Best all round cabinet for powered Kemper?

  • In general, you’ll hear this forum talk mostly highly of FRFR speakers as you get the best variance of tone and likely the “truest” representation of the profiled sound.


    Check out YouTube for “Tone Junkie FRFR shootout”. It has everything you’re looking for.


    You might also want to wait until Summer when Kemper releases their cabinet. Seems like they have some special tricks up their sleeve with a purpose built speaker.


    As for me, I will always lust after a Mission Gemini 2P. Kinda wished I’d saved a little money and gone the non-powered route and used the savings to buy the Gemini. Stereo in a single cab.

  • The benefit of FRFR for many guitarists, that don't have good monitors with a good space in which to monitor, is that you can tweak your rig to make it sound good FOH.


    They aren't as 'fun' to play through as a thumping cabinet moving lots of air - but for me, the crowd and what they hear (all 6 of them) are more important than me :)


    But as a previous poster mentioned...if I was just starting the journey now...I'd wait to see what the Kemper proprietary cabinet is like.


    Cheers,

    Greg

    PRS Custom 22's - Fender Strats - Diezel VH4 - Carol Ann OD2 - Toneking Imperial MK2 - Colin the Kemper - CLR Neo ii.

  • There’s no right answer here... it’s really quite simple: if you want to hear the “true” representation of the profile, you use FRFR: whether it be a ground monitor or in ears. If you want to hear your Direct/merged profiles through your cabinet because you like the way that “virtual” amp sounds on a cab, then use your favorites 4x12 or whatever traditional speaker cab. Merged profiles have the added benefit of being able to send the full profile direct out to the FOH, while still enjoying the “real amp” onstage sound with a cab experience. It’s all what you want to do in reality. Some guys even mic their cabs on stage while using direct amp profiles for a very traditional rig, being able to have “virtual amp heads” at their disposal to mic through their cab at any time... again, all in what you want to do...

  • With a powered Kemper having a great 1x12 on stage while sending a profile—obviously meant to sound good—to front of house, this can be very effective. Even for people who are also also using in-ears. That age-old inference that guitarists using guitar speakers vs frfr somehow don’t care about what the audience hears, it has zero basis in reality. So far signs point to the Kemper speaker addressing the failings of frfr by adding versatility to a (relatively) traditional guitar driver. Hope it’s a success!

  • In 2018, I got myself a Mesa Boogie Thiele cab, and it's really nice with the Kemper. Can handle up to 200 watts thanks to the EVM12L speaker, and because it's built to Thiele specifications, it actually reproduces the sound like a PA.


    Consequently, you can actually tell the difference across profiles when using it. It still, however, retains that guitar cabinet feeling.


    In comparison, when I go through my 4x12, it just sounds like my 4x12.


    This is actually one of the classic speakers. I noticed that the new Kemper Kabinet has the EVM12L as a model!


    I'll try and shoot a video in the morning so you get an idea of how this cabinet sounds like with various profiles.

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    Here's my demo of the Mesa Boogie Thiele with EVM12L.


    You can jump to a wonderful clean tone at 2.30, an awesome crunch sound at 8 minutes and a demented heavy djent sound at 19.10. 8)

  • hat age-old inference that guitarists using guitar speakers vs frfr somehow don’t care about what the audience hears, it has zero basis in reality.

    While agree that it is a massive generalisation and stereotype, I don't believe it is true that it has NO basis in reality. It is pretty common to go see a band with a 100w head and at least on 412 cab cranked because "it's the only way to get my tone". In this case the front of house mix is typically awful because the guitar drowns everything else out. When the sound guy tells the guitarist he need to turn down the response is 'that's my sound deal with it" or "you must be a crap sound guy". I agree it isn't necessarily a cab v frfr issue but more a generic guitarist thing though.

  • While agree that it is a massive generalisation and stereotype, I don't believe it is true that it has NO basis in reality. It is pretty common to go see a band with a 100w head and at least on 412 cab cranked because "it's the only way to get my tone". In this case the front of house mix is typically awful because the guitar drowns everything else out. When the sound guy tells the guitarist he need to turn down the response is 'that's my sound deal with it" or "you must be a crap sound guy". I agree it isn't necessarily a cab v frfr issue but more a generic guitarist thing though.


    I always like a happy middle to that argument. Route a cable from the power amp to a cabinet and send stereo outputs to the FOH.

  • nightlight I'm all for the happy middle to any argument :)


    The point I as trying to make is that there is a certain type of (not uncommon) guitarist who, even in the case of a cab and mains to FOH, still needs to run the guitar so loud on stage through that cab that the band sound suffers. Players who are generally happy to embrace FRFR tend (in my limited experience) to also be more open to getting the best out front sound for the whole band. I know that it is "bad science" to assume that the two things share a cause and effect relationship though.

