kempers 8 ohms to 16 ohms what about 4 ohms?

  • OK so I am a bassist and I went the kemper route I am very pleased with the kemper power head . so my question is the kemper pushes 8-16 ohms I am going to be doing my first show with the kemper threw my ampeg svt 410hlf it is rated at 4 ohms I have practiced with the kemper and the ampeg but I haven't really pushed it … will this be an issue or ?

  • Just found this in an older thread, I was wondering the same thing:


    "While we are recommending 8 or 16 Ohm cabinets in combination with our built-in power amplifiers, it is techncially completely safe to use 4 Ohm cabinets.

    However users should be aware of some facts and apply the following best practices.


    Normally the built-in power amplifier would deliver significanty more power loaded with a 4 Ohm cabinet. But its power output

    is technically limited to 600 Watt, which is exactly the maximum it can deliver, if an 8 Ohm cabinet is connected.

    As soon as the power output exceeds 600 Watt, the power amp (not the Profiler) switches off for a short period of time. After about one second

    sound recovers.


    Therefor if you connect a 4 Ohm cabinet, you should adjust your volume so that the power amp never reaches its 600 Watt limit. If it does, it wouldn‘t damage

    the Profiler, but perhaps accidentally interrupt your solo play. Also for health reasons we strongly suggest to be very cautious with such volumes.

    Keep in mind: A 4 Ohm cabinet is normally significantly louder than an 8 Ohm cabinet given all other parameters stay the same.


    For the future we are planning a few firmware enhancements, which will increase the visibility of the power amp performance."

  • Class D power stages deliver certain power across certain loads. If you turn it to max volume on a 4 ohm cab it will try to deliver 1200 Watts exceeding the limit.


    The power amp has a 6 dB boost to reach maximum 600 Watts of power. This means technically, if you limit this boost to 3 dBs or less with a 4 ohm cab it should not exceed 600 Watts. (Every 3 dB doubles the power).

  • I did a stress test onto poweramp section sometime ago to check mine. Put a dumb load (that could reach 1000w) and pushed It to 600w hard, monitoring via oscilloscope.

    After a few minutes of work It starts to force protective shutdown and a brief clip at senoidal wave occurs. But It starts to work again almost imediatelly. It was a no audible test for sure. Don't try this at home :saint:

    Icepeak poweramp os very reliable.

  • Class D power stages deliver certain power across certain loads. If you turn it to max volume on a 4 ohm cab it will try to deliver 1200 Watts exceeding the limit.


    The power amp has a 6 dB boost to reach maximum 600 Watts of power. This means technically, if you limit this boost to 3 dBs or less with a 4 ohm cab it should not exceed 600 Watts. (Every 3 dB doubles the power)

    The correct Power boost is 12db