I use a Carvin KB-1015 keyboard amp. Awesome! Best rig I've come across to date. Used to use a Roland KC500 and a Yamaha PA. Carvin takes the cake 
The best keyboard amp?
- Thread starter willroc123
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I run a motif xf, korg m-50 and vocals through a stagepas 500 and I love it. I have a kc-550 at my studio but like some above said,there is a dull quality to it. Yamaha recently released the stagepas 600 but the minimal boost in wattage doesn't ring my bell Togo and buy.
I have a Nord electro 2
I convert a YamahaRA-70R leslie into a Keyboard Solid State Amplifier .
The rotating parts are removed, and the horn is permanently mounted.
The bass speaker is replaced by a 19 " JBL. tot. 160 Watt RMS.
The sound is amazing, and not to much weight!
I convert a YamahaRA-70R leslie into a Keyboard Solid State Amplifier .
The rotating parts are removed, and the horn is permanently mounted.
The bass speaker is replaced by a 19 " JBL. tot. 160 Watt RMS.
The sound is amazing, and not to much weight!
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I have to agree with Rockinroller. For live gigs, particularly in a rock band, a bass combo is the only way to go, maybe with a small submixer if you need it. I've had Sona (Barbetta), Peavey KB4, old Carvin and Crate, etc. .. only a bass rig can supply the full range AND headroom a kb rig needs. I use a Yorkville BM400, 400 watts RMS to a 15" and compression tweet. Most importantly, the amp provides 725watts of clean burst power for transient attacks--you cant make this amp fart out..it's awesome. A close second is a Mackie SRM 450 powered top, but I can bottom that out sometimes.
Kinda heavy by todays classD amp standards, but so full..I sometimes have to be careful not to step on the bass player.
Other times, in smaller gigs, I am the (left hand) bass player, so win-win!
With the headroom though, I still startle myself sometimes onstage with the clarity and "punch" of attack-heavy synth patches, or the lowest register piano samples, etc.---If you haven't gone to the music store and dragged a synth to the bass dept. and plugged into a combo amp, you really must try it. Try the different Mark Bass combos (so light!), the Ibanez Promethean amps (if you can still find them), or Eden Travellers--you wont go back
Kinda heavy by todays classD amp standards, but so full..I sometimes have to be careful not to step on the bass player.
Other times, in smaller gigs, I am the (left hand) bass player, so win-win!
With the headroom though, I still startle myself sometimes onstage with the clarity and "punch" of attack-heavy synth patches, or the lowest register piano samples, etc.---If you haven't gone to the music store and dragged a synth to the bass dept. and plugged into a combo amp, you really must try it. Try the different Mark Bass combos (so light!), the Ibanez Promethean amps (if you can still find them), or Eden Travellers--you wont go back
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I use a Motion Sound KP-200S stereo keyboard amp. I put it on top of my Leslie and that makes it just the right height for me, the band and the audience to hear. If we're in a room where the 200 watts isn't loud enough, I use the XLR left and right outputs and run it to the PA. For just having 2 x 10" speakers (plus 2 x 3.5" ferro cooled horns) it's pretty loud and has a decent bass sound. They also make a larger and smaller version for different power needs. The original owner returned to the company this year and they are back in business. I've been very happy with the amp and never had an issue. They've done some improvements on the newer models. http://www.motionsoundamps.com/products.php
Have a Roland VR-09 now among other old keyboards. I use a Fender FM 100H head with a F412 4 x 12 Speaker box. Use it plain. Use the keyboard for its wonderful stuff.Have to watch my window glass.Sounds great. Luckilly play it at home. Don't have to move it.Have big property so no neibours to piss off. Its not an apartment or residential setup but just great for where I am
Howdy, I run a Kurzweil SP4-7, a Korg Krome, a King Korg and an iPad live on stage through a JBL EON 515 wedge via a line mixer rather than use a dedicated keyboard amp, and I should also stress this is purely for foldback. For FOH sound I always stereo DI into the desk, again via my line mixer. The EON pumps out enough energy for me to hear myself on stage without difficulty, and holds its own in the rehearsal room as well. I must admit I've never used a keyboard amp in 20+ years of playing and gigging - once upon a time I used a bass combo like a couple of the other posters on here. For live performance though I've always gone DI.
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I had most of the Roland KC series amps. Even ran a stereo setup live for some time. Wish I knew then what I know now, those things sound horribly muddy. They fail at reproducing the sound that was intended out of high end keyboards. Unless one doesn't care about great sound then they're fine. I stopped buying keyboard amps once I discoverd how pure and amazing keyboards sound when run in stereo through any decent FOH mixing system with a good amp and great pair of speakers. I can't even think of the name of our church system right now. It is all separate components. A great 1000 Watt Amp, Separate Yamaha Mixer and Stereo Speakers run about 15 feet across from one another and laid on the carpeted floor with me playing from the middle sweet spot. Pure heaven!
