Anchor AN-1000x

This is an update to my original review. This will serve as a compact practice amp, or a small room amp for someplace quiet like a coffee house. Unfortunately, I allowed my belligerent friend to use it with an SM-57 in a basement while drums and guitar were being used, so he cranked it while I wasn't looking and blew it out immediately. No surprise really, he was letting the Sm-57 squeal all over the place, it was a bad idea in the first place. And a shame, because these really do sound wonderful when it's kept in check. I sold it for parts, but I think buying one used for a $100-$150 serves better then a cheap practice amp. Just be warned these are designed for giving speeches in small auditoriums.

I don't know much about monitors, this was found in a Goodwill for $7, it turns out to be a very heavy duty workhorse which retails for around $380. It's designed for A/V as it is shielded, and small PA applications,. It is 2-way, with a 4.5" woofer, 10mm tweeter, and 5 or so inch speaker. I will use this for a lot of different things as it has configurable XLR, 1/4", and RCA inputs. Feels likes its built solid. I'm only giving it a 9 because I haven't tested it's full possibilites yet.

This version is powered with 50 watts, it moves a lot of air for its size. Apparently it's 90 watts RMS, and 50 watts nominal. The bandwidth response is great, 65-20000 Hz at 103 db. Pretty much this has a long list of internal and external features as it is designed to be used for anything. Heres the tech specs
http://www.anchoraudioclub.com/an-1000x-spec.pdf

I first plugged my guitar through a pedalboard and immediately was impressed. Have to be a little careful with extra power in front of it, especially with sweeping effects, but any problems are avoidable. It is a great practice amp, and has plenty of volume alone, with a very full sound. It should make good use as a vocal amp for small rock applications, but I imagine that will be pushing it. Only time the speaker farted was when it was pushed to much w/ effects, this thing is built to move air in small areas.

All the input and output options make this a great all in one backup, travel and practice speaker. It looks like it goes for around $100 or $150 on ebay which I would pay, as the speakers are obviously very high quality (wtf is a ferro fluid cooled tweeter?!?).

I played this for ten or fifteen minutes with my guitar and am quite blown away, couldn't be happier with this new little setup. Through my pedal board in my apartment it would annoy the neighbors at higher volumes. Alone through an electric is very even and fills the room. The webpages say this is good for a room of 400 people, which I don't believe unless you were giving a speech or something. For music, it should easily fill a coffee house miked or directly plugged into, and I am guessing should cut it as a vocal amp or monitor in a practice room situation. Very impressed, especially for $7.