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#1835794 - 01/31/12 04:19 PM
Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
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Junior Member
Registered: 10/11/11
Posts: 18
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Hi everyone
Can someone enlighten me on whether connecting your stage piano to your hifi stereo system is a good idea or not ? Or does a DP somehow require a monitor-like amp and speaker ?
I'm having a hard time trying to decide between a Kawai MP10 and the CA93. I dont want to use headphones all the time, so if the MP10 could be connected to the hifi I'd save some money (the MP10 costs less than the CA93, after all).
Thanks,
Anders
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#1835802 - 01/31/12 04:32 PM
Re: Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
[Re: Anders M]
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500 Post Club Member
Registered: 11/06/11
Posts: 638
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It's not going to sound as good as you might think it would be it should work OK. Your stereo system is trying to create a convincing "sound stage" somewhere between and around the speakers while the piano really need to come across as a point source that sends out sound in all directions. So depending on how good your stereo does at the soundstage think, it may in fact do badly at sounding like a piano.
But frankly the built-in speakers in non-stage-pianos don't sound all that great to me anyway. So you don't have a whole lot to lose, most likely.
_________________________
Current Life+Music Philosophy: Less Thinking, More Foot Tapping
Ars Longa, Vita Brevis
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#1835806 - 01/31/12 04:41 PM
Re: Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
[Re: Anders M]
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Full Member
Registered: 12/14/09
Posts: 222
Loc: Yarmouth, Maine
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Anders, some here are successfully using their stereo systems -- most seem to use monitor speakers. I tried using my (very) old stereo floor speakers and used one of the aux ports on the receiver to run my keyboard. It worked, but my speakers were huge, as was the receiver and I needed more room. Plus it was too limiting for my purpose since I have several sound modules I wanted to use at the same time. That said, the resulting sound with those speakers was really wonderful -- deep and rich and filled my little room without overwhelming it.
So-- I sold the big speakers and now I have monitor speakers and a sub and a mixer and while I can now play everything at the same time, I'm not as thrilled with the sound. It's just flat. There's just no soul. Now, if I were more electronically minded, I could probably have figured out how the make the first set-up work.
If you do a search, you'll find tons of posts about this very thing.
_________________________
Sandy
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#1835847 - 01/31/12 05:33 PM
Re: Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
[Re: Anders M]
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1000 Post Club Member
Registered: 04/16/07
Posts: 1685
Loc: Pennsylvania
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I think piRound has the right idea. Both monitors and speakers should work. Monitors are likely to be very analytical (and also very directional), so for that reason, Hi Fi sounds like a good idea to me.
Disclaimer: I have used various monitors with my setup, but not Hi Fi (to speak of). At the moment I'm actually using highish end computer speakers, which are not all that great, but they were cheap on craigslist.
Edited by gvfarns (01/31/12 05:34 PM)
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#1836677 - 02/01/12 05:33 PM
Re: Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
[Re: Anders M]
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Junior Member
Registered: 10/11/11
Posts: 18
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Thanks guys. I guess I question the wisdom of acquiring a DP with a refined sampled Steinway sound only to churn it through some rock'n roll monitor. But I actually haven't tried any of them. Maybe they're ok. Or maybe not....
Anders
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#1836681 - 02/01/12 05:43 PM
Re: Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
[Re: Anders M]
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1000 Post Club Member
Registered: 04/16/07
Posts: 1685
Loc: Pennsylvania
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You can correct me if I'm wrong, but if it is optimized for rock'n roll, it's not really Hi Fi.
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#1837047 - 02/02/12 08:14 AM
Re: Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
[Re: Anders M]
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Full Member
Registered: 10/19/09
Posts: 69
Loc: sc
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I've gigged with hi-fi speakers for several years. They sound more natural (to me) for DP than PA speakers. I've never used a "monitor speaker", not to be confused with the on-stage monitor speaker used to blast the drummer with a little extra piano !
_________________________
Baldwin L - Rhodes 73
Yamaha P250 - Nord NP88
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#1837048 - 02/02/12 08:19 AM
Re: Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
[Re: gvfarns]
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3000 Post Club Member
Registered: 07/07/04
Posts: 3993
Loc: Vught, The Netherlands
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You can correct me if I'm wrong, but if it is optimized for rock'n roll, it's not really Hi Fi. ... and don't forget the speaker cable, that can make a world of difference. 
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#1837529 - 02/02/12 10:47 PM
Re: Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
[Re: Anders M]
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Full Member
Registered: 10/19/09
Posts: 69
Loc: sc
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Before I retired last year I made part of my living repairing guitar and keyboard amps. Of course I tried them all, and never liked any of them for piano.
_________________________
Baldwin L - Rhodes 73
Yamaha P250 - Nord NP88
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#1837565 - 02/02/12 11:43 PM
Re: Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
[Re: Anders M]
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5000 Post Club Member
Registered: 09/06/07
Posts: 5091
Loc: Hamamatsu, Japan
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Anders M, apologies in advance for hijacking the thread... jazzonebyone, given that you're a Rhodes and Nord owner, would you mind taking a quick look at post below, regarding my thoughts about purchasing a small, inexpensive Vox amp for bedroom EP practise: http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1832534.htmlCheers! James x
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#1840602 - 02/08/12 09:42 AM
Re: Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
[Re: Anders M]
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Full Member
Registered: 05/20/11
Posts: 25
Loc: Italy
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Hi all,
One thing I'm increasingly thinking about is to buy a receiver and a pair of good tower speakers, and place the latter just beside the piano, left and right.
