Kemper+Camplifier+Kemper Kones Issue

  • Hi All,

    A few weeks ago I bought 4 Kemper Kone speakers to put into a 4x12 cab. With this rig I'm using an unpowered head with a Camplifier power amp installed (https://digitalguitargear.com/camplifier-SHP/). Of course with the Kones the sound is so much better than running cab off through a Marshall 4x12 with traditional guitar speakers. I'm running into an issue, though, where randomly the volume will drop significantly, stay that way for a while (so I'll turn the output level up) then out of nowhere, it goes back up to it's original level.

    This has only happened since I started using it with the Kemper-loaded 4x12 cab. Prior to that I was using it with a Marshall cab with WGS guitar speakers. While the sound was not as good, the volume dumps/jumps never happened.


    So I'm thinking it's got to be something with my wiring right? I wired them Series/Parallel as per the instructions that came with the Kones. Testing the impedance, it reads 4.2 ohms, kinda jumping between 4.2-4.4 - So I had a friend come over the other night, who's a lot more experienced with this type of thing (licensed Master Electrician, brilliant soundman, builds PA rigs etc), he measured & got the same results I'm getting.


    All the solder joints are tight, no movement whatsoever, however I'm not the best solder-er in the world so my solder joints aren't the best & there's undoubtedly too much solder on those joints - do you think that might be causing an issue with the continuity of the impedance of the signal flowing through these solder joints? That's the only thing I can think of & if that's the case could it be the amp dropping power to protect itself?

    Any other ideas? Thanks in advance!

  • Sounds like you got the impedance right for series/parallel.

    I highly doubt that too much solder would ever be an issue. Bad/loose connections, absolutely.

    So if one half of the parallel was connecting/disconnecting, that might produce a volume variation.

    Maybe disconnect half the speakers and try for consitency, then the other half

  • I've taken the cabinet over to a friend's shop, dude's basically an electronics wizard, he's just gonna rewire the cab for me, that way if the issue is still there, I'll know it's not the speaker cab and can move on to another troubleshooting step.

  • Is it possible that the Camplifier is having an issue with the four ohm impedance? I don't know the specs on it and would assume it's good for four ohms, but it's something I would confirm anyway.

  • SHP will do 4ohms I believe.


    I thought so, too, but in the process of elimination the biggest obvious difference here would be the differing cabinet impedances. It did just occur to me, though, that a poor contact between the jack and cable plug could also cause the problem he is having.

  • Update, I took my cab to my amp tech (well, he's not MY amp tech, but the local guy who's basically a wizard with this stuff) and had him rewire the cab with new wire and a new jack, got it home and within 20 minutes the volume was dropping. So I know now it's not the cab.

