Roland KC-300 112 Combo

Very spartan features, basically just tone (bass & treble) and volume (per channel x 4 and master) controls. No built-in effects or XLR inputs, which would have been real nice for something that can double as a small PA system. Includes a four channel mixer with a variety of balanced and unbalanced 1/4" inputs. I would rather have had some decent built in effects and one or more XLR's on the thing, which would eliminate my need for an outboard mixer altogether (and I could use the KC 300 "stereo link" feature to tie the pair of amps. But since I have to use an external mixer for XLR's anyway, then the built-in mixer is a bit of a waste.

I use two of these together (not using the Roland Stereo Link function, but using the stereo out's of a small mixer). I have run keys (synths, organs and piano), vocals (2 singers) and one mic'ed guitar cab *simultaneously* into the pair of KC300's for small club gigs. I find that 2 together are adequately powerful for loud practice sessions and/or small gigs with an unmic'ed drummer. I also have a pair of Mackie SRM450's (which I love), but in some ways the Rolands sound warmer to me (I can't tell you why, they just do, at least to my ears).

I use the pair of KC300's as (1) a small PA when I need one (again, for keys, vocals and a mic'ed guitar all together) or (2) simply as my amps for my keyboards. As I read the other reviews, it seems like there is a "love 'em or hate 'em" thing happening with the quality of sound. I was actually surprised to hear about low end bass problems, cabinets rattling and buzzing, "kazoo sounds", etc. Mine (knock on wood!) have been perfect with none of these issues in about five years of demanding use.

I love the way these sound, so maybe (1) I just got lucky and scored a good pair, or (2) having a pair reduces the output strain to the point where they perform cleaner. This is probably the case as I don't think I have ever come close to maxing the volume of the pair, even in a club gig where they were serving as the PA. A pair of these maxed out will blow your head off - they are loud in a pair.

I don't know, but again I love the sounds of mine. I can compare them directly to my Mackie SRM 450's and they hold their own in terms of clarity and and overall sound, though not in terms of total power or H/F brightness.

Seem solid, I've lugged them all over any the only problem I've had is that a few of the little cosmetic gold covers on the volume and tone knobs have popped off. If this bothers you (and you didn't lose them) it is simple to re-glue using a stronger glue.

But in every signficant way, my pair of KC300's has held up great (other than the fact that my bass player's cat used the carpeting material on one of the cabinets to practice clawing, and now one of my cab's looks like it has an afro!). I like the steel grating on the front, it has saved the cones more than once.

I've been using them for about five years with nothing but happy results. I played with a group that preferred my pair of 300's to a crappy yamaha 400 watt PA system they had been using, and the KC's outperformed the poop out of the Yamaha system in every way.

I am happy to say that I've not required Customer Support. Given that these amps are so basic, I'm not sure what the manufacturer's customer support could do for you anyway (other than suggesting an authorized repair shop if you needed to find one). There is no mystery to these amps, they are about as simple as a peanut butter sandwich.

I have a variety of keys (including the mighty Yamaha P200 and Alesis ION) and they all sound great through the pair of KC300's. I might replace these if they were stolen, but I hesitate because (1) the prices have gone way up on the whole line of Roland KC amps since I bought mine so a comparable pair would cost me about another $250 or so today, (2) I have not heard the Alesis Sumo's and would definitely audition them first to see how they compare, and (3) KC300's are somewhat feature limited, and if you use an outboard mixer they give you almost nothing other than basic tone controls (which your mixer will also provide, possibly better). I'd love to see effects and XLR inputs, which are sorely lacking in the KC300's.

But I do like the sound, power and reliability of my pair, and so I just might replace them if I had to (although I'd be more nervous now that I've read some of the other reviews). I do believe that I've had good results because I'm using a pair of these instead of driving one to a near-death, out-of-body, amp experience.

