My church is buying a digital keyboard. We know what we are getting. It is quite high end.
Now, we need to look at amplifiers. It's a fairly small church so I'm looking for any advice I can get. I tried a Roland and didn't like it.
Thanks

Hi KatieB,

If your church has a sound system, you may be able to just plug right into the PA.

KM

Digital pianos are sampled in stereo and don't sound right if not played back in stereo. Stereo digital pianos sound hollow and weird played through a mono amplifier because some phase cancellation occurs. Powered speakers almost always sound better than keyboard amplifiers because they usually provide a fuller range:

K. Anker writes "Point is, if you want something that sounds good go with PA gear or powered speakers, not keyboard amps. Keyboard amps do a generally horrible job of producing a clear clean sound, Rolands included. Keyboards in general and pianos in particular are full range instruments that need full range amplification - PA gear "

Powered Speakers:
http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1728681/page/5#Post1728681

If the church has a good wide range sound system, you might be able to feed the PA. Feed both channels to stereo if available.

I have not found that most so called keyboard amps have sufficient quality (until one gets into the stratospheric price range).

I personally use a pair of JBL EON 15G@ powered PA cabinets - each one weighs 46 pounds, is bi-amplified (meaning that the frequencies are divided before the amplifiers instead of after - there is a 300 watt amplifier for the low frequency speaker and a 100 watt amplifier for the high frequency horn).

The JBL's are not inexpensive, but their sound is stellar. As a side benefit, our praise band uses them when we travel - I use a mixer to feed both keyboards, four microphones for vocalists, and sometimes the electric guitar. At those times, I use the JBL's for the audience, and use a separate 10" powered PA speaker for a stage monitor.

I am usually playing a two keyboard combination - a Kurzweil PC2 primarily for piano type sounds (weighted keyboard) and a K2661 synthesizer for organ, bass, strings, Rhodes electric piano, and so forth.

I considered a high end stereo keyboard amp by Motion Sound - but the price point was about what I paid for both JBL's, and the JBL's are more versatile.

HTH,
Jim

Wow. Thanks. I didn't know about the stereo stuff with digital pianos. We'll have to give that some thought.
The church PA system features speakers that would just not do, sad to say.

Yikes. Those JBLs are expensive.

I use a pair of EV SXa360 powered speakers, they are 36 pounds each and have better clarity than the JBL EON15 G2. Each EV Sxa360 cost $933 each.

Hi KatieB,

Like most churches, especially smaller ones, I'm sure you have a limited budget to work with. For around $500 to $600 bucks you can get a decent PA System which should serve your church well and work just fine with your new keyboard. Most of the bigger churches already have fabulous PA systems, but they have the budgets to match.

Here's a nice little Behringer setup from zZounds that's in a decent price range that would work fine for a smaller church:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHPAPACK

zZounds.com is a decent company to do business with as is samash.com and sweetwater.com

I own some Behringer equipment (mixing board and mics, etc.), and have even used it to record a gospel album with, and have had good luck with it.

Feel free to PM me if I can help further.

KM

.

If the JBLs are too high in price, consider the "Gemini" power PA head. I bought a 10" model GX-250 for under $200 including shipping from Raleigh, to use as a stage monitor and for small gigs (it only weighs about 25 pounds). It doesn't sound as good as the JBL, but was a LOT lower priced. They also make a 15" version that would have better bass response. The company is well known in the disk jockey field.

Jim

I am currently using a Yorkville NX55P powered PA speaker/monitor with a Yamaha P-120 and it satisfies and exceeds my monitoring needs. I had previously tried out a Traynor K2 200 Watt amplifier, and it did not qualify for the job at all. It was way underpowered for what I needed it for, and it would distort the input signal very easily, so I couldn't get much volume out of it. I guess that's what you get for around $600 CAD though....

Ok, so after I returned that (no problems, thankfully), I purchased my Yorkville NX55P powered PA speaker. It can be set on the floor and tilted up for monitoring purposes, and has an amazing 550 watts of power. With only a 12 inch speaker, it can still get amazing low end. I really like this because it just amplifies the sound you have coming out of your piano so purely, without coloration at all.
This one was about $300 more than the K2, but it was so worth it. I can now use this for playing music and other such things, as it is very versatile. It comes with a 2 year warranty on the electronics, and a 10 year on the (PVC/Plastic?) cabinet.

It provides a full range of sound, and I am more than satisfied with it.
Hope this provides some insight.

http://www.topdjgear.com/gesmposp.html

anybody think this speaker would be underpowered for say mating up to a casio px 320?

would be for a small living room

My sense is that these are too small. It's not just the size of the room, it's the bass response required of the speakers without distortion. Low A on a piano is 27.5 Hz - this is very hard to reproduce with any sound system - needs very large speakers or a subwoofer (no need for two subs as low bass is not directional.)
For home use only I recommend vintage Hi-Fi sound systems, i.e. an over 25 watts per channel integrated stereo amplifier and two large, full-range speakers (minimum 8 inch woofers (preferably 10 inch) plus mid-range and tweeters.) Such a system can be purchased used for less than a pair of good powered monitor speakers (forget cheap ones!) You still won't get the 27.5 Hz (need a subwoofer for this) but there are mitigating circumstances, viz:
A. We don't use low A often, so reproducing it is more a purist's quest.
B. IMHO, there's not much sound pressure level (SPL) down there anyway (mostly harmonics) so don't sweat it! I'd appreciate hearing from real grand piano experts on this - what are the relative SPL's in the lowest octave, from ppp to fff?
C. That said, you do need the low A 2nd harmonic (at 55 Hz) to be clean and at good level - still needs quite large speakers.
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Roger
PS. My current system: GEM PRO-1, 40 wpc amplifier, two vintage Paisley floor standing speakers.