Bring the shame

[zephonic]

Yes, about the only thing you'd run thru a Roland KC amp is a chainsaw, I know. But after many years of back and forth with a wide range of powered PA speakers I have to say that the KC-550 at one of my churches has a satisfyingly warm tone that I can't get out of any of the plastic cabs. It's not neutral or accurate or anything, but there is something about that amp that just works in that sanctuary.

 

I'm not gonna go out and buy one myself now, too big and heavy for my schlep. But I am looking at bass amps or acoustic guitar amps now to see if I can get some of that warmth there. I can't believe I've been gigging here for ten years with sound I don't like.

 

[mate stubb]

Since you demanded it...

 

[ProfD]

Brotha @zephonic, no shame or apology required.  Sometimes a piece of gear just works in a setting or situation. 

 

For decades now, those fully integrated Roland KC amps have well served many gigging KB players especially with multi-KB rigs.

 

I know brotha Moe feels differently but Roland KC amp sales tell the tale. 😁😎

 

 

[MAJUSCULE]

1 hour ago, ProfD said:

I know brotha Moe feels differently but Roland KC amp sales tell the tale. 😁😎

 

 

Prof, as they say in the CFB world… Logo holds weight.  

[16251]

Talk about shame. I'm happy enough with my 30+ year old Gallien Kruger keyboard amps. At least they don't have piezos and do have my favorite speaker size for keyboards. I am not an audiophile; more like it is good enough for live music.

[cphollis]

FWIW, the similarly controversial CPS SSv3 is still in my inventory, and does the job perfectly in small, jammy situations.  It works uniquely well there, so I get the KC550 appeal.

[Delaware Dave]

That's why my powered monitor is made of wood (EV ELX112P).  When I did the compare against QSC, JBL, Alto and the ZLX series (all which had ABS cabinets) the ELX was the warmest sounding of all which I attribute to the wood.

[MathOfInsects]

It's possible that's the perfect environment for that otherwise blocky sounding misuse of lumber, but it's also possible that's an environment where just about anything would sound good. Before I changed out my rig on that basis of that test, I'd bring in some other amps/speakers to A/B in there. 

[drawback]

I was happy with Gallien Krueger and AER amps for a long time, and TBT really liked my Roland SA-300 when I had it. If I was going back to amplifiers, I'd probably spend the extra dough on Motion Sound. I've never been thrilled with PA/monitor cabs for keyboards, but that's just me.

[obxa]

I guess in a race to the bottom, I'd still take the Roland over those  Peavey KB amps I used to get as backline. 

 

For anything that's with drums at combat volume, I think it's always losing proposition to amplify keys and have it sound good.  Especially AP sounds.  Which is why I use IEMs.

 

But I can out-shame you,  I have the Behringer clone of the Roland.  I use it with IEMs and it's built in stereo  mixer with DI-   that part actually works great.   I only turn on  the speaker when a band needs to hear me without going through the monitors. 

 

[MathOfInsects]

9 hours ago, drawback said:

I was happy with Gallien Krueger and AER amps for a long time, and TBT really liked my Roland SA-300 when I had it. If I was going back to amplifiers, I'd probably spend the extra dough on Motion Sound. I've never been thrilled with PA/monitor cabs for keyboards, but that's just me.

Wow, same, and it seems very unpopular to admit this, maybe in the same category as admitting liking the blocky Roland amps. PPAs are plenty loud and have great coverage across frequencies, and I will readily admit they make an ideal rig for a lot of reasons. But they always hit my ear as too unnuanced. I guess I like just a little color in the sound (live), even if that color is from the unintended result of a slightly lower-fi source. 

 

[zephonic]

It's odd, I have Genelecs at home, aluminium enclosures and they sound fantastic. So I know wooden cabs are not required for great sound. But these plastic powered PA speakers just don't do it for me. And it took me only 15 years to figure that out.

 

I'm still gonna give the Yamaha DXR's a whirl at some point, but right now I'm leaning toward a Schertler or some bass amp.

[harmonizer]

I will give Roland credit for reliability. I expect that my KC-150, which now serves as my backup amp, will survive the apocalypse.

