ChrisDespo

I had the same issue not too long ago and after speaking to Aspen (who was very helpful and offered to have me send him the speaker on his dime if it was indeed bad even though it was out of warranty) I removed all the screws on the front of the SS3 and popped out the main center woofer speaker and there was a metal cap thingy that had broken loose from inside somewhere and stuck itself to the big magnet - I showed Aspen and he said it doesn't have any effect on anything and if I wanted to I could just glue it back on to where it came off, which I did and everything has been fine ever since ... It probably just came off when I was transporting it back and forth to gigs ... here's a couple pics of the part and maybe it's the same for you: http://pctechsource.com/musicgear/pix/thumb_IMG_1939_1024.jpg http://pctechsource.com/musicgear/pix/thumb_IMG_1940_1024.jpg http://pctechsource.com/musicgear/pix/thumb_IMG_1941_1024.jpg Hope that helps ...

Ray beat me to it before I could hit send!

John - I use a mixer as well (ditto lots of folks here) and send Left and Right from each of my keyboards to separate channels on my mixer, i.e. I send my Left from my Kurzweil to Channel 1 on my mixer and pan it left on the mixer main bus, send Right from Kurzweil to Channel 2 of my mixer and pan it right on mixer main bus, etc continuing same way with all my gear ... (I also use a harmonica mic that is mono and gets it's own channel and apply a slight bit of stereo reverb to it to provide the "SS juice" needed to fatten the sound) ... Then I simply take the 2 main outputs (L/R) from my mixer and put them into the Left and Right inputs on the SS3 ... This keeps the signals panned the way they should be coming from my gear and out of the SS3 ... there may be other ways to do it but this works for me and sounds like it's supposed to coming out of the SS3 ... hope this helps ... Chris

soooo ... what's "the plan"?

Is your iPhone nearby? I've had interference from that before ... i usually try to keep it as far away from amps/speakers as possible (i realize some are shielded but i still keep them separated) ... hope that helps ...

corrected ... However it would be nice if GC had them too so more people could demo them!

I thought subs were omnidirectional, making it 360 degrees of nirvana?

I've found that mine sounds best when I'm playing while standing on my head instead of turning the ss3 upside down ... Kind of like hanging it from the ceiling, only reversed .... Ymmv ....

[img:left][/img] I think I remember seeing that episode where Spock gave presentation about the SpaceStation ... %5B/img%5D%20%20%20[/left] Then all hell broke loose when he turned 2 of them on at once ... http://pctechsource.com/blog/images/after.jpg

I wondered the same thing! Like setting 2 up as a PA system (with subs) in small-mid size venues ... not sure if any cancellation would occur or not .... I'm guessing none would ... Aspen?

I've had it up against the wall at an angle facing towards me and the band and it sounds good .. again YMMV but you do need to place it and play through it and see how it sounds depending on the room and adjust as necessary (as much as possible with sometimes limited room) ... Since the speaker is recessed some (maybe 4-5" or so) the sound does get dispersed and gets the stereo effect going when up against the wall - you'll also need to adjust the width control to compensate for the close proximity otherwise it can overwhelm the center speaker and sound "off" ... just my 2 cents ... as other has already said, let your ears be the judge and make adjustments accordingly ... What I've found is you'll be able to get a good sound pretty much anywhere you put it with a little tweaking ...

I've found that channelling "MacGyver" by creatively using reflective surfaces helps the sound "bloom" ... iow, I've played mixed size stages and on smaller stages I try to direct the side speaker towards a wall or something like a hard guitar shell or whatever is available, to help blend it better and get the stereo effect to kick in better ... still sounds good to me doing this (albeit not perfect) and MUCH better than running mono ... Also, I've noticed that when I'm setup beside my bass player if I raise the SS off the floor ("uncoupling it from the floor" using Aspen's term) it helps from keeping it get too muddy sounding ... depends on the stage/size of venue ... you'll just need to try it and see wha works best for you ...

