use this in a function band, and it's the perfect size for slinging in the car and is small enough to fit on even the tiniest stages. Requires minimal EQ and sounds as good as the other 8" monitor we have that cost 4 times as much.

The rubberised handle is a bit rubbish as when you lift the monitor up it traps the rubber coating and cuts it up, so it probably won't last. The foam on the grill isn't glued down well in the corners either, but there's a grille underneath for protection.

Overall though, it's fantastic for how little it costs and as long as you're not expecting to put kick/snare/bass etc. through it, it punches well above its weight.