Xitone Michael Britt 112, about to pull the trigger, is it the ultimate FRFR for Kemper guitar sounds right now?

  • Hi all,


    So I've had my Kemper for only about a month, getting it slowly dialed in. It sounded ok through my studio monitors and then I got a DXR10 and it sounded SO much better, truly convinced me that the sound of the Kemper is worth all the hassle. I really dig the DXR10 but before my return window expires, I'm thinking it makes sense to just go the best solution I can here since the speaker makes such a huge difference to the Kemper experience so... to get the most amp in the room sound I can to cover a range from home playing to jamming with friends (I'm older now, don't gig anymore), it seems like the Michael Britt 112 Xitone open/closed back is pretty much the ultimate for this, are there any better options out there?

  • Hey
    I don't own a mbritt xitone but a red sound LG12 which is IMO a superb product. Although I can't compare i assume most solution are equivalent.


    Here's my 2cts


    I am now confident when saying that none of these FRFR or GRFR will ever sound like a guitar cab. Do not expect the "directionnal" sound that is the source of the amp in the room feeling that cabs do. These are not the same products. IMO it is great for what it does i.e. delivering a +/- linear sound with a wide dispersion and freaking loud volume.


    It takes time to get used to it if you are coming from the tube amp and cab world as most of us. Just don't waste energy and money on frustration cause it won't cure anything and once you are used to it, you don't wanna go back.


    I'd stay with my dxr10 if I were you. It has enough praise here to be considered as a top quality product.


    Cheers

  • I would say that as the XiTone uses a concentric driver (not separate tweeter/woofer) it gets closer to the sound we are used to with a standard cab (IMHO)


    I tried a couple of FRFR with separate speakers and they just didn't feel the same - the MBritt seemed a lot more familiar.


    Without wanting to get into a separate debate nothing I have tried 'feels' quite the same way - it sounds just as good however to me (if not better!). Maybe this is in my mind of course..


    Regards,


    Si

  • Am I wrong or are all manufacturers of these so called FRFR cabs for Kemper, Axe fx and so on only using third party components to make it "their own product"? Friedman is only rebranding "their" ASM-12.......
    In this case the XiTone M-Britt = Celection TF1225 + Dayton PMA800DSP + some pieces of wood.

  • You are correct about the XiTone - third party suppliers but design & construction is Mick and testing/validation/tuning is Michael.


    Can't imagine many products in the modern world are manufactured without a significant supply chain of components. Adam Smith made a pretty good case for specialization a long time ago :)


    Si

  • True, but these days it's more obvious than years ago. On the other hand, why would they be mysterious about it, since everything is to be found on the internet.

  • I'm in the same boat, sold my two DXR10's yesterday, after using them intensively last half year. But there was always "something" with the sound. Don't get me wrong, the sound is great but it the end it wasn't satisfactory. Stereo is great as well but I don't think I will choose it again, so one cab or wedge will do. These options came to mind (I'm only looking at European (web)shops) and obviously I prefer a coaxial design in a wood cabinet:
    1. Friedman ASC-12 (not coax, I know)
    2. Matrix Q12A
    3. db Technologies Flexsys FM12
    4. Dynacord AXM12A
    5. Nova KD12
    Someone who has some useable input about this? Thanks!!

  • i have the mission I/o best cab for KPA ever imho
    before I had dxr 10 but I got the problem with separate tweeter and speaker
    not so Guitar cab style sounding
    but the mission solved it

  • I'd research the cabinet MBritt used himself to make 1/2 his profiles and get that one!
    Made every early amp he profiled sound fantastic (well, being perfectly honest, from Pack 2 until he started doing sole amp profiles)


    I too am a Cabinet guy. Cabinet was 2x12 $200 from Avatar, Celestion speakers were $160, Stealth power amp was $170, all used.


    My attitude about FRFR is you get it to reproduce the sound of the Kemper pedals and sound as exacting as you can hear them in monitoring cans or recorded, right?
    So why in hell would you kill your potential use of stereo effects with a 1x12?!?


    If you're just going to go traditional Mono, might as well use a traditional guitar cabinet.
    MBritt's profiles out of all I've tried work just about flawlessly with real cabinets to my ears. Turn off CAB and perhaps use minimal tweaking after that to suit the type of guitar.

  • First of all, I don't like Mbritt profiles, it's just a matter of taste. If it works for you, that's great.
    Second, it's a fact that if you want the best stereo sound with two independent speakers, you have to place them at least 2,5 m. from one another and your best (static) listening position has to be in the middle of those two speakers, in a triangular. This is no different from HiFi speakers.
    And third, when I'm playing live I am not concerning about hearing my sound in stereo, because my KPA goes straight into F.O.H., so there's no killing potential use of stereo. And back to the second point, when playing live I'm never on a static listening position.
    So mono will do, it's only for monitoring and I'm gonna use it in that matter for rehearsal only.

  • Well I pulled the trigger last night, wait time is 2-4 weeks :( but I'm very excited. I liked the single DXR10 sound... but it left me wanting, just a bit. It sounds like from what I've read, Xitone should get me a bit closer. I'm not chasing an exact cab in a room sound, just a bit more natural cab sounding than the DXR10. Don't get me wrong, the DXR10 sounded great, enough so to convince me that the Kemper was potentially good enough to allow me to sell all my old amps, cabs and pedals... but with the DXR10, it wasn't QUITE there yet. I just felt like it could be a bit better and the particular unit I have makes odd noises with the amp, wining sounds when silent, and the plastic cabinet it's built in doesn't exactly lend itself to warm tones. I know it sounds obvious but I didn't realize the big impact different FRFR options would have as I'm so used to traditional amp heads and cabs - sure a 1x12 vs 2x12 with different speakers will change your tone but perhaps not quite as drastically as say using mid level studio monitors like BX8's, vs PA speakers like the DXR10 vs headphones, all have sounded very different with the Kemper.


    I seriously considered going with the Kemper into power amp to guitar cab - I tried going into the FX return of my JTM45... it sounded very nice... but then it does hit you that, whatever cab you're going through (in my case a 2x12 with greenbacks) will always be the cab sound you hear. A big appeal of the Kemper is having drastically different sounding amps / cabs in one box. Greenbacks will always sound like greenbacks, which are my favorite speaker, but the Kemper makes it so fun to have any cab and speaker sound right on tap. With a Xitone faithfully recreating any sound the Kemper throws at it, it should be a lot of fun.


    Stereo? Ah, who cares. It's a little fun when I hook the Kemper up to my studio monitors but when jamming with friends, it's a bit much to lug out two separate speakers and then spread them apart to create a massive sound stage just for my guitar :)

  • i sold my diezel 212 cab last week because i wanted full benefit of the kemper. I noticed that all nuances vanished with a regular cab. Thru headphones the profiles sounded much different from each other. I wanted to hear that as well! Now use a passive clr and i'm really happy. I hear myself much better , other bandmembers as well. This at much lower volumes (wedge)


    Raf

    Kemper stage with 2 mission pedals (in a Thon line 6 FBV case) and a Zilla 212 (K-100/V30) , SD powerstage 700 poweramp

  • Yes - the cab is a significant contributor to the sound so if you don't go FRFR then the profiles can end up sounding somewhat similar.


    It was a big driver for me moving away from a conventional cab.


    Si

  • It was supposed to be like 2 weeks for mine. I’m on about 4 weeks with at least another week left. Mick is transitioning to spraying the coating on the cabs in-house to better manage QC.