Kone & Kabinet Q&A

  • Oh no no, I would not do that. Clearly there is an issue/disparity and CKemper already said many high gain folk prefer FRFR mode. The Kemper is awesome and the Kone is amazing too. I could EQ it to sound great (big bass boost) it just took a bit of thought. guitarguy316 it took me 3 months to get used to the Kemper - it is just so sophisticated and requires knowledge to get the most out of it. It is not a GT-100 with presets!! My guess is that Kemper will do something in a free software update to improve Kone for metal players - Kemper is the Tesla of guitar processors. Be patient.

    I’m not doubting the kone technology. It’s just a 1x12 isn’t enough unless playing at small bedroom. Once you go to FRFR route, then you lose the cab in the room feeling/sound so it’s similar to getting a headrush or any other solution.


    I can always add some kones to a cab later on but right now I just don’t think the 112 kabinet cab punch above it’s weight. Yes I did tweak in profiles but also within the global output for monitor out to see if I can improve things.


    Edit - as a side note, I thought kemper customer service was top notch? It’s been a pain so far to figure out how to ship this back them and that whole process. I know times are crazy right now but I can’t get anyone to call me and it took 3 days after multiple inquiries to get a response.

  • i had a mission i/o which i sold immediately after getting the Kone,

    which sits in an 1x12 Open back Cabinet.

    I really like the Imprints, and when switching to full range its absolutely great sounding too

    no need for an extra full range cabinet and with the sweetening control i can adjust extremely fast

    and easy to my personal needs

    for me the Kone works great with Imprints and with full range mode

    Its cool to compare studio rigs which have a speaker which is the same type as one of the imprints,

    in most cases theres nearly no diff in sound but the amp in the room sound is added with the imprint

    which makes it sound even more natural

  • FYI. I have a powered head and Kemper Kone. it is the shit! I play a 1970 marshall small box into a 1970 4x12 and this 1x12 will keep up.


    AND, I am playing my own profiles, so I have a point of reference!


    don't need anything else!


    except this lockdown to get over with and start playing gigs again.



    Rich Morpurgo

  • Exactly - Don't be too quick to put the issue down to the Kemper - it can do it with a few tweaks. Maybe if this metal thing becomes a real issue, perhaps Christophe can create a 4x12 Kabinet with a "blow your socks off' button.

  • Hi Wolf. Yes I received the Kone yesterday, but I haven't tried it in the XiTone yet. I got a Kabinet in the same shipment so was playing with that. I'm not expecting good results with the XiTone afterall. I contacted Dayton amps and they say there's no way to combine the two outputs (bass and treble) into one output, so I think I'd be missing something in the end.

    Because of that, the Kone may go into a 1x12 of my own making.

    Cheers dmatthews - thought so ... I'm actually quite happy with the XiTone, but the Kone sounds very intriguing - weight being one thing, sound options the other ... fighting with my inner temptation currently ^^

  • I’m not doubting the kone technology. It’s just a 1x12 isn’t enough unless playing at small bedroom.

    This is so incorrect. The 112 I have barely gets off of 2 in my bedroom-size practice space.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

  • YEAH , Kone mounted in my super vintage amp's Cab.


    I used the H3 thunder 99 power amp pedal by Behringer , and it's FAR too loud for my needs , I run it a 9 o clock !!!


    This little amp definitely fills all my expectations, but yes the power supply is huge. Runs cleans , smooth and noiseless.


    What a killer addition to my unpowered KPA, cost was pretty low , 99 € for the power amp ( stereo option) and 150€ for the Kone. That makes a 250€ solution sounds like heaven.


    Results are tremendous , my singer says the Mars amp now sounds like a multi thousand dollar amp , and when I tried to crank the Kone, everybody had to get out of the room because of the volume. I kept the cab in open back mode, and I don't lack any bass at all. Bass boost is even a bit too much for me in this untreated room. I had such a blast with my own 'boogie on spring' free profile , try it with the Oxford 12L6 imprint, and you'll have that exact boogie in your room.



