One of the most powerful personal monitor/PA systems has become even more portable. The L1 Compact can bump tunes on the street corner and in the boardroom.

FOR: Soloists, duos, mobile DJs and public speakers. Transport and setup are much speedier with the L1 Compact than its predecessors, the L1 Model I and Model II. The functionality is simple: two channels equipped with Bose ToneMatch presets tailored to acoustic guitar and handheld mic.

NOT FOR: High channel counts. The Bose ToneMatch Engine for the Model II has a few more preamps, but look at small-format mixers for playing out with several channels.