Alto Professional TX308 350W 8-inch Powered Speaker Reviews

What a great deal! Since these are so affordable, I picked up four to use as floor monitors. I was pleasantly surprised by the clean, transparent sound, and they can get plenty loud. At this price point, you don't get multiple inputs or EQ on the speaker. No problem, the mixer has all the EQ I need, which is not much. I use a little HPF if we're on a wooden stage, and a small notch or two to get the monitors to approximate the sound of the (expensive!) QSC mains. Also, they are small and very light, which makes transport and setup much easier than the 10 inch monitors they replaced. This is more important to me now than it was when I was younger. I used to think that when it comes to gear, some is good, more is better, and too much is just right. I have come to believe that just enough is just right. Maybe if your stage volume is deafening these wouldn't cut it, but if your stage volume is civilized, these are just right.

As always, Sweetwater is top notch. From order to delivery a complete experience. I have retired but I want to work for this company, they care about customers.

On to the Alto TX308:

Great construction, very light cabinet. Very versatile, handles my 6 string bass as a practice amp all the way down to the low B, as well as shines and is plenty loud as either a stage monitor or a main speaker for a small venue (100 people).

Very natural, very flat response and sound. Easily EQ'ed to your preferences at your sound board.

Extremely happy with this purchase!

I've been using a QSC CP-8 for last 5 years with my duo. We use a single CP-8 high and behind for two mics, two guitars, and bass guitar. It works great and can cover large outdoors gigs. For the last 3 years I've been playing electric into a modeler while my partner plays acoustic guitar or bass. My acoustic guitar is currently retired.

But with a modeler in my gig bag (usually a Spark Go these days, but I also have a UA Dream 65), I thought it would be nice to have something lighter for informal jams that could keep up with a drummer. At 25% the price and almost half the weight of my CP-8 the TX308 seemed like a good solution. Its only shortcoming is I need a 1/4" female to XLR male adapter.

Like the CP-8 you need to turn the bass down on your modeler if the speaker is placed on the floor. They are both voiced to be up on a pole. For music listening the CP-8 is slightly better sounding and no doubt capable of more volume. I did stress test the TX308 with bass guitar and it did not buzz or have any other issue. I'm impressed given the light weight and low cost. The overall build quality of the TX308 looks quite good to my retired electrical engineer's eye. If you want to run either speaker from a battery power station, they both draw about 5 watts running their DSP with no sound and are deafening loud at 10-15 watts of power from the wall socket.

BTW, the Positive Grid Spark amps don't like having left and right (tip and ring) shorted together on their headphone output on the way to your powered speaker (sounds bad regardless of how you configure the output with the app, stereo or mono). You need a resistive summing cable for a bullet proof solution into a female 1/4" which might be TS, TRS stereo, or TRS balanced (3.5mm TRS stereo male with ~1K Ohm summing resistors to 1/4" TS mono).

One other small, good thing to report is the handle molded into the TX308 case does not have any sharp edges. One of the nice things about the CP-8 is a great handle which I think matters compared to the sharp-edged molded handle in for example, the Yamaha DBR10. Another more expensive option, the Behringer B208D has no handle at all. If you're looking to travel light and make one trip from the car this stuff matters.

For around $, the Alto TX-308 really overdelivers. I used it as a karaoke monitor, and it was damn near louder than the 12" mains the bar had. The mics cut through crystal clear, nicely balanced, with plenty of punch. My wife (lead singer) and I both liked it better than the stage wedges we use for the full band gigs (passive JBL 8s), and will bring it to the next one. It has a good angled side for use as a lay down monitor. The sound quality and volume were surprisingly better than expected. Perfect for a stage monitor, a small backyard party, or small wedding PA. I had my doubts. No more. I would not hesitate to buy this brand of speaker in larger sizes, too.

I would've loved to have the multi-input mixer section that many powered speakers feature...it would allow this to be used as the main sound reinforcement for a very small gig (think small coffee shop, etc).
BUT: I got this to serve as the monitor for my solo git'r/singing setup (main PA is a Bose L1 Compact). So it didn't need to have the multi-input/mixer section. As it is, it simply has a single input and level control.
So: though it doesn't offer the versatility one of those would offer, it fulfills its' intended role very nicely. It sounds terrific - very clean with no tinny highs or muddy lows/sloppy mids; and it's plenty loud and doesn't break up at high volumes.
And - if I really wanted I could run a mixed signal (git'r & mic) into the one input (I can do this coming out of my TC Helicon Harmony GT X). So I'm satisfied with it - sound-wise and function-wise...
AND - it's a terrific value - a very reasonable cost for Alto gear!
And extra props to my S/Eng Gage, who makes already great gear-shopping even better!

We've been using these for almost two years and they have worked wonderfully for our oldies, classic country trio! So light and sound great! (We're all 70+ now.) And, thanks to TJ Jackson for always following up on my equipment purchases!

Okay, so before I bought this, I pretty much read every single review I could find, but nobody really had any experience using it as an FRFR guitar speaker with a modeler or preamp pedal plus a cab sim / IR.

I did it, and it sounds great. I was worried that my guitar would sound thin through the 8" speaker, but an 8" full range speaker is not the same as an 8" guitar speaker. My guitar sounds plenty fat and organic through this, with plenty of bass [maybe a little more bass than I would like, actually].

It gets loud, but stays clean. I'd say it gets about as loud as a 5 to 15 watt tube amp. Plenty loud enough at 12:00 to keep up with the stage volume of a full band. I use this as a personal monitor, with a line going to the mixer / FOH, and it is perfect for that.

