Kemper Powerhead - 4*12 speaker watt/ohm question

SDR2020 · Aug 14th 2020

Group, I entered the Kemper world this week with a powerhead. Using it with a powered FRFR speaker now, but want to also run it through my 4*12 cabinet.

My cabinet is a old 1987 Carvin 4*12, and in it I have two 16ohm 25w Greenbacks and two 16ohm 60watt V30’s.

The cabinet is wired in such a way that it is considered a 16ohm cabinet. I believe this is known as a series parallel wiring (I think)

What concerns/settings if any should I have with plugging it into the Kemper Powerhead?

Greatly appreciate any help, this Forum is awesome!

paults · Aug 14th 2020

You can use it with your cabinet - no problem.

To use it with a conventional cabinet, in the Output Menu, click the Monitor Cab Off option. This will globally turn off the cabinet section of all rigs sent to the Monitor and Power amp Outputs. The cab section will still be active in the Main Outputs, so you can easily record and/or send a signal to FOH PA.

SDR2020 · Aug 14th 2020

Quote from paults

You can use it with your cabinet - no problem.

Thank you. Do I need to bring the power down on the power amp? (Again just learning my Kemper)

paults · Aug 14th 2020

Anytime you are trying a new cabinet, it is a good idea to start with no volume, and then turn it up.

deadman42 · Aug 14th 2020

Quote from SDR2020

Group, I entered the Kemper world this week with a powerhead.

Welcome, have fun here in the forum and with your Kemper! Enjoy as we do...

Quote from SDR2020

this Forum is awesome!

This. Indeed one of the rare places on the net where people are super helpful, positive and polite. A great community here. Looking forward to discuss with you

Wheresthedug · Aug 15th 2020

if you are at all worried about the power being too much for you cabinet (it won’t be unless you are already deaf) you can check the wattage being used in the output menu. The wattage meter is calibrated for 4ohms so you need to divide the value by 4 for a 16 ohm cabinet.

stratdude · Aug 15th 2020

You won't acheive more than half of full volume with 16 ohms, but it will still be plenty loud enough. Ideally it would be best to have it wired for 4 or 8 ohms, worry about that when you get your Kones though ?

SDR2020 · Aug 15th 2020

Quote from stratdude

You won't acheive more than half of full volume with 16 ohms, but it will still be plenty loud enough. Ideally it would be best to have it wired for 4 or 8 ohms, worry about that when you get your Kones though ?

Is it at all possible to explain the physics in a sentence or two? I.e. is the 16ohm providing too much resistance to the signal to allow for full volume?

BTW, thank you all for the help above. I did plug it in last night and it sounded great.

stratdude · Aug 15th 2020

That's pretty much it, the Kemper poweramp is intended for 8 ohms, 16 will only allow 1/2 the current to flow, 4 ohms would allow double but the poweramp has a built-in momentary power cut if 600 watts is exceeded, it's all in the manual. It's safe for 4, 8 or 16 though

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