Keyboard Amp suggestions please

R

Roger Mac

New member
Hey guys.
Opinions vary, but I'm looking for suggestions on a great keyboard amp. If not a model, at least a brand name?

Uses:
- rehearsal at home
- as my monitor for gigs (club PA handles the audience)

Requirements:
- minimum 3 inputs plus XLR for mic
- great sound with full, lush sound range
- road sturdy
- since it's a monitor, say, 100W? (more?/less?)

Wish List:
- phantom power option for mic
- XLR output (instead of 1/4 inch)
- reverb (for the mic at least)
- perhaps some type of EQ

Currently considering Roland KC150, Crate KXB100, (your suggestion/comments here). :)

Running the boards through a PC set up at home and it sounds great. Currently using someone else's Roland KC500 for gigs but it looses a lot of the "color". Maybe this is normal vs home speakers?
Thanks guys.
 
Dunno about "great keyboard amp", as to my mind that's a bit of an oxymoron :) I've found that mono combo amps make useful monitors for stage, but the sound quality through a nice pair of studio monitors (or PC speakers w/sub) has a much nicer quality when playing at home.

That being said, when I played out regularly I rather enjoyed my Roland Cube-60 amp. It was small enough to carry easily and I could put it on a crate or table to get the piezo tweeter up toward ear level. Though it would lose in a duel with virtually any guitar amp, the volume was enough to hear what I was doing while standing next to the drummer in a small club. Therefore, I'd recommend checking eBay for Roland monitors.

The other thing I'd suggest is that you get a small mixer to go with it. You can get your mic input (w/phantom power, if you need it), channel EQ, stereo signal path, and optional reverb. While many might cringe, my 8-channel Behringer suits my needs for similar live play situations. Plus the headphone out lets me practice as loud as I want without bothering my family, in stereo. Having such an outboard mixer gives you a bunch of flexibility, for little to no impact on the overall cost (since lots of inputs on the monitor quickly get you into expensive territory).

Good luck!
 
I use a behringer KX-1200 for practicing and for gigs, and its been quite nice. At $199, its hard to pass up. Has 4 channels, XLR for channel 1 (though no phantom power, but i don't know of a keyboard amp that does). Also has 4 band EQ and outputs are XLR and 1/4". Another neat feature is that it has FX Send and Return, so you could actually patch in a reverb if you wanted to. I know sometimes behringer stuff doesn't quite cut it, but this is one behringer item that i do really like. Oh and its 120Watts too.
 
I'd go with the behringer KX-1200 also

cawhite12 said:
I use a behringer KX-1200 for practicing and for gigs, and its been quite nice. At $199, its hard to pass up. Has 4 channels, XLR for channel 1 (though no phantom power, but i don't know of a keyboard amp that does). Also has 4 band EQ and outputs are XLR and 1/4". Another neat feature is that it has FX Send and Return, so you could actually patch in a reverb if you wanted to. I know sometimes behringer stuff doesn't quite cut it, but this is one behringer item that i do really like. Oh and its 120Watts too.
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Actually I have two amps on my keyboard a Behringer kx1200
and a Hartke Hal 3000 with 1-HFH 2-8's and 1-15 in a single cabinet.
the Hal3000 is actually a bass amp and cabinet it cost about twice
what I paid for the kx1200 but does not really sound any better.
 
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