Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, Stephanie <sellison-unix@a...> 
wrote:
> between the Roland KC-300 and the Behringer KX-1200.  The KC-300 
has a horn 
> tweeter and a 12" sub, with 80 watts, I think.  The KX-1200 has a 
horn 
> tweeter, a 5" midrange speaker (the only keyboard amp in the store 
that had a 
> 3-way speaker layout), and a 15" sub, with 120 watts.  

Hey Steph,

It is a bit surprising that you heard that much difference. 80 watts 
of power isn't much to drive the Roland, and who knows how high the 
current is. But 120 watts isn't much for the three-way Behringer 
either. If anything was amiss with the Roland at an elevated volume, 
it's probably the anemic power. A lot of things contribute to the 
sound of a speaker that may be more important than size of the 
elements--materials and crossover points/components/design for 
starters. In true subwoofers (capable of digging below 30 Hz), the 
tradeoff is often between deep but indistinct notes and punchy but 
thinner ones (which doesn't seem to apply in your case). But neither 
of these amp/speaker combinations is geared toward detail and grace; 
they don't need that kind of polish. Ironically, the telling feature 
of an amp's pedigree is often how good it sounds at low volumes. On 
a level playing field, the better amp is the one you don't have to 
turn up just to get a rise out of it. An amp that you have to crank 
too much is going to wear on you eventually, especially if it 
distorts and collapses into a noisy wash. In the case of an 
affordable amp for e-drums, the best that we could possibly hope for 
is one that will play loudly enough to do justice to percussion 
without distorting too much or losing all dynamics. Please keep us 
posted about any other discoveries you make, especially when you get 
your amp at home (which will be the best venuue to put it through 
its paces). This is a major issue here.

Ed