A 12 inch speaker, horn driver and 100-watt amplifier. Four input channels. CH 1 has a balanced (1/4") input for a microphone and a line input. CH 2 & 3 have two 1/4" inputs for stereo or mono. CH 4 is a single 1/4" monitor input. Line Out section includes both mono (single 1/4") and a stereo (dual 1/4") outputs with an independent level control. Stereo link function allows two KC-300 units to be used in stereo (nice feature, not too common). Speaker stand insert is provided on the bottom for mounting. Top control panel includes volume control for each of the four chanels, line out level. Master section includes low and high tone controls, a master volume control and a headphone jack. Sturdy grille and black carpet covering.

Let me first explain how I use the amp. I've only used it once as as keyboard amp. I mostly use it as a small PA, a PA monitor with a larger system, an acoustic bass guitar amp and as part of a DJ set-up.

I actually own two of them and I have used the stero-link set-up. That's 200 watts!

When I use the amp as a PA, I use a small Behringer Mixer, an Aleisis NanoVerb and a NanoCompressor and run mono or stereo (if using 2 KC-300's) into CH 2 or 3. I set the KC-300 tone controls flat and set both the channel and main volume at 7. I've mixed a sound for a small acoustic (2 guitars/bass/vocal)combo this way. I've also used it with just a mic plugged into the mic input on CH 1 for outdoor speaking events.

As a monitor, I've run it off the monitor output from powered mixer. Another monitor application involves mic'ing the main mix from the main PA for the dancers in a dance recital. The mic is pointed to the mains and plugged into the KC-300's CH 1 mic input with the volumes set at 5 and 5. This allows me to know for sure that the sound on stage is equivalent to the sound I hear sitting in front of the mains. I do it this way because twenty 5-year-olds in tu-tu's would never think to tell me the monitor isn't loud enough.

I've also used it as a straight acoustic bass guitar amp with an Ovation Celebrity Deluxe bass. The Ovation has active tone controls (more on this point later).

Finally, I've used both one and two KC-300's to play recorded music at outdoor events (not exactly a DJ set-up but I would recommend it for a real DJ set-up on a budget, it's that good). I take a portable CD player with a stero line out and patch it into CH 2 or 3.

Now about the sound. It's absolutely incredible! No matter how I use the amp it has never let me down. It's clean and powerful. It's a keyboard amp, so it's designed for a full range of sound. That's why the acoustic bass guitar sounds just as good as a CD player. When I do the outdoor music I play it loud for long periods (upto 8 hrs). It never tires. If you stand in front of it at high volumes, you can feel it move air, and it still sounds clean!

I almost never use the tone controls, I just leave them flat. I control the tone with the mixer or the tone controls on the bass. CD's sound great with no tone-tweaking at all. Same with the keyboard (a Roland ep7-II).

100%. I've had my first one for 6 years now, the other one for 4 years. They're strudy and reliable. One problem is that the knobs are plastic with a brass insert on top. The brass buttons fall off and that makes it hard to see your level settings on a dark stage.

Never had to use it.

Issues I have with the design: Since I use it as a PA, I often use it with a speaker stand. The speaker stand I use is an "On-Stage" brand, which has two size (diameter) options for the top of the stand. Neither one fits the KC-300 insert, one is too tight and the other is too loose. I had to make my own bracket to hold the amp straight. When you use the amp on a speaker stand forget about adjusting the controls during a performance. They're on top and you can't see them.

The power cord stiff and there is no where to put it when transporting the amp. It just hangs off the back of the amp.

A mid tone control would be nice. Although I said I never use the tone controls, I prefer 3 over 2, and perhaps I would use the amp's tone controls more if there were 3.

An XLR input for mic channel would be a great improvement.

It would be nice if Roland would make a matching extension speaker and accomplish stereo sound without the expense of a second amp.