The SS MarkII must be different than the new versions, because the SSV3 sends full frequency out through the "sub out" of the SSV3 and does nothing internally to the frequencies that the onboard amps put out ... they continue to put out the same frequency as their specs state including the lows (I think down to maybe 120hz or so?) ... this is per Aspen (probably many pages back) ... That being said, what many of us are doing is feeding a full frequency through a sub and using the built in crossover of the sub to filter the lows and send that out to the SSV3 thus eliminating the extra job of recreating those lows in the SSV3 ....

Yeah, that's how I'm using it, minus the mixer ... so: keys>sub>SS The reason not the other way (going through the SS first) is you can limit the amount of work the SS has to do by filtering out the lows ... you are correct that you could feed the sub with the SS out since it is a full frequency output but you're not helping the SS as much as you would be the other way around by letting the sub take all the really low stuff and just leave the rest to the SS ...

Very cool post ... thanks FunkKeyStuff ... never was satisfied with the way I tried to pull it off a few years ago but gonna have to see if I can revisit this great song again and try to pull it off using your awesome tips ... all thumbs up ... DEFINITELY bookmarking this like the others have said!

Just my 2 cents ... I'm a SSv3 owner and use a Casio PX5-S, PC361 and a Korg MicroKorg XL ... I feed the SS with the L/R outs of my PX5S ... the other 2 keys (PC361 and MicroKorg) get fed into my PX5S using the 1/4 L/R audio ins coming from the PC361 and by using a 1/4" to 1/8" headphone cable coming out of my MicroKorg into the 1/8" audio input of the PX5S ... so everything goes into PX5S and out of the 1/4" outs directly into the SS using no mixer ... I've had no problems with loudness, etc using this setup ... I use the PC361 for mainly organ and strings, the PX5s for pianos (EP and AP) and MicroKorg for various synth textures ... all sound good to me in a live setting and cut through the stage volume in a full cover band context (5 piece - keys, guitar, bass, drums, singer) ... oh yeah, I also feed the FOH with the SS sub out (mono) ... it's probably not ideal for a lot of people but works well for me so far and makes for far less clutter on stage for me with equipment, etc. ...

Yeah Ray you are correct - there is a 1/4" full range sub out that you can feed the FOH with although it will be mono ... that's all I'm currently doing for FOH sends at moment ... will probably eventually get a small mixer with aux sends to be able to send a stereo image to FOH but for now it works fine in mono and I can turn up the SS on stage to help fill stereo image on stage ...

Andy - Yeah it has RCA inputs, 1/4" inputs and also XLR inputs ... I have been using the RCA and 1/4" inputs together (plugging iPhone into RCA via 1/8" - RCA cable and reserving the 1/4" ins for my keys)) with no problems and it sounds really good matched with the SS V3 ... I have 3 keyboards that I currently use live - a PX5S, PC361, and Korg MicroKorg. As others have eluded to, the PX5S has multiple inputs on it for external gear, so I plug my PC361 into the 1/4" inputs of the PS5S and I take the headphone out of the MicroKorg into the 1/8" inputs of the PX5S .... then I feed the Temblor T10 with 1/4" TRS outs from my PX5S ... then out of the T10 via the 1/4" line outs into the SSV3 ... I'm trying to avoid having to carry another mixer so the easier I can do this all in one the better for me ... keeping it simple, maybe not the best way to do it but works for me so far ... Chris

