Heads-up: SpaceStation keyboard amp is apparently back

[Analogaddict]

I can vouch for that you need to hear it in person. Recordings don't do it justice, you need to be in the same room. I bought mine solely on specs and it's probably the best synth related purchase I've made. Ever.

[theGman]

I like the flashlight explination. Even a bass player can understand that!

 

[garnermike]

I use the SSv.3 on a basic tilting On-Stage amp stand. See:

https://on-stage.com/products/view/11653/117058

 

I have positioned/played thru the amp 3 different ways: (1) vertically, (2) horizontally (on its side) with side speaker facing up, and (3)horizontally with side speaker facing down. IMO, there is really no major difference in sound, projection, or stereo effect.

 

I position it vertically or horizontally-side-speaker-down when there is a really low ceiling.

 

I go horizontal-side-speaker-up-or-down as alternatives whenever vertical positioning would put either a wall or a bandmate too near the side speaker).

[I-missRichardTee]

Gents ( are there any ladies here, I have not seen one in ages )

I do not have time or patience to read this "War and Peace" 83 pages of discussion. Michael Boddicker seems to support this new technology.

1. Is there more than one iteration of this speaker/amp ( e.g. 2 or 3 sizes ?)?

2. Is the consensus that two of these is foolish ?

3 Is it really that encompassing that no PA support is needed, just a single unit?

4. It has to be excellent for Organ sounds... do aficionados of AP and EP feel as positive about it?

5. I play left hand bass, is one of these boxes sufficient for that; seems unlikely.

Thank you

[Raymb1]

1. One model

2. Not if they're far apart.

3. For small to medium gigs, no PA support is needed. For a loud rock band you need FOH help.

4. Great for organ sounds. APs and EPs sound very good.

5. You would need a sub speaker for medium to loud gigs.

[I-missRichardTee]

Hi Raymb1

 

How "far apart" as a minimum?

 

So I ought to sell my 2 K10's and one of these replaces them?

Sans FOH support ( which is 95% of the time ) , Might you "paint a picture" of how 2 K10 ( on poles or floor or ) and a single SS box would work together in a small group or even a solo one man band?

I guess I want you to say what an old colleague ( he does singles and duos ) believes

He says voice should be separate from keyboard amps. he goes further and says separate bass am[, and separate Leslie's !

[Jazzmammal]

That's it in a nutshell. I'm using it again tonight in a pretty loud sports bar. If it's full it's about 100 people or so, small elevated stage, 5 piece band with vocals and sax in the PA everything else is stage amps. Plenty of power with the SS but for LH bass it needs a sub.

 

Bob

[Jazzmammal]

Tee just start with one SS and see, you can use a K10 as a sub if you need more power. The amp is voodoo amazing, seriously.

 

You should read the last 20 pages of this thread. All your questions have been discussed over and over in depth.

 

Bob

[I-missRichardTee]

Thank you Bob

I think I need to pick one up.

Been doing organ with left hand bass, guess the left hand would go to a mixer first ? Then be sent to a K10 and this new cab/amp.

 

 

[garnermike]

I agree with how raymb1 answered those 5 questions.

[MotiDave]

But does it have wheels?

[garnermike]

Tee:

Just FYI, I play left-hand bass, but never through the SSv.3 (even if it's linked to FOH or to a sub-woofer).

 

I play in a fairly loud band and always use a second (lower) kb for bass and have it going into a separate bass amp.

 

Your set-up and needs are likely different than mine.....

[I-missRichardTee]

OT garner mike but is it a firm conclusion of yours, that separate bass amp is the way to get best results? Sometimes it seems like two full range speakers is better.

[Tombsalley]

But does it have wheels?

 

Antennas...it's a Spacestation

[Tombsalley]

So,when does the Spacestation portable home stereo system come out?

[Raymb1]

Some of us bought this case last year. http://www.guitarcenter.com/SKB-Small-Rolling-Powered-Mixer-Soft-Case-107221335-i1469153.gc

I took off the rubber feet since I didn't need them and it fits in this case very nicely.

