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What would be a good way to get sound out of stage 3 for home use? Such as something that also has a lot of low end for organ and synth sounds. Would you suggest something such as pair of monitors with 5” woofer or a keyboard amp on the floor?

Thanks!

5" woofers won't go low enough for organ. Use 8" or larger woofers, or a subwoofer.

If you want low-end, there is no substitute for a sub.

+1

For organ, I believe there is no substitute for a sub. Especially if you want to have a upper and lower manual setup, with a pedal unit (or the lowest register of the lower manual)

I am not into organ anymore, but we had a Roland KC amp + a 10" subwoofer fed by two keyboards (Hammond XK1C and Korg Grandstage, no separate pedal unit) and it literally rocked the Church basement when the lower registers and pedal were being played.

Neat and tidy. Check.
No annoyingly visible wires. Check.
Appears to be a sturdy desk and adjustable chair. Check.
Only needed equipment and nothing else. Check.
Located at a spot which appears to have no distractions. Check.

Lovely setup John.

Hello,

This is hardly on topic but given thoughts of dual manuals and full bass pedal sets, I can't help myself mentioning having recently, coincidentially, discovered Barbara Dennerlein:



*Man* she's good... *And* Rhoda Scott of course.

Cheers and happy (intense!) swinging,

HZ

That’s what I was looking for. I really don’t plan to use organ sounds much but if decide to I want the setup to sound good. Thinking maybe use nord monitors then a sub on the floor? Or am I better off with just having 8” pair of monitors?


Great looking setup. Can a sub go anywhere in the area near by? Wondering if do the route with sub could I hook up two keyboards to it and have it between them?

The Vox 50KB is a good synth amp, but I was disappointed with the pure piano reproduction.

Studio monitors with 5" woofers and a studio subwoofer is best for organs. A 10" subwoofer should be adequate-- low C on a 16' organ stop has a fundamental at 32 Hz in A440 tuning.

A studio subwoofer will have the easiest connectivity interface for powered studio monitors.

Thank you. Why is that studio monitors are so widely used versus a keyboard amp on floor?

Keyboard amps are designed to fill a large space. It is more expensive to make a speaker that fills a larger space at the same fidelity as one designed to fill a small space. Organs are especially sensitive to having a flat frequency response because you cannot compensate for nonlinearities by adjusting touch and velocity. You will have to pay alot of $ to get a PA or keyboard amp that is as flat as a $300 pair of studio monitors.

Also, a 12" driver to fill a large space will not go much deeper into the bass range than a 5" driver on a studio monitor. The frequency response of the JBL EON 612 is similar to that of a JBL 305P.

Monitors from KRK, JBL, Presonus, Tannoy, Mackie, or Yamaha are all adequate. More expensive monitors will separate multiple instruments in a mix more accurately, but if you are just playing one instrument through the monitors, they are a waste of money in my view.

For just pianos you don't need a subwoofer and 5" drivers are fine without a subwoofer. For organs with 16' stop or bass synthesizers, monitors with 8" drivers are still not fully sufficient, so you are better off starting with 5" monitors and adding a studio subwoofer if you need it.

I consider the Nord monitors to be overpriced for what they are, which are Audio Pro speakers painted red, and with a plate amp installed into the case like a studio monitor.

Sometimes seamless subwoofer integration is difficult, so getting a subwoofer from the same manufacturer as the monitor can be helpful. I recommend selecting a monitor for which there is a subwoofer in the product line as insurance in case you find some subwoofers don't integrate well with your monitors. This precludes the Nord Piano monitors.

An amp on the floor is a mono experience.. and aiming the thing... well not optimal for sound quality. Stereo speakers left and right of your head, above the keyboard, will let you hear all the care put into the board's samples. The samples in our keyboards are crafted for this listening experience.... unless the sample is denoted otherwise such as those denoted "mono" to be used for live performance, and "binaural" for headphone experience.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

This is very helpful. Thinking then a set of Yamaha HS5 or Focal Aplha 50? Focal 50 are on sale so both are about same price.

I’ll hold off on subwoofer and I was only thinking I needed one because I was using Nord monitors on a different keyboard and was never happy with the sound wasn’t sure if I was being picky or if they’re just not that great for keyboard sounds.

I am thinking of buying a pair of Alto TS308 for my Roland FP90X.

Anyone use them / thoughts on them?

The Yamaha 5" has a bit less bass extension than some of the others, so without a subwoofer, it probably would not be my first choice. The Focal 50 has a good bass rolloff spec so it should work very well. The Mackie MR524 or JBL 305P or a Presonus monitor will save you some money and work fine as an instrument monitor.

In how large of a venue do want to perform with them?

I know peiole who recommend the Presonus 5" monitors, but they also have a little less bass extension. I use JBL LSR305's myself.

At home for myself but I want something that will sound good.

Alto PAs would not be my choice for home speakers. If you are playing for yourself or in a small, I would get studio monitors. If you are giving living room recitals you may want midfield speakers. I prefer nearfield monitors with wider dispersion than some, which means they are less effective for mix engineering and more mid-price, an additional benefit.