Kone & Kabinet Q&A

  • I do have a question for ckemper - I think you said literally any class D solid state amplifier would do? If so why is there a huge difference in price between says Powerstage 700 R&L or a HB Thunder 99 or a Car Radio Amplifier or CAmplifier or Carvin -- I know a huge difference in W output, but would we expect the same sound output from the Kones at the same volume - or are all class-D's not equal from your experience?

  • I received the Kone on monday and installed it in a 1x12 Palmer cab. So far I didn't really test all different speaker imprints. But I have to say that the V30 imprint sounds amazing with high gain profiles! It sounds much better than with profile cab in full range mode.
    I'm looking forward to discover the other imprints. Once again amazing work Kemper team! Thanks a lot.

    I personally disagree. But we know how subjective tone is. I far more enjoy the sound with cab disabled off and running the profiles cab through “FR” mode. To me the imprint sounds blanketed and takes a lot of the gain away. The profile cab through the Kone has more bite to me. I play it with Kone enabled and adjust the sweetening to taste with cab disabled turned off.

  • I personally disagree. But we know how subjective tone is. I far more enjoy the sound with cab disabled off and running the profiles cab through “FR” mode. To me the imprint sounds blanketed and takes a lot of the gain away. The profile cab through the Kone has more bite to me. I play it with Kone enabled and adjust the sweetening to taste with cab disabled turned off.

    May I ask you what profiles / IR's you are using? It might vary but for me the speaker imprint sounds more consistent with the Kone than the FR mode.
    But yes this is subjective :)

  • I personally disagree. But we know how subjective tone is. I far more enjoy the sound with cab disabled off and running the profiles cab through “FR” mode. To me the imprint sounds blanketed and takes a lot of the gain away. The profile cab through the Kone has more bite to me. I play it with Kone enabled and adjust the sweetening to taste with cab disabled turned off.

    I may be reading your post wrong so apologies if I am but, if you're disabling the cab section on the kemper then you aren't using FR mode on the kone as the kone still requires the cab section to be on. You need to select the kone, and have the monitor cab off unticked in the output setting for the FR setting. If you run the kemper with cab section turned off you're in effect just using a profile of an amp head running through the kone as if it were it's own speaker like a standard cab, as the kone is only FR when the DSP compensates the speaker to make it FR.

    - Liam



  • 370-37f56db3a9d8efcdfa6a144144c520d0e4434c90.jpg
    Quote from Joptunes The Kabinet didn't have the hi-Fi sound to it and just feels more natural.

    Right, because there's no tweeter and the above-mentioned lowpass filter is obtained mechanically, so to speak.

    This is part of what "amp in the room" means.


    Sorry pippopluto, to intervene here again.

    As you come from the scientific side, let us stay on that side.


    The Kone does not feature a natural lowpass filter as the Kone mode fully compensates for it.

    We advertise a flat frequency responce. Challenge us!


    When a user claims that the Kabinet didn't have that Hi-Fi sound, then it might be that the Kone is lowpassed, OR that the speaker compared to, is too bright in certain frequency ranges. That is, they don't seem to be really flat response.


    I can tell that the latter is the case on one or two two-way speakers dedicated for guitarists. I have them all in my room ...

  • I do have a question for ckemper - I think you said literally any class D solid state amplifier would do? If so why is there a huge difference in price between says Powerstage 700 R&L or a HB Thunder 99 or a Car Radio Amplifier or CAmplifier or Carvin -- I know a huge difference in W output, but would we expect the same sound output from the Kones at the same volume - or are all class-D's not equal from your experience?

    The price truly depends in the wattage, but also in the appeareance (the Seymour Duncan looks very boutique) and mass production.

    Class D amp technique is very mature today, mainly since there is a handful of companies specializing in developing Class D amps solely, as an OEM product. Brand companies as Seymour Duncan (and us as well) purchase these ready-to-go, as it's hard to match their qualities. One had to throw half a million into reinventing the wheel.


    Car HiFi might be a different story, but solid state power amps (not only class d) dedicated to musicians will have quality that is out of question.

    Usually a power wattage should match the wattage of the speaker(s).


    It is recommendable however, to have 1.5 to 2x the wattage available. This ensures that short impulses (such as pick attacks from clean sounds) do not get compressed around the wattage of the speakers.

