Powering the new Kemper Kone speaker with RITTER Camplifier / GBA products

  • Hello Kemper community,


    my name is Tilman Ritter.


    I am the owner of "RITTER Amplification" , which is a small company located in Dresden Germany that produces amplifier modules, for the use with the KPA, the Profiler Stage and other modeling solutions for electric guitar.


    Some of you might know our products under the name of "Camplifier" or "Guitar Board Amp".


    Since Kemper introduced their "Kemper Kone" speaker this year, we got many requests about or products, mainly asking if they are suitable for powering the Kemper Kone speaker or not.


    Some questions come up again and again, which makes them "frequently asked questions", I guess.


    I will try to answer some of them here hoping, that this will help the community :


    FAQs :


    FAQ 1 : Can I use Camplifier / GBA Model X to drive the Kemper Kone speaker or not ?


    This question mostly relates to the Kone speakers impedance (which is 4 ohms) and its max. power handling (which is 200watts).


    Answer for our current models :


    Our current models are :


    Camplifier (to be intalled into an unpowered KPA toaster) :


    Camplifier STUDIO 1x25 watts mono : YES ! The STUDIO can handle 4 ohms loads and is suitable for home and studio use, where no loud drummer is present.

    Camplifier S2 2x25 watts stereo : YES ! The S2 can handle 2x4 ohms loads and is suitable for home and studio use, where no loud drummer is present.


    Camplifier 280 1x280 watts mono : YES ! The 280 can handle 4 ohms loads and will deliver more than enough power for very loud Rock/Metal bands and loud drummers.

    Camplifier SHP 2x140 watts stereo or 1x280 watts mono : YES ! The SHP can handle 4 ohms loads on each of its speaker channels and will deliver more than enough power for very loud Rock/Metal bands and loud drummers.


    GBA (Guitar Board Amp) which can amplify the Profiler Stage , a KPA Rack or any other line level modeling device:


    GBA 50 2x25 watts stereo :YES ! The S2 can handle 2x4 ohms loads and is suitable for home and studio use, where no loud drummer is present.


    GBA 280 1x280 watts mono : YES ! The 280 can handle 4 ohms loads and will deliver more than enough power for very loud Rock/Metal bands and loud drummers.


    GBA SHP 2x140 watts stereo or 1x280 watts mono : YES ! The SHP can handle 4 ohms loads on each of its speaker channels and will deliver more than enough power for very loud Rock/Metal bands and loud drummers.



    Our legacy models :


    Camplifier 180 1x180 watts mono : NO! The 180 minimum load is 8 ohms and it will have problems with the Kemper Kone.


    Solution for this problem :


    - Install two Kemper Kone into a 2x12" cabinet and wire them in series. The cabinets total impedance will then be 8 ohms and you can use your Camplifier 180.

    - Send the 180 to us an we can modify it to handle 4 ohms loads BUT power will be reduced to 90 watts "only"


    Camplifier 290 2x90 watts stereo + 1 x 180 watts mono : YES ! The 290 can handle 4 ohms loads on each of its stereo speaker channels and will deliver more than enough power for very loud Rock/Metal bands and loud drummers. You can not use the bridged output on a single Kemper Kone speaker though.

    If you have to have the full 180 watts, we recommend going the 2x12" route as mentioned above.


    Camplifier 360 2x180 watts stereo : NO! The 360s minimum load is 8 ohms and it will have problems with the Kemper Kone.


    Solution to this problem :


    - Install two Kemper Kone into a 2x12" cabinet and wire them in series. The cabinets total impedance will then be 8 ohms and you can use your Camplifier 360.

    - Send the 360 to us an we can modify it to handle 4 ohms loads BUT power will be reduced to 2x90 watts "only"



    FAQ 2 : Can I run a single cabinet only on one channel of a stereo Camplifier or GBA, such as the Camplifier S2 , SHP, GBA SHP and GBA 50?


    YES!! All our products will run happily with no load connected to its speaker outs all day long. It does not matter if you connect one cabinet, two cabinets or even no cabinet to it.


    FAQ 3 : Your current models deliver up to 280 watts. Will I blow my Kemper Kone, which can handle max. 200 watts with it ?


