Your Questions: Can You Recommend A Battery Powered PA?

DJ Vintage
Read time: 2 mins
Last updated 6 November, 2017

roland ba-330
The Roland BA-330 is a competent battery-powered PA that can be doubled up and comes with a replaceable battery pack – a definite advantage.

Digital DJ Tips Forum member DJ DussT writes: “I’m looking for a speaker or speakers that are battery powered, for use at beach weddings for example. I’ve seen some cheap 50W speakers that I feel will be too cheap for professional application, also found some that are more expensive than my actual DJing speakers! Any recommendations or experiences?”

Digital DJ Tips says:

I use (German-made) Fohhn speakers for battery-powered use (actually did the speech for a funeral outdoors with about 250+ people attending. It was cold and rainy, but four speakers handled things quite well). These are crazy expensive too. About €1,200 for the basic model.

The only viable alternative I have come across comes from an unlikely candidate, namely Roland. Their BA-330 is a 30W stereo speaker and no, you can’t create a booming bass beach party with it. But if you want to amplify speech, play some appropriate music during the ceremony and stuff like that, it fits the bill. With its four 6.5″ woofers and two high-end speakers it sounds great.

The battery pack allows you to quickly switch should you run out of power.
The battery pack allows you to quickly switch should you run out of power.

I have tested quite a few of these systems and this one tops my chart in its price range. Build quality is up to par too. It has an extensive mixer, so you don’t need to bring anything else if you don’t want to. It can be switched to stereo (if you use one of ’em) or mono (if you are using two). And it takes eight penlite batteries! (You can get a spare battery holder, so you can quickly switch if you’d run out of power. This is really a good idea, as just about all others have fixed rechargeable batteries, so when it’s empty, it’s empty.)

However, don’t take my word for it. Go find one and listen to it!

Do you use outdoor speakers? What do you recommend? Had any nightmares? Again, would be great to hear your experiences in the comments.

Click here for your free DJ Gear and software guide