martin oldsberg wrote:
<Richard and Mike mentions "powered speaker" which was new to me. Perhaps unsurprising since IÂm a technophobe (a dying breed: I even had troubles installing RichardÂs patches, despite very user friendly instructions), but also since IÂm a Swede and couldnÂt find a really helpful translation of this -- but IÂm fairly convinced that itÂs something to do with an "active" speaker?
Yes, "active" and "powered" typically mean the same thing: the speaker contains an amp (or two in a bi-amped system: one to push the high frequency tweeter, one for the low frequency woofer), and so can amplify an input signal all by itself. The Behringer B112D and B115D speakers (12" and 15" respectively) are examples of active PA speakers that generally get pretty good user reviews, and the B112D sells for $250 new. Mackie also has a well-regarded 12" speaker in the sub-$300 price range; I've used their higher-end powered speakers, which retail for over $500 apiece, and they sounded great with the RP (and at that price they damn well ought to). I don't know how the price reduction was achieved for the lower-end Mackies, but I'd certainly give them a try if I was shopping.
One such speaker is plenty good enough for an onstage amp/monitor for a Digitech RP--just run the RP output to the input on the powered speaker. If you want to run the RP in stereo, get two such speakers, set them to the same output level, and run the right output from the RP to one and the left RP output to the other. The time-based and pan-based modulation effects in particular (rotary speaker, phasing, flanging, chorus, vibropan, autopan, various modulated delays) sound incredible in stereo--the movement in those FX is brilliant. (If only you could set the time for those FX with tap tempo.) When you run the rotary speaker effect in stereo, it has some of the same where-is-that-coming-from? feel that a real rotary speaker has.
Anyway, anything that takes a signal from an audio device, amps it, and projects it without adding a whole lot of additional color to the sound is fair game for amping up an RP. I laid out what I think are the basic requirements in a previous post. The good news is that the kinds of amps that work well with RPs--keyboard amps, PAs, maybe even guitar amps designed for acoustic players--are available in a wide range of sizes and prices. (Steve Baker uses a Marble Max with his RP255, and it sounds plenty good.) And these squeeky-clean amps are generally priced low compared to comparably-powered tube amps. A Peavey KB2's power (45 transistor watts) is generally comparable to a Fender Blues Junior's (15 tube watts); the former costs less than $250 new, the latter more than $500. The disparity between price and performance is even bigger with active PA speakers, where $250 buys you 100 watts (and a bigger speaker to pump it through).
Regards, Richard Hunter
author, "Jazz Harp" latest mp3s and harmonica blog at http://hunterharp.com Myspace http://myspace.com/richardhunterharp Vids at http://www.youtube.com/user/lightninrick more mp3s at http://taxi.com/rhunter Twitter: lightninrick