[Raymb1]

Comes with foil hats.

[cphollis]

FWIW, I've become a huge fan. I was a bit lukewarm at first, but after lots of gigs with great feedback, it's now my go-to amp setup for small-to-medium gigs. I have the Behringer sub (BD1200-D) that I'll bring along if I'm going to get bassy, otherwise just the unit on a stand.

 

True story: after playing with the SSv3 with one band for a while, I decided to bring my usual garden-variety QSC K10s on poles for just one gig. And they complained! The same band is trying to take over my SSv3 as the PA for the vocals, etc. Buy your own, guys -- this one is mine.

[Aspen]

I agree with how raymb1 answered those 5 questions.

 

Me too Mike, excellent and compact! You guys are making me proud, and giving me a rest!

 

FYI; spent most the day receiving and spot checking the latest SS3 run which landed at my doorstep around noon, and which I was able to turn around to Sweetwater by 3:30pm. They are on the truck to Indiana as I write this. So SW should be filling those back orders by the end of next week!

 

This is why I stayed home from MESSE, This run was behind schedule and I wanted to be here when they hit.

 

So, this should catch us up and put some SS3 amps on their shelves! Maybe if we can keep SW stocked up, I may get a summer vacation in Germany this summer to see my 4 grand kids!

 

 

[Aspen]

So,when does the Spacestation portable home stereo system come out?

 

It already has Marge, your hands are soaking in it...

[Aspen]

I use the SSv.3 on a basic tilting On-Stage amp stand. See:

https://on-stage.com/products/view/11653/117058

 

I have positioned/played thru the amp 3 different ways: (1) vertically, (2) horizontally (on its side) with side speaker facing up, and (3)horizontally with side speaker facing down. IMO, there is really no major difference in sound, projection, or stereo effect.

 

I position it vertically or horizontally-side-speaker-down when there is a really low ceiling.

 

I go horizontal-side-speaker-up-or-down as alternatives whenever vertical positioning would put either a wall or a bandmate too near the side speaker).

 

This has been a great experiment of your's Mike, and one I have really enjoyed following.

 

One trick I use in very small rooms is to point the SS3 directly INTO the corner and thereby making a poor man's Klipsch horn out of it. I agree though with your conclusions, no matter how you position it, in my experience it is as you say;

 

"there is really no major difference in sound, projection, or stereo effect."

 

I'll take that as a compliment!

[Analogaddict]

[]

 

One trick I use in very small rooms is to point the SS3 directly INTO the corner and thereby making a poor man's Klipsch horn out of it.

 

That's a good trick! Thanks!

[Tombsalley]

 

FYI; spent most the day receiving and spot checking the latest SS3 run which landed at my doorstep around noon, and which I was able to turn around to Sweetwater by 3:30pm. They are on the truck to Indiana as I write this. So SW should be filling those back orders by the end of next week!

 

 

 

Aspen,

Thanks for the update! Many anticipating there first SS

No longer will they be virgins! They'll want use it all the time!

Any time of the day and in different positions!

[John Tweed]

Back to baffles - I've been experimenting and here's my latest prototype made from a piece of scrap perspex ($2 from the local reverse-garbage center).

 

 

I also experimented with a trifold to redirect the sound on both sides, but this means that as the side firing speaker moves the air is being redirected forwards on one side and backwards on the other, as if it were two speakers wired out of phase, so it doesn't make sense to me.

 

I've used this at a couple of gigs and it definitely improves the experience for me when the SS is close for me to experience the 'bloom' - in both situations I was almost on top of it - and helps avoid blasting the guy next to me.

 

The single free-standing design is also easier in that it doesn't interfere with the cabling at the rear, and overall has a smaller footprint which helps on small stages. I plan to cut the height down a bit, but I'm inclined to leave it around the same height as the SS3, mainly for aesthetic reasons. I have yet to work out how to configure it to go with my recently acquired sub, found on the street where someone had kindly dumped it. It's nothing flash but at 100 W it may well be enough for me to use for left-hand bass (or solo) gigs where the volume is moderate.