Overall, it's a geat little amp. It's very versatile, reliable, powerful and clean. I believe you can get them for less than I paid for it, but even at $400, it's an excellent value.

others have described it well, basically has a four channel mixer built in, 12 inch speaker, horn, and front firing port, with 100 watt solid state power amp, bought it new from Musicians Friend on Jan 2, 2003, actually has alot of inputs for the money, but no unbalanced input, just 1/4 inch inputs, I bought because of great reviews from POD guitar users for amplifying guitar processors, I don't play keyboards

I bought it to amplify by POD PRO modeling unit - I know! - its a keyboard amp! but alot of people on the Line 6 (POD) websites recommended it for clean, uncolored amplification of the POD. I read reviews that said this unit buzzed and rattled with loud volumes (low notes) and didn't think it would happen to me. -- WRONG -- this unit sounded good, clean and loud for about 25 minutes, then buzzing from the back of the unit became almost constant with playing - I actually felt the back of the unit (with my hand) while playing some low chords and felt it shake and buzz! SHIT!, i could also feel air pumping thru the edges of the unit with loud playing (master volume set at half way up and channel volume set on 1/3 way, so I was not really pushing it either), basically the workmanship is crap, and i don't think I got a dud - if you read alot of reviews on this item you'll see that many people experienced this rattling - you can tighten the screws but its only a temporary fix, I'm sure Roland knows about this problem but since people keep buying this unit they just keep ignoring it, (back of unit says assembled in USA, clearly not MADE in USA)

It worked great for about 25 minutes before the buzzing and rattling started with low notes (low E on a guitar - so actually not very low at all), read my "sounds" section, basically this unit is engineered wrong - screw size, porting, method of sealing the cabinet, whatever? basically I can almost guarantee it will start buzzing on you eventaully - then it will be useless for live performance, recording, or monitoring

can't comment because i didn't call them, I must say that Musicians Friend was EXCELLENT at dealing with my complaints, they returned the item and even payed for return shipping - NO HASSLES - I was very glad to have bought this unit from them, it wasn't their fault - its ROLAND'S fault.

If your a guitar player who thinks he can get clean, loud, uncolored sound from your processor (POD, J-station, ect) from this unit you are right - but it will last less than half an hour. RUN AWAY from this idea. This unit WILL buzz and rattle on you and become useless very fast. Read some of the reviewers who had the same problem. If you think I'm full of it, then please do yourself a favor and order from a place that has a great return policy (I suggest Musicians Friend), otherwise you will end up getting screwed. If you are a keyboard player, it will start acting up on you also - don't waste your money here - pay a little more and look at the other companies - don't get fooled by the good price for all the features like i did. If you want true stereo wound, you would need to buy two of these anyway - cost you about $800, you could do much better (cleaner) just buying a small stereo PA system, or Powered Speakers that won't rattle/buzz on you. VERY DISSAPOINTED!!, I'm very happy that I used Musicians Friend for this purchase - it should be back in their warehouse by now. ROLAND keyboard amps should be taken off the shelves.

My KC300's are (2) a couple of years old i.e. 2000 models. This amp is very versitile for club level gigs-that is less than 300 people. I has 4 channels with volume only. The two band eq seems to be adequate as I set the bass at 12 o'clock and the treble at 3pm. It should have a built is 9 band gobal graphic, an retractable luggage hand and 2 wheels on the back for easy traveling purposes. The power is adequate. I do use a boss 21 band 1/2 rack eq on it- or sometimes a Furman stereo 15 band- plug each keyboard directly into the eq- then into a channel. It make more sense than going to a mixer first, especially if you use a couple of DI boxes to go to the house.

I use several keyboards especially a couple of O1WFD's. I use a Kurzweil PC2R, JV1080 and a new CX3 through a 147 leslie. The amp is very well behaved. I use them all week every week and run them hard. They never disapoint me. I've used power amp set ups with Ramsa, Bose, Klipsch etc, Carvers, Crowns and this is just less time consuming and cuts my set up time down to 30 minutes instead of 30 years. I do use nothing but Monster Cable and I'm here to tell you- its a HUGE difference. I just use the regulat basic 100 grade- no more irritating noises and trash coming through. They are definately a nice portable alternative to big set ups.

