Poweramp for Kemper and Kabinet.

  • The topic with this amp is, I am pretty sure the tone stack is designed for bass so works as well for guitar, and it should be able to be bypassed, if I can decipher a safe way to bypass it, then you would have a perfect compact preamp for your kone without the need to fiddle with your knobs. But then we are talking about out of warranty operations XD There is a small highs roll off wich I would like to be a bit higher, but doesnt really affect the tone, from 5kHz up, the cabinets barely have any content, it is traduced as "air" on guitar playing (you just adjust the presence a bit up). Also, I am not using 1:1 normalized outputs, so this is not an accurate representation of the amount of dBs the drop represent, but this graph show us that it is indeed a linear amp with low and high filter. Before anyone says something about it, look for the graph of a powerstage 170 and you will see the same kind of curve. I love being objective on these topics, the BAM for me has the best quality/price ratio for a kemper poweramp.

    The answer is 42

  • Thanks for the effort.

    Alfahdj,

    What did you use to record the frequency response?

    REW, the same as Vtgearhead, from an output of my main interface, to the input of the BAM, then from the direct out of the bam, to a line in from my interface. As I said, the power amp section should be pretty linear, but we had to solve if the tone stack changes the general eq. It does, but you can adjust pretty easily.

    The answer is 42

  • Hi, Alfahdj,


    Thanks for all the work and documenting your results.


    ST

    No a problem, I was about to buy the unit anyway as I had a problem with my former self made power amp (125ASX2 icepower amp), now next step is testing the amped output trough a DI box, that way we can totally test how flat the D amp power section is when connected to a speaker, but thats just having fun, the amp sounds well, played the other day with my classic lead 80 2x12 self made cab, I like it, feels warmer than the icepower, but that might just be the Highs roll off I mentioned before.

    The answer is 42

  • started to get a slight buzz noise on my ice poweramp install. Only when guitar signal is being played, disappears completley when no notes are played. Changed guitars, cables and resoldered the jack. Any ideas? :(

  • I loaded two Kones into a Marshall vertical 2x12 and tried 3 different power amps.


    First up was the Quilter Toneblock 202. It sounded great, but it didn't really seem like the *perfect * fit for that application.


    Second was the Orange Pedal Baby. I liked that a little better.. impressively built, plenty of headroom, and the bass and treble controls (i.e., depth and presence) were very useful. I did some basic analysis using pink noise, and it had a very flat response with the controls set to noon. I don't know if the class AB circuitry really does provide a more amp-like feel than class D as the marketing copy claims, but it felt very amp-like to me. It really felt like the perfect fit for the application.


    Finally, I tried the Fryette LXII, a single-rack-space all-tube power amp. 4 6L6's for two channels @ 50 watts or bridged mono @ 100 watts. That thing is a work of art and purpose-built to use with modelers/profilers. I pulled up a Bassman profile, played a few licks, and started re-boxing the PedalBaby within 30 seconds. I could not believe the difference in the sound and feel that I experienced. In fact, I've become even more impressed with the Kemper and Kone technology in the two months that I've had this since I'm hearing and feeling details that I missed before. Obviously, the price points, form factors and weights are much different; this is not a knock on the Orange. But I can't recommend the Fryette enough for delivering the "amp in the room" sound (the 2x12 Kone configuration in a Marshall cab doesn't hurt). It's in another league, my friends. I opened up the case to get a peek at the guts, and it's very impressive. Fryette (VHT), makes great stuff.

  • Any more people try the BAM200? Wonder if I would even tell the difference between it and the SD 170 if I used the settings that were posted earlier. Just trying to get that amp in the room feeling and tone.

  • Any more people try the BAM200? Wonder if I would even tell the difference between it and the SD 170 if I used the settings that were posted earlier. Just trying to get that amp in the room feeling and tone.

    If those settings are used for a neutral amp the BAM will be great, and way cheaper

  • I bought Ritter Camplifier 280 for my UnPowered Profiler Head last summer.


    I run it to Kemper Kabinet and have been happier, than ever before in my tones.


    The thing, that Ritter Camplifier is integrated behind the Kemper Head is so cool. It is the Best option to upgrade your UnPowered Head version to Powered IMO. 8)

    Gear: Kemper Profiler | Neural DSP Plugins
    Guitars: .Strandberg*

  • I have the unpowered rack. I am probably just going to custom build a mojotone cab with Kemper kone and use a BAM200 amp. Worst case if I don’t like the BAM I will return it and get the SD 170. I am going to mount the cab in the studio monitor rack underneath the Kemper rack.

  • started to get a slight buzz noise on my ice poweramp install. Only when guitar signal is being played, disappears completley when no notes are played. Changed guitars, cables and resoldered the jack. Any ideas? :(

    I feel you bro, DIY has these perks. Can you record anything? I can help, depending on the type of sound, it might be a ground/reference issue, or static for example. I can try to do diagnostic based on the sound itself. My failure was a different story, I blew up the input in the icepower because I was trying to bridge it with another amp and see how it worked, I realized I made a short circuit too late.

    The answer is 42

  • I feel you bro, DIY has these perks. Can you record anything? I can help, depending on the type of sound, it might be a ground/reference issue, or static for example. I can try to do diagnostic based on the sound itself. My failure was a different story, I blew up the input in the icepower because I was trying to bridge it with another amp and see how it worked, I realized I made a short circuit too late.

    oh wow sorry to hear that pal. i seem to be back to normal for the time being, maybe it was the kemper being a bit finnicky. ive had rig manager being a bit unresponsive after updating etc, it might have stabilised more hopefully.


    it was a faint buzz riding immediately on top any note played, so assume it was the kemper spluttering <X

  • oh wow sorry to hear that pal. i seem to be back to normal for the time being, maybe it was the kemper being a bit finnicky. ive had rig manager being a bit unresponsive after updating etc, it might have stabilised more hopefully.


    it was a faint buzz riding immediately on top any note played, so assume it was the kemper spluttering <X

    Good to hear it :) my case is not so bad, I just blew an opamp, I should be able to find it in an electrics store, but I am too lazy to look for it in the middle of pandemic

    The answer is 42

  • ...My failure was a different story, I blew up the input in the icepower because I was trying to bridge it with another amp and see how it worked, I realized I made a short circuit too late.

    Alahdj, Although the icepower amps are rugged, Class D type amps don't do well with a miswiring either on the input or output. If you bridged the output w/ another amp, then the output FETS have most likely failed possibly along with the drivers. If you blew the input, then too large an input signal most likely failed the first gain stage. I doubt you can acquire a schematic from B&O but a service center in your area may be able to help. hth

  • Alahdj, Although the icepower amps are rugged, Class D type amps don't do well with a miswiring either on the input or output. If you bridged the output w/ another amp, then the output FETS have most likely failed possibly along with the drivers. If you blew the input, then too large an input signal most likely failed the first gain stage. I doubt you can acquire a schematic from B&O but a service center in your area may be able to help. hth

    I know, I am an idiot sometimes, but at least I learnt something. About the component, it is not a big deal, I already have it identified and I can get it pretty cheap, I just havent been able to pick it up. Its fine, I tried some really fuzzy things with this amp, I am impressed it lasted this long.

    The answer is 42