Bluetooth Speakers

What Bluetooth adds to a PA speaker

Bluetooth lets you play music through a PA speaker without a mixer in between. You pair a phone or tablet, choose a playlist, and the speaker plays it through its own amplifier. On most of the active cabinets here the Bluetooth stream sits alongside the wired inputs, so a microphone or keyboard plugged into the XLR or jack socket is heard over the music. That suits a fitness class, a school hall, a function room or a band that wants music between sets without carrying another box.

The stream is a convenience rather than the only way in. The same speakers take a cable from a laptop, a mixer or a DJ controller, so one cabinet can cover background music in the afternoon and a live act in the evening.

Active cabinets with the amplifier inside

An active speaker carries its own amplifier, so it needs a mains lead and a source rather than a separate power amplifier. Our active PA cabinets come in several driver sizes, from compact boxes for a small room to larger cabinets with the output for a busy hall. Several Citronic models add DSP presets that shape the sound for speech or for music at the press of a button, which helps when the same speaker moves between a talk and a party.

When you compare output, use the RMS figure, the continuous rating, rather than a peak figure. It is the fair way to put one cabinet beside another, and it is the figure our Power filter is built on.

Portable systems for mains or battery

The portable PA units are built to be carried in and set up in minutes. Several run from a built-in rechargeable battery as well as the mains, which is useful for outdoor events, markets, sports days and anywhere a socket is a long way off. They combine the speaker, the amplifier and the Bluetooth receiver in one box, with inputs for a microphone or an instrument on most models.

Each product page lists the battery and charging details the manufacturer gives, so you can match the running time to the length of your event before you buy.

Ceiling speaker kits that play from a phone

For background music in a kitchen, a cafe, a salon or a shop, a ceiling kit keeps the speakers out of sight. Our Adastra kits pair ceiling speakers with a small amplifier or a powered speaker that takes a Bluetooth stream, so music from a phone plays through the room without a hi-fi on show. Some kits suit the low-impedance speakers of a home or a small shop, while others work on longer cable runs to more speakers.

Fit them as the manufacturer instructs, and check the cut-out size on each product page before you cut into the ceiling, because it differs from one speaker size to the next.

Pairing, range and walls

Pairing takes a few seconds: put the speaker into pairing mode, choose it from the Bluetooth list on your phone, and confirm. Bluetooth reaches comfortably across a room, but walls, people and other wireless devices shorten it, so keep the phone or tablet in the same space as the speaker. Only one device plays at a time, so disconnect one phone before the next one pairs.

If you play video through a speaker, a slight delay between picture and sound is normal over Bluetooth. For a presentation with video, a cable from the laptop to the wired input keeps the two in step.

Matching the speaker to the space

A meeting room or a classroom needs far less than a sports hall or a garden party, so start with the space and the number of people in it. Compact cabinets and desktop units suit rooms where people sit close; larger cabinets with bigger drivers move more air for halls and open ground. If speech matters more than music, raise the speaker on a stand so the sound travels over the audience rather than into the front row.

For larger rooms, two speakers on stands, one each side, give more even cover than a single speaker turned up high. Our speaker stands and our other PA speakers are linked below if you are building a fuller system.