Dave Friedman sounds off about amps and tonewood, what do YOU think?

I'm not sure what you're getting at $100 per speaker unless it's passive monitors on the used market and then you'll need a stereo amp... even then. Maybe aim just a little higher. I would say the kali lp6 us as cheap as I would go... I would steer clear of anything cheaper and stay away from anything with rear bass ports unless you can get them a few feet clear of the walls. You want front ported or unported in a tight space. Be wary of 5" or smaller woofers too.

Alternately get a set of old hifi speakers from a good brand and a decent amp. I started that way and for awhile recently was using some 90s Yamaha 3way hifi speakers powered by an alesis ra100 as one of my references again and getting badassed results for rock records. Sometimes I'll use old JBLs or ARs... lately its been some 90s tannoys on that same power amp. That's like my home hifi test and I'll do a 90s boombox or a crappy bluetooth speaker sometimes for the lowest common denominator lol. You cam get away with a hifi setup if it's of decent quality and you really learn its quirks.

What does your mom play?

And still continuing to improve!

It never ends. If you're committed to always improving, you always will.

@jimmarchi1: where do you stand on hearing protection during live gigs, club outings, etc? Is an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure on this front?

The last show I played I forgot earplugs. What a mistake. It wss loud as hell.

Typically I bring them and use them if I feel uncomfortablewith the spl at sound check. In my misspent youth I never wore them at clubs and shows and probably would be able to hear tones above 20k now if I had... in my 20s I got really into bringing earplugs to any venue or club just in case and invested in prescription plugs when I was trucking around in a van, blasting marshalls every night. I certainly recommend them to everyone who wants to have most of their hearing when they're old. It's an even reduction, unlike those orange hear-o type foam plugs.

Sorry, I haven't been here in ages... but thanks again! For now I guess even the Kali LP6 are out of my price range, they come in at around $200 each here if I want them new... might keep my eyes open in the local used market though for the other option you mentioned, the hi-fi speakers, something pretty cool turns up there every now and then.

My mum plays piano, teaches it too in fact! And she used to play guitar too (I started on her old acoustic in fact)