Couple of questions before buying

    I'm pretty much decided on the Kemper (vs. AxeFX), which I'll be using for both live and home studio use. I have a couple questions before pulling the trigger.


    I mainly play small to mid size clubs, with a standard local band-type setup -- amps/cabs on stage for personal monitoring, and going through a house PA. Obviously I'd like the cab modeling to be turned off for the signal going to the cab, but turned on for the direct out to the house PA. I've found conflicting info about whether this configuration is possible or not.


    Also trying to decide between powered and unpowered. Is there any benefit to going with an external tube power amp (thinking of the ENGL E840/50), or does the built-in power amp provide enough (simulated?) warmth?


    Thanks!
    -D

    1: no problem, this is possible
    2: no need for external tube amp. the tube "warmth" is already part of the profile u use. I'd go for the powered one if u need a cab. Personaly I use InEar and got no cab at all.

    I'd actually go for an unpowered toaster and get a third-party retrofit power amp. Something like a Camplifier or the Ambrosi. More versatile and cheaper. No disrespect to the B&O amp in my Power Rack, however; it's a very neutral, clean and powerful amp, but at 600W, mono and limited to >8 ohms, the other options are slightly more attractive.

    Quote from Ingolf

    This. 600 w make sure you can drive your 4x12” adequately.


    Yeah, that's my thinking, but in relation to bass mostly :) I mean, 600 watts for a 4x12 - even for a digital power amp - isn't that ridiculously much? (genuine question, I don't know how SS watts and tube-driven watts correlate). Bass amps (which are often solid state in any case) seem to be of much higher wattage, and I could imagine that all that low-frequency energy is the main reason for this

    Solid state and tube watts are exactly the same. In a tube power amp, any peaks over the amps rating are nicely and musically compressed, with a nice wad of harmonic distortion thrown in. Solid state amps don't distort well though, so any clipping tends to sound rather horrible, hence the headroom.


    Incidentally, 600 watts is only approximately 7.7 dBm louder than 100 watts

    Edited once, last by sambrox ().

    Quote from sambrox

    Solid state and tube watts are exactly the same. In a tube power amp, any peaks over the amps rating are nicely and musically compressed, with a nice wad of harmonic distortion thrown in. Solid state amps don't distort well though, so any clipping tends to sound rather horrible, hence the headroom.


    Incidentally, 600 watts is only approximately 7.7 dBm louder than 100 watts


    Yeah, that is of course true (regarding the dB).


    However, can you imagine pumping 600 watts into a 4x12? :)

    Thanks for the awesome replies! It seems that running through a separate power amp wouldn't really add anything (except an additional $1k), so I went ahead and ordered the PowerRack + Remote. Now I can finally ditch that terrible Line6 I've been using for recording and the Rivera I've been using live.
    Really looking forward to this, too bad it's backordered for a couple weeks. Guess it gives me time to pour over the manuals :)