Column Speaker for Solo Piano

[PianoMan51]

Okay, here I am again. Yes I have a Fishman SA220. I bought it for vocals only. The killer app is when you need a wide throw with a single speaker. It was designed and marketed for singer/songwriters (voice and acoustic guitar) and I think it does a good job at that. I did a few piano gigs with it, but it"s not my first or even second choice. Forget any bass tones if you need them. It was okay sound-wise for acoustic piano. Not great, not terrible. For vocals it is quite good, but not as good as a high quality speaker.

 

The Good:

130 degree throw. Customers and band mates who used to be on the edge of your speakers range will now hear you.

Two mic inputs with EQ and verb. One Aux input. The features are well designed for the player"s needs.

Fishman repaired my unit for a standard $50 plus return shipping. This is a class outfit. (I bought mine used on eBay.)

 

The Bad:

The effing bag! Comes with its custom bag. Rollers so close that it constantly tries to turn over. The speaker stand is attached in its own separate bag which must be completely removed to get to the speaker. This was not designed for ease of use.

Setup is no easier than a 10' powered speaker on a stand with a small mixer.

 

So, if you absolutely need a wide-throw speaker then a linear array should be on your radar.

[HSS]

For another alternative if you don't need any mixing functionality, the Behringer B208D is cheap, 15 lbs (a bit lighter than the JBL Eon Compact or Bose S1), pretty loud and not terrible sounding, albeit a bit bass shy. Again, no battery operation, though.

I agree. I picked up two factory-refurbished B208D's last year for just a hundred bucks and change each. Although the B208D's aren't nearly as loud and hi-fi as QSC K8's or even Alto TS308's, the B208D's are cheaper and weigh less than either. At low volumes for a solo or duo act, IMO the B208D's are actually decent for keys and vocals as long as you don't drive them too hard and don't need butt-shaking bass.

[AnotherScott]

Setup is no easier than a 10' powered speaker on a stand with a small mixer.

Why not? The Fishman looks to be about the same weight as the lightest 10' powered speakers around (which are probably not the ones you'd ideally want, but let's leave that aside). A ~20 lb speaker on a stand has to be quicker/easier to set up than a ~20 lb speaker on a stand plus a mixer (requiring extra power and signal cables, and something else to find a place for). Though its real setup benefit might come from the possibility that, because of its 130 degree dispersion, there might be times you could get by with just one, whereas with typical 10" speakers that most often have 90 degree dispersion, you might feel more of a need to set up two to get the coverage you want.

[PianoMan51]

Setup is no easier than a 10' powered speaker on a stand with a small mixer.

Why not? The Fishman looks to be about the same weight as the lightest 10' powered speakers around (which are probably not the ones you'd ideally want, but let's leave that aside). A ~20 lb speaker on a stand has to be quicker/easier to set up than a ~20 lb speaker on a stand plus a mixer (requiring extra power and signal cables, and something else to find a place for). Though its real setup benefit might come from the possibility that, because of its 130 degree dispersion, there might be times you could get by with just one, whereas with typical 10" speakers that most often have 90 degree dispersion, you might feel more of a need to set up two to get the coverage you want.

Fair question. The speaker plus bag plus stand is more than 25 lbs and really awkward to wheel around. When you arrive the bag needs to be laid flat to open. Finding room to layout the bag on the floor in both my steady gigs (I"ve done at least 60 gigs with this amp) is tough. Then you unzip the top bag to get out the stand. Then you unclip the empty top bag to get to the bottom bag. Then you unzip the bottom bag to get to the speaker. The speaker won"t stand up on its own, so the speaker needs to stay on the floor while you set up the stand. Then mount the speaker, then stash the two bags. This isn"t impossible or really hard, just awkward and annoying. Yes, it"s got fewer parts to setup than using a small mixer and normal speaker, but the form factor isn"t as easy as you would expect. The reason I use it is for the wide dispersion in a place where two speakers don"t fit and I don"t need a lot of volume. Again, my use is for vocals. In a pinch you can use it for DP, but I wouldn"t recommend anyone buying this for keyboards.