But it will still have that obnoxious positive EQ spike on the G that is 1.5 octaves above middle C (and it's in the electronics, not the speaker).

 

[harmonizer]

Actually my KC-150 is currently being used just as a dynamic mic preamp for my son's PC, to enable use of a Sennheiser dynamic mic when he is on a web meeting. He has the KC-150 sitting on a shelf on his desk, near his computer monitor, which makes the KC-150 look huge and hilariously out-of-place.

 

He does this because the external 2-channel mic preamp he was previously using for this broke.

Anyone wanna guess the brand of the 2-channel mic preamp that broke?

Anyone?

 

Behringer - correct.

 

And I am the one who bought it a few years ago. I was warned about Behringer in online boards like this one and others. So I should have known better, but I bought it anyway. So the Behringer failed, the Roland amp keeps working, and the world keeps spinning.

[KuruPrionz]

I'm old, I remember when the classic keyboard amp was a Fender Twin with a pair of JBL D120s in it. 

I thought that sounded pretty good at the time. Not sure about now, I KNOW I would never want to move one!!!!

 

I don't think the cabinet material makes much difference, I've got a pair of Yamaha studio monitors and the cabs are plastic. They sound fantastic. 

I think that the shape, size and porting of the cabinets, the drivers, the crossover (and the crossover point) are where the sound comes from unless something is thin enough to be resonant. 

 

Most "wood" cabinets are either braced plywood or MDF. Neither one is going to vibrate much, especially with a layer of vinyl tightly surrounding it. 

 

I've done a fair amount of speaker swapping in guitar amps, speakers vary considerably and not just from brand to brand. Sometimes the "same" speakers sound different. Could be the manufacturer changed the design or material of the spider or voice coil (or even the magnet), could be how much break-in time a speaker has had and there are probably other factors. 

 

If it sounds good, use it. 

[jarrell]

Just a side note re the Rolands: when I owned two Roland KC300's (a long time ago), a friend offered me his two JBL D120's (for free!), so I swapped one in on one of the Rolands - it basically made no difference in sound quality. So while the flexibility and feature set of the Roland mixer was great (stereo link, line out with separate volume control, 4 stereo channels, etc.), I think the sound quality of the mixer and amp are what sets it back. It could be the cabinet, but at least it was solid wood, not plastic.

[Delaware Dave]

You asked for it .......

 

 

[Adam Burgess]

Back when I was a nipper, I did buy a Peavey KB100. Oh the shame! 
The heaviest thing I owned at the time and was the most dull, boring, lifeless… etc etc
But, it was totally indestructible. Dunno where it is now, but I bet it still works.

I did a gig a few years back and the house had a more modern looking KB something (KB5?), and it was actually passable.

Didn't last very long before it exploded, and not even being pushed hard.

Played for a harmony singing cabaret group for a spell - usually in theatres with a Yammy baby grand, but when playing halls without a piano, they had a Roland 350 and a nice Yammy P120. Again - massively lifeless and abysmal and etc etc (and needlessly heavy)

The only keyboard amp that I've ever played which was great (also heavy (Why ARE they all so heavy?!)) was a beastly 3-way Yamaha with a 15", maybe a 6.5" and a tweeter. Three channels. It was amazing to me at the time. That was stolen. I did find it at a gig and my drummer and me attempted to get it back from the thieves, but the police said I had to prove it was mine. Apparently knowing the last date of the service, and the sticker inside the unit on the power amp saying the same thing wasn't enough?

As above, we've surely all learned that KB amps are just wrong. 

Also as above, one band I was in invested in some RCF TT+ for FOH. So, in rehearsals we used those as stereo wedges and they were glorious.

EDIT TO ADD: The only decent keyboard amp was my Yamaha KS531. Thanks for the memories! 

[Justin Havu]

Funny, I was given an old silver Cube 60 keyboard amp this past summer.  I've yet to try it out, as I've been so incredibly busy, but I've been so used to using powered PA cabs for the last 15 years that I forgot what a "keyboard amp" is supposed to sound like.  Lol