i aggree with guy below, the KC550 [price £549 - gear4music] i have 2 0f them and also its smaller brother the KC350 the bass end is terrifict far more than the "inderstrey standerd" peavy KB300 witch i used to own but got rid of it when i cot the rolands. the keyboards i use with it are all rolands GW8 / JUNO DI /JUNO STAGE/ also YAMAHA P35 + AKAI MINIAK so i wouldnt hesitateing in recogmending you to bye one for your self, or like me get two as you can then use them in proper stereo [ie plug stereo keyboard outs into each stereo pair on amp one and conect at the back, the stereo out to the stereo in on the back of amp two . [note though the roland amps only have one master 3 band eq wearas the peavy had 4 band eq on all of its channel - then again in my opinion keyboards should allways be set flat on an amp as all the requide tone shaping is available on all modern keyboards themselves. also reading more other posts regarding saying that the kKC amps sound dull, what i have to say about that is quite obvios to any one , just turn up the top end eq on your keyboards ! as all modern keyboards have that facility even, on many keyboards dedicatid master eq, and sound is magic. ! and regarding the bass end ive compaird the massive bass output on the KCs to a peasvy UL15 PA speaker with umpting mixer/amps combinations tuning the bass right up on the mixer/amp and still the bass on the KCs blow away the bass on the former with no bass boosting eq on the KCs at all. so if you want powerfull "mini moog" like bass i still recogmend the roland . when useing my KC i have to turn down the master bass eq on my roland keyboards [glad they have them] + the KCs also, even have a subwoofer line out ! ! !
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After going through 6 keyboard amps I learned that those are lame systems. They only put out volume and part of the sound your keyboard can truly produce. Even the most basic mixer and power amp with a pair of good speakers allow us to enjoy the true stereo sounds we are meant to hear from our keyboards.
as i said my KC550 out performed my peavey UL15 + mixer amp, on the bass end, but then again i do admit that the peavy PA speakers [only one 15" driver + horn] ar abit lacking in response and the best system for a verry good sound will always be a TOP RANGE PA speaker with large powerfull horns. ie the exspensive ones like HK / JBL / ELECTRO VOICE etc but i do also have pair of peavy HI SYS 4 [pair 15" drivers + horn] witch witch are overwellming loud/powerfull run from pne side of a PA 1000 + 1000 power amp run from varios diferant mixers. and the sound with keyboards is amazing. but no one wants to lug that much gear around with them for small/medium sides gigs. thats why a good decent combo will allways be a good buy. also i normaly hav my KCs behind me when giging coming off a behringer R1602 8 stereo chanell line mixer witch has a seperate monitor out to the power amp inputs on my KCs [ totaling 370 w] and a stereo out to go to my main PA [3 KW]
I use a Roland KC 880 on a tilt back stand. Roland Rd 800, Mini Moog Voyager, Hammond Sk 2 Neo Ventilator and Yamaha EX5 rig. on board effects are decent, I use the reverb only on the moog and it's stereo so the Ventilator sounds great. Has nice stereo line level outs on it for FOH use. I think it gives the piano a more present sound because of the two 12 in speakers....not as muddy as the KC 550 which I still have. As long as I can hear myself clearly on stage ( 2 guitar players, bass, drum and keys) I don't worry too much about the sound fidelity and nuances, I let the FOH guy handle that. Leaves me free to worry about what I supposed to be playing. good luck in your quest. The 880 is HEAVY tho.....about 100 lbs.
good luck in your quest. The 880 is HEAVY tho.....about 100 lbs.
I have enjoyed reading this. I haven't really found a keyboard amplifier yet that suits my needs. I typically use 2-3 keyboards; a Korg Krome 88, Korg Krome 61, and I just purchased a Hammond XK1c. I also sing and play guitar on a few songs. I have been using a QSC Touchmix 16 digital mixer, 2 K-12 powered speakers and a KW-181 powered sub for a PA system. The digital mixer has 6 XLR aux outputs and 2 stereo outputs. I run all of the keyboards and my guitar processor through a Mackie Mix12FX mixer into one of the stereo channels on the QSC Touchmix. I route my vocals and the stereo channel to one of the XLR aux outs on the mixer out to a powered Behringer B115D speaker. The Behringer isn't the greatest, but sounds better than most keyboard amps I've tried. I have vocals, keys, and guitar all running through the mixer into one monitor. It sounds very good. I can add effects if needed. The Hammond sounds awesome with a little extra reverb! This is the setup that seems to work the best for me so far.
I use a Roland KC 880, upgraded from a KC 550. Keyboards Roland RD 800, Hammond sk 2, Yamaha EX5, and a Minimoog voyager. Been playing a long time (30 +years) tried all kinds of wedges with power amps and mixers. Too much stuff to haul and set up IMHO. I use a Ventilator on the Hammond and the stereo sound from the 880 does it justice. The 880 has outputs for front of house and these are passed right thru from the individual channels so the tone controls on the amp don't affect the FOH sound. It's on a tilt back stand so it's at a nice height and you don't have to crank it 'till it sounds like crap. I always send a stereo pair out front unless it's a super small gig where stage volume is sufficient. But even then it's better to be in the house so as conditions change, the soundperson can take care of it. One less thing to worry about. The on-board reverb is nice on the Minimoog also. Very happy with this rig.
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At NAMM 2016 Hammond show a LS2215 I got one myself
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The best keyboard amp is actually a stereo setup of two amps (left and right) going thru a huge or portable PA system
Fred Coulter
Collector of ancient keyboards
Have you looked at the Bose portable PAs? Pricy, but I hear good things.
The QSC speakers are fantastic! I have been using QSC K12's and a KW181 sub for my main system. For my keyboard monitor I have been using a Behringer B115D, and it's a great amp/monitor for the price. It has a 2-channel mixer with EQ. Typically I run my keys into my mixer and send my personal mix to the Behringer, but I have also used the Behringer to mix 2 keyboards. It has a 2-channel mixer with an EQ. I have used Roland KC amps, Hartke, Crate and Peavey in the past, and they have their limitations. The powered speakers are really the way to go.