Positive Grid Spark Mini 10W Portable Smart Guitar Amp & Bluetooth Speaker with App for Playing Guitar at Home or Travel (Pearl)

Solid well designed and built little amp. The form factor is great. It can go anywhere and produces a big sound with a battery that lasts a long time. Once I went through the long process of configuring presets for optimal sound with my instruments (acoustic guitar and dulcimer: both with pickups) the sound was good, natural and as loud as needed. I also updated the firmware which was a bit of a pain.The jam feature seems gimmicky though I haven't played with it much. Overall, the presets, quality of effects etc are pretty good.As a bluetooth speaker it's okay. The sound is reasonably balanced though it lacks true fidelity e.g. good sound stage, crisp clean high etc. I suspect part of the reason is a cheap SBC bluetooth audio codec. Codecs can make a huge difference. The should have at least used Apt-X which would produce better sound.Overall, it's a piece of quality gear for those who want a solid practice amp in a tiny go anywhere form factor. As a bluetooth speaker it does fine but don't expect high fidelity.EDIT: changed rating from 4 to five stars. Bluetooth audio now sounds great. The problem was not the Spark mini but rather a codec issue. If you're playing audio from a late model, Android phone. (I have a pixel 6)) then you need to go into your settings and turn on "disable Bluetooth A2DP hardware offload". You can Google how to do this. It's not that difficult. Once done, you will get crisp clear audio on the spark mini and on any other Bluetooth devices that use the SBC codec.

I was originally opposed to this amp since it didn't seem like a "real" amp to me, but man is this thing fun.You can dial in tons of different but great tones. I was also concerned it wouldn't get loud enough but when I'm in my house right around 50% on the volume dial is perfect for practicing. That's still loud enough that the kids can't hear the TV over it.The battery lasts a long time and it is just so convenient to take it to whatever room you want to practice in. My daughter takes it to her guitar lessons and we can flip tones around easily to match whatever song she is going through with her instructor.It is a lot of fun to experiment with different combinations of modeled amps and pedals and play with the settings, although it can be overwhelming trying to find something that sounds great. It is pretty easy to search the "tone cloud" though and try out other people's settings.Great little amp and absolutely perfect for at home use or lessons.

Love this amp. You can jam with yourself easy to set up. You can add bass drums,another guitar, great for beginners.

Fantastic little amp. Surprisingly good sound. The Spark app makes this a guitarist heaven. A fun practise amp very portable.

Wow, this little amp is extremely portable and a ton of fun to use. The battery life is impressive and the sound is surprisingly awesome. The app is solid too. The ux experience on the app is quite straightforward and there are so many emulated pedal and amp sounds. Mixing in the Bluetooth speaker for playing along with the song of your choice tied in with the portability of not needing to have a power cord plugged in… again is so much fun. If you’ve ever been someone to play an acoustic guitar on the couch while hanging out or watching tv etc… now you can easily bring an electric and have good sounds without a big hassle of a heavy amp. I like plugging in via my wireless inputs to be even more portable. I tried the Go (smaller amp version from this brand) and the mini is light years better. I know the Go is smaller but… it buzzes at low volumes and is closer to a toy than an amp. The Mini… it’s small too but this thing sounds great, it’s an amp!!

Positive Grid’s Spark Mini Review: by my Hubbyreally fun little practice amp.Amp 4 starsPortability 5 starsSound Quality 4 starsVersatility 4 starsThe Spark Mini is great for limited space. Like a home office and it is pleasant enough to look at that if your married it doesn’t look out od place on a bookshelf etc. It also can be a cool little Bluetooth speaker. It is supposed to get about 8 of play at a 3 hr. recharge. Speaking or ports & knobs it has It uses a 3.0 usb ports it has a stereo line/out, a aux in a power & a pair button. I has 4 main knobs the first one is the preset know with 4 settings : Custom. Solo, Lead, & Rhythm. Then there is a guitar volume knob and also a backing track or auxiliary volume knob marked Music, ten lastly a input jack. It a very cool little 10-watt personal practice amp that is portable to take to beach or out in nature.Tho amp is however not powerful enough to keep up with other instruments in a jam session unless acoustic or going line out of mic-ing through a PA system. In order to use a lot of features you will need access to Bluetooth/Wi-Fi as well as a tablet of some sort. Related to volume I would recommend 70% otherwise speakers can’t keep up and it is also tailored to more bass response. As it is designed to also be used by a bass player for practice.you are able to save and store 4 presets in the amp by using the ToneCloud to sync with your amp. The Digital modeling software is based off of their “BIAS FX 2”. Is sounds great to me but I am not a professional or sound engineer. But its enjoyable and tweakable. It has 33 simulated amps & 44 digital effectsSpeaking of tweaking and adjusting, unless you have a lager phone it can be hard to adjust the dials/ settings on the Software.as currently it does not support landscape mode in android phones??? I do not know if this is same with an iPhone.Software is currently iOS & Android “TABLET FRIENDLY” (not currently set up for Mac/PC Windows platforms. Would be great for Positive Grid to have a Mac & PC Software version as well as portable software versions of their so you could run it off a laptops or desktops from a thumb stick. Like their Popular software suites & D.A.W.’s (digital Audio Workstations)The need of a tablet for ease of use is based on a screen LARGE enough that you can see the amps & pedals and all the knobs that are easier to manipulate & adjust.Speaking of pedals, they do offer a physical pedal currently as of the writing of this for about $110.00 plus tax as of 3.22.2023. This pedal basically switches the 4 factory presets or the custom settings you have or saved through the ToneCloud, but there are more options on the way? As it is supposed to be expandable more future proof. You can also use it to toggle on /off effects or start & stop music backing tracks as well as access smart jam where you play it analyses what you did and then generates a band to play along with. If you don’t like what they did you can select others already generated by your recording that got analyzed.There is a tuner built into amp bhut the software version appears to be a little clearer, the 4 LEDs on the amp. But I have not or compared to a well calibrated standalone tuner, but it should at least get you in the ballpark.the company website is nice looking but this is only my very limited opinion so take it with a grain of salt, but they seem to be evolving their brand and not yet gotten all the bugs worked out. But great start would love to see their spar k become a flame and really grow. I hope this review has ben helpful. There are many reviews on YouTube. Btu I also know they have been given or loaned the merchandise by the companies. For free advertisement etc. and perhaps some r & d?? I am no way affiliated with them and paid my own hard earned cash for my amp, no freebies here. Speaking of freebies, I hear these go on sale from time to time. I missed out on the last one because I was debating and cost me about $30 dollars. So my free advice is watch and when it seems good buy low sell hi. Hahaaha Good luck I am a very new owner so I may do a follow up revie after about a year or so. Enjoy & hope this helps. Bottom line who is it for? Anyone who wants one and can afford it and has the Desote to jam and practice and play. But ideally they have a tablet to have an easier go of it. But ia m happy with mine so far.I also enjoy gadgets. But I do think it is a cool idea and it has potential.But be on the look out they are now making an even smaller personal practice amp a Spark Go! I might be doing another review soon, lol. I have an suspicion. Good luck. My wife will roll her eyes but she will be cool with it. Laterz