OH YEAH- no question. I did blow a horn on one but it was my fault. There was guy talking about the horn being trash. he's insane period. Its enough fidelity for any PRO Keyboard player playing any style today. I could put a 1" titanium TAD driver in and upgrade the speaker- and the amp and the Xover and the rest of the planet. For the price and what it is- it is beautiful and almost musical - for the money. Its cheap, sounds good - is portable- is reliable- killer.

Okay I guess. I never needed them over the years.

I'll probably sell the most beat up one and put $50 with it and get a newer one-mostly because I play so much. There's a ton of them out there. I'd buy 50 if had the cash. I love everything about it- I dislike the undetatchable power chord but I'm gonna fix it but getting as a couple cable ears to rap it around. Roland should sell covers for them and have a 9 band EQ. They have more balls than the KC500 - they could have a few creature comforts I mentioned above. I'd love to try a KC1000- but stupidly price past reality. The KC300 is the best bang for the buck- period.

12inch Woofer, Horn, driver. 2 stereo mixing channels, no efx loop(its for keyboards). solid state and 100W amps( I have two of these for stereo. No reverb, but Piano has these features built in so there is no need for this.

The sounds of these KC300s are tremendous and clear to accurately reproduce the finest acoustic pianos and I have played Steinways, Kawais, and Yamahas. You need two of these to produce accurate stereo and set the low control at 1/4 to 12 and the high at 12O'clock for true keyboard balance. Otherwise the left hand will be too bassy and drown out the right hand melody. I set THe master volume at 6 and move my piano volume up and I can be heard in the whole neighborhood.
This is the best Keyboard amp out there in my opinion and I played them all Fenders, Peaveys, Crates etc. The sounds are true acoustic and I even use channel two on both with an Ab box to play my Seagull acoustic guitar with an acoustic DI and have Duet II electronics LR Baggs and it sounds Great! The amps never sound distorted if properly set. You also have to use instrument cable, not speaker cable because these are going from the back of the piano into a power amp,not a speaker! These amps will fill a concert hall in true stereo with no problem . I play classical to modern rock and I am a Professional Muscian.

I have never had a problem with these amps and have been using them daily for about three years. My tech is an authorized dealer and tells me that Rolands speakers are better than most guitar speakers out there and are very well made. The amps are solid state and he told me Roland will back them up unless there is some kind of abuse.

I have never dealt with the company. My only complaint is that the manual could have been better written. It says you can get stereo by hooking the line out from the left amp to the right and using it as a master controller to control the other amp. This however will not give true stereo. You still have to put one on the left piano out and one on the right piano out.

I have been playing piano since I was eight years old and I am a Professional musician and a concert pianist. I play classical to modern rock. I play these amps through a General Music Pro II and I will tell you, you cant get a good sound from amps out of a cheap piano in most cases. I have played other amps Fender, Peavey, Crate,etc. and not have gotten the tone like a Roland amp. I would buy this amp again if I had to. The only thing I would add to this amp would be onboard reverb for acoustic instruments. I previously stated how I set my amps and my piano has an eq also built in, but even with the eq off, the speakers still sound great! Remember I do not distort my sound by cranking the lows and highs way up, you dont need to and I would never go past 12O'clock on either low or high settings because you have your volume and eq controls for that. I ve heard some bad reviews of these amps by garage band players, but They must not be talking about the same amps. I play concerts with these amps and people cannot beleive the sound that comes out, but The General music Pro II is also an exceptional piano, Just ask Palmer and Herbie Hancock.

Others have already listed them. Full-featured.

I am using a RD-700 stage piano - mostly acoustic and Rhodes piano and organ sounds, as well as some other sound modules. I bought the KC to replace a pair of old Crate KX-40 keyboard amps. I was instantly dissappointed with the sound quality! At less-than-full power, the tweeters distort badly on the piano transients. Another reviewer had a similar experience and likened the sound to a "bad kazoo" - I second that opinion. I also find the amplifier fairly noisy (hum, etc.) with no inputs driving it. I am sending mine back for a refund - the Crates sound better.

no opinion - only had it for a day.

no experience.

The KC has the right set of features and specs. It's a powerful amp in a small, lightweight package. I just wish the speakers sounded better.