Unless you are playing in an underground thrash metal band alongside teenagers cranking their 100w half stacks to irresponsibly ear-splitting levels, you shouldn't need more than one of these.

You're welcome, fellow guitar players.

I was looking for a small, powered monitor that could handle the bottom end of my 5 str bass at low level in a church band setting where the existing vocal monitors didn't cut it. This little cabinet is it. I needed the monitor to be useful in other ways as well, (acoustic guitar, vocals, keys, etc.) so a practice bass amp wasn't the answer for that. The range of gain is more than enough for pretty much any instrument direct in, (direct box/line transformer recommended) and the overall tonality seems pretty smooth. Very happy with this purchase.

I am performing weekly and decided I needed a good monitor and the Alto TX308 looked like a winner when I did my research. Pair it up with my Alto Pro PA system and it works great. Love the power and clarity and ease of operation.

I have not used these at an event (wedding ceremony) yet but this speaker has great sound and volume for its size. It's exactly the portable PA option I needed!

I'm always looking for a better way to monitor my live ever-changing keyboard rigs with the various bands I play with... and decided I would try a pair of this very inexpensive powered monitors for their size and wattage. Absolutely thrilled with just how clean, clear and actually loud I was able to push these puppies. As floor wedges aimed at me directly or surprise - on a pair of speaker poles to bath the stage (and other musicians), they did just what I had hoped... allowed me to hear all my gear and playing (even my mistakes...rats).
Keepers.

Did a gig with them man they sound so good

I participate in a weekly worship service at a local nursing home. Our old Peavy amp quit working and I didn't think it would be worth looking into getting fixed. I asked Jonathan Appleton for his advice about using a powered mixer with our existing speakers. He understood that we couldn't spend any more of the church's money than we absolutely had to, and he recommended using a powered speaker with a good inexpensive mixer. He recommended this speaker and an appropriate mixer and we couldn't be more pleased with both the price and the performance of the speaker. We haven't been using it long, but we can definitely reach all the way throughout a medium sized dining room and probably a lot further. I can't imagine a better solution at any cost.

By the way, we use the speaker on a stand, which we keep set up from week to week, but the mixer is small enough to lock up in the tub we keep some of our other accessories in.

I had wanted to change over my speakers for quite a while and kept coming back to these . Just give them a try I thought ,why not . I am surprised they sound that good and they don't weigh a lot.They list them at 350 watts and I probably won't use half of that . I hope to be still using them in a year and that would be great . Usually some products like this don't last that long .We will see .

After speaking to one of Nathan's representatives I bought this alto speaker it was everything they said it would be and I do appreciate the expertise on this item.

I'm mostly playing in my music room in my house and needed a "starter" speaker. Wow! Is this thing loud. Have it at 3 out of 10 and it's almost too much. Took it to a neighborhood jam and 6 was more then enough. Very clean and whisper quiet. Will definitely buy a second. Hats off to Mike for his stellar guidance once again!!!

I was looking for a pair of lightweight budget powered speakers, to use for keyboards and bass in small venues, for my solo and duo gigs. Using a Behringer Xenyx 1202FX, I split my instrument's signals, with the keys and effected bass (Boss SY-300) panned left into an Alto TX308 (on a speaker stand), EQ'd for highs and mids, and the clean uneffected signal panned right into an Alto TX310 elevated just 6 inches off the floor, EQ'd for lows and mids.
It works perfectly, and I couldn't be happier with the results.
Kudos to Sales Engineer, Simon Whitehouse, for spending the time on the phone with me, to explore all of my options.

I have a small studio in my basement where my wife and I sing on the weekends. The reason for the purchase was to use it as a monitor for my wife, as her voice would get lost in the backing tracks. She was always saying she needed more lows and presence. I was afraid when I heard it, it would be tinny and not much in there way of quality. Boy was I wrong! A big shout out to Scott in audio. I visited the store and the speaker was not on display for me to hear. Scott said no worries I'll bring one up from the back so you can hear it. Plugged it in cranked it up, bought it! Sounds even better in the studio because it's a smaller space. You can crank it and have very little distortion. Recommended highly!
Getting back to the store, if you never been there you got to go. But don't bring money you'll spend every dime. Beautiful beautiful place. And you have to wonder what's in the fort Wayne water because there wasn't a typical salesperson there. Hats off to HR or the water department!

Being used for a home studio/performace floor monitor system. I am using two of these in conjuction with a Yamaha MG10Xu mixer. I like the option to use these as stand mounted or floor standing with a nice floor angle when on thier side I used them for playback and live practice and they really sound great. Mostly Acoustic guitar, sax, and vocals. I think the low end bass could be better but they are only 8 inchers, would have gotten the 10 inchers but the studio/performance area is too small. A big shout out to AJ and Loui for thier recommenddations. Sweetwater, as always had these to me quickly and well packaged.

I ordered one for trial. I thought it was great the first time I hooked it up. The second time I turned on the PA and
raised mains, it began to squeal. turned it back down and would squeal when I barley turned it on. I will have to talk to a tech support, I'm sure something is wrong with it, and should return it. I may even need to order a larger one.

They say you get what you pay for :( I purchased a pair to use as small / compact stage monitors and they sound like a small, nasally, compact. All I'm using them for is to hear my vocals and guitars and some of the other vocals so I'm not driving any low frequencies through the speaker. I'm getting this buzzing sound when I play in the lower register of my guitar (mind you, I'm playing a six-string guitar, half step down - so it's not that low). I need to get with Sweetwater and get this either repaired or replaced.