The overall setup would suit my room very well from an aesthetical point of view, and I expect I'd be getting a very convincing spatialization effect from it, thanks to the wide separation.
However I'm a bit concerned that such wide separation could affect the rendition of sounds coming from the very center of the sound field, like the piano midrange.
Does anybody have experience with such a setup?
Thank you,
Paolo
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#1840607 - 02/08/12 10:00 AM
Re: Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
[Re: Anders M]
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2000 Post Club Member
Registered: 09/24/09
Posts: 2344
Loc: Florida
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I have JBL towers on either side of the piano. No problems with left/right imaging. But the sound seems to be "down low" ... just as with the piano's internal, down-facing speakers.
So I added two small KLH satellite cubes on top of the piano, left and right. This brings the sound "up" a bit.
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#1840665 - 02/08/12 12:12 PM
Re: Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
[Re: Paolo70]
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1000 Post Club Member
Registered: 11/23/10
Posts: 1509
Loc: Melbourne, Australia
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However I'm a bit concerned that such wide separation could affect the rendition of sounds coming from the very center of the sound field, like the piano midrange.
No, it won't affect it at all actually. For a sound panned to the center, it doesn't matter how far apart the speakers are placed - it will still sound like it's in the center because the volume is equal in each ear. That's what's happening when you wear headphones.
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#1840715 - 02/08/12 01:30 PM
Re: Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
[Re: ando]
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1000 Post Club Member
Registered: 04/16/07
Posts: 1685
Loc: Pennsylvania
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However I'm a bit concerned that such wide separation could affect the rendition of sounds coming from the very center of the sound field, like the piano midrange.
No, it won't affect it at all actually. For a sound panned to the center, it doesn't matter how far apart the speakers are placed - it will still sound like it's in the center because the volume is equal in each ear. That's what's happening when you wear headphones. It won't affect the midrange, that's true. It's also true that having speakers beside the piano is more similar to a heaphone effect. However, it will change the way you perceive the sound compared to having them behind the piano--you can get what feels like an unnatural amount of stereo separation that I personally find a little unpleasant. There have been a number of people who have commented that they feld their experience was noticeably better when they put the speakers behind the piano than very close to it and to the side, pointing in at their head. My own experience validates this, although my two setups were not the same room so it's not a perfect comparison. Optimal speaker placement depends on a lot of things including the room acoustics and layout (as well as how wide you set the stereo field in your software) and you will probably want to play with the layout. Also there's some software flexibility if you have to put the speakers out to the side (you can decrease the stereo width in your software if need be), but for the most part I believe it's better to have the speakers a bit behind the piano and not too far apart, more or less replicating the layout of an acoustic grand if possible.
Edited by gvfarns (02/08/12 01:32 PM)
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#1840724 - 02/08/12 01:54 PM
Re: Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
[Re: gvfarns]
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1000 Post Club Member
Registered: 11/23/10
Posts: 1509
Loc: Melbourne, Australia
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However I'm a bit concerned that such wide separation could affect the rendition of sounds coming from the very center of the sound field, like the piano midrange.
No, it won't affect it at all actually. For a sound panned to the center, it doesn't matter how far apart the speakers are placed - it will still sound like it's in the center because the volume is equal in each ear. That's what's happening when you wear headphones. It won't affect the midrange, that's true. It's also true that having speakers beside the piano is more similar to a heaphone effect. However, it will change the way you perceive the sound compared to having them behind the piano--you can get what feels like an unnatural amount of stereo separation that I personally find a little unpleasant. There have been a number of people who have commented that they feld their experience was noticeably better when they put the speakers behind the piano than very close to it and to the side, pointing in at their head. My own experience validates this, although my two setups were not the same room so it's not a perfect comparison. Optimal speaker placement depends on a lot of things including the room acoustics and layout (as well as how wide you set the stereo field in your software) and you will probably want to play with the layout. Also there's some software flexibility if you have to put the speakers out to the side (you can decrease the stereo width in your software if need be), but for the most part I believe it's better to have the speakers a bit behind the piano and not too far apart, more or less replicating the layout of an acoustic grand if possible. I agree with everything you've said there. I just don't see why he can't experiment with speaker placement until he gets something acceptable. It's not that hard to move things around a bit. Closer together, further apart - try them all. Room acoustics will certainly influence things to an extent, but unless the room is unusually resonant and live, it's almost always possible to find a placement solution that is acceptable. I've got some terrible rooms at home that I've managed to negotiate to an acceptable state. You've just got to get some speakers in there and start trying things out.
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#1840727 - 02/08/12 02:08 PM
Re: Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
[Re: Anders M]
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1000 Post Club Member
Registered: 04/16/07
Posts: 1685
Loc: Pennsylvania
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Yes, I think you are right. He should definitely experiment, and he probably will find a good solution. I just meant that in my experience trying to put speakers behind the piano is best, so if possible that's a good place to start.
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#1840791 - 02/08/12 04:00 PM
Re: Connecting stage piano to hifi system a viable solution ?
[Re: Anders M]
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Full Member
Registered: 05/20/11
Posts: 25
Loc: Italy
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Dear MacMacMac, ando and gvfarns, Thank you so much for your extensive answers. There's a lot of experience and sensible comments to be found there. Looks like my next and only remaining hurdle to overcome is.. my wife  Have a good evening, Paolo
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