MOTM

>Date: Tue, 31 May 2005 15:52:03 -0400
>From: Larry David <ldavid777@...>
>Subject: Amps/PAs for live synth music
>
>Well since I delurked, I'll post one more before I
>relurk. :)  Like 
>many of you, I'm in a band, and we have recently
>started playing bigger 
>shows (with an actual stage, as opposed to a
>ridiculously small corner 
>in a bar).  Up to now I have used a 100W combo amp
>as a monitor, and 
>sent a DI signal to the house PA.  This doesn't
>work anymore, since I 
>have to have that amp practically strapped to my
>head to hear over the 
>drums 10 feet away and the Marshall half stack
>behind me.  We are not 
>to the level yet where we play places that actually
>have capable sound 
>engineers, let alone separate stage mixes, so I
>cannot rely on the 
>house monitors at all.  So, my question to all you
>gigging vets:	What 
>have you found to be a good solution for medium to
>large size venues 
>for amplifying (i.e. being able to hear onstage)
>high bandwidth synth 
>music?  I'm playing organ, piano and analog synth,
>fwiw.	(The organ 
>uses a stereo leslie sim for now.)  I bought a
>Roland KC 550, which is 
>180W, and much, much louder than my 100W Carvin amp
>(though for those, 
>like I used to be, who wonder if Carvin gear is any
>good, this is a 
>great little amp - excellent feature set and sound
>for the price).  The 
>Roland has a line out that sends all of the left
>sides of each channel 
>to another amp, for a stereo set up.  Paired with
>my Carvin, it is a 
>100% improvement - way louder and stereo to boot. 
>But I realize to be 
>really satisfied with such a set up, I'd want a
>pair of KC 550s, which 
>would be roughly $1200 altogether.  Besides the
>fact that they weigh a 
>ton and are bulky, that is a lot of cash to me, and
>I'm wondering if I 
>wouldn't do better with a small PA system.  I
>already have a nice JBL 
>12" passive monitor (that I use on another gig with
>a bar duo) and I 
>figured I could get a matching one and a small
>powered mixer for as 
>much or less than the 2 KC 550s.  I'm old
>(according to my bandmates 
>who are all at least 10 yrs younger than me :) and
>set up/tear down 
>ease, and schlepping factor are important to me -
>almost as much as 
>sound quality (it's punk rock, after all).
>
>So what do you guys use to amplify your MOTM based,
>analog synth rigs 
>at rock shows?  <on-topic content>  :-)
>
>Thanks,
>Larry D.
>