Keyboard Amp vs. Powered Moniter

[davednyc]

Hi -

New to the forum here....

I recently purchased a Korg SV1 (73 Keys). This has beautiful organic sounds, inlcuding piano (grands and upright).

I've been shopping around for an amp to go with this. I don't need anything big and found myself coming back to Roland KC-60 or 150. My problem is no matter the amp I try (and I've tried Hartke and Berhingers at the same price), the natural pianos lose a lot of character - kind of sound thin and 'tinny'.

Would a powered monitor suit me better, in getting a pure sound from the instrument, and if so, does anybody have any suggestions? I did play through a QSC K8, and that was alot closer to what I was hoping for. It was a bit more pricey, which I wouldn't mind if I had any advise that was the direction to head.

Any recommendations on an amp or amplifying techniques are greatly appreciated !!!

Dave

 

[Doug Dixon]

Hi Dave.

The SV1 is a great piano, enjoy it, you lucky thing.

Speakers and amps can be a minefield, as like choosing your piano, it is very personal and what one person thinks sounds great, others may not agree.

It also depends on where and what you are going to do with you set-up. If your using the piano for home use the amp/speakers whould be different to a live band set-up.

I myself have two systems to handle both live and home playing and didn't brake the bank at the same time.

System 1. (home playing).
I use a pair of studio monitor speakers. For home you will probably need clear sound at a lower volume. I use a pair of Edirol MA15s and if you need more bass you can link a bass bin to them.

System 2 (giging or band use).
I have tried lots of different amps and for years used a KB100 Peavey amp.
I now use a small P.A system which inclueds a Yamaha EMX512 mixer amp and a pair of Titan 12 speakers. This set up is very flexible as I can use it for small gigs as a PA or monitors for bigger gigs and my keyboards (korg and Roland) sound great through them.

The best advise would be to try as many systems until you find one you like and get something more powerful then you need at the moment as you can always turn it down.

Hope this was a help.

 

[goz211]

Try the QSC K10 for a (quality) loud giggable combo and also two Roland CM30s for at home set-up (or small PA).

I've a pair of CM30s. The QSC K10 gets a lot of love on this forum:
http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/forums/18/1/The_Keyboard_Corner