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Keyboard Amp Recommendations?


The Professiona

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This is a topic that gets hashed out regularly here. Do a search on keyboard amps and check it out.

 

It comes down to a few things. If you're looking for a good piano sound, remember that most synthesizers use stereo samples. If you play through a mono amp, that stereo sample gets summed to moni -- and in so doing, phase cancellations come into play...making the sound hollow, lifeless and inconsisent across the keyboard. So, either play a mono sample (which might sound OK), or play thru a stereo system. If a PA is too much to carry, then there are stereo combo amps. I have a MotionSound KP200s which sounds good. They make a smaller KP-100s which has a little less bass output. Or get two high quality mono amps... like 2 Motion Sound KT-80's or 2 Barbettas.

 

If piano isn't such a big deal, you might be able to get away with a mono amp ... again, like the MotionSound KT-80 or a Barbetta.

 

Under $200? Nope. Under $200 will get you nothing you'll like. You might be able to get a used Roland KC-300, which isn't so great (I have one - I keep it for back-up). Good sound is pricey. Stay with the PA if you can, and save up for something good.

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I've been reading these amp recommendation threads (most of which very rightly recommend powered monitors), but never found too many references to Laney CK-series (namely CK160). Has anyone used Laney amps for keyboards? I'm curious because I could score one at a reasonable price and it'd still be easily transportable in a smallish card with the rest of my gear.

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Something like the powered Peavey PR12P (bout $360) might work well for you. 200 watts for the woofer, 70 for the titanium tweeter. Has 12" woofer. If your just doing small gigs and dont need serious volume. Something like a pair of Peavey Minx110"s might suffice. For nice budget stereo rig. Yes theyre bass guitar combo amps. But their 10" bass drivers have enough treble available for most peeps plus excellent bass and mids imo. 70 watts and two tens is the resulting power. 2 tens is bassically equal to one 15". About $440 for pair of Minx's. Two of the Peavey PR12P's would be better if needs good loud volume. Can of course start with one and add 2nd one later if budget requires it. Or one of the Peavey Keyboard combo amps if prefer. Can allways add a second one later for stereo and more watts & air movement if needed/wanted later.

 

Windreaper> Hasnt seen Laney in store catalogs or at online stores, for several years. Last saw & tried em theyre bass & guitar combos where nice. Never saw a Laney keyboard amp. Thinks Laney is much more available in England etc. Diff worth checking out if available where your at.

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88Fingers -

Under 200 bucks for a good keyboard amp?! What's it like in your world, dude... :eek::confused::D

 

You are WAY better staying with the "PA" you already have - I assume by PA you mean a powered head and a speaker cabinet?

 

I use a JBL EON15 G2 powered PA cabinet for keys - also bought a matching mate to it for gigs when I supply the whole PA.

 

Sounds awesome for keys, vocals, guitars (acoustic/electric), drum machine, CD plyr. - anything you put into it sounds good coming out.

 

It ain't cheap, though - betw. 600-700 bucks [EACH] new, depending on where you buy it. But maybe you could sell what you have to fund the purchase. That's what I did a few years back: sold the Peavey XR600C head + Cerwin V15B cabinets I'd used for about 12 years and invested in the 2 JBL EON15 G2's and a Mackie mixer. I play professionally, so the system has more than made its money back for me, many times over.

 

 

:cool:

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Originally posted by 88Fingers

By PA, I mean a Peavey XR600 system, which is a 6-channel amp head with 2 really big speakers, which is just too big to carry around with me wherever I go.

 

Right -

I carried a Peavey XR600C for years.

 

What speakers do you have?

 

And why do you need both of them? Just bring one - the Peavey head is mono anyway... :D

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What do you need the amp for? Amplification or monitoring? I play in a band... I'm using a powered PA speaker for monitoring and it sounds great... but it is truely overkill. I'm looking into these... Yorkville 100watt keyboard Wedge

 

Yorkville_100kw.jpg

 

I'm going to try these out... maybe even a pair. If 200 watts is not enough power to "monitor" myself than I am deaf or we are playing WAY too loud. It could be a combination of both. :D

 

I don't know whether that is a solution for you...

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You know what I like?

 

Playing outdoors with open-back, over-the-ear headphones as the keyboard monitors (e.g. Sennheiser HD-500, or something similar but better)

 

Outdoors is nice, because you can keep the stage level reasonable, while pointing the PA at the crowd. So, the monitors aren't deafening.

 

I have often found, though, that many sound guys/venues aren't set up to provide separate keyboard monitoring... and my level in the mix, when set right, is much lower than I want my monitor level at. Especially when playing pads, rhythm parts, etc.

 

So, I premix my keyboards "locally", give the sound guy a stereo feed via a couple of DI boxes, and pop on my headphones, connected to the headphone output of the mixer. I keeper the mixer output level constant (to avoid irritating mr sound man), mix my keyboards as I see fit, and crank up the headphones. FWIW, when providing a stereo feed in a club, I'll usually want each channel panned 90%, but in an outdoor venue, I prefer only about 30-50%. The wind and space can really mess with a stereo sound, and just of "carry it off" sometimes.

 

Having the open-air headphone design means I can hear through the headphones with only a small volume drop.

 

I'm playing a just-a-piano gig, I'll leave the mixer at home, and use the headphone output on the piano. Mr Soundman gets the line-level output (again, usually through a DI box, always if going through a snake). The trick there is agreeing on where to set the volume knob.

 

Oh, and if stage volume level is too high (indoor playing), I slide in a pair of good quality NRR33 ear plugs. Good quality plugs drop all the levels by the same amount (in theory, anyhow), allowing the headphones to compete better with the guitar amps a few feet away.

 

Wes

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Barbetta 31C is one compact good sounding rugged amp. My buddy has one and I tried a Yamaha CP70 through it, sounded great. It even does justice to Moog Taurus pedals.

 

Motion Sound makes really good keyboard amps too.

 

You're not going to find anything decent for $200, that's way too low.

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Originally posted by wes-ninja250

FWIW, when providing a stereo feed in a club, I'll usually want each channel panned 90%, but in an outdoor venue, I prefer only about 30-50%. The wind and space can really mess with a stereo sound, and just of "carry it off" sometimes.


Wes

 

Wes -

Do you usually play in stereo? Of course, this stereo vs. mono issue deserves it's own thread, as it has had several times in the past.

 

I play sometimes with a wedding band that swears I sound great in stereo, coming out of the mains - and I run my own monitor (JBL EON15 G2) in mono.

 

 

 

:cool:

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My friend uses one of those Yorkville powered speakers (50watts I think) and it is great except theres no reverb.

 

I tried out that Behringer Keyboard amp/PA thing (120watts) and I really liked it. It had much better tone compared to Behringer's bass amps and guitar amps.

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