100 watt, 12 inch with horn. There are 4 channels, each with indpendent volume control. Unfortunately, there is no gain control on any channel. I wish there were seperate gain and volume knobs, as it is sometimes hard to ballance a really loud source with a really quiet one. All inputs are 1/4 inch jacks. Channel 1 has 2 inputs, mic or line. Channels 2 and 3 each have stereo inputs. Channel 4 is mono, and it only goes through the speaker, not the line out. The line out has an independent level control. There are left, right, and mono 1/4 inch line outs. The master section is a master volume and a two band master EQ. Plugging into the headphone jack turns off the speaker. If you've looked at this already, you've heard about the "stereo link" feature. What this is is two 1/4 inch jacks on the back of the amp, one labeled "in" and one labeled "out". Connecting the "out" of one amp to the "in" of a second makes them run in stereo, using the settings of the first amp. The manual is good, although I don't see how anyone could screw up a manual for this simple of a product. Features are great, but it gets an 8 for small three reasons: no gain control (as I already mentioned), no effects sends, and no dedicated EQ on each channel. Other than that, what it has is great. This amp is well laid out; I especially like that all the plugs are on the back. Keeps cords out of the way. It has a carpet covering on the sides, really sturdy metal corners, and a tough metal grill over the speaker. Also, there is a hole in the bottom for a speaker stand, which is a really good idea. At just under 40 Lbs, it's not too heavy, but don't expect to carry it with one arm, because it's pretty big. I usually have to make a seperate trip out to the car for this one, but it's worth it.

I mainly use it with my keyboard (Alesis QS 6.1)The sound is excellent. Flat response, and clear highs. It has very good lows, too. This is probably where it sounds best. Lots of punch, plenty of power down low, but not the slightest bit boomy or muddy. It is also very loud. It can easilly overpower an un-miked drumkit. I've used it as my only sound source in a 400 seat auditorium before, and it more than filled the room. I've also used it for electric and acoustic guitar, and both sound superb. Same with vocals. Hook up a CD player and it makes a great stereo system, too - Real nice for listening to music on.

This amp is extremely reliable. I not only would gig without a backup, I DO gig without a backup. I would have no qualms about taking this on the road or whatever. It's built like a rock. I think you literally could roll it down staris and not hurt it. Case is heavy, stiff plywood. Real tight construction. Carpet covering and metal corner caps. The back is painted metal, and this gets scratched pretty easily, but who cares? Knobs are fairly sturdy felling, but they can be pulled off. They fit on pretty snug, and I haven't had any fall off yet (after 2 years) but the fact that they CAN come off bugs me just a little. But this is pretty normal. One problem I have had: When I first got it, it would start to buzz when I played low notes. I think it was a loose screw somewhere, but I could never find which one, and it eventually went away, so I didn't worry about it.

Never delt with Roland.

I have been playing piano for seven years, and gradually gotten into other keyboard stuff. I have a QS 6.1 and a Motion Sound Pro3T (awesome) The style of music I like is progressive and classic rock, like Kansas, Queen, Rush, old school Elton John stuff, and Dream Theater. I would give the KC-300 an overall rating of 9 and a half. There are just a few small features that it lacks. Other than that, I could not ask for a better amp. I didn't want to buy a Fender amp (a keyboard amp from a guitar company?) and the Crate amps didn't have the features of this thing. The Barbetta stuff has the features, but it's really expensive. If this were lost or stolen, I would absolutely replace it. In fact, I'm trying to find another one cheap on Ebay. If I can't though, I'll probably just buy it retail. It's worth it.

