Good Amps for Voyager

spittingoutteeth · Post by **spittingoutteeth** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 2:48 pm

I'm starting to play out a lot more lately, and I'm finding that I'm getting more and more requests to play the Moog instead of guitar (I'll chalk it up to the coolness of the Moog & not as a comment on my guitar skills).

I have a Fender Twin Reverb reissue that is great for guitar, but really isn't made to handle the low bass tones the Moog produces and I'm afraid of damaging it. Time to get a keyboard amp.....

Any recommendations? It seems like the Roland KC-series amps are fairly popular, and I've been leaning towards the 550 model. However, it seems that I've found just as many people that hate that amp as love it, which makes me worried. Are there any other amps in that price range that you could recommend that would play nicely with the Moog? Should I just get a PA? Thanks!

Just Me · Post by **Just Me** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 6:16 pm

I like the brick outhouse of the Peavey KB300 or Bass Combo 300. You can not hurt them. They sound good for what I do, and since I program using one as the monitor, the sound is what I want.

MarkM · Post by **MarkM** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:35 pm

I use Barbetta powered cabinets.

Klopfgeist · Post by **Klopfgeist** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 12:35 am

get a super powerful bass stack with a 4x10 and either a 1x15 or 1x18 and di the moog (for FOH), either before or after the preamp. use the onstage amp as your monitor for the moog and crank it up LOUD!!!!

ColorForm2113 · Post by **ColorForm2113** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:58 pm

I have both a peavy kb100 and a roland kc500 they are both great for moogs. The peavy has a little brighter bassy sound, and the roland is a little darker, if that makes sense...they sound wonderful together they pretty much cover the full spectrum of sound.

EricK · Post by **EricK** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 12:20 am

My father owns the KC 880 and I tell you one thing, while these are serious amps (the KC series), I really wonder if they have what it takes to pump out some of that low bass.

I hooked the Micro to the 880 (and compared to the 550 I think its like 350 watts, dual 12 stereo amp with 4 channels) and some of those deep sawtooth waves sounded like they were going to rip the speaker apart. I was thinking "Is this supposed to be what this waveform is supposed to sound like or is this going to distentegrate the speakers) Needless to say it would blow your ears off.

For A synth based rig I woudl really have to consider some type of PA system capable of handling the extreme low frequencies put out by any VCO.

Eric

theepicproblem · Post by **theepicproblem** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 3:18 pm

If you don't wanna rely on a good PA to pump out your synth live, your gonna have to get close with your own setup. This is gonna require atleast one relatively full range speaker (maybe a 10" or 12" woofer and a tweeter/horn) and then two way crossover sending the the other half of the signal to a dedicated subwoofer. There are plenty of smaller live sound options and if you've got the money to make it happen it will allow for you to really recreate the moog the way should be heard as well as in stereo.

I've played with a lot of the KC Model amps and while they are really loud for their size and great to gig with, they put out a lot of bass but not really the super sub-bass your voyager is capable of.

EricK · Post by **EricK** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 12:46 am

theepicproblem wrote:I've played with a lot of the KC Model amps and while they are really loud for their size and great to gig with, they put out a lot of bass but not really the super sub-bass your voyager is capable of.

Thats dead accurate there.

cybananna · Post by **cybananna** » Sun Nov 22, 2009 10:39 pm

Anyone tried a replacement speaker in one of the KC amps? I have a KC500 and agree, it's good, but doesn't project the lows to the fullest. I think Roland made a sub that connected to the KC series though?

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:18 pm

I never understood why people bother looking at heavy and still not at all convincing sounding keyboard amps/cabinets any longer.

Get yourself a pair of Mackies SRM 450s V.2, and if you are still in need of a full blown deep end subbass, add a sub to them (either a Mackie or a cheaper Opera or similar).

You will sound two classes better than with any keyboard amp out there. You can add as many keyboards as you wish with a small mixer and still always sound great, from bass to high frequencies, and apart form the sub, the boxes are MUCH easier to carry than keyboard and bass amps. And the Mackies have definitely more punch than most of the mentioned amps, despite being much smaller.

Voltor07 · Post by **Voltor07** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 3:44 pm

Or do what I did...get a Peavey KB/A 60 used, and put a hi-fi 12" driver in there. Cut a hole out of the front and add a horn tweeter. You get all the bass and all the highs you could possibly need. I paid $59 for the amp at Music Go Round with a trade in (without a trade in it would have been $100) and spent another $75 for the speaker, which goes to 20 Hz.

spittingoutteeth · Post by **spittingoutteeth** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:00 pm

jimknopf wrote:I never understood why people bother looking at heavy and still not at all convincing sounding keyboard amps/cabinets any longer.

Get yourself a pair of Mackies SRM 450s V.2, and if you are still in need of a full blown deep end subbass, add a sub to them (either a Mackie or a cheaper Opera or similar).

You will sound two classes better than with any keyboard amp out there. You can add as many keyboards as you wish with a small mixer and still always sound great, from bass to high frequencies, and apart form the sub, the boxes are MUCH easier to carry than keyboard and bass amps. And the Mackies have definitely more punch than most of the mentioned amps, despite being much smaller.

This would be a great option....if they weren't $1200 a pair

Hammy · Post by **Hammy** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:26 pm

I just bought a pair of KC550s, sounds great to me.