Experiment with changing speakers in Roland Street Cube Ex...

[miden]

Got a Roland Street Cube EX, which in concept is a great bit of gear 6-8 hours on batteries...twin speakers so you can get a stereo keyboard setup running (albeit a narrow field) with lots of other nice on-board features - https://www.roland.com/au/products/cube_street_ex/

 

However the 8" speakers are a little thin (and get a bit "farty" at higher volume levels) for my liking so I am going to swap them out for these https://eminence.com/products/820h

 

PianoMan Chuck already did it 

 

but with different speakers (Jensens) and after reading the specs between the two I went for the Eminence ones...higher SPL and lower bass response. And something about hemp speakers is , well, just cool.

 

I'll post some pics of the conversion and an audio sample once they arrive.

[Docbop]

Coming from the guitar world I've known some that have changed speakers in some of the Roland amps and ended up switching back to the original speaker.    They discovered Roland designed the speaker for the specific amps cabinet and electronics and they just worked better.   

 

Now if I was going to switch speakers and coming from Jazz guitar world of small 8" speakers I would check into the Eminence Delta Pro series of speakers.   They get used in a few different boutique Jazz guitar amps.   They are PA speaker that can handle quite a bit of volume and are fuller range sound than a speaker designed for guitar is.   A PA speaker should sound better than a guitar speaker for keyboard unless you want that speaker breakup guitarists desire.

 

Just something to think about.    

[Reezekeys]

In this instance I would expect speaker sensitivity to be a very important spec. You may get better sound at the cost of less battery life or acoustic output. Good luck!

[jarrell]

I used to own 2 Roland KC300 keyboard amps, and while I liked the design of the mixer (very flexible), I disliked the sound - not flat, tubby sounding, lousy for acoustic piano. A friend had 2 JBL 12's and offered them to me for free, so I put one in one of my cabinets. I then A B'd the two cabinets, and could hardly heard any difference. So I concluded the lousy sound was amp/preamp/cabinet related, not speaker. But that's just specific to that KC300 amp.

[RandyFF]

Ha!  I had the Roland Street Cube EX for years, was always surprised how much volume they could put out for the relatively light weight and size.  The Street EX was designed for guitarists!

 

But playing my keys in a noisy jam, it just didn’t have the oomph to cut thru, or have all that much bass.  Will be curious how well this does for you.  With my iPad I couldn’t hear much of a difference btw PM Chuck’s before and after.

 

If your new speakers don’t make enough of a difference for you there are 2 speakers that have battery power (plug into wall, you don’t have to take the batteries out every time), effects, and unlike the Roland, they have an app for BT’g the mixer-

 

I have the JBL Eon One Compact, it’s been a fantastic speaker for my needs, doesn’t quite have an impeccable amplification of piano sounds though (the Cube EX is much worse for this).  $650 the last I checked.  But only 112db spl.

 

I just learned of a new one, $800? EV Everse8, much the same, 4 channel mixer plus effects and BT audio and mixer control.  Much higher db spl.

[miden]

26 minutes ago, RandyFF said:

.....If your new speakers don’t make enough of a difference for you there are 2 speakers that have battery power (plug into wall, you don’t have to take the batteries out every time), effects, and unlike the Roland, they have an app for BT’g the mixer-

 

I have the JBL Eon One Compact, it’s been a fantastic speaker for my needs, doesn’t quite have an impeccable amplification of piano sounds though (the Cube EX is much worse for this).  $650 the last I checked.  But only 112db spl.

 

I just learned of a new one, $800? EV Everse8, much the same, 4 channel mixer plus effects and BT audio and mixer control.  Much higher db spl.

 

Thanks, had the JBL Eon 1 as well - as you say very low SPL which is why I swapped it out for the EV Evolve 30M. Got a pair of those now. Using the Cube for some digi accordion and small restaurant/busking gigs.

 

What is that other speaker you wrote about there (in bold)?

 

 

[stoken6]

I know of the JBL Eon 1, Bose S1 Compact and the (newer) EV Everse 8.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[miden]

First speaker arrived today. Nice chunky little unit. Both were shipped on the same day, and tracking was mirrored right until today... the other one is scheduled for June 6...Not sure how Amazon manage to do that...ship separately instead of one package in the first place, and then somehow they drift seven days apart even though according to tracking they were neck and neck???

[RandyFF]

On 5/27/2023 at 5:35 PM, miden said:

 

Thanks, had the JBL Eon 1 as well - as you say very low SPL which is why I swapped it out for the EV Evolve 30M. Got a pair of those now. Using the Cube for some digi accordion and small restaurant/busking gigs.

 

What is that other speaker you wrote about there (in bold)?

