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Speakers for live piano performance

Does anyone know about speakers for live music?

I'm an amateur jazz pianist, and I want to be able to perform high-quality acoustic jazz using a portable keyboard. For example, I'd like to be able to play at local coffee houses and restaurants, most of which don't own a piano but would love to have live music. The keyboard I'm using is a Kawai MP8, which I think has an excellent "acoustic grand piano" sound (when I listen to it through headphones).

My question is, what speakers should I use for performing?

I've tried the typical keyboard amps that rock bands use (Hartke KM series, Roland KC series), but they don't come close to achieving the warm, realistic piano sound I'm looking for.

I'm sure I could get more accurate sound reproduction using home/studio monitors, but I'm worried that those will be (1) too near-field (not intended to be heard more than ~20 feet away) and (2) too fragile (not intended for being bumped into and tripped over and transported around).

So I think that leaves PA speakers. I just bought a pair of QSC K8 speakers, and they sound excellent above middle C but rather thin and muddled below middle C.

How can I do better?
wolfbear

Showing 1 response by audiokinesis

audiokinesis
2,755 posts
 
Conventional home audio speakers do not work well for prosound. One problem is the radiation pattern; in a pro audio setting most of the listeners are in the farfield, where the "power response" (summed omnidirectional response) of the speaker dominates the perceived tonal balance. Relatively few home audio speakers are designed to give high priority to the power response, so they don't sound very good in a sound reinforcement or musical instrument speaker application.

Also, the piano is a percussion instrument and relatively few home audio speakers can really convey that at prosound volume levels. There are exceptions of course, but in general those are home audio speakers that use prosound-type drivers.

Duke
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