    Mounting was fairly easy , 4 screws and 2 points of soldering, it just fits the original design of the original 12 " speaker to perfection.


    Thx to dmatthews for instructions on polarity.

  • My tc BAM200 is arriving tomorrow. Where are you setting gain and master volume, or is that it in the pic?

    at home gain + master at 9 o’clock is already fine. Cranking it up gives huge volume, always clean with either gain or master up. Didn’t want to push both to max, afraid to blow the Kab (although both are designed @200W) and would be much too loud anyway.

  • I don’t know what 2 is but at -15 to -20 dB or so it’s loud sure, but it’s not tight or deep enough for high gain fast thrash, metal, chugging, etc type playing.

    Most people that play the really heavier stuff gravitate towards oversize 2x12s or more. If that is your preference, i can't imagine that there's any 1x12 vintage size cab that will suffice.


    I do play heavier stuff but not metal and have gradually grown out of 4x12s, then 2x12s and am tempted by the Kabinet. With the current climate, I'm unlikely to be able to for a while and might hold off until I can try one anyway.

  • i only found about 1 hour time to play with it (got it on tuesday).
    first i thougt i have to go to fullrange for the clean sounds, but now i like them with imprints when directivity is set to a high value.
    for high gain sounds i use a low value of directivity (3-4).

    so i think i will only use imprints as i love the amp in room sound :love:.
    This amp in room sound i was missing since i bought my first GT-10 about 10 years ago.

  • so i just did sth silly: i tried out the Kone mode with my 10" cheapass vietnamese VOX combo's speaker (i modded a while ago with a separate speaker in so i can just use the speaker with the Kemper). I rarely use the cab since for me the K sounds way better on minotrs with sub or headphones. Can't say i'm blown away by the results but it's also definitely not worse sounding in Kone mode. Some subtle changes with different imprints, some more dramatic than others, but you can definitely hear a difference with different imprints ... bass boost does sth but not really boosting the bass.


    i'm dyin to get the real thing but still recovering from a broken wrist so doesn't make sense to get one yet until i can play like normal ... but today curiosity just got the better of me :D


    just thought i'd let you know ...




    -------------------------------------------------------

    free you mind and your ass will follow …

  • I don’t know what 2 is but at -15 to -20 dB or so it’s loud sure, but it’s not tight or deep enough for high gain fast thrash, metal, chugging, etc type playing.

    That's a different problem. "not loud enough" is not the same as "doesn't sound good", which is what it seems you're saying.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

  • Hello everybody,


    I wish you all good health!


    This is my first post here on the forum.


    I received my Kone on Monday and installed it directly in my active birch multiplex cabinet. What can I say, excellent!


    First of all I would like to thank Christoph Kemper and his excellent team for the excellent work to date! For the cost-effective further developments and the excellent service that is offered. If I consider that other manufacturers sometimes ask a lot for updates and extensions! Bravo, keep it up!


    Unfortunately, I was only able to test a little more extensively this evening. What I have tried so far has really convinced me.


    As I see it, it will only be really interesting when there is the possibility to edit and program the cone from the individual rig.


    I've been playing in the monitor out on a guitar speaker since I started Kemper a few years ago. First of all about a Celestion V30 and later about a Celestion Rockdriverer I like my taste a little better.


    What I immediately noticed is that of course all of my mainly used rigs sometimes sound very different. Which is also logical, since the loudspeaker has a significant influence on the specific clean and distorted sound. However, I was able to reproduce almost all of them using the setting options. Unfortunately, the rockdriver is not available as an imprint, as it is installed in many hughes & kettner amps and cabinets.

    I also see it as a welcome opportunity to create new sounds. It will be a lot of work, but it will also be a lot of fun.


    So far I have played my cabinet with the guitar speakers over a Defexx. Is that still recommended with the Kone? The manual says that it should not be removed like a classic speaker.

  • Welcome to the forum!

    Go for it now. The future is promised to no one. - Wayne Dyer