  • nightlight I'm all for the happy middle to any argument :)


    The point I as trying to make is that there is a certain type of (not uncommon) guitarist who, even in the case of a cab and mains to FOH, still needs to run the guitar so loud on stage through that cab that the band sound suffers. Players who are generally happy to embrace FRFR tend (in my limited experience) to also be more open to getting the best out front sound for the whole band. I know that it is "bad science" to assume that the two things share a cause and effect relationship though.



    Agreed. But I'll also think the tech plays a part there: tube amps really need to be opened up and cabinets need to really move some air in order to get the best tone out them.


    In that regard, I sympathise with guys who are touring on a tight budget or just playing at the local pub to a certain extent. The tech has definitely moved on, but not everybody is able to embrace it because of clinging to old traditions or because of the expense.


    Of course, I don't sympathise at the same time because there are always workarounds to keep your amp volume low, such as using a low wattage version or in a worst case scenario an attenuator.


    Wouldn't it be great if there was a Kemper "Player" which cost less than a full blown Profiler, but allowed you to load the same great profiles?


    It would be a wonderful invention. Even though I have a full blown Profiler, I would buy one in a flash if it was compact and user-friendly enough.

  • All good points. There is still a sub group thpugh who could have a low wattage amp or digital amp but won’t use it because it isn’t macho enough.


    The only “real” amp I stil have GAS for is a Soldano. I would love a real SLO but in reality if I eve get the chance to pick one up it will be a Hot Rod 25 because a 100w SLOis overkill.

  • All good points. There is still a sub group thpugh who could have a low wattage amp or digital amp but won’t use it because it isn’t macho enough.


    The only “real” amp I stil have GAS for is a Soldano. I would love a real SLO but in reality if I eve get the chance to pick one up it will be a Hot Rod 25 because a 100w SLOis overkill.

    Yeah, I got past the ego stuff long ago. if it sounds good, it is good.


    Prior to the Kemper I had a 50w Marshall and a 40w Fender. Cranking either to power tube distortion was painful. I wasn't thinking about gigging at the time, so I thought I'd give the 15 watt amps a try. Figured I didn't need much since it was just for recording. I added an EVH lunchbox and a Vox AC15. Because I don't have volume constraints in the studio I didn't bother with built in attenuators other than a test to make sure they worked. They both sounded great, which I expected.


    What I wasn't expecting was how freakin' loud 15 watts can be. I was passing 105db with the master only halfway up. I could easily gig with either, and probably still be asked to turn down. And that's just 15 watts.


    Fast forward to the Kemper timezone. Last night I was playing in the studio with full arrangement tracks and nothing but IEMs. No pain, great balance, could even hear myself sing (a rare treat in a rock setting). Another surprise is that I'm not feeling the need for a cab for the thump when on IEMs. With the Voodu Valve, it sounded good but I still ran a 12 cab when on IEMs because it just didn't feel right otherwise. I'm not sure why it's different with the Kemper, but it is. Maybe it's due to the "already miked and ready for the mix thing," dunno.


    That said, I'm certainly not missing having "real amps" around. I can easily see sending this to FOH and my IEMs and not needing anything else on stage.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • All good points. There is still a sub group thpugh who could have a low wattage amp or digital amp but won’t use it because it isn’t macho enough.


    The only “real” amp I stil have GAS for is a Soldano. I would love a real SLO but in reality if I eve get the chance to pick one up it will be a Hot Rod 25 because a 100w SLOis overkill.


    Soldanos are killer amps, a good choice!


    I was lucky to score an Avenger 50 some time back. Amazing tones even with the master at 9 o'clock, but you really need to crank that thing and get the power tubes moving to get the full effect.


    SLO prices are crazy right now after Mike Soldano retired. But now that BAD is going to make the SLOs, hopefully we will see the prices come down somewhat.

  • I use a powered Kemper (monitor cab off) feeding a Rick Johnson 1x12 Cab (common pine, open back, lacquered tweed) with a Jensen Jet Tornado Stealth 65. Basically using the Kemper like I would any amp head. Sounds glorious. Also like it with an EVM-12L, but the Stealth sounds really great and is a lot lighter (neo mag). Would probably find the EVM a better choice if I used drop tunings or played metal (I don't).

  • Another vote for the Mesa Boogie Thiele. Very tight, focused sound and well suited to stage monitoring.


    I had replaced the stock speaker with a Celestion Gold (12", 50W) a few years back, and it certainly does the trick for gigs - FOH is run from the main outs to the sound board. There is a bit of colouration to the profiles by the speaker, but it's not bad colouration and definitely gives the "cab in the room" feel on stage. The Kemper is set up with "monitor cabinet = off" and a bit of high-end rolloff on the output EQ which with this combo gives me the best match of speaker to FOH sound. I've also done some smaller gigs with just the speaker and it still sounds great.


    The other benefit is with a 1x12" cab and the Kemper, the whole gigging rig is very lightweight and portable.


    I do have a Celestion F12-X200 on order and will give it a try once it arrives in a month or so.


    Cheers,

    Fred