Aspen and Dave - thanks for the suggestions ... Really appreciate it ... I'm currently using it like you said, Dave, going directly into the T10 first and making adjustments and using the footswitch on the T10 to bypass the T10 and A/B the sound (with and without T10 active) ... so far I kind of like the way I have it setup now with the T10 active - I have disabled the onboard HPF and have full range passing through to the SS - setting the input gain at unity on the T10 from my PX5S. I've got the crossover set around 125HZ per Aspen's recommendation above and that seems to sound pretty darn good to me ... (On the SS, I have the level set around 12 o'clock, width at 2'oclock, miss at 12 and HFQ around 1) ... I'm testing using various sounds like AP, EP, organs (using my Kurz PC3 mostly for them), Strings, and just hooking up a music source (iPad) for streaming music through it ... everything I've pumped through it so far sounds really clean, so much so that I've been pumping music through it as my home stereo while I'm working from home lol ... this setup just blows me away and can't wait to start using the T10 for the first time live with my SS after Thanksgiving ... -Chris

Aspen, great amp- didn't know what i was missing all these years playing in mono until I started playing live using my SS w/ true stereo! Definitely a game changer ... I have a question regarding your comment using a sub along with it ... I have the SS and a powered sub (I'm using my Presonus Temblor T10 250W) and was gonna start bringing the sub with me for bigger venues (150+ seats or so) and outdoor gigs. The Temblor has an adjustable crossover built in along with a HP filter option and outputs for left/right to send to mains. Do you recommend plugging my sound source (keys) directly into the left/right inputs of the sub and then using the built in crossover along with the HP filter and sending the outputs to the SS or should I be hooking it up the other way around (go INTO the SS first and then out to my subwoofer using the SUB OUT to my subwoofer)? I'm assuming I should do it the way I have been by going into the sub first, but would like to know the proper way to do it ... I seem to recall on some of your videos it seems like you may be doing it the reverse (going INTO the SS and hooking up the sub to the SUB OUT) ... Sorry if this is elementary but I just want to get the most out of the SS V3 ... Thanks again!

I was one of the lucky ones that just received my SSV3 a couple days ago in the shipment from Sweetwater ... (that along with my new PX-5S - yeah xmas came early this year lol) ... (sorry this might get long winded ... ) Anyway, so far I've only hooked it up in my living room and A/B'd it with my studio monitors that I was using while practicing at home (they are an old pair of Yamaha MP5's that I got in 1999 but sound surprisingly good for their size) ... I gotta tell you that pretty much everything you've read so far about the 'stereo everywhere' coming from the SS is true from what my non-professional ears can tell. I've gone through my sounds ranging from acoustic pianos, strings, organs, and pretty much any other sound that I need for playing my live sets and can tell you they sound MUCH better in stereo than in mono, which is how I'm used to hearing them on stage. It gets loud too, and maintains some really descent bottom end too (I'm getting a subwoofer to go with it though for bigger rooms). I'm not a B3 expert by any means but this thing makes my PC361 organ sounds really come alive (never had a real B3 or Leslie so can't comment on how close to the original it sounds but comparing to how I've been used to hearing it all i can say is "wow!"). I know I'm sounding like a "fanboy" but for those of you who are on the fence about getting one of these from Sweetwater - just do it! You won't be disappointed .. and with support from Aspen here as impressive as any tech support you'll find anywhere (Mike Martin of Casio comes to mind) you can't lose ... Playing my PX5S along with my Kurz PC361 through it has really gotten me excited to see how good they are going to sound on stage this weekend in stereo. I've been playing as a "weekend warrior" as probably some of you have since the 80's and i've always played live in MONO ... starting tomorrow nevermore! If anybody lives in the Baltimore area and wants to hear how this thing sounds in a live situation, I'd be happy to demo it at one of my gigs ... (not sure about the policy of this forum to give out my band info, etc so PM me and we can chat) ... Thanks Aspen for a great product and I wish you the best with your new company ... you have a winner on your hands!

Just curious - are you placing the SS on an amp stand or mounting up higher using anything? I placed my order for an SS (it's on back order at Sweetwater for couple weeks) and I wasn't sure if it has a speaker mount bracket under it for pole mounting or if you need to just get an amp stand or stool to lift it to ear level. Thanks for the reviews so far. Looking forward to getting this in my hands and trying it. I'll post my comments using it with my rig in the local Baltimore clubs ...