The true problem here is money. You want to have studio quality sound out of lower quality and less expensive PA speakers. I'm a keyboard player and I have the same problem. You mentioned B3 organ really messes with the sound. Well, that's about 70% of what I play so I feel your pain. An organ is a very powerful and full range instrument from very low bass, very strong midrange to screaming and distorted highs. Then to add to that you're talking about backing tracks so that organ is messing with your vocals and higher freq stuff like cymbals. So what is needed to cover all that? A powerful and full range PA. Not just a vocal PA, a full range PA. You know, the kind they use at concerts to run the entire band through.

The only way as Herb said is to move more air. You have to find a compromise that fits your budget because trust me you don't want to pay for the best. What I've used for single or duo gigs is EV powered PA speakers. The ones I have now is a pair of ELX 12P's. They're 12" full range speakers and weigh right at 40 pounds each. Street price is about $500 each more or less. You can get by with just plugging into them direct but they work and sounds much better with a good mixer. Note I said good, they're not all alike, mixers do color the sound.

The EV's are less than QSC and sound better imho but things move on, QSC have a new line out too so maybe those are better. JBL has a whole newer line of speaker systems as well. Never used them but they get good reviews. Notice I keep talking pairs. That's because even in a smaller venue you want to spread the sound which is what line arrays like the Bose do. Again, another trade off. A very expensive but light weight and easy to move Bose L2 system or a pair of EV's with a mixer. I like stereo because working with tracks it lets you control the bass by panning it L and the other sounds R in a mixer. Unless you have an elaborate multitrack live setup having at least two discrete channels lets you EQ the bass by itself and pan it where you want it. That alone goes a long way towards cleaning up the sound.

Reading the specs and looking at the size and weight my EV's look like overkill for a restaurant gig but not so. You need all the headroom that amount of power gives you. You can play quietly yet have crystal clear sound because they're not straining at all. EV and other also make 8" cabinets that sound pretty good but they all lack in really good, clear bass. Bass requires bigger cabinets and more powerful amps, simple as that even if you're not that loud. They can try various DSP tricks to get decent bass out of smaller speakers but there's no substitute for moving that air.

All of this is to avoid paying upwards of $4-6000 for the best. What's the best? Well, who knows but one of the best is Fulcrum. It's hard to find prices online but I know the ones with two 8's retail for close to $2,000 EACH. Move up to 12's and it's like three grand EACH. The comments I've read about them is they truly provide studio monitor quality sound out of a commercial stage PA. And that is our problem right there. We hear our tracks at home through good monitors or headphones and want to get that quality on a gig. Hard to do without breaking the bank.

I could go on and on but the point is you can't cheap out on your PA. I see that on keyboard forums all the time. The guy spends 3K on a high end keyboard but he's complaining about a low end amp. Stupid. Do that and you wasted all the time you put in creating what I assume are good sounding backing tracks.

Bob


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