Anyone running through a solid state power amp and guitar cab?

  • Hi guys,


    Just wondered if anyone here is running the KPA through a power amp/cab setup. I love the tones direct but I just spent 20 mins playing via my Matrix PA and Marshall 2x12 Cab and the results were all over the place. Just wondered what people are doing and if you have any Fav profiles for running in this setup?


    Cheers


    Spence

  • I am using matrix aswell, and two homemade 1x12 thiele cabinets with EVM12L Some profiles sound ok with Cab sim on, while others sound better off. Maby i will try to combine cabinet with tweeters and crossover to test if cab sim are better then, not decided yet. :)

  • I'm still in the evaluation phase. I like the user profiles most at the moment (VH4, 5150, Splawn, Mesa V, Vibro). Next week I have more time and will profile my own amps.
    But I think with the KPA it is time to try again FRFR soon.

  • Kemper -> Monitor out (with cabs off) -> Samson Servo 300 -> 2X12 loaded with a G12H and a G12M.
    Loving it so far!! :thumbup:

  • FRFR here, the Kemper in this configuration is a whole different experience compared to modelers.

    "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" Serghei Rachmaninoff


  • Sometimes I go full FRFR thru an Atomic powered cab or a Power engine with Beyma 12 GA 50 speaker loaded,


    Sometimes I go thru Matrix & real guitar cab (VHT 2x12 Fat bottom, Peavy 5150, Koch (2)1x12) cab sim off,


    Sometimes I go thru tube power amps ( VHT 2:90, Randall RT 2/50, Peavy classic 2x60) & cabs as mentioned above, but only the preamp section of the amp. This setup is my favorite,


    and sometimes to the return of my combos only the preamp section again.

    Edited once, last by grorig ().

  • I'm using:


    KPA (Main out and Cab Sim off) -> VHT 2502 -> 2x TubeTown 2x12" with Celestions G30H


    My first try with our QSC Hpr 112i Monitor Speakers was quite disappointing. It doesn't give me that "amp in a room" feeling.
    But I'm still in my evaluation phase so I will give our PA System an my InEar monitoring another chance


  • How you getting on with this spence?
    Another suggestion is to use one of the direct profiles (which have no cab sim at all) then lock the 'empty' cab sim and play around with your profiles from there.
    Mr Kemper said that a 'part' of the tone from the profiled cab is kept in the monitor outs even when the cabs are globally switched off to give the effect of changing cabs through your guitar cab.
    If you can't find one, both my afd100 and evh5150 profiles have 1 'no cab' profile in them.
    Thinking about it, it would be nice to have this feature available in the monitor section (i.e. switch the cabs off COMPLETELY)


  • How you getting on with this spence?
    Another suggestion is to use one of the direct profiles (which have no cab sim at all) then lock the 'empty' cab sim and play around with your profiles from there.
    Mr Kemper said that a 'part' of the tone from the profiled cab is kept in the monitor outs even when the cabs are globally switched off to give the effect of changing cabs through your guitar cab.
    If you can't find one, both my afd100 and evh5150 profiles have 1 'no cab' profile in them.
    Thinking about it, it would be nice to have this feature available in the monitor section (i.e. switch the cabs off COMPLETELY)


    The honest answer is that I've not tried again. I have a gig this weekend which I will use my current rig for then I'll be setting the KPA up with my controller and testing it in anger. I came up with the idea of profiling AxeFX II Amps with no Cab and letting the matrix/Cab do the rest, still need to give this a go. I'll let you know how I get on.


    Spence

  • From the FAQ Page:


    "Can I profile just my pre amp?
    Yes you can! Instead of feeding the microphone signal back, simply plug the effect send output of your amp head into the Return of the KPA. When you profile just the pre-amp, the virtual cabinet is without content, so you will not hear any difference when you switch it on or off.
    When you connect the Main Outputs or the Monitor Output of the KPA with the effect return jack of your amp head, you will get the same sound as you get with your real amp. If you don't want to reconnect to your original amp, then simply choose a cabinet from another profile in the Kemper Amp.
    "

    "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" Serghei Rachmaninoff


  • I recently bought a Behringer 2u PA amp as a test for the Kemper Amp. I also used a Vintage Modern 4x12 with speaker sim off.
    This setup allowed me to run the Kemper in 'stereo' mode as the Vintage Modern (Marshall) allows that. The Behringer was over 100w a side and I run it no more than 30% as thats all I need.


    It works fine and with a setup like that the sound is just like (or very nearly) the same as the host amp in real life.


    I have not run 'stereo' since the days of my TriAxis rig, but the Kemper is great sounding this way through a speaker cab. You could gig it easily. The Behringer was about £180.00 but I could have bought a 1U (much lighter) for about £110.00 all from Thomann... not the cheapest but still good.


    [Blocked Image: http://www.tonymckenzie.com/Site/images/latest_images/kemper-amp-and-behringer.jpg]


    and the connections:


    [Blocked Image: http://www.tonymckenzie.com/Site/images/latest_images/kemper-amp-wiring-to-4x12.jpg]


    Hope it all helps.....

    Careful I'm watching you...


  • Nice, thanks guys, I should get chance to hook everything up on Sunday and have a play, looking forward to it. I have profiled some AxeFX II amps without cab sims in the hope that they will sound good with this type of setup. The monitor out will also be a cool feature by the sound of it :)


    Spence

  • From the FAQ Page:


    "Can I profile just my pre amp?
    Yes you can! Instead of feeding the microphone signal back, simply plug the effect send output of your amp head into the Return of the KPA. When you profile just the pre-amp, the virtual cabinet is without content, so you will not hear any difference when you switch it on or off.
    When you connect the Main Outputs or the Monitor Output of the KPA with the effect return jack of your amp head, you will get the same sound as you get with your real amp. If you don't want to reconnect to your original amp, then simply choose a cabinet from another profile in the Kemper Amp.
    "


    Do you not need to have a load box to do this????

  • Do you not need to have a load box to do this????


    You would never connect the speaker outs from an amp to anything but a speaker or a load box. The instructions say to take the effect send (ie from an effects loop). The amp should still be connected to a speaker cabinet though. Don't ever power up a tube amp without a speaker cabinet connected.

  • Hello, I usually run KPA thru small FRFR for mixing, but for noodling I prefer the Frontam 65 with that huge 12" speaker, I disable the cab on fender & boogie rigs, it sounds like the real stuff to me, with lots of brightness & basses, on other amps I prefer to keep the cab sim on.
    Very inexpensive solution , I bought this 2nd hand amp fro 100€ , the mustang III is also known to be a good solid state amp companion for a KPA.

  • I'm using a ENGL E820 2x35 Watt poweramp and go into a ENGL 2x12 with speaker sim set to off.
    IMHO a very good "in the room" sound (in comparison to my QSC K10s which are also very nice with a little bit of tweaking).
    So for demonstration to other guitarists (who don't know the Kemper and are used to tube amps) or in the rehearsal room my choice is the ENGL combination because of the less microphoned character, but for stage i go for the QSCs.