  • FWIW, over the 4 years or so I've owned a unpowered Kemper, I have tried every power amp I can lay my hands on with it. I tried the Kemper and external amps with both FRFRs and standard guitar cabs and speakers. Here's a brief list of at least the ones I can remember:


    McIntosh MC30

    Dynaco ST70

    Multiple Marshall tube amps power stages (Haze 40, VIntage Modern 100W)

    Behringer NU1000DSP rack class D power amp

    Marshall 8008 Valvestate rack power amp

    Crate PowerBlock (using the RCA input with no speaker emulation)

    Multiple class D power amp modules with different chip sets (TI TPA3116 in regular and bridged mode, Tripath)

    Peavey Bandit Transtube power amp stage

    ICEPower 50ASX2BTL module (same as in SD Powerstage 170)

    Sure AA-AB31241 600W class D power amp module


    In most cases, the solid state amp modules had a similar feel in the lower mids and bass, kind of a plastic fake sensation. The tube amps seemed a bit mushy and indistinct, for the lack of a better term. Very distracting and disappointing in most cases, and I really didn't enjoy the experience due to this coloration. I was not happy with the majority of the amps, even though I was very pleased with the direct tones of the Kemper.


    But the single amp I've tried so far that was significantly better than all others (tube or solid state) in tone and feel is the ICEPower module. The distracting tone and feel in the lower mids and bass is absent with that amp, and I found I could lose the sensation I was playing a profiler and get lost in the tone. This has endured over the last year I have used the ICEPower. IMHO there really isn't any other choice. The next one I plan to try is the ICEPower 200ASC module, promises to be a bit easier to integrate than the 50ASX2BTL.


    But overall, if I had to do it all over again, I would have bought a powered Kemper. After 4 years of Kemper use, the internal power amp is essential for my needs.

  • a HB Thunder 99

    I have one used on mono on a single Kone, I never dare to push the volume upper than 12 o' clock , it's rated 50 W


    It's as loud as a 50 W amp tube I could try in the past, largely enough to cover a drum, maybe not a heavy metal kit , but a rock one , yes.


    It does not seem to distort at high volume while cranked and it's dead silent.


    Stereo option is also really cool , I will maybe add another Kone to make a real stereo CAB later.

  • do you maybe know if TC electronic BAM-200 is IcePower? It says, that it has class D amp...

  • Difference between a regular instrument cable, and a Speaker cable (for the Kabinet). This is why I waited a day. Kemper said the other cable would overheat. It was worth the 1-day wait.


  • Can I change the Speaker Imprints in Rig Manager? Can't seem to find it. I can do it from the Toaster.


    Never mind, wasn't scrolling down in the Output section. Couldn't find a way to delete this post :P

  • Difference between a regular instrument cable, and a Speaker cable (for the Kabinet). This is why I waited a day. Kemper said the other cable would overheat. It was worth the 1-day wait.


    I have always used speaker cables but most of the guitarists I know use anything. One in particular has always used a guitar cable, with Marshall 100w heads etc without any issue and regularly gigs and tours.


    I'm not about to do the same as I have three speaker cables but i can no longer agree that there is a genuine difference. Certainly, weedy, cheap instrument cables might be a problem, especially with fine shielding as the second conductor. If that breaks the circuit damage might occur to a valve amp but a good quality instrument cable appears to be ok!

  • I have always used speaker cables but most of the guitarists I know use anything. One in particular has always used a guitar cable, with Marshall 100w heads etc without any issue and regularly gigs and tours.


    I'm not about to do the same as I have three speaker cables but i can no longer agree that there is a genuine difference. Certainly, weedy, cheap instrument cables might be a problem, especially with fine shielding as the second conductor. If that breaks the circuit damage might occur to a valve amp but a good quality instrument cable appears to be ok!

    I have to disagree from my experience. I think your buddy has been lucky to not have a failure and I think if he's running his amps at high volume not all of the sound is making it through to the speakers.


    I do agree that there's a general lack of understanding about this amongst a big % of guitarists. I've been in a few live situations where someone has killed a guitar cable this way or by using one as an unpowered PA speaker cable.

  • In general it is better to use speaker cables for speakers, and instrument cables for instruments, but only from the perspective that each cable has the design requirements of its use taken into account. I would rather use a high quality instrument cable to a speaker than a cheap speaker cable.


    There are only two ways I can think of that would cause a bad cable to kill an amp; one is if you are using a tube amp and the speaker cable loses continuity. That could happen with a speaker cable or instrument cable; often both cables will use identical connectors, and solder joints could fail in either.


    The other way would be if the amp is solid state and sensitive to capacitive loading on its output, and you are using a shielded instrument cable of sufficient length to present enough parallel capacitance to the amp to cause issues. The old Crown DC300 was notorious for going into ultrasonic oscillation and malfunctioning with high capacitance loads, but newer amps are mostly protected from such issues.


    Using an instrument cable with a Kemper and Kab shouldn't necessarily be a problem, but if the cable is long and has enough series resistance, it could dissipate significant power over its length, and that means heat. But it is highly dependent on the cable length, cable characteristics, and how loud the speaker is playing. Just because a cable has resistance (and all cables do), and power is being dissipated, does not mean it will feel hot. Every resistor ever made is turning power to heat, but most you encounter do not feel hot. It depends on the power being dissipated and how much area is present to dissipate it to the surrounding environment.