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Siel Expander 80

” Siel EX 80 Synthesizer with PS 80 Power Supply and Case – Great Condition.

So, what’s this?! The Italian company Siel released their DK80 synth keyboard in 1985, which was a 12 voice analogue bi-timbric (2 sounds at once) synth. The Expander 80 was also released at the same time (costing only £399, the cheapest instrument in it’s class by a long way) being essentially (but not just) half a DK80 – 8 voice polyphonic and one sound at a time. Originally the Expander 80 was not supplied with a power supply, as the DK80 one was designed to drive the pair (Siel expected the DK80 owner to be the typical owner of the Expander 80). The Expander 80 still retained the 300 event two track sequencer, although both tracks have to play the same sound. Similarities to the Korg EX800 cannot be ignored, especially as the voice architecture and front panel layout do have similarities. The Korg EX800 was released a year earlier in 1984, so the Siel Expander 80 definitely followed it. Internally, they share no common electronics – so it’s no surprise they sound different.

Of course, people realised pretty quickly that if you didn’t need yet another set of keys, the EX 80 was actually probably a much more useful and versatile instrument, as part of a wider rig.

Over time, this has become a) rare as hens teeth and b) quite sought after as a seriously quirky (and with some tweaking, surprisingly aggressive) monosynth, with a real analogue sound, digital control, and a lot of character. The other major issue with these is the ludicrous power supply which is very hard to find indeed, and which have started selling for silly money on their own (and which can power both a DK 80 and EX 80 at the same time, if needed – two outputs). Luckily, this listing includes an original power supply, so no trouble in store with that.

I’m also selling this with the case it’s currently living in – it fits it well (minus power supply, which could handily double as a boat anchor) – it’s a good solid well-padded case, so that’s a nice bonus.” Click here to search for synths on eBay