scp@acl.lanl.gov (Stephen C. Pope) (04/05/91)
I'm getting tired of dragging along my stereo and speakers everytime I take my keys somewhere to play. It's time to buy a travelling amp and speakers. Because I really like stereo, I wonder about the sensibility of getting a two-channel amp and two speaker cabinets. Then I suppose a good road mixer would make sense so I don't have to drag my fostex 4-track/mixer around (which doesn't fit into a nice protective cabinet). I just play in friends' houses and outhouses, so I don't need too many watts. But I like clean sound for my keys, so most el cheapo amps are out. Want it cheap, though! Of course, small is beautiful and easy to pack and transport... Suggestions? stephen pope advanced computing lab, lanl scp@acl.lanl.gov
kellyl@hpgrla.gr.hp.com (Kelly Larson) (04/15/91)
I'm also looking for a good portable keyboard amplification system. Right
now I have 2 huge cabinets, each having 2 15 inch woofers, 2 piezos, and a
15 inch horn. I power these with a stereo 700 watt amp, 350 watts per
side. As you can see, in most applications, this is a definate overkill,
as well as a hassle to haul around. I really *love* having my sound in
stereo, but rarely haul the extra speaker around because of the size and
weight. What I'm looking for is something that is a lot easier to handle,
and yet loud enough to use for a practice session, as well as on stage
monitoring. I've already got a rack submixer for my boards, so I only need
1 stereo input. The way I see it I have three options:
1) Separate speakers and power amplifiers. This is what I'm using right
now, but I'd like to scale down quite a bit. I've seen some nice EV
speakers with 1 15 inch woofer and a horn. I like the sound I get with the
horns on my speakers, does anybody get really good sound on smaller
speakers without horns? If so, what kind of speakers? I've also seen some
nice 100 or 200 watt rack mounted amplifiers that only take up 1 space, and
are really light, anybody had any luck with these?
2) Self contained keyboard amplifier. These are those critters that look
a lot like guitar amplifiers, but they don't have all those distortion
things on them that guitar players like. I've never seen one of these that
is truly stereo though, although they seem to have several inputs. I
wonder if the separation would be good enough to make it worthwhile, since
the speakers would be in the same cabinet.
3) Self powered speakers. I've seen some nice little monitor-like speakers
that get great sound, and have the amps built into them. I went to an
Ensoniq keyboard clinic where the guy was getting a fantastic sound from a
small pair of these. The sound was loud enough for the entire room during
the demo, but I wonder if you could really use them for on-stage monitoring.
I talked to the salesman about them, I think they were Peavey. They were
biamped with an active crossover built in. I was impressed with the sound,
and they looked very convenient, even though you would have to run a power
cord as well as sound to each speaker. Does anybody use these successfully?
Well, any suggestions on what has worked for you, or even what hasn't
worked for you would be much appreciated. I'm really needing to scale down
my setup, and so I'm looking for any suggestions. Thanks a bunch!
===============================================================================
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Kelly Larson /\ / \ /\ | / / \ | /\/
kellyl@hpgrer.gr.hp.com / \/ \ \/\| | /-\ /-\ | |\/ \
Hewlett Packard/Greeley / / \ / | | / / /__/ | |/ \/
303-350-4288 / / / | \ / / | \
/ COLORADO! / | \ / / |
===============================================================================mjs@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Marc Sabatella) (04/16/91)
>Because I really like stereo, I wonder about the sensibility of >getting a two-channel amp and two speaker cabinets. Then I suppose a >good road mixer would make sense so I don't have to drag my fostex >4-track/mixer around (which doesn't fit into a nice protective >cabinet). > >I just play in friends' houses and outhouses, so I don't need >too many watts. But I like clean sound for my keys, so most >el cheapo amps are out. Want it cheap, though! > >Of course, small is beautiful and easy to pack and transport... I can't plug the Roland Cube amps enough. They are the only portable amps I've ever used that reproduce the whole range of the piano well. I bought myself a 60-watt version; they come bigger and smaller. The 60 is lighter than my keyboard. It runs about $250, I think. It can drive external speakers, and it takes two input channels, but I'm not to sure if it really does stereo.
smb@data.com (Steven M. Boker) (04/16/91)
In article <7180015@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM> mjs@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Marc Sabatella) writes: >>Because I really like stereo, I wonder about the sensibility of >>getting a two-channel amp and two speaker cabinets. Then I suppose a >>good road mixer would make sense so I don't have to drag my fostex >>4-track/mixer around (which doesn't fit into a nice protective >>cabinet). >> >I can't plug the Roland Cube amps enough. They are the only portable amps >I've ever used that reproduce the whole range of the piano well. I bought >myself a 60-watt version; they come bigger and smaller. The 60 is lighter >than my keyboard. It runs about $250, I think. It can drive external >speakers, and it takes two input channels, but I'm not to sure if it really >does stereo. Here's another vote for the Roland Cubes. I have two of them which I use as powered amps out of my keyboard mixer. That way I have stereo chorus effects and portablility. I think these are the best small keyboard amps around. Steve -- #====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====# # Steve Boker # "Two's bifurcation # # smb@data.com # but three's chaotic" # #====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#====#