Good keyboard amp?

Oooh oooh!

Just another on the KC-150. I think it's not that great, even though it's OK. However, it really sucks at acoustic piano sounds IMHO. That's why I've put mine for sale (Pssst, don't warn potential buyers).

I prefer monitors. I haven't actually got a real set of studio monitors, I just found two gorgeous second-hand B&O speakers - paid 40 kroner / 8 dollars - and the sound is a lot better than the KC-150's, if you ask me. And another bonus is that I've got stereo now, har har!

2 self powered monitors are a good way to go to maintain a proper stereo field. Carvin has this self powered PA system:
http://www.carvinguitars.com/systems/sys1.php
or
https://www.carvinguitars.com/produc...?product=S400D

then thier acoustic/keyboard amp:
https://www.carvinguitars.com/produc...product=AG100D
but i'm not sure if the output (with an extension cabnet) would be in stereo. The monthly prices are pretty good.
-jIM

I hope you don't mind if I jump in this thread.

I have a Peavey KB-2 amp. I have been thinking of selling it & getting a Roland KC 60 instead. Main reason? Because it is 10 lbs lighter!

Yes...I'm the old gal who couldn't go to a jam last week cause I sprained my back. I have chronic back problems and the peavey amp is 37 lbs, plus it has a fat profile that makes it necessary to stoop over to carry it, so ergonomics is out the window.

Of course the guy at Sam Ash told me how much better the Roland KC sounds than the Peavey (there wasn't one there to listen to). Then I saw a review saying how the KC 60 was way too soft for anything but practice (I'm not planning to play stadiums, but I'd like to at least hear myself at jams where there's guitars, drums etc.).

Can anyone compare these 2 amps?

I hope your back is feeling better, Laura!

Is there a relatively easy way to move these things without killing your back? Perhaps strapped to a hand truck of some kind? I look at the amps in the stores, first wondering about sound, then wondering about the best way to move them without throwing my back out.

I've got a hand cart thing that folds flat about 1'x2'. Best purchase ever.

Hi Laura
Hope your back is healed and little or no pain exists.
I sympathize with your back condition, i have been diagnosed thru MRI that a bulging disc exists in my lower vertebrae.
I would like to see you use a hand truck (cart) to stack you gear, amp etc.
I do not have on yet but i've narrowed it down to 2 choices.
In the back of Keyboard mag there is an advertisement off hand i'm unable to recollect but email me and i'll make more if an effort for the both of us.
I own a pair of Mackie SRM-450's they are setup next to my rig. I do not gig yet, still developing my skills (self taught). The amp i would like to get would be BARBETA SE41c.
Goodluck!

+1 to the hand truck idea. I own a Motion Sound KP-200s, weighing in at 55 lb! No way in hell I"m lifting that unless I absolutely have to. 37 lb should be light enough that lifting it whenever you can't roll it would work no? Albeit I don't have back problems so I can't comment, but seriously... get something with wheels... hand truck or otherwise.

Or a powered speaker with a 10" cone... i.e. JBL eon 10 or Mackie SRM350... cheaper than the barbeta I think. From what I've seen... keyboard amps (as opposed to powered speakers) tend to be heavier when looking at similiar volume/wattage.

Hi there,
which amp would you recommed for home and studio playing for beginners - no playing gigs or sth, just, you know for home usage mainly - is there some kind of compatibility btw keys and amps? or is it more like, accoustic sounds are better here and there, but strings suck - can an amp make the sounds better?

thanks for replies

kopec

As long as your keyboard has 1/4" output (or, at least, 1/8" output with a 1/8" female to 1/4" male adapter), any amp will work. You'll want a keyboard amp instead of a guitar amp, since guitar amps are designed to colour the sound while the goal of a keyboard amp is to reproduce the sound most accurately. Sure, you *can* use your amp to colour the sound, but since you'll be playing a large variety of sounds at different pitch ranges on your keyboard, colour wouldn't make sense: you wouldn't want the same colour applied to a bass sound as you would to brass.

A particular amp may be slightly better at doing strings, for example, than another, but that would be because that amp more accurately reproduces the frequency in the range you're looking at.

Your best bet here is to go to your local music store and try out a few amps with the same keyboard to see what sounds best to you. Ideally, use the keyboard you already have, but it probably doesn't matter that much. With keyboard amps, you're comparing overall sound quality as opposed to how your instrument sounds through the amp.

thanks

kopec