    If you turn up everything all the way up and strum your guitar as hard as you can for quite some time - yes - you could blow the speaker.

    Lets be real though. Firstly, you might be deaf before the speaker actually blows and secondly : think about all the powered KPAs out there, they can deliver 600 watts!!

    I do not know any guitar cabinet that can handle this sort of power, but still - thousands of guitar players all over the world are powering their cabinets with it. Have you heard about blown speakers a lot ? I have not.

    In real live, this is no issue. I know people who power their 1x12" Blue Alnico 15 watts cabinet with the 600 watts KPA and don`t blow their speaker.


    You will find our current amplifier products here Shop !


    Best regards,

    Tilman















  • I can really vouch for these products. I have the newer studio version and it is perfect. Taking no space whatsoever and provides a clean amplification.


    If I start gigging regularly, I will definitely upgrade to a more powerful camplifier

  • I currently own an unpowered a Kemper head.


    I have a 4x12 Marshall cabinet and I am thinking of putting four Kones in it, when they’re available.

    Taking the ohms and watts of the Kone into consideration, which amplifiers would be recommended with this setup? I would like to have enough output/power to “entertain” the entire neighbourhood ?


    Any advice would be appreciated.


    thank you

  • I currently own an unpowered a Kemper head.


    I have a 4x12 Marshall cabinet and I am thinking of putting four Kones in it, when they’re available.

    Taking the ohms and watts of the Kone into consideration, which amplifiers would be recommended with this setup? I would like to have enough output/power to “entertain” the entire neighbourhood ?


    Any advice would be appreciated.


    thank you

    I think I'd look at Seymour Duncan Powerstage.

  • I currently own an unpowered a Kemper head.


    I have a 4x12 Marshall cabinet and I am thinking of putting four Kones in it, when they’re available.

    Taking the ohms and watts of the Kone into consideration, which amplifiers would be recommended with this setup? I would like to have enough output/power to “entertain” the entire neighbourhood ?


    Any advice would be appreciated.


    thank you

    Since you own a Kemper "toaster", I recommend a Camplifier 280. This unit will fit into the back cavity of your Toaster and will deliver 280watts RMS to your 4x12" cabinet. You can wire the 4 x 4 ohms chassis to a total cabinet impedance of 4 ohms (2xKone in series parallel to the other Kone pair which are wired in series too).


    The Camplifier power amp is a linear and neutral power amplifier without any extra EQ and stuff, which could cause extra phase issues. You have all the EQ controls you need on the Kemper. There is no need for an extra EQ at the power amplifier in my opinion.


    Cheers, Tilman

  • I just tried out my new Camplifier 280 with the speaker in my Marix Q12A. which is 8 Ohm.
    I had the Camplifier Pot at 3 o'clock and the Monitor Out at -6 dB.
    This was a good level to play together with drum and bass.

    With the Kabinet (just can't wait to get it) it will be even louder (4 Ohm).

  • Since the Cone won't be available to order until May there is still plenty of time to check options and find the perfect solution. I'm leaning toward the Camplifier myself atm, but would prefer something in the 350-400 watt range as I hope to drive 2 cones...

    The older I get, the better I was.

  • Since the Cone won't be available to order until May there is still plenty of time to check options and find the perfect solution. I'm leaning toward the Camplifier myself atm, but would prefer something in the 350-400 watt range as I hope to drive 2 cones...

    This is for bass guitar ?

  • Tilman has replied to me from his Ritter website and is really helpful.

    The dilemma I find myself in is I don't know whether to go for a Studio Camplifier, the stereo version, or future proof myself with the 280 or the 280 stereo.

    If I'm honest my noisy band days are probably behind me but you never know and I really don't want be buying twice.

    What makes it all worse is I'm in lockdown and have too much time to think, I'm not sure if thats good or bad.

    On top of this my local supplier (Andertons) are currently out of stock until early May.


    I'm climbing the walls here........


    PS, all insignificant compared the Global COVID 19 situation. So take care all.

    'You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead' - Stan Laurel

  • If in doubt and if you can afford it go for the biggest and stereo !

    https://digitalguitargear.com/camplifier-shp/

    I use an older Ritter ( Camplifier 360 ) and its great plus stereo is a brilliant option to have if you ever need it