Further Revisiting the Alto Professional Presenter

I’ve described my use of the Alto Professional Presenter twice before. My typical use case is straightforward. I need a podium & PA for the regular public meetings of our civic association that are typically held in a nearby church. Given that I abandoned the included gooseneck microphone, it works quite well.

Recently, I’ve used it in a couple of different ways.

Halloween Preparations

Last weekend, I was starting to get ready for Halloween. That begins with a full day spent building a giant, spider web in our front yard.

Normally, I’d fire up some music on the front porch to help my in this effort. However, the speakers on the front porch really only service the porch itself optimally. And perhaps that portion of the front yard that they face directly.

I was to be working mostly in a different part of the yard, effectively off-axis from the porch speakers. Realizing this, I setup the Alto Professional Presenter on a speaker stand near the front gate, facing directly at where I was to be working. Bluetooth linked to my Pixel 8a, it streamed a Spotify playlist.

This arrangement put the music exactly where I was, which meant I could keep the volume moderate. The Presenter is a two-way system with a 10” woofer. While not in stereo, it sounds at least as good as the Definitive Technology AW5500 speakers on the porch.

I really do like the idea of a distributed sound system.
More points of playback, managed in a controlled fashion.
I can see the value of having a dozen (or more speakers!) around the years, such that there’s music everywhere, but nowhere is is onerously loud. I had once thought that an array of small, powered speakers, all network-connected might be a reasonable approach to this. But it’s just too costly for a typical consumer.

National Night Out 2025

Tuesday, October 7th marked National Night Out in Houston. Our local civic association was co-hosting a related event in a local park. It was not a meeting. There would be no agenda, or formal presentations, but it would be nice to have some background music playing.

Stella actually has a Sony SRS-XE300 Bluetooth speaker that she uses when she’s working in the garden. She typically streams Amazon Music from her phone. She prefers to use voice commands with the Alexa app. It’s more convenient for her than learning to use the remote control app for the Lyrion server.

I might have borrowed that Sony device for the purposes of this event. In fact, I suggested as much, but she thought we just might want to make an announcement to those in attendance. That made the combination of the Alto Professional Presenter + Shure wireless microphone a better solution.

So, I took the Presenter & Shure combination and placed it off to the side of where we had our tent and tables setup. Once again, streaming Spotify from my phone. It sat there for serval hours playing music. I happened to notice that my phone was connected to the free Wi-Fi provide by the Stude Park Community Center. We never did need to make any announcements.

At such community events we often encounter our elected representatives or their staff making the rounds. On this occasion, our city council member’s chief of staff visited just as we were completing our setup. He noticed the podium right away, remarking how such a thing would be very useful for events that they organize.

I told him how I had discovered the Alto Professional Presenter on Amazon, where it was initially listed for around $400. That was beyond my budget. A few weeks later, Amazon notified me that an open-box unit was available for just $144, so I bought it. I further shared my impression of the device, garnered over a year use.

It’s not a Party Box

We might think we know what something is. Quite often, it’s also important to know what it isn’t. Back in August, I attended an event were a number of remote presenters were participating via Zoom. I provided a projector so the local audience could see the Zoom conference.

Someone else brought a very large, Bluetooth connected party speaker. It was the size of a piece of luggage. JBL makes something similar they call a “Party Box.” It basically acts like a speakerphone for the Zoom call. It had a cordless, handheld microphone, such that the audience could be heard by the remote participants.

I thought this a novel arrangement. Definitely, not something I would have considered. My background is broadcast and corporate AV. That gear tends to be functional, but otherwise low-key. That Party Box is not low-key. It’s is more a of a flashy “DJ” thing.

Connected to Bluetooth, the Alto Professional Presenter acts like a simple speaker. Unlike the Party Box, it does not act like a speakerphone. So, it cannot be used as a generic conference audio device. At least, not on its own.

So, this is the end…or is it?

In the year since I bought the podium, I’ve come to find it has been discontinued. Looking around, I see it listed as discontinued by many online resellers. However, one reseller indicates new stock is anticipated in November 2025. On that basis, I inquired with the manufacturer as to general availability. Still waiting on a reply.

The manufacturer’s web site lists it as a “new” product. But then again, the latest item in the News section of their web site is from 2019. I’ve come to learn that Alto Professional is owned by inMusic Brands. That explains why it’s delivered with a Rane gooseneck microphone. It’s the very same microphone from their Zone Paging solution. InMusic appears to be parent to several brands that I know, including M-Audio, MOOG and Alesis.

Update: InMusic eventually responded to my inquiry about current availability of the product. To be blunt…they simply don’t know. They refered me to a page where I might locate a dealer so they could pose that question to the distribution channel.