A light amp for keyboard?

Chris Brooks · Post by **Chris Brooks** » 19 Nov 2005 10:41 am

A friend of mine plays Kurzweil and would like to know about a reasonably powered but LIGHT keyboard amp. Got any suggestions?

Chris

Webb Kline · Post by **Webb Kline** » 19 Nov 2005 11:23 am

I don;t know how discerning your friend is, but I have a Kurzweil and absolutely cannot stand the sound of the acoustic pianos when they aren't played through a stereo amp.

I have a pair of small EV's that I use for most gigs where I can send a line to the main system. They're powered by a Samsom stereo amp with, I believe, 75 watts per channel. The whole rig cost me about $550.

My Bose L1 cylindrical speaker system is the only thing I've tried that isn't stereo that works for me and that runs about $2000.

I also use a pair of Mackie SRM 450 powered speakers for outside concerts and when I am not feeding a send to the PA. That is a very nice rig, but will cost $1100 for the speakers and anothe hundred bucks for a small mixer, plus a pair of balanced XLR to 1/4" cables, $20 bucks a shot. That will handle about anything out there.

If you don't mind the phasing issue of running stereo piano samples through a mono amp, Roland makes a nice, small mono keybaord amp. I think they're around $300 and they sounnd great for everything but the pianos and the Leslie simulator on the B3 patches.

Lincoln Goertzen · Post by **Lincoln Goertzen** » 19 Nov 2005 8:12 pm

Yep, Roland does make a nice little keyboard amp. The KC-150 (65 watts)has met my needs nicely, because I normally run it into the main mixer anyway. It's more of a stage monitor. I use it as an amp at home.

(Aliteration rules!)

Lincoln