Kabinet Kone blown?

  • Hey guys, I have the powered toaster into the kabinet and the first time I play with a drummer and turn it up loud. It cut off. Now there is a buzzy/fuzziness to it and it takes much more “juice” to get any volume to it. Is the speaker blown? Are these not made by to be as loud as a drummer? Other 1x12’s always seem to be just fine. Any help is appreciated before I can contact kemper directly during business hours! Thanks!

  • Did you not watch the tutorials, and how to use the wattage meter for the kabinet?

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    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • Yes I understand how to use the wattage output control and read the meter. That’s not the issue. The issue is when I turned the volume up it I’m assuming went into the self protect mode and now I’m wondering if the speaker is blown or something else. And I’m also looking for feedback from anyone who has used this with a drummer if they’ve had issues similar.


    I understand you’re supposed to use a pa as well and this as a monitor. Which I was also doing.

  • Firstly, do you have another amp you can use to test the Kone? You want to rule out all possibilities methodically.


    If you plug in another amp and the Kone works then you may have damaged the Kemper Power Amp rather than the speaker.


    If it still doesn’t work then the problem is either the Kone or the speaker cable.


    Try a different speaker cable if it still doesn’t work then you know the Kone is the problem.


    Were you using a proper speaker cable and not an instrument cable when this happened?


    Is the speaker cable making proper contact in the socket? When I first got mine I nearly sent it bac k as faulty because it was very quiet and cut out as soon as I played hard. It turned out that the speaker cable wasn’t plugged fully into the socket and the amp was going into self protect mode every time I played hard enough to send any serious level of power. When I rechecked the cable and pushed it all the way in it nearly blew my head off ?

  • Just to add..


    I've used mine live in a 5 piece very loud band...so in principle the Kabinet should have plenty of headroom to handle volume.


    I agree with Alan above - go through systematically. You may have blown the speaker but you may not.


    I too have also experienced problems when plugging the speaker cable in, which is user error so definitely check that.


    I hope its something simple.

  • thank you to everyone for the constructive responses. I’ve tried ruling out each piece of equipment. I have rules everything out except I do not have an extra passive cab but the regular non powered output works through a regular amp.


    I missed the working hours today for customer service unfortunately. So I will try tonight or tomorrow morning.


    I’m hoping that maybe there’s a loose wire or some easy fix but I’m not taking the back off the kab until I talk to someone at kemper first.


    It just sounds a little fuzzy/buzzy. I didn’t mention previously but there was a smell from the kab when it happened. Not burnt or bad smell but the smell of like a hot new computer internals. That’s the only way I know to describe it. So possibly some sort of electrical module was damaged. Thanks again for the responses. I will update when I learn more.


    if anyone at kemper is reading this please feel free to contact me if possible.

  • I've used my Kabinet live outdoors a few times and as others have said there's lots of headroom for a loud rock band.

    There was someone on this forum who had a buzzing/rattling noise in his Kab. He opened it up and tightened the screws that hold the speaker in the Kabinet and that solved his issue.

    Speakers do blow, and maybe yours did, but it's a 200w speaker and it can take a lot of power.

  • Thanks everyone. I took the back panel off and tightened up the speaker screws which were slightly loose. But still have the buzz. I did not see any damage on the cone inside. I contacted kemper they said to fill out a form on the website and I’ve yet to receive a reply about it. Thank you to all those that provided feedback.

  • Thanks everyone. I took the back panel off and tightened up the speaker screws which were slightly loose. But still have the buzz. I did not see any damage on the cone inside. I contacted kemper they said to fill out a form on the website and I’ve yet to receive a reply about it. Thank you to all those that provided feedback.

    Glad you did it. Best of luck with the replacement!:)

  • Did you ever figure out what it was? I jammed with a drummer and bass player this afternoon and everything was fine and then started smelling what appeared to be the smell of toasted electronics. I shut the amp off and then noticed that the smell was coming from the cone. I let it rest and tried plugging it back in and now the speaker is not working. I opened up the back and there is nothing fried but it smells terrible. I read about the burning smell in speakers and people state it is a voice coil. I wasn’t playing that loud and am very surprised and disappointed that this happened.

  • Did you ever figure out what it was? I jammed with a drummer and bass player this afternoon and everything was fine and then started smelling what appeared to be the smell of toasted electronics. I shut the amp off and then noticed that the smell was coming from the cone. I let it rest and tried plugging it back in and now the speaker is not working. I opened up the back and there is nothing fried but it smells terrible. I read about the burning smell in speakers and people state it is a voice coil. I wasn’t playing that loud and am very surprised and disappointed that this happened.

    the same thing with the smell happened to me. I'm sure it was the coil of the Kone getting to hot. Forutnately it was not damaged since I stopped imediately.

    never thought that I would like the Kemper that much...! 8|

  • I too had the “hot electronics” smell and also developed a small low freq rattle when jamming with a drummer. Contacted support at Kemper US, where I bought the Cab and they are replacing the Power Kab with a new one. They have a 3 year warranty.


    Great customer support. 8)

  • I had the same issue one time when I had a 1x12 then I got it paired with a 2x12 and now 4x12 for the longest time I did not have a issue with 4 being at 16ohm may had fried one of the voice coils that's what happend the first time and it was just one speaker kone. The voice coil is the goldish looking cable underneath the speaker. But kemper usa issued me a fast replacement. I think this time I'm ok everything still works well on the 4x12 kones. Time will only tell. Give Kemper a call if you hadn't yet good luck.

  • Yup i had a gig not sufficient PA system so we went really loud. Bad smell as mentioned fuzzy sound. Speaker damaged. I go to pick up a second hand one suturday. Got trough the gig on another cab from other band. Sounded different. Was bummed. But you can blow these things. Hahaha.

  • Yup i had a gig not sufficient PA system so we went really loud. Bad smell as mentioned fuzzy sound. Speaker damaged. I go to pick up a second hand one suturday. Got trough the gig on another cab from other band. Sounded different. Was bummed. But you can blow these things. Hahaha.

    with 2x12 Kone you should be able to manage situations like that. I don't trus 1x12 Kone anymore ;)

    Btw. 2x12 sounds better IMO

    never thought that I would like the Kemper that much...! 8|

  • yes i have a 2x12 lying around from tube town i am cosidering it. I now use a MESA EVM 200 watt with speaker off. Had to tweak a little, it works also. But not the same. Any way i am very happy with the one 12... But maybe a 2x12 or just buying another kemper cab. And connect them together. That might be the right way to go.