Kurzweil PC1se and reliability?

Longtime lurker, first time poster - please be gentle.

I've been a long time Roland/Yamaha user (first synth was a brand spanking new Juno 60) and never had any problems with any of 'em. They all held up well under road use and in less than "stellar" playing conditions.

Based on what I've read about the PC1se, I'm jonesing for one and am thinking about picking one up when it's available here in the U.S.

My question: Kurz doesn't exactly have a good reputation for reliability. Does anyone think that Kurz has gotten their act together and that from a quality standpoint, the PC1se will be a step up from their keyboards of years pass? (I have no doubt it will sound killer.) I guess I could wait a year or two and read the mag and user reviews but I don't have that kind of patience.

I bought one of the first PC2x's and haven't had a single problem over the years. I loved it so much I also picked up a PC2r so I could have it portable should I want to jam with someone and not haul the big keyboard around. I've had no problems with the PC2r either. Great build quality, sounds and FX.

I've owned a K2600s and a SP76 and never had any reliability problems with them ever. In fact, I think Kurzweil builds some of the most robust gear out there.

hey carbon111 what did you think of the k2600.. how does it compare to the fusion??

Thanks

That's not a question. I don't know where you heard this. I've done the most repairs on Roland gear. My ARP has never had a repair. Nor my Kurz. Nor my Ensoniq.

So, there's some more data for you.

One thing I want to add is that I'm also looking at an Motif ES7. I realize the Kurz has a huge price advantage and the weighted keys but the Motif already has an established track record.

I am encouraged that nobody has stepped up yet with any horror stories like "my K2600 blew up and burned my house down..." yada yada yada....

Like jchas, I've had a PC2x for years and never had a problem with it. Feels like a tank.

oh, and congrats on shedding your lurker status. Here's a feee tip:

--the quickest way to get your ass kicked on this or any other forum is to say "please be gentle"

OK, maybe I'm being a little harsh re: Kurz quality. I'm basing my question on the reviews I've read on Harmony Central and discussions I've had in the past with Kurz owners.

With regards to HC, there seems to be a disproportionate number of Kurz reviews where there have been problems with the synth as compared to say, Yamaha, Roland, etc. - either that or I'm not digging deep enough. I certainly don't look to HC as the "definitive" answer but it does raise a flag when you see that percentage of reviews with specific problems documented.

I am looking forward to seeing the SE up close and personal. If I were to make a purchase today, I'd probably pick it up based strictly on the specs.

You'll find people that go out of their way to justify their purchase of a Casio. Also, only the people who've paid a larger amount of cash, and had even a minor problem, will go out of their way to bash a manufacturer. The end result is that a Casio seems far superior to a Dave Smith (for example only). Or a Korean Strat is superior to a Gibson ES335.

I put little stock in the HC "user" reviews. Some can be okay, but I take them all with a grain of salt.

I loved the Kurzweil sound but the VAST programming interface involved the most menu-diving I've ever had on a synth. Personally I hated programming it. But thats just me...everyone works differently.

My thoughts on the Fusion have already been written elsewhere: http://www.carbon111.com/fusion.html

This is getting a little more interesting. I was picking up some monitors (KRK RP-5) last evening and while at the store, spent a few minutes playing on a K1200x. I'm not a big fan of fully weighted keys on a synth but I was blown away by the sound and feel of the keyboard. They didn't have a 76-note K2600 but that might be a good compromise since it's semi-weighted.

I know I'm looking at a HUGE bump in price for the K but I'm going to add it to my short list.

Im selling my K2600 if you interested,

1400 inc shipping

purple and in excellent shape (a couple small scratches)

just FYI

Well, I can kinda see where TowJaw is coming from.

I remember reading a lot of problems with motherboards, pwr supplies, etc.

Come to think of it, most of the problems seem to have been concerned with the PC2X.

And then, the memory is a funny thing and should not be trusted too much

My personal experience with a PC2X at church...

The sustain pedal would just decide to stop working after about 30 minutes of playing (right around the time when the service was at the dramatic peak...)

We were never able to figure out the problem, because it seemed to have cured itself.

It could have been the sustain pedal itself, who knows...

Can't tell a lie: had a k2500 and a pc88 both were a lot of trouble. My K2000 was awful - always in the shop - I thought it was cursed or something.

Got a K2600 and did a lot of gigs with it. No problem.

Got a PC2X and did a lot of gigs with it. No problem.

Got a PC2 and have done a summer's worth of gigs with it. No Problem. (ok 5 gigs - slow summer)

I think that the newer K stuff is a lot more reliable than the old stuff.

I've owned a lot of Kurzweil instruments and played several others over the years, and I never had any problem, except one early K2000 which was killed by some *huge* electrical spike. (It was fixable with a board swap, btw - I just decided not to do it)

All my other Kurz instruments (4 K2000s, K2600, MicroPiano, MicroEnsemble, ExpressionMate, various K1000s etc.) never gave me any problem.

In general, anyway, the newer Kurz stuff is know to be *very* reliable.

I had a Kurz PC2X for 2 years, no problem. Replaced it with a PC2R that I have had for 3 years, also no problems.

Oh, and another thing: In my opinion, the K2600 eats the Fusion alive!

With my PC2X I got clacking Fatar black keys. But the worst was when it wasn't warmed some keys got sluggish like some glue was slowing them down. Kurzweil replaced the whole action with a newer part #

For what its worth, My K1000 is almost 20 years old and is still working great. As far as repairs go, they seem to be more modular than other boards I,ve had and easily repairable.

gotta chime in and agree with Marino - the K2600 is still a killer axe and it eats the Alesis Fusion alive.

I happen to love the semi weighed keys on the board a lot - they are a nice compromise between organ and piano - and I find the board to be very expressive.

The rom is a little dated - well very dated - but some of the sound cd roms out there are amazing - the Take 6 and MelloKurz come to mind.

killer board. little on the heavy side, but so am I

Longtime Kurzweil owner here. Reliability is not a problem.....

I've had a PC88mx for approx. 8-9 years. Played hundreds of wedding receptions, one-nighters, etc., bounced around on rickety old dollys, trucks, ramps, stairs, loading docks, etc., and many of Chicago's finest freight elevators....really beat the sh*t out of it.....with nary a problem. Ditto re: my K2600 of six years.....although I handle this axe with kid gloves....built like a battleship, nonetheless.

Been gigging with a K2600XS for 3.5 years, 5-7 times a month. Problems=0.

Having been in keyboard sales for over thirty years, I have witnessed first hand, selling Korg, Roland, Yamaha and Kurzweil keyboards, Kurzweil repairs outnumber the others by at least 3 to 1.(and thats being nice!)

I remember looking at one of their earlier keyboards with my service tech, amazed that they mounted the power supply directly to the main board.

Of course the first hard lick it took snapped the main board in half, a very expensive repair. They make great sounding keyboards but it kind of goes downhill after that The user interface reminds me of working in DOS. If you have a Kurzweil that hasn't needed repair consider yourself lucky, but if you truly believe they are as well made as the competition, you may need to get your head examined.

PS Casio makes some great products also