 

 

 

Miden, the other speaker is the EV Everse 8.  No personal experience with it, just caught my eye as an upgrade in power to the JBL Eon One Compact with most of the same stand-out benefits, with the addition of being compatible with 2 of  EV's wireless microphone setups, supplying power to the receiver and having a place for it on top of the speaker.    

 

You've got 2 of the Evolve 50ms!?  Very curious about it, that must be one hell of a great unit!  If I had a small band to provide a PA for, a couple of those would simplify life, no need for separate monitors!  But at $2,300 each that adds up!  The sub is probably just heavy enough to warrant a rolling bag.

 

Would be curious how having these towers compare to box-on-a-stick conventional PAs-? No need for monitors?  Helps to keep the onstage volumes down?  Can compete with loud guitar amps and drums? A worthy system to avoid going in ear? Sounds good with a piano?

 

Read the reviews of the 50m and it sounds like a case of getting what you paid for.  With 2 of them are you able to use both 8 channel mixers together?

[KuruPrionz]

I recently pulled the 8" speaker out of a Peavey Transtube 258EFX guitar amplifier, it was a 25 watt speaker in a 25 watt amplifier. 

Sounded pretty OK at low volumes but not good turned up a bit. I swapped in an unmarked 8" speaker with a larger magnet and voice coil, more robust construction and a 60 watt rating stamped on the magnet. 

 

MUCH better tone! I think one reason Peavey amps get a bad rap is that the stock speakers aren't very good. I'm not familiar with the Street Cube but it seems like a well-chosen speaker swap could kick it up a couple of notches. Looking forward to your review!

[miden]

1 hour ago, RandyFF said:

 

Miden, the other speaker is the EV Everse 8.  No personal experience with it, just caught my eye as an upgrade in power to the JBL Eon One Compact with most of the same stand-out benefits, with the addition of being compatible with 2 of  EV's wireless microphone setups, supplying power to the receiver and having a place for it on top of the speaker.    

 

You've got 2 of the Evolve 50ms!?  Very curious about it, that must be one hell of a great unit!  If I had a small band to provide a PA for, a couple of those would simplify life, no need for separate monitors!  But at $2,300 each that adds up!  The sub is probably just heavy enough to warrant a rolling bag.

 

Would be curious how having these towers compare to box-on-a-stick conventional PAs-? No need for monitors?  Helps to keep the onstage volumes down?  Can compete with loud guitar amps and drums? A worthy system to avoid going in ear? Sounds good with a piano?

 

Read the reviews of the 50m and it sounds like a case of getting what you paid for.  With 2 of them are you able to use both 8 channel mixers together?

 

 

It's the 30m not the 50. I tried one 50 and thought it was ok but a bit weighty, and I figured two was too much. The 30m is a very nice compromise

[drawback]

Just out of curiosity, why did you pick up the Street Cube instead of a KC220? Granted the latter has lower wattage, but the 6.5s are optimized for keyboards. Chuck likes his (the earlier model).

[miden]

3 hours ago, drawback said:

Just out of curiosity, why did you pick up the Street Cube instead of a KC220? Granted the latter has lower wattage, but the 6.5s are optimized for keyboards. Chuck likes his (the earlier model).

 

 

It's only 20wats when using batteries. And as I use bass and drums (both on the FR8 and a separate iOS drum machine) the 6" speakers were to "farty" at higher levels.

[miden]

Ok so replaced the speakers  - the Patriots have eight screw holes so the alternate four are open but it still seems to seal quite well against the Cube speaker cutout.

 

To me, the bass is more pronounced but I'll let listeners be the judge. I used the line inputs which are flat EQ, and used the same app and beat with the iPhone recording in the same spot and at the same level, Just used the simple recorder app in the phone.

 

Left recording is Eminence, right is Roland, which although less "bassy" has more clarity. When I played using keys bass and drums, the Eminence stood out...lot more gain before going flabby!

 

I might re-do the audio but with proper recording...this was just a "quick and dirty" test.

 

The picture shows a marked difference in the size of the magnet, so I am not really surprised bass response is better.

[drawback]

Yeah, the Roland definitely sounds more like a "guitar" speaker – more mid-range compressed sounding. I might be tempted to try one of each in the amp.

[miden]

1 hour ago, drawback said:

Yeah, the Roland definitely sounds more like a "guitar" speaker – more mid-range compressed sounding. I might be tempted to try one of each in the amp.

 

 

ooh, now there's a thought! I might try that and post back

[stevob]

I am considering swapping out my speakers in my KC110 for the same reason.  Your Roland recording sounds awful compared to your upgraded eminence! Eminence sounds more 'hifi' like which will work much better with keyboard/DP.   I'm hunting for hifi speakers with messed up cabinets and good internals as donors then I'll also have the crossovers designed for the drivers and tweeters too!  Thanks for posting your recordings, it's definitely made me decide to keep hunting for speakers to do the upgrade.