Very good and practical stereo mixing features.
Very powerfull for such an small box. 39 pounds (one hand carriable)

For the last 6 month I have been playing my WX5/VL70/NanoSynth through my 250W PA with full size cabinets. It sounds great, but it is a pain in the back to haul around all it's components to the smallest of practice sessions. So I just couldn't wait any longer to get a nice small combo box. Having heard so many praises for the KC300 and liking it's features. I was quite sold on it. When I walked into the store. I simply asked for the best full range box that could be carried with one arm. The response from the manager was simple. Buck per buck. If you want power get a Peavey. If you want sound quality get a Roland. But the keyboard guy that actually ended up serving me. Suggested (encouraged) me. To instead purchase a 125W self powered PA monitor. He swore that it sounded much better ! But the unit was 160 bucks more expensive and it did not look as road hardy as the KC300. So I walked out of the store with my KC300. After all. No music store kid, wearing a PunkRock t-shirt was going to change my mind !...........

When I got home. I was immediately disappointed. I was fearing perhaps some shortcomings in the bass department But the KC actually generates a very decent bass for such an small box. The problem was in the mid/high range, where the KC has a hole the size of Texas! Individual instruments didn't sound too bad. Although If you start comparing say VL70 sax patches. You notice that they all tend to sound sort of similar, with a kazoo kind of overtone. Nothing close to the timbre subtleties that you get from a pair of earphones or good speakers. But what really turned me off, was when I started playing brass ensemble patches with the NanoSynth. Half of the musicians in the brass section where gone on brake !!! The Patchman brass patches sounded so bad, that I thought that I needed to reload them. But a quick check with the earphones, showed that the Nano was reproducing Patchman's work as beautifully as ever. It was the darn box ! I was very disappointed and resigned to return to the store. This time, armed with WX5 synths et all. To try and find an acceptable sound unit. But the KC was so nice in all other respects that I decided to do an experiment.
I removed the grill and woofer. Disconnected one of the leads to the horn. And connected the KC's woofer power leads to one of my PA cabinets. BINGO ! All the musicians were back from their brake ! The KC's amp sounded clean and very powerful. The problem was in the drivers ! So the next morning. I went to the local specialized speaker store. And bought $250 CND worth of driver and crossover.
Details.....
The KC's woofer is decent, and is not as important to replace. The only "problem" is that the great Roland amp, can generate more power than the woofer can handle. So that when playing bassy patches at very VERY high volumes. The woofer can go into sonic breakdown. When this occurs. The woofer starts to flop back and forth, the volume collapses, and all you can hear is the sound of the air shuffling through the bass port. This happens very suddenly. One moment you are making the furniture shake. The next... flop flop flop flop. You then have to restart the note a bit softer and everything sounds normal again. Let me stress that this only occurs when pushing the woofer to the max. And if you are not likely to play at that volume. It is not really necessary to upgrade the woofer. I did. I replaced it with an 150W generic instrument woofer. The only obvious difference between the two, other than power handling, is that the magnet in the replacement speaker is a couple of inches larger than the one on the original. I can now play with all the knobs turned all the way to the right, without fear of sudden breakdown in sound quality.
Unlike the woofer. The KC's horn is a piece of crap! That sounds worse than a bad kazoo ! (I'm been gentle here). And I strongly suggest all owners, to replace this supposed 50W piece junk. The speaker in your clock radio would make

Very strong construction . Metal grill. Big transformer inside.

n/a

Super compact box. Good electronics. Shame that Roland did not spend a bit more on the horn and x-over.

4-ch stereo amp w/mixer and line out. 100W 2-way 1X12 w/tweeter and front port.
I have two of them in my practice studio for room PA.

Use it for a 'second opinion' on mixdown when multitracking. Practicing on keys for stereo without headphones. Great general purpose listening in studio, with Mackie mixer feeding stereo for listening to CD demos, etc...
Have had a a lot of trouble with cabinet buzzing with loud bass. I tightened all the screws and that helped for a while, but the teeny screws stripped and now it just buzzes with loud bass. Limits the use for gigs.

Always worked fine.

Roland makes some of the best equipment but has the worst customer service. I have never received a response from any of their online support. I own $1000s of Roland gear...stage piano, rack modules XP synths, etc, but I know that if it breaks I'm on my own. Most of the stuff has been fine, though.

30+ years in music...got lots of stuff. If anyone has solved the cabinet buzzing problem, I'd love to hear about it...