From lovingd@lanwt.org Sat Nov 04 11:38:10 2006
Subject:Re: Live Performance Review of Speakeasy 122 Amp Modeler

Walter,

I did get a little effusive, but I think it is justified. See if you can cut me a little slack
though. I in no way meant to denigrate the Pro145. I like my Pro145, don't get me wrong.
I am not selling it. There is nothing I know of that has the performance to size/weight
ratio that it has. When I have as small vehicle as I do and don't want to use software only,
that's a big deal. I like it. I am using the pro145 again thanks to the AMA 122 amp.

There is a real difference in the Pro145 if it is working with the AMA signal, believe me. I
am just glad I found out about it in time. Now this is only my ears and brain I'm talking
about, not everyone elses', but I had found the sound I was getting out of the pro145 was
dry, no more animated than other clones I have. Kind of like the difference between no-
fat cookies, and grandmothers oatmeal cookies out of the oven. I got to where I was using
my Kurzweil pc2 with its KB3 program rather than cart a lot of other gear around when the
sound was not any better with lots of other gear. I use a Kurzweil piano and rhodes
anyway.

I am really a piano player who also plays organ. So I fight playing the organ like a pianist
all the time. Did not start young on a B3 like our bass player did, below. I have been
beating the clone bushes for years. I always liked the 'grinder' patch on my DX7, so I went
looking for the B3 sound in a small package. I never could justify getting the real thing, so
I have spent enough money for clones to buy 2 or 3 B3/122 rigs trying to get away with
not buying a real one and a truck. Never owned a B3/122 but I have played them lots live
and in studio, know how they work, played piano in bands with B3 organists, heard them
for years, so I know what I'm looking for. I love that sound.

I am ashamed to say that I have gone through too much stuff in the quest. I have owned at
various times a Voce micro B; emu classic keys+module; emu classic keys kbd; voce V3
when it first came out; Pro3t and Low Pro; Voce V5; MS KBR-m; electro2/73; Kurzweil pc2
KB3; electro2 rack; and the present XK3, Pro145, SW-15 sub. The SW-15 subwoofer
helps but our bass player complains. I try to stay out of his terrirory. If you have not tried
the sub, you really ought to, incidently. I have talked on the phone solving problems with
Dave Amels, Steven Hayes and John Fisher. I sold about all the other clones at one time or
another. I kept the PC2 and the Electro rack. I had a Speakeasy Clone pre-amp that really
got the most out of my V5. Frankly I never got it set up to do as well with the XK3 and
after I kissed it goodby on eBay, I found out that Steve Hayes would have set it up and
upgraded it to handle the XK3 better. I could have worked on the settings myself, too. My
own fault. I never asked him about it. Oh well.

Anyway, the XK3 with the pro145 never really sounded better enough than the PC2 or the
electro rack to justify lugging the pro145 around. It did sound better, but not enough.

I am also one of the strange people who actually likes the kurzweil kb3 program, and am
not nuts about the electro, really, but I don't want to start any flame wars about that
either. I digress. So, I have been using either the pc2 or the rack with a controller lately.

I bought the AMA 122 Amp based on how Steve hands the upgrade issues and how well
the previous equipment I bought from him is built and how it sounded with the V5. and it
was my birthday, so what the hell. The AMA 122 amp has far exceeded my expectations
and has ressurected the pro145. I could not believe it, which probably is the excuse for
being way complimentary about the unit. It really is good. For instance, the first time I
used it, 11/2, I played LH bass all night and the thing made the lone pro145 sound like
the sub was hooked up to it when it wasn't. It is flexible and versatile and sounds great.
You can really dial in bass. When I was loading out I thought, I should have just brought
the organ and left the piano at home.

So now, we're back there at that same club tonight and that's what I think I'll do. It has
minimal stage room, and I am trying to figure out how to take the XK3 and pro145 with
the Kurz - more not less. I think I'll just leave the piano at home. I want to play through
the 122amp/pro145 tonight. Can't help it. Besides, Johnny is playing a date with Tutu
Jones and I am the bass player again.

Our bass player is an older guy from Brooklyn, Johnny Woods who played B3 in NYC years
ago. This guy can sound and play just like Jimmy Smith & Co., who he
claims to have known, in short 2-3 tune bursts. Last night we played at the club where we
have a standing weekday date and occasional weekends. Johnny likes to start a late set,
sometimes, with a couple of his B3 tunes solo, and asked me if he could last night. Of
course; I love to listen to him. So I got to roam the room in the audience and listen to
Johnny wail away on the 122 amp/pro145. It sounded like just what I wanted. I guess I
cannot describe what that thing is, but I know it when I hear it.

Anyway, a long way around the block, to explain that I do not have an axe to grind with
equipment. I am not trying to promote or defend this equipment against the onslaughts
of that other equipment. I do however think that Campagnolo cycling gear far outperforms
Shimano [just a bicycling joke]. I have too short an attention span - in fact the length of
the post is starting to get to me. I have experimented a lot. I am extremely lucky, with my
personal history, to be able to go through all the gear I have gone through. I am grateful
I have been able to do so, and I am grateful to be able play out more and more as time
marches on. Where were these opportunities when I was 22? I am grateful I found the
AMA 122 amp and the good company that makes it. I am just trying to pass on what I
have found and what is working for me. This new gear definitely is working. So from
another Motion-Sound-phile, that pro145 can sound better. Mine does. Just my 4 cents
worth!

Dave Loving