Both Hardi and I love our Crates. Both amps, tho made in different years, were designed to reproduce and flatter acoustic-quality sound. My Shure mic is my faithful and rugged partner. (Hardi uses a different mic, and I dunno what it is at the moment.)

At one concert in the park, someone came up to me afterwards and said, dreamily, "I wish I could sing like you...." I commiserated, "Me tooooo....." because I know the difference my sound setup makes and how much better I sound amped than not-amped. :~) Oh, I know all the voice work I could to to get better projection and support, but it's just not in the cards to make that investment of time or money. The amp lets me sing less forcefully than I would need to, and thus saves my voice for a few more years of confident songleading.

Crates are heavy. For less important gigs we use little Vox amps-- instrument and mic jacks. BIG band and big sound for the buck, and very portable.

~Susan