Piano World Home Page Forums Other Keyboard Instruments Organs - Electronic (B3 etc.), Pipe, Theatre, & Reed Rodgers Organ better than Allen when it comes to sound!

For a guy who used to be an Allen enthusiast,I have since turned to Rodgers. Reason? The Sound! It will be a week ago tomorrow that I heard a Rodgers organ in person for the very first time and I must say they are far superior to Allen in many ways when it comes to,again,...the sound! Though I do not play organ,I do appreciate great organ music. I had heard Rodgers organ on cds on my stereo at home,but you know as well as I do,a home stereo never does an organ justice at all. You have to listen in person to really appreciate the superiority
of Rodgers over Allen. When I heard that Rodgers 837 organ at
the Markle United Methodist Church in Markle,In.,..I heard pipes,...NOT speakers,...though the organ was digital. It is
definitely true that Rodgers is worlds apart from other digital organs when it comes to the quality of the sound.

Interesting. Its kinda like a Ford VS Chevy. Or Classical Vs Romantic. Everyone will always have their own opinion.

It can also come down to (in organ relation) the space the instrument is in (big or small) Speaker set up (internal or external?) MODEL and age of organ.

I have always been an allen person even for their older instruments. I owned a Rodgers 22b from 1968, and never really got into its sound, but the organ was well built. I liked the allen TC4 or whatever it was a little more than the rodgers. But it was $400 more than it, so I passed.

I find the Allen sound to be have alot of "artificial sameness"
(tinny sounding)compared to the Rodgers I heard last Sunday,Brandon. Markle United Methodist,...not my regular church,...is not very big. Their Rodgers 837 sounds very good
given their particular installation. Last I heard an Allen was at a Friends church down in Marion. It was an R350. No doubt you were hearing speakers and the sound was thin and tinny
compared to Rodgers. It only took one listen to determine
that Rodgers sound is far,far better and far more pipelike in it's sound than Allen. Not to say that Allen is bad,...people do have their preferences as you say,...but I found Rodgers to
have a much better quaility sound than Allen. The organ at Markle did not have the speakers inside the console,...they are external and located in a chamber in the chancel area. I would like to make a trip to my Rodgers dealer and hear a Rodgers with speakers INSIDE the console. Since space is at a premium for me right now,I would have to get a Rodgers with self contained audio system,and one of their Allegiant two manual models(the 648)would be perfect for me.

well dont get me wrong, Rodgers organs are for sure fantastic instruments, and far better than many. I would do anything to own a new one, or an Allen, but if I got to chose between the 2 I would lean more to allen.

I also find Allen to have a slightly more european sound than some rodgers seem to have. Thats also one reason I love Viscount and Johannus a lot.

Really? Maybe I have been duped then. Let me ask you this,...when it comes to pipe-digital combination organs,whose sounds better to you? I have seen videos on youtube where people would compare the two brands(Allen and Rodgers)and some say that on an Allen you can tell which is digital and which is pipe,..but on a Rodgers,they have a hard time telling.
That was part of my reason for leaning toward Rodgers is that even their all digital organs have a more pipe like sound than Allen. Then you get some on there say they would have nothing but Allen. (What strikes me as funny,...not "Haha" funny,...but
funny in the idea that Rodgers uses old style incendescent light bulbs in their "lighted" stops whereas Allen uses LEDs
on their Protege and Chapel series organs. From that standpoint,I would lean towards the Allen Protege organ since
those LEDs will last far longer than the "old style" bulbs Rodgers uses. The Allen Protege organs have a nice sound even with their "built-in" speakers on some of the models. Heck,even Hammond uses the LEDs on alot of their organs,if not all of them,depending on the model). I need to listen to the newest Allen Renaissance Organs with their new multi-point audio systems which I have heard some say now surpasses Rodgers
stereo imaged audio systems in their quality of sound. I heard a Norwich organ on youtube.com once and they sounded horrible.
Allen or Rodgers,...don't think anyone can go wrong with either organ. Brandon,you're pulling me back towards Allen!
Honestly I'd take either organ,...Allens's Protege or Rodgers'
Allegiant.

I found this video really nice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuVcJAGR4eI

I have seen the video,Brandon! I have to say that organ really did sound nice. You may have pulled me back to Allen,Brandon!
I'd take either organ,but after seeing that video,...hmmmmm,...
Maybe I better rethink my decision! But then again,it's hard to tell on a computer audio system which really sounds better.
That 1962 Allen sounded good,though!

Wow, you are sure right! The Rodgers Masterpiece signature Series is awesome. The sound incredible. Allen is way behind with their chapel series low budget organ. No contest!

Yes I agree on the chapel series. Just not a high class instrument. A cheap Rodgers is better in my mind. A protege Allen rivals the low end rodgers, but I just like my allen a bit more in their TOL models.

But hey I would take either any day! I just wan -any- organ!

I always liked Allen better than Rodgers, especially for congregational use. The Allen has a deeper richer foundation, and their mixtures work well with the palette. We have one at our church and I love playing it when I get a chance. But for playing solo, I seem to like the Rodgers sound better. It seems to articulate better, and for my taste the reeds sound much better.

Not to deviate off the thread but at home I have a Johannus Opus 10 (2m, 26s, 31r). Where this organ blows both of them away is playing baroque. The principals and flutes are very vertical sounding and they sparkle. Johannus does a nice job of just adding a little bit of chiff and gulp to the 8' flutes without overdoing it. Sometimes during flute solos I have heard organs sound like a chugging steam train or water dripping in a tub. You will sometimes find that at a dealer who is trying to impress for realism. Additionally, I have a 4 channel speaker facade over the organ (makes it look like a tracker), with the sound coming from above, and the nice reverb in the organ, I can adjust for whatever mood/ texture is needed. If anyone likes Renaissance or early Baroque, I would rather have mine than either of the two others.

Brandon, Johannus has had their 50% off sale of their entire line, the Opus series has been selling for about the price of a mid level upright. I don't think you'll see that again!

That couldnt have been described better Jerry! I agree!
I find Johannus, and more over, Monarke organs to be the best in baroque historic sound.

I was so close to buying a monarke Van Eyck organ. (look that baby up!) But it was sold before I could get it!

I would do anything to buy a new johannus Opus! I dont have access to an organ any more, and its really depressing, as it was a huge part of my life when I did.