Cheap and cheerful sound reinforcement for small rooms

[Uberopa]

Hi All
I see a lot of these Party in a box Karioke systems out there for block parties or tailgating.
For making announcements or giving the clarinet some help or vocals for read jazz
would one of these units serve the job.?
I find that playing in senior citizens residences doesn't require too much in the way of a p.a. I like the idea of a portable unit battery powered that is a simple setup quite appealing. Not keen on schlepping a three box pa system around either.
Had anyone given this a go?
Thanks.

[kehaulani]

If you're just talking about playing for "retirement" communities, why use sound reinforcement at all?

I used, for a number of years, a plain old portable boom box for accompaniment and acoustic (sax) playing. This was for busking, playing retirement communities and for weddings.
_________________
"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird
"Well, even if I could play like Wynton, I wouldn't play like Wynton." Chet Baker

Yamaha 8310ZII "Bobby Shew" Trumpet
Benge 3X Cornet

[rhatheway]

There are numerous small PAs that have more than enough power for anytihng from a retirement community to a small gig. Many of them have some rudimentary built-in EQ (3 bands), a mic input, extra external inputs (for things like a CD or MP3 player), etc. Most of these are solid state, probably 15-50W, so don't draw a lot of power and are under 30 lbs, so not heavy to schlep around. Some are battery powered, some run on AC. Do a Google search for portable PA systems and you can likely find one that will work for you.