which kemper which config

  • thanks all,
    i am suprised by the number of people who likes to play through cab. As I just read elsewhere "You are going to lose a LOT of the flavor of different amps if you use a powerhead and a guitar cab. You lose the sound of the speaker that was profiled, and the sound of the mics and any preamps or EQ also." To me this is not much the KPA philosophy.


    I will 99% play home, and low. I think I need to choose a KPA first (likely unpowered), get used to it thru headphones and then take it to the shop find FRFR, but I don't want to spend much on them.


    any reason to recommend a powerhead instead?


    I would say.. "and so what?" ;) The Kemper through a guitar cab (I often Use it with a nice 1x12 cab) sounds just GREAT and sometimes it's fun to have that great amp in the room sound when you play at home... you won't have the exact sound of the labeled amp in that case? well take it for what it is, it will sounds like nothing else, which is fine for me! :)


    Like said, a powered head will give you just more options.. and that's great!

  • I agree. Having the power section is a no brainer for me. I actually upgraded from an unpowered KPA head to a KPA Powerrack mostly for that purpose. Used an external poweramp for awhile with a cab when I first got the Toaster and it sounded great (but it wasnt the most convenient option having extra external things to plug in or take with me to practice etc). Upgraded mostly for the added flexability the onboard power amp added and easier resale if I ever want to sell it down the road (and the rack formfactor suited my changing needs better). If your budget can stretch for a powered one I'd recommend it. Really no drawback to having it besides the initial extra cost.


    The last two years or so my playing time seems to be pretty evenly split between a single powered speaker (DXR10), Studio Monitors (Adam A7X), and decent headphones (Sennheiser HD650). All good, and the handful of times I've recently used it with a guitar cab, I've been blown away with how good it sounds. I've even used it through my home theater movie watching setup in a pinch, and it still sounded pretty amazing!


    I guess my point is, there really isnt a "bad" choice. :)

  • Well, there's always time for buying a retrofit power amp (if one chooses the Lunchbox) and for most applications 600 W\8 ohm are definitely in excess. This is what I consider(ed) a good approach to gradually investing in music gear, specially since with a Camplifier (or my Ambrosi) you can spend much less :)

  • So here I am again


    in the end I got a powerhead. Many reasons to this. First my shop only had a powerhead left. Then I couldn't make up my mind on FRFR, cheap HS5 vs. good ones and in the end I said to myself I'd better later invest in good speakers both for hifi and KPA as I've read some good articles here. Third cause there is a part of gear addict in me and I easily got convinced by my shop guy. Also I may play again with friends later on and will be able to move only the head and plug it in the rehearsal room cab.


    So for now I've seen KPA solutions Camper 212 and that looks like the best of all worlds. The passive version looks perfect. However it seems that I won't be able to use it stereo with the poweramp. Any tips on playing stereo through the poweramp? Also where to buy this camper stuff? Is it only on their website?


    Cheers all, I'll stay tuned. I'm currently playing headphones sorting out my favorite rigs. So far I am focusing on raw stack profiles I'll later tweak my style rather that ready-to-go profiles. It takes a life already to do that cause that little toaster is awesome.