Why Add a Subwoofer to your Digital Piano?

Treat your ears and use a subwoofer to enhance your playing experience

Imagine you just had an excellent dinner at one of your favorite restaurants. The entrŽe was perfectly balanced with flavor, texture, and had beautiful colors on the plate. Now, youÕd be more than happy and satisfied to end the meal there, but then the dessert menu arrives. You order a little dessert that caps the meal off. While the entrŽe was delicious, the dessert enhanced that experience to give you something special.

Aside from making you hungry, IÕm using this as an example of how a subwoofer can improve your digital piano experience, just as a good dessert can complement an entrŽe. We rarely need dessert, but when we do indulge, it can really round out a meal in a special way.

When we hear the term Òsubwoofer,Ó many of us think about home or car stereo systems. The bigger the sub, the louder the bass, giving more rumble and depth to the sound. The car that rolls up next to you and vibrates your car has a massive subwoofer installed. Your neighborÕs theater system that makes you feel the explosion of the Death Star has a large subwoofer as a part of the system. These are certainly the most common applications, but many years ago we had a crazy idea. What would happen if we hooked a subwoofer up to a digital piano? Customers have long been asking for a product that replicates the sound of an acoustic piano, maybe this would help? It most certainly did, and another piece of the Kraft Music bundle was born!

Why does a subwoofer help? Acoustic pianos are amazing machines that create a wide spectrum of frequencies for our ears to enjoy. Scott Collins, a Senior Sales Advisor at Kraft Music, has this to say: ÒAcoustic pianos can play notes down to about 28 Hz. Most built-in speaker systems have trouble getting below 60-80 Hz simply because there isnÕt space for a large enough speaker inside. A subwoofer helps fill out those missing fundamental notes and makes the piano sound a lot more realistic.Ó In addition to enhancing the bass response on the pianoÕs lowest notes, the sub also adds fullness and power across the middle and higher registers. This results in a much more realistic and natural sounding instrument.

As I mentioned above, a dessert is not always necessary, but rounds out a meal. The same is true with subwoofers. ÒThe speakers on the digital pianos are really fantastic all on their own. But to achieve the depth of tone one would expect from a grand piano, consider adding a subwoofer to the system,Ó says our resident piano expert and other Senior Sales Advisor, Adam Berzowski. A subwoofer can give compatible digital pianos that extra push over the edge for the additional depth youÕd hope for from an acoustic.

There are certain aspects of physics that prevent a sampled sound coming out of a speaker from truly replicating a 500 pound, 9 foot acoustic piano made out of wood and wire. But technology continually develops to help us replicate that experience for a fraction of the cost, size, and weight. Companies like Casio, Yamaha, Kawai, and many others are all working tirelessly to make a digital piano sound and feel like an acoustic. They truly do an excellent job, just like the entrŽe at your favorite restaurant. But why not treat yourself to a little dessert and get the experience thatÕs much closer to the real thing?

Whenever you see a Kraft Music digital piano bundle with the word ÒPLUSÓ in the title, it will include a subwoofer and all necessary cables at a reduced price. You can always contact one of our Sales Advisors to customize your bundle, to ask more questions, to add a subwoofer to your order, or to get help with anything else you may need.