[AnotherScott]

Thanks for the elaboration, PM. Though it makes me wonder if the issue isn't so much the Fishman as it is the design of the fancy wheeled carry bag. So what if we try to make the shleppage more like that traditional 10" we're using for comparison? Put the stand in its own bag, or none at all, whatever it is you would do with whatever tripod stand you would use with your 10" of choice. (The fact that it uses a shorter tripod than you would typically use with a 10" powered PA speaker could actually even make this part easier than is it with the 10".) Then go for a simple (lighter, single-compartment) carry bag for the speaker itself. Could that address 90% of this?

 

Here's a bag that looks like it could be a usable size... https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/883682-REG/ruggard_bd_3042_deluxe_padded_42_tripod.html/specs

[PianoMan51]

Thanks for the elaboration, PM. Though it makes me wonder if the issue isn't so much the Fishman as it is the design of the fancy wheeled carry bag. So what if we try to make the shleppage more like that traditional 10" we're using for comparison? Put the stand in its own bag, or none at all, whatever it is you would do with whatever tripod stand you would use with your 10" of choice. (The fact that it uses a shorter tripod than you would typically use with a 10" powered PA speaker could actually even make this part easier than is it with the 10".) Then go for a simple (lighter, single-compartment) carry bag for the speaker itself. Could that address 90% of this?

 

Here's a bag that looks like it could be a usable size... https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/883682-REG/ruggard_bd_3042_deluxe_padded_42_tripod.html/specs

Or just go 'no bag". The Fishman has a nice handle built in.

[AnotherScott]

The Fishman has a nice handle built in.

Ah, I didn't know it had a handle, that helps!

 

For something that has a handle, I have bought slip covers from the person at the listing below. Alas, although she already offers tons of covers (listed toward the bottom of the scrolling text area about midway through the page), the Fishman SA220/330x are not among them... but she does say she will consider adding new models, especially if she gets multiple requests for a model (she also gives priority to former customers, and new customers who would at least be ordering a pair as opposed to a single).

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/193595700474

 

The slip-over is really fast on-and-off, and with the cut-out for a handle, is still easy to carry, while providing some protection from the elements or casual scuffs while carrying.

[ElmerJFudd]

Having trouble finding ratings in the specs for the fishman.

 

https://ftp.fishman.com/New%20Products/SA330x/Fishman%20SA330x%20Brochure.pdf

 

What"s the frequency response and max spl?

[PianoMan51]

Having trouble finding ratings in the specs for the fishman.

 

https://ftp.fishman.com/New%20Products/SA330x/Fishman%20SA330x%20Brochure.pdf

 

What"s the frequency response and max spl?

71Hz - 20kHz

113dB

[ElmerJFudd]

Alto TROUPER

 

200 watt

Max SPL 117db

65-20khtz

23lbs

 

$199

 

 

https://www.altoprofessional.com/products/trouper

[AnotherScott]

I tried the Alto Trouper. It didn't sound as good as the lighter and louder EV ZXa1, or the Turbosound Inspire iP300. But hey, it's $199.

[ElmerJFudd]

That's good to know.

 

Comparing to traditional PA monitor from same manufacturer....

 

TS308

1000 watt (i'm not sure how they are calculating 2000 watts in their copy)

Max SPL 126db

52-22khtz

20.2lbs

 

$269

 

So, TS308 can go a little louder, gets down a little lower, a little lighter. Wider, but shorter shape.

 

What I'd like to see/hear is how the horizontal spread of these two designs differs and how the distance/reach of the two compare.

They give this spec on the TS308 "Horn Coverage: 90° H x 60° V nominal", there doesn't appear to be a similar spec for the column design.

Volume spec's tend to be given at one meter. It would be good to know what the throw or reach is - volume at 10m, at 20m.

[ElmerJFudd]

JBL PRX ONE

 

 

12 2.5-inch drivers

130° (H) x 30° (V)

12-inch bass-reflex woofer extends low-end response to 35 Hz

130 dB max SPL

 

Unfortunately 56lbs.

[cphollis]

JBL PRX ONE

 

 

This one looks a bit special to me. It's the same sort of design I liked on the popular Bose L1s, but done better I think. It has quite the mixer section. The sub looks beefy. Plenty of marketing watts, and a strong dB rating for wide dispersion column. I bet it's really clean and loud. Too bad I'm not in the market for FOH these days.

[dodonnell]

I've had a pair of Turbosound ip500s for about 4 years. Very nice sound. Light and easy to carry

 

Duane