I wanted to get some feedback from other keyboard players on stereo stage setups.  I made the switch a couple years ago, selling my Roland KC550.  I never liked that thing, sound quality was poor, placement on a small stage was awful, I couldn’t hear myself, the band couldn’t hear me either...I could go on and on, but after reading from other keyboard players about stereo on stage it kind of makes sense to me.  As we all know, playing a stereo piano sound through stereo sounds great and doesn’t really work through mono.  I know the audience doesn’t pick up on this, or cares, but for me, it inspires me to hear my sound on stage in stereo, and feeds back into my playing.  I’m totally sold, but know I’m ready to take the next step and tweek my sound to get even better tone. 

I’m using Behringer B212 powered 12” speakers with an old Mackie 1604 mixer I’ve had.  They were cheap and I liked them at first, but now when I play in my home studio using my studio monitors they sound so much better that I’m starting to rethink what to do.  Obviously, I need to get better sounding speakers.  But the other issue is powered vs passive.  It’s a bit of a hassle to plug in the speakers on each side of the stage as well as all my stuff, so why not get a powered board instead?  What are the advantages of powered speakers, really?  I play in fairly small venues (wineries, small clubs) so power isn’t really an issue.  I like the 12” size but do need some decent bass response too.  I’d like to hear from others on their take on all this.  Thanks!!

The advantages of powered speakers are (at least) three-fold.
1) they are convenient to setup… no hassling with a separate power amp, or speaker cables.

2) No worries about inefficiency at the crossover frequency. That is, how much power is going to the tweeters versus how much is going to the woofer in a passive cabinet, which can account for sonic problems.

3) Typically, long throw non-powered cabinets (component systems) sound good only when turned up to a specific volume. It is very possible with some systems to not sound decent until they are cranked up to a specific loudness. This can be a problem when the size of the venue is smaller than optimum for you system.

Before you purchase anything, please check into the new Yamaha DSR 112 speakers. These are a “processed” powered speaker. What goes into these is not only power to spare (and then some), but they can sound good at any volume. There is a detection and compensataion circuitry that enables these cabinets to work well at low, medium and under extreme high volume situations.

These are worth a listen by anyone looking for a no-compromise sound system. The 112 cabinets are angled so they can act as floor monitors or then can be set on speaker poles.

Yamaha DSR-series speakers

These will sound good in small venues when you need to sound good at low to medium volume situations and in large venues when all out power is required… they are rated at 1300W - so they can pump when necessary, but the key thing is they still sound good in the small venue!!! I cannot stress that enough.

If you get a chance, go hear them - if you’re not amazed, let me know.

If these are way out of the price range, you can consider the Yamaha MSR400 powered cabinets

I went and demo’d powered speakers at Guitar Center yesterday and came away more puzzled than I was before. I brought an acoustic piano cd to use because that will tell me what I need to know. Listened to the DSR 112 that Bad Mister was big on, anticipating them to sound great.  There was some background hum/noise coming from them and they sounded kind of muffled, like there was something wrong.  The guy turns the volume down to zero on the back and the noise goes away, says it’s fine.  They sound awful.  I don’t know what to say except something must be wrong.  I then demo the QSC K12 which gets great reviews and it sounds about the same except no hum/noise.  On both these speakers the acoustic piano doesn’t sound as bright and vibrant as it should, almost sounds like it’s in the background rather than jumping out like it should.  Then I demo’d the Mackie SRM450 that the guy recommended and it sounded pretty darn good, bright and much clearer than the previous 2. I tried the Yamaha MSR400 and it wasn’t bad but not quite up to the Mackie.  I also tried the Behringer B212 that I have now and don’t like, and it sounded just as bad as mine, just to confirm.  It left me with leaning towards the SRM450, but I’ve seen mixed reviews about them, overheating, quality issues, some people love them and some people hate them. 

I think I’ll try to demo at another store and give it another shot.  I’d really appreciate any feedback from other keyboard players on this issue

I too prefer to have my keys come back to me in stereo regardless of how they are in FOH.  I played a gig earlier this month and the sound company supplied me a mixer and a pair of QSC K10s.  I was blown away by the sound!  They seemed to have plenty of power and sounded crystal clear throughout the frequency spectrum.  I’d read up on them before and thought I’d be disappointed with them, thinking that the low end would suffer from the smaller speaker.  This didn’t seem to be the case however!  I’m definitely considering them for a near-future purchase!

Based on BadMister’s recommendation however, I will look into the Yamaha’s first!  I would suggest you demo the speakers while playing yourself.  That way, you’ll know exactly what you’ll be getting from them if you purchase them.

Just my 2 cents!

dmc

I ended up with the QSC K10’s and I really like them.  Very clean, lots of power, good low end, and small/light.  I sprung for the custom soft cases too which are really great for keeping your speakers from getting banged up and looking like new.

I’m a QSC K12 user ... love them.

That said BM’s DSR 112 recommendation is nothing to sneeze at. I’ve heard these recently and really liked them.

i try both the qsc k12 and DSR 10. Both sound great!  for the size i like Dsr 10 best.  But for just playing keyboards both maybe over kill.
I maybe go with StagePas500 stereo 500 watts 250/250 and good bass/mid/high and 4 XLR 2 1/4 stereo. $849 stagepas500, or buy two $599 DSR 10, or two $849 QSC k12 or $999 kc880 stereo keyboard amp.

U dont need to pay $1700 (2000)watts or $1200 (2200)watts just to amp fire keyboards.  Get some under a $1000 with 350 to 500 watts.

StagePas500 52.9 lb vs Kc880 97.2 lb = under $1000.  For me stagepas500 best keyboard amp.