Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Roland FP-7F onboard speakers - opinions

Ok, as some of you know from my previous post that I just blindly bought a FP7F. It has not been delivered yet (Wednesday). However, I can stop reading forum posts about how bad the speakers are on this. It's making me crazy. I know they will not be as powerful as my CP300, but I never played it loudly to beging with; never more than 1/2 vol max.

Did I make a bad choice here? I plan to use the onboard speakers 60% of the time I play. I want and hope it will sound pretty good, especially if I have to play for a few people in a living room. I rather not hook up my amp.

I hate to bring this topic up again, but can anyone tell me a bit more about these onboard speakers? Mostly, any FP7F owners? Any regrets? Does anyone actually like the sound from speakers? Are they at least better than Yamaha p155 and casio px330? Ive listen to those - IMO not too bad.

Should I even open the box and just return it?
Thanks

I believe you may be worrying unnecessarily.

James
x

Hi James, I know you are a Kawai guy, but have you actually played a FP7F? If so, what do think?

Sorry for the mini rant... But I just realized this is the worst forum ever. By reading the DP forum you'll ALWAYS and EVERYTIME believe that you made the wrong decision and should get a better DP. This happened to me (returned fp4f) and I see it happening quite a lot.

Dear, OP. Stop complaining. You got one of the best dps out there.

Yes, I played the FP-7F shortly after it was launched in Japan, and have played the board a couple of times since. While it's not without its flaws (few instruments are...), I believe the FP-7F is a very strong product, and possibly the best instrument (currently) in it's class.

Cheers,
James
x

I guess its just not trying what I bought is what's getting to me. AND reading the forum is th worst thing to do while waiting for the piano to arrive!

FE2008, So how do you like the FP7F. Speakers, sound etc?

Trust me. Not just 'while waiting'. Even if you own the piano and are satisfied. Really... This forum sucks! Need to visit the ABF more frequently

btw, my fp7f will arrive this wednesday

I am not really an audiophile or anything, but I find the FP-7F speakers to be good enough. The sound quality is fine, the maximum volume is more than enough. When you turn it all the way up the speakers have some distortion, but by that time, your ears will be hurting. They don't sound any worse than a mediocre pair of headphones at least.

So Wednesday it is for both of us!!! Keep in touch and exchange reviews.

In the meantime, Im gonna go read some bad reviews about older Casios or Williams Overtures and make myself feel better. I might even go to Costco and demo something there that I HOPE will SOUND WORSE than Fp7F speakers

The FP-7F's speakers are perfectly adequate for practice, IMO. For small, built-in speakers they perform better than expected. No, you won't get flat response, studio quality, but they are a great deal better than those in my FP-4.

As Kawai James intimates, there is no perfect DP, but there are enough choices out there to cater for most tastes/biases - and the FP-7F is one of those that is chosen over and over.

I owned a FP-7 for a few years before I sold it for a FP-4. The 7's speakers are in boxes and suppose to give better fidelity. For practicing they'll be fine. When I got my 4 I actually liked the way they reverberate inside the piano cause they are not boxed. The 4's are less wattage and certainly less clean-sounding. In hindsight I wish the 7's speakers were not boxed; I bet they would of sounded better.

I wanted to buy 4f cause they added power to the speakers. Too bad they failed miserably with the action and removing the effects and not improving the EP sounds.

If you don't the mind the weight then I'm sure you'll love the 7F. I sold my 7 cause of it's weight and mostly cause of the bottoming-out feel of action, which I felt was hurting my hands. You have to avoid banging on 7, so make sure you can always hear it well in a band setting.

IMO the onboard speakers are decent.

When I first got my FP-7F I had a difficult time getting used to them. Most of my practice (at home, anyway) had been on a Roland RD-300SX, played through headphones, for so long that I had a weird notion of what sounded "right." I think in retrospect I had changed so many things at once that I was just out of my comfort zone.

Now that I have the FP-7F, I use headphones, external nearfield monitors, or the built-in speakers, depending on the situation. If I had a choice between the FP-7F as is or a lighter, cheaper version with no speakers, I'd definitely keep the speakers.

Well, I'm still in my honeymoon period with my FP-7F. But truth be told, I noticed on *some* of the voices, I would have preferred the ability to increase the volume just a weeeeeeeeeee bit more... (But if I want to really crank it, I'll just use the headphones.)

I still give this instrument a Perfect 10 Out Of Ten (for a DP)!

I just got my Fp7f and for me, the speakers sound much better and balanced compared to most speaker of products from the same price categorie (although most of them have much more Watts)

Well I'm one of those on here who have been critical of the 7F inbuilt speaker sound production.

But I do have to say to the OP, wait and see. Everyone is different and my perception of not good enough might be your perception of they are just great!

The speakers aren't bad at all but compared to the quality of the sound available via good headphones, there is a lot missing. I think this is pretty inevitable given their size and the overall cost of the instrument.

Thanks again everyone for past few post about FP7F. UPS tracking says it's out for delivery this morning. Sorry for all the questions and anxiety. But I plan to have this for many years and tried to make the best choice for me (with your help of course.) I look forward to spending many hours on the board tonight. I will give my thoughts via post over the next few days. The only comparisons I have are based on my former CP300 and an old Baldwin upright. Hopefully the FP7F will be favorable.

So, one last question about stands (aside of the KSC44 which I just cant understand why it's $300) I gave my Yamaha LP-3 stand with my CP 300. I did keep my X stand in the meantime that I dont care for, but will do. I want very stable and solid with very little bounce, wobble, etc. Will be used as use as primary stand for home studio and occasional public gathering.

I like the following but open for anything other than X.

Roland KSG8 - looks solid - but not great reviews
Roalnd KSV7 - looks nice - great reviews
K&M 18810 - saw one live holding a RD700nx - looks great but cant find reviews

I'm very very addicted to high quality audio and subsonic sounds. We have FP7F at home and very happy with the audio spectrum. There are some very minor hissing sounds etc, but audio reproduction is very good.

We have both the stands. KSG8 is very nice trendy stand, if you don't need to dismantle often. KSV7 is very good if you take out DP for concerts etc (warning: around 8kg)

With regard to stands, the K & M 18880 is very lightweight and stable, and you can add additional tiers.

Is the KSV7 rock solid or does it have some bounce to it when playing fast and a hard