Big disappointment with Kemper

Quote from caveman1

Thanks for the info!

Australia is a nightmare for music gear

I'm kicking myself I didnt get a 2nd hand one recently it was such a good price....I'd die without mine (speak of the devil another one just came up for sale locally

Yeah it's a rort here! Shipping costs kill us, not to mention the exchange rate. It was good for a while importing stuff there when the US dollar was lower, now it's going to get even worse as the new government will apply 10% GST to anything over $20 imported (starting March).

I'd check the manufacture date of any secondhand KPA if I were you, you don't want to get a bad batch of LEDs.

Personally I think anyone gigging with a Kemper or using it fulltime in a Studio business should have or share a second Kemper as well for a backup, at least until they iron out the manufacturing issues with the audio inputs and the hardware DSP errors. The Virus is pretty solid IIRC so hopefully KPAs will end up bulletproof like Roland/Boss pedals eventually.

Im giging with mine 6 nights a week 3 hours a night in Dubai, been rock solid here ...knock on wood!!!!!

Quote from Maverick187

I am more disappointed in the unreliability of their products I PERSONALLY have experienced so far. It is by no means a reflection of everyones experiences, but as you could imagine what I have experienced would shape my opinion.

You had a lot of bad luck for sure, but the KPA is anything else than unreliable, it's solidly built in Germany. I own 2 KPA's (2 toasters), one is from the first series and I never had any problems. I'm touring with the KPA's for years (mainstage-tours) and found them very reliable. Not one single problem, I just put them in flightcases, that's all, I never needed the 2nd one (spare),

If you're from Australia, the KPA's have to be shipped around the world, reckless transportation could be an issue.

Wow bevosss that's bad news on the importing.... That's gonna be a huge revenue for the government and really gonna hurt Aussie musos. I was pissed about the same deal in canada and not Australia... Until now!

Quote from guenterhaas

If you're from Australia, the KPA's have to be shipped around the world, reckless transportation could be an issue.

Unlikely, since the KPA is packaged very well. Diezel's have more parts and are much heavier, and they get here just fine.

It's probably just a QC issue with certain parts, as per the led issue. Teething problems with a (still) fairly new product etc. I'm sure it'll get resolved in time, they're a good company.

Reliabilty, that view depends on your perspective and personal experience. From the OPs view, it's not good.

Quote from Bevosss

the new government will apply 10% GST to anything over $20 imported

Lucky you ! In the Socialist Republic of France it's 25%

I bet music gear is still cheaper in France than here.

Sorry to hear of your issues. I can certainly understand your frustration. But agree you are handling it with class. I.VE BEEN GIGGING WITH MINE FOR 2 YRS + without issues,knock on wood. Welcome and hope it gets sorted out for you soon.

Quote from nakedzen

For anyone reading this you can significantly increase the led life by reducing brightness from the system menu page 2/9.

Won't solve the underlying issue but might save you a few leds in the long run. I've ran mine on 3.5 on the small ones and knobs at 6.5 and none have died. Mine was a thomann B-stock customer return too.

Yeah, on the long run this might reveal counter productive tho.
If your machine has mounted one of the notorious faulty components on it, it would be better if the fault revealed itself before the warranty expires

Quote from viabcroce

Yeah, on the long run this might reveal counter productive tho.
If your machine has mounted one of the notorious faulty components on it, it would be better if the fault revealed itself before the warranty expires

Good thinking!

Quote from viabcroce

Yeah, on the long run this might reveal counter productive tho.
If your machine has mounted one of the notorious faulty components on it, it would be better if the fault revealed itself before the warranty expires

Depends on if you want to go through the warranty hassle because of a dead led or not.

Quote from Sleepdead

And it is really not a "head/top" it should not sit on top of the cabinets, that shake loose parts and fry LEDs for sure. It should be treated as rack gear no matter if it is a lunchbox or a rack edition.

I would like to see this confirmed or denied by a representative of Kemper because if this is true, it is a serious design flaw considering it is effectively a guitar head replacement of sorts.

Who can speak authoritatively to the validity of this claim?

Thank you in advance.

The KPA head should be fine sitting on top of a cab....there's a lot less inside a KPA that can 'shake' loose than inside a regular tube amp, and the KPA doesn't have tubes that can shake loose.

I think this isse needs to be resolved between Kemper and the Origianal Poster. The LED issue is a known problem of a particular production batch and the other issues could be soft or hardware related. At this point it's all speculation since "we" don't know what is going on.

I can understand the frustration with a failing product but one must give the company a fair chance in resolving the issue. Another added problem here is that some units were bought from distributors while other ones have been bought internationally thusly giving this different legal and technical aspects in regards to repair.

I am on the road right now with my Kemper on fly dates and everything is working fine for me.

Perhaps we should stop speculating and let Kemper, distributed ! reseller and the customer settle this.

Thanks!

Quote

And it is really not a "head/top" it should not sit on top of the cabinets, that shake loose parts and fry LEDs for sure. It should be treated as rack gear no matter if it is a lunchbox or a rack edition.

the Profiler is designed for the road. we use a sturdy metal housing and circuitry and components are designed to handle shock. i guess more shock than a tube amp can take. so don't worry, a placement on top of a speaker is totally fine.
more info on LED related issues can be found in this thread: Kemper dead LED - whats next?
hope that helps, gs

Thanks, this is good to know.

I've played my Kemper on top of my Mackie MR8 and heard something in it rattling so I stopped doing that for fear of some component coming out of it's mooring.

Quote from G String

the Profiler is designed for the road. we use a sturdy metal housing and circuitry and components are designed to handle shock. i guess more shock than a tube amp can take. so don't worry, a placement on top of a speaker is totally fine.
more info on LED related issues can be found in this thread: Kemper dead LED - whats next?
hope that helps, gs

This helps immensely. Thank you sir.

Quote from nakedzen

Depends on if you want to go through the warranty hassle because of a dead led or not.

True

As for me, I'd have no doubt tho. What is a month's wait against 10-20 years of hopefully faultless working? At my age, I've learned the priceless power and beauty of the waiting, when it's worth it

I'm a victim of the LED issue as well and I waited one year until I knew I don't need my pretty lunchbox for a couple of weeks while I'm overseas. So I will send my Profiler in for repair on monday and have already made an arrangement that it won't be returned until I'm back home again. This way I hope to miss my Profiler only a few days. I really hope that it will be fixed when I return. Otherwise I guess I'll discover the devil inside myself.