Economic way to amplify e-drums

tony16

New Member
Hi all
Just bought my first e-drums kit, a used TD-11 KV.
I will mostly be playing with headphones obviously, but would also like to be able to hear the sound through some sort of speaker for casual jamming, showing of to the family etc.. :)
I'm not looking for anything too powerful, will only be playing occasionally, at a reasonable volume in the house. I'm after something decent and economical. I'm happy to sacrifice some sound quality, especially In the low-frequency range.
  • Do I need to buy a dedicated drum amplifier?
  • I've read about active monitor speakers as a possible solution. Would you recommend this and if yes, will ANY monitor work? I've been looking at the Yamaha HS series which I can get with a good discount through a local distributor.
  • Any other solutions?

many thanks!
 
Bluetooth it to your hifi system, (transmitter fir $20 on ebay) or go old school and run a cable. Or get a pair of computer speakers with a small sub - plenty enough to demo the kit indoors without any other instruments.
 
1. decent and economical - we need $€£ numbers - one man's economical is is another mans's urgh

2. Dedicated drum amp - nope. Indeed, most things sold as drum amps are a bit rubbish, and nowhere near as good as a PA.

3. Any monitor - yes as long as it's got least a 12" woofer. Otherwise you'll be picking up pieces as soon as you hit your kick pedal

4. [usual ever repeated suggestion] Get a 2nd hand PA. Speakers on stands with tweeters at ear height. Min of 12" woofers. Test with Prodigy's Firestarter at full pelt. Dunno your real budget or where you are on the planet, so can't give specifics. In the UK a PA can be picked up for £100 ish.
 
You might plug your electronic drums into the PA mixer. I'm thinking whoever you are jamming with has a PA system.

Maybe buy a used guitar amplifier at a pawn shop, about 10 watts, cost USA $ 20 to $ 30.
 
Guitar Center has those little 4-channel Harbinger PA’s for $200. The speakers have 12” woofers in them. That would be sufficient just for your drums and maybe playing mp3s in another channel.
 
i've got two guitar amps (one is a fender mustang ii which has a 12" speaker) but read elsewhere that it will sound terrible or even get seriously damaged). I live in Cyprus so not much of a 2nd hand market on speakers. I think I'll try the guitar amp at low volume to start with. If that fails then I'll look into a 2nd hand monitor or PA speaker. Would a 10" speaker suffice?
 
I played my electronic drums through a Fender Mustang 1 amp. It did not sound that good, the speaker is only 8 inches and there is no piezo tweeter. To get a good sound you need an amp that reproduces both low and high frequencies - low frequencies for the bass drum, high frequencies for the cymbal sounds. I get better results when playing through an active PA speaker. But try out the amps that you have. Maybe they are good enough for playing at home.
 
Find a JBL Eon, preferably the 15" or other powered PA speaker.
 
You might plug your electronic drums into the PA mixer. I'm thinking whoever you are jamming with has a PA system.

Maybe buy a used guitar amplifier at a pawn shop, about 10 watts, cost USA $ 20 to $ 30.
A guitar amplifier would not cut it because of the low frequencies, however a keyboard amplifier will work just fine.
 
I agree with all of the above.

You need a full range near field speaker and amplifier... Options:

Inexpensive 15" powered stage wedge (or a decent quality 12" will kinda/sorta do)
Fender Rumble 200 or Rumble 500 (Bass combo amp)
A keyboard amp.. This would include amps like the KV2
 
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