 

[cphollis]

Hi Raymb1

 

How "far apart" as a minimum?

 

So I ought to sell my 2 K10's and one of these replaces them?

Sans FOH support ( which is 95% of the time ) , Might you "paint a picture" of how 2 K10 ( on poles or floor or ) and a single SS box would work together in a small group or even a solo one man band?

I guess I want you to say what an old colleague ( he does singles and duos ) believes

He says voice should be separate from keyboard amps. he goes further and says separate bass am[, and separate Leslie's !

 

In our five piece bar band, my K10s now run vocals only as a PA, or serve as vocal monitors. Running vocals only through the PA does have its advantages.

 

Keys go through SSv3 sitting atop a Behringer BD1200-D. Signal chain: keys to personal mixer to BD1200-D (filters out <100Hz) and from there to SSv3. The setup takes only a square foot of stage space, can be placed anywhere on stage, and can be cleanly heard omnidirectionally, even when I get bassy.

 

No amplification for the drums (of course), bass and guitar players bring small amps on stands. Could we run vocals through the SSv3 as well as keys? I believe so, but the singers want control of their levels, etc. No biggie. People who see us appreciate the balanced, surrounding sound of the band. A lot of that is due to the way the SSv3 envelops the audience vs. the directionality of the guitar amps etc. It's a very pleasing combination.

 

Tried the K10 as a "sub", driven off the back of the SSv3. Louder, yes, and a bit more bass, but didn't really move the needle vs. the native SSv3. The BD1200-D did move the needle: more bass, more presence, and the SSv3 was offloaded not trying to handle lower frequencies.

 

Timwat has a previous post on his positive results doing something similar with a different sub.

[Markay]

SS3 owners or Aspen may be able to share some insight on the extent that the SS3 preserves the location of various elements on the stereo stage from hard left to hard right.

 

For example an orchestral piece played through the SS3, is the precise positioning of each instrument section location retained when played back through the SS3?

 

Similarly is the top octave on an AP sound mostly heard from the right side speaker and bottom octave mostly from the left? - assuming SS3 controls are flat and it is reproducing the stereo image as determined by the board.

[HammondDave]

SS3 owners or Aspen may be able to share some insight on the extent that the SS3 preserves the location of various elements on the stereo stage from hard left to hard right.

 

For example an orchestral piece played through the SS3, is the precise positioning of each instrument section location retained when played back through the SS3?

 

Similarly is the top octave on an AP sound mostly heard from the right side speaker and bottom octave mostly from the left? - assuming SS3 controls are flat and it is reproducing the stereo image as determined by the board.

 

Good question...

[Alan Steinberger]

SS3 owners or Aspen may be able to share some insight on the extent that the SS3 preserves the location of various elements on the stereo stage from hard left to hard right.

 

For example an orchestral piece played through the SS3, is the precise positioning of each instrument section location retained when played back through the SS3?

 

Similarly is the top octave on an AP sound mostly heard from the right side speaker and bottom octave mostly from the left? - assuming SS3 controls are flat and it is reproducing the stereo image as determined by the board.

 

Precise L/R positioning? No, that has not been my experience. But that's not what an orchestra or an acoustic piano sounds like to me, either. One hears directional cues, for sure, but the Spacestation was not designed to replace your studio monitors when recording.

 

This comes much closer to replicating the feeling of listening to an orchestra in a concert hall, or playing a piano in a reverberant room. There's different "stuff" happening across a broad sound field, all interacting in a sonically pleasing way.

[HammondDave]

So it's not actually "Stereo" as one would traditionally define the word...

[garnermike]

Tee:

It all depends on what genre you are playing and the band's pieces.

I play in a trio, contributing right-hand upper keys (mostly organ sounds) and all the bass via a 2nd kb played with the left hand. And we play mostly reggae, R&B and R&R. Being only 3 pieces and playing those genres, we need a deep, heavy and thumping bass. I use a G-K MB800 (800 watt) bass head into cabs having at least 15" woofers.

Can't use just one kb (via the split keys function), as I need to be able to vary the volume on the right-hand keys without varying the bass volume.