Harley Benton StreetBox-60

First let me say I am very happy with Thomann and their Harley Benton line. This is an honest review designed to explain who this product is for, and who it is not.

I'm long time live performer, who also enjoys busking and have bought numerous street amps, including from VOX, Fender, and my (now renewed) favourite the Street CUBE from Roland. While the quality of construction materials and overall sound is very impressive on this new device, I was seriously disappointed on a few counts. Some were absolutely mind blowing and I am still scratching my head….

PROS:

BUILD: The wood casing and carrying bag are all of exceptional quality. It looks as awesome or better than the photos, as I was expecting it to be made of some type of fake plastic wood. It looks VERY high end and is an impressive piece of construction, especially at this price.

SOUND: The quality is excellent and the amount of control over tone is great. Having three channels to mix was a big wow I wish other amps in this class had. Reverb and Delay were gorgeous.

WEIGHT: Amazingly lightweight! My Roland Street CUBE weighs more and offers less quality sound.

CONS:

NO INPUT OR OUTPUT!!
Despite the product page clearly listing “Amp out and input (line)” as a feature, the two jacks are NOT stereo audio in and out, but according to the manual are only for connection to a "similar device" which can then "be controlled by the second device". I could not for example, connect an MP3 player to IN, or get a signal to another device with OUT. I have never seen such a closed system that cannot be connected to other devices... only a second identical one. Would love to see a demo video of this unique process in action, but I need what has been standard on EVERY other street amp I've bought.

TOO NICE LOOKING TO LEAVE THE HOUSE
Sadly, the fancy construction makes it more of a boutique device which would look very nice at home, especially great for bedroom players - but NOT street use . Even the instruction manual declares “This device has been designed for indoor use only”. Not something I want to read on my street gear and which makes me wonder why it is called a “Street Box” in the first place.

I almost said it was more designed for women (the stitched white Harley Benton script logo almost had me reaching for a magic marker so it wouldn't look like a chic make-up bag), but all the female performers I know also want tough equipment that can handle being moved from car boot to stage to street. Music gear for anyone who plays outside the bedroom needs bangable corners, and not be something you would regret scratching.

BATTERY INDICATOR IS NO HELP
The product has only three LEDs as battery indicators (which I knew at purchase, and was concerned about) but only two ever actually indicate. Mine arrived showing the two bottom lights on (70%), but even after 8 hours charging at night (not just the 3 hours supposedly required for FULL charge from empty) not only did the lights not stop pulsing a charging indication (most chargers stop blinking when charge is complete - so here you will never be sure if it is fully charged) but went straight back to only two lights when the charge plug was removed.

Remember this is a LI system that cannot be swapped for charged batteries if you run out mid performance, so it is ESSENTIAL to have a good idea of how much charge you have remaining. Two lights will not be much help.

NOT REALLY 60 watts of SOUND POWER
I have 20 watt amps that would blow this amp away, and my Roland Street CUBE is only rated at 5 watts but can stand next to it in terms of volume.

CONLUSION:
This product is ideal for home or hotel room use. The bluetooth player would make it a great device for a traveling player to have in his/her room to either jam along or just use to play music from your smartphone. It is great value for money in terms of quality of both sound and construction. But I give it only 3 stars because it is NOT what it says it is, a Street Box.

THOMANN ADVICE: Please make a product like this that is more rugged, has a better battery indication system, and allows for input and output to any other devices, and you will have a real winner, that could be used for both indoor and outdoor live playing.

I'm a singer who gigs with backing tracks, and sometimes with a musician. I used this speaker for many gigs in the past year and I'm really satisfied. Mic sound is clear, nice, with some extra reverb options, the volume is more than enough for a smaller gig (but I even used it in ballrooms and outside venues to provide background music). I love that it comes with a backpack case, easy to carry and handle. Looks classy too, and the bluetooth connection gets rid of the old cable between my phone and the speaker, so much more freedom this way. One downside of it: there is some general white noise when the bluetooth is on - which is not noticable when the music is playing, but pretty annoying when it's quiet. The battery has a long life, and it recharges pretty fast. If you need something easy and handy for bar gigging, this is a good choice. I might buy one more for extra volume or monitor purposes at some point, but not too eager just yet.

I was a bit dubious but needed what utilities were offered on this product. I had an upcoming gig where the venue needed a street act in the middle of a festival setting but weren't allowed by city ordinances to offer a power supply for amplification. This was to be my guerilla tactic for being heard above the din of the crowd and competing sound systems. This item arrived...and I was immediately impressed by the aesthetically pleasing design and utility of the three channels and built in effects; -as well as the handsome case it came in. Maybe a tad too snug but otherwise very well made and all very apparently durable materials.
I rehearsed with it at the studio and we had no need to use any additional studio equipment as it was sufficiently loud enough and good quality tone to it. My drummer was impressed and he's a sound technician (and owner of the rehearsal/recording studio that we rehearsed at.)
Day of the gig itself, set up was quick and I'm guessing any of the tonal problems were more to do with the lack of setup time in general as a band member showed up late. But for the rest, the gig and all.... it performed admirably and we had a good crowd who clearly liked what was going on. And another musician friend with a mostly brass section act that often does street performances (Balkan style dance music) he was very impressed and interested in it. So, all in all, I can easily say that this system is an excellent investment That hopefully will pay for itself. Haven't had it or used it enough to say what it's longterm durability is, but I will say that it's off to a good start.

How satisfying it is to hear someone say "Is that all you've got, you'll need a bigger amp than that here."

Then the look on their face when the volume doesn't need to edge past 60%, and often much less. This amp is a singer-songwriter-musician's best friend!

With three versatile inputs (plus Bluetooth if required) this incredibly compact, yet powerful 60W amp fills every venue I have played, without need for an extension cable dragging behind the stage; the Lithium Ion battery easily lasts throughout a three hour set plus warm-up and sound checks.

I let my mandolin-playing friend plug in with me on one gig, only for him to turn up next week with the same HB amplifier; so impressed was he with the passive guitar input.

The sound quality is bright and clear with simple effects (echo, reverb etc.) perfect for onstage adjustments, and with two guitar inputs allows me to switch instruments quickly without needing to switch cables.

If I was ever booked for a much bigger venue, I would probably invest in a second one as they can be daisy chained together...fingers crossed!