From JIM@JMCCARTY.COM Sat Mar 24 07:49:46 2001
Subject:Re: Motion Sound KBR 3-D

I own one of the first Motion Sound KBR-3D made and I want to make a
few comments as there is a lot of confusion about this keyboard amp.

The KBR-3D has 2 10" speakers with coaxial horns. Now there is a
common misconception that speaker diameter is the only factor that
affects the ability to produce bass. There are many factors to also
include: Magnet weight and design, "throw" (how far the cone can
move), amplifier design, etc. The speakers in the KBR-3D have magnets
that weigh about 20 pounds each and they have very good throw. My
opinion is that the bass from the KBR-3D is very natural and tight.
Is sounds quite good for piano and organ bass up to reasonable levels
and a fair bit beyond. That said, the KBR-3D will never compete with
a Hartke bass stack. So if your needs require that you supply ALL of
the bass for a combo, you probably should augment the KBR-3D is a sub-
woofer.

I find the KBR-3D a great amp for small to medium size gigs with no
PA augmentation. Once you get beyond that your really should be going
through a FOH system. (Now I am lucky, my band has a GREAT sound man
and I can trust him to mix us well.) I am a strong believer in
controlling the stage volume. If your ears ring at the end of a gig,
you played too loud and you damaged your hearing. From the far side
of 50, I want to protect what hearing remains.

I seem to be the only person who does no like the sound of the
Barbetta keyboard amps. I owned two (a Sona 31 and a Sona 41). Both
had a very brittle and harsh high end.

I have owned a number of keyboard amp setups over the years and the
KBR-3D is the only one I have kept for over 2 years. Prior to the KBR-
3D I used a Motion Sound Pro-3T and a Low-Pro for the organ and a
Youkville 300K for my other keyboards. That setup was marginally
better sounding than the KBR-3D, but consider the tradeoffs:
Prior rig KBR-3D
--------- ------
160lb 75lb Weight
3 units 1 unit Number of boxes to move
min 3 0 number of mics needed
min 5 2 number of PA channels needed
15 minutes >5 min. setup time
10 minutes >5 min. teardown time.
25 8 cubic feet needed to transport

Also, the KBR-3D allows me to better monitor myself on stage as it is
a single sound source that is easily located near my keyboards. The
sound board gets a clean well-defined stereo signal with almost NO
stage noise.

What's wrong with the KBR-3D? A few things. The handle position is
wrong. They should be a bit to the front. Okay, it would be nice if
the heavy magnets and long throw of the speakers were coupled to 12"
cones for those nights I want to be Lee Michaels or Deep Purple.

Jim