As a general question, do FRFR speakers offer better tone than a QSC 12.2 speaker?

  • Hello all. I recently posted a question about profiles sounding relatively the same, but I started to think that it had less to do with the profiles themselves, and more to do with the speaker that I was playing from. I have a QSC 12.2 that does sound good, but it does not sound like an amp. I hear people on YouTube getting tone that sounds like the actual amp. That is what drew me (and I'm sure many others) to the Kemper profiler stage specifically. My question is, does a FRFR speaker provide better "amp like" tone since it is designed specifically for guitars? If so, is it better tone wise to just mic the FRFR speaker for a gig, instead of going straight into house sound?

  • You are confusing a few things:

    1. An FRFR cab is not designed specifically for guitar. FRFR stands for full range flat response which means that any studio monitor, PA box, monitor cab per definition is FRFR.

    2. Your QSC 12.2 is indeed an FRFR cab.


    Now comes the most important part: Although on paper (flat response) no FRFR cab should color the sound in reality they all do (more or less). Which means they don’t sound the same.

    FRFR therefore in the end is a misleading term (like HiFi) because in reality the non-coloration is hardly ever fully achieved.


    If you don’t like the sound coming from your QSC cab but like it more on your studio monitors (or how do you dial in sounds) I'd recommend to look after another FRFR cab solution. There are many options.

    Lately the Headrush FRFR 108 has got lots of positive reviews (incl. mine).


    P.S.: Miking an FRFR cab live is a very bad idea. Always go straight to FOH.

  • - I have a QSC 12.2 that does sound good, but it does not sound like an amp.

    - Is it better tone wise to just mic the FRFR speaker for a gig, instead of going straight into house sound?

    Always keep in mind that most Kemper profiles (non-DI) reproduce the signal chain of a mic'ed amp, not an "amp in the room".

    Therefore, mic'ing an FRFR kinda defeats the purpose, IMO.


    As Ingolf mentioned, you may want to try a few other FRFR's.

    (I also own a Headrush (112) and really like it).

  • The Head rush 12 FRFR sounds really good and is priced right

    If you wanna step up, The Friedman 12 FRFR sounds fantastic, but its pricey.

    The best thing to do is take your kemper And guitar down to your music store And A/B some monitors.

    You’ll find one ?