I am sorry to bother everyone asking for advice which is only tangentially related to the arranger keyboards, but I hope to be able to draw on the experience of the many knowledgeable professionals here.

I am still shopping for unpowered speakers, to work with my powered mixer. Here is my question: My amplifier is rated at 275W per channel into 4 Ohm, which, by my calculations translates to about 180W into 8 Ohm. I would like to find speakers which are matched to my amplifier not only in terms of tonal response, but also in power handling. Yet, speaker specifications often mention different rating numbers, e.g. one manufacturer (TOA) specifies Continuous pink noise (band limited) 80 W, Continuous Program Power of 240 W. Other manufacturers, (Yamaha) specify Program and Peak power rating of 300 and 600 W respectively.

Could you please tell me which numbers I should look at in order to have a good match between my amplifier and speakers?

Thank you,
Alex

Regarding Speaker handling power. I have been involved in speaker manufacture most of my working life. So may I give a little input to your question.
Firstly Speaker damage is caused in 90% of cases by an amplifier being overdriven into clipping. This is caused by overdriving an underpowered amplifier and also using excessive Tone Bass & Treble boost. It is better to have a larger wattage amplifier and use it with reasonable care than to have just adequate power used at a high volume.
As an example if you had a speaker with a power handling of 100 watts, it could be destroyed by an 20 watt amplifier being overdriven.
A larger 200 watt amplifier will drive a 100 watt speaker cleanly and with less possibility of damage if used sensibly.

Hope this is of help to you. Graham UK

Alex,
to prevent damage to the speakers you should check not only the peak power and the continuous power a loudspeaker can tolerate but also its frequency response. If your amplifier can deliver 275 W from 20 to 20KHz, then your speaker should be able to cope with that, especially at the lower end of the curve; a speaker that handles that power only from - say- 80 Hz up is useless (I speak out of a painful personal experience).

Graham in UK

Your opinion please on the best way to achieve the highest fidelity in an sound reproduction system for a good keyboard. I play alot of times in small places where it is mainly jazz and everyone is listening - sound quality is quite important. I play through Barbetta 31C - a pair of powered speakers - supposedly good quality - but my home stereo has better fidelity when I play through that system - as do my cheap headphoes. Do you think stuff like the Mackie SRM450's or Yamaha MSP10's are the best way to go for high quality?

Mike H

Alex

Go to Carvin's site at
http://www.carvin.com/speakers/
And ask for their (free) cat.
After you have read their cat.,
you just might get enough info to make a choice thats correct for you.
Also look at- http://www.epanorama.net/documents/audio/amplifier_power.html

Or go to the google search engine, type in something like 'speaker power ratings' you should be able to 'fill your boots' with info.
I'm from the 'old school' and like to have everything in 'RMS' power ratings. Then I figure I have a better chance to make the correct choice when comparing.
Gord

[This message has been edited by Gord (edited 01-07-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Gord (edited 01-07-2002).]

Mike,
The Barbetta's are a great value, but not so HIGH fidelity. The horn is harsh, and short ranged, and the woofers are boxy sounding. The Mackie 450's are the best all around sound I've heard, but they are pretty awkward to transport. I replaced my 450's with a pair of EVsxa100's and they are doing great for me......but - (there's always a but..)the horns are pretty hissy. Even with NO signal present, there is a hissssssss. In live situations - you may never notice, but that makes themn rather Medium fidelity in my book. In the plus column, they are light, well balanced, and sound pretty impressive when pushed.
There are lots of higher end stuff you can buy, but they start to get pricy. The Mackies are about $1300-1500 per pair, and will do any jazz gig around here. They also make a kick-butt sub, but it's over $900 and weighs a hundred lbs !

Whoooops - I just noticed, you asked for NON powered speakers. The Mackies come in a non powered version, but they are 8 ohms..... better get 4! They aren't much lighter than the powered ones though.

U-Dave

Pretty appropriate comments on the Barbetta stuff - I've had dealers tell me that the quality is all over the board with those - and the best ones sound fine - but - mine don't and when my 8$ headphones make my FP3 sound like a wonderful instrument you got to wonder why. I am leaning to Mackie and DanO has by far the best price on them I've heard - about 625 apiece. I'd also considered their powered monitors for even better fidelity and lighter - but they could get marred up alot easier. Some folks talk the Yamaha MSP10's, and some like the KRK stuff - but I am 1400 miles from the nearest guitar center!! and Alaska is always out of the loop for getting to listen to new stuff. I do think I need a pair to do justice to whatever high end arranger i end up with after NAMM - single speaker sound is just not a good option for me. As to arranger choice - I await the GEM Genysys release this month (hopefully at NAMM) and will go with them if the sounds are improved and they keep relatively the same functional layout - if not I am tossed between the KN6500 and the SD1 - even though ironically enough I think the web demos for those are weaker than the psr2000 or Roland EM55. It is nice to have choices and! enough money saved up.

regards
MH

Mike,
The Mackie powered studio monitors are NOT a good choice for road use. They are not built to take travel well, and honestly, I bet you'd overdrive them in a live performance.
If you can handle the weight - the 450's are soooooooo sweet and have the best horn displacement I've heard in a portable.
If you only need small to moderate volume - try the Yamaha pc speakers that George Kaye sells (I forget the model) I have a pair, and my FP3 sounds amazing through them! Tiny sattelites, and a small subwoofer put out 80watts, and sound great!
As to the kn6500 vs SD1 real - my money would go for the 6500 because the os is more complete. I still believe that the SD1 needs some factory tweaking !
Have you even tried the 9000pro? It's my top fav for an all in one these days. Great mic processor, incredible piano & organs and the best effects section on the planet - 12 dedicated dsp's. Awesome.
Hard drive, lights, xlr mic in ....... sweet.

Thank you all for your valuable advice.

Alex