What organ shall I purchase for my home?

[Guest]

I am finally going to "bite the bullet" and get an organ for my home--something I have wanted for years! I currently play a 3 manual Rodgers organ at church. I always thought I would purchase a Rodgers organ for my home. My very subjective rationale isbecause I think I have liked them better probably because theRodgers organs thatI have played in the past havebeen newer and nicer than my experience with Allen organs. However, now it's coming down to cost. I found out that I can purchase a 3 manual Allen organ (Quantum Lumitech 320i) for approx. the same price as a 2 manual Rodgers (Allegiant 677). To get a 3 manual Rodgers (Allegiant 778) is almost double the price which I cannot afford. Two features are important to me: 1) Midi (MX200/Rodgers or Allen Vista) and 2) The ability to transfer what I play on the organ to Finale on the computer and then to hear back what I have in Finale on the organ. Of course, I would prefer a 3 manual but am I missing something that I wouldn't be getting with this Allen? I just can't figure out why the Allen is so much less expensive than the Rodgers. Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

[Guest]

Re: What organ shall I purchase for my home?



Good evening,</p>

I don't know why the Rodgers is so much more expensive. Your message took me back eleven years ago; at that time, the church where I play purchased a digital organ. I was planning to recommend an Allen (MDS series), when the church's leadership asked me to look into other manufacturers as well. I wrote out a list of specifications that the Allen had, and asked the Rodgers dealer for a similar instrument. He gave me a price almost twice as high as the Allen representative asked. I would have expected that market pressures would keep prices fairly comparable. In the end, my church purchased the Allen; it has served us flawlessly.</p>

Frankly, for that difference in price, I'd get the Allen.</p>

DR
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[Clarion]

Re: What organ shall I purchase for my home?



[quote user="Luv2playorgan"] I just can't figure out why the Allen is so much less expensive than the Rodgers. Any help is appreciated![/quote]</P>


Prices vary with territory. So whether you live in Norway, Argentina or Australia,the reasons for price differences are not necessarilythe samearound theworld. [:$]</P>

[jbird604]

Re: What organ shall I purchase for my home?



Prices do vary from place to place, but Allen and Rodgers tend to be quite competitive when comparing similar models.</P>


The Allen 320may besomewhat less of an organ than the Rodgers 778. IIRC, the 320, the smallest 3m Allen, gets by with just four audio channels, or perhaps there is a fifth channel for a subwoofer. The Rodgers 778, however, is an 8-channel organ, though you might quibble and call it really just 6 channelsplus two sub-woofer channels. At any rate, it's quite a bit more audio than the Allen 320. I don't really know how the stoplists compare, but in digitals the stoplist doesn't tell the whole story. (I'm assuming about the 778 that we're talking about the external audio, not the simplified internal audio.)</P>


But I'm actuallya little surpised that there is a huge difference in the price of these two organs, as I think they are fairly close in price here. I'm not involved in the retail end of the organ business, only installations and service, but I think theyhave beenpriced rather similarly to churches I've known about.</P>


There may be other differences between the two instruments you've been quoted that account for the price difference. You might talk to the dealers and get more specific. You might even "lean" on the Rodgers guy a bit to match the Allen price, or else to prove to you that his organ is worth that much more. Provided, of course, that you really want the Rodgers.</P>


I hear and play both brands every week and find satisfying and exciting organs of both kinds.</P>


John</P>
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[jbird604]

Re: What organ shall I purchase for my home?



Well, after writing that I went to the Allen tech site and looked at the 320i. Sure looks like a nice little organ. It is self-contained, though, and the audio is mixed down to only 2 channels, pretty sparse for a 3m organ, but pretty much standard for self-contained Allens.</P>


But, to be fair, the Rodgers 778, in its self-contained version, is really just 2 channels, though there are active crossovers and separate little lo-power amps for the tweeters. It's only when you upgrade to external speakers that it becomes 8 channels.</P>


Appearance-wise, the Rodgers drawknobs are prettier, but other than that there's little difference.</P>


So, I'm more puzzled than I was before. The models are more similar than I'd thought. If the Allen is really about half the price of the Rodgers, it looks like an unbeatable bargain!</P>


Let us know what you do.</P>


John</P>
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[nullogik]

Re: What organ shall I purchase for my home?



Here in the UK, Allen &amp; Rodgers are pretty much similar in price. Allen are slightly more expensive but come with moving drawstops rather than the cheaper (and more tacky IMO) lighted drawstops as standard.
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At our Church we actually demo'ed an Allen QLF320 (which is the same as the 320i but with the cheaper Fatar keyboards). For around $30000, it was a lot of organ for the money and I was impressed. OK, the console is not the most pleasing to look at, but I did like the sound and build quality was better than on some of the other budget European makes. </p>

Alas, at my Church I was out voted :-( and they went with something different, but if it were my money it would have been the Allen for sure. </p>

You might want to set a little money aside for perhaps two external Allen Herald speaker units. The one we tried had this configuration in addition to the built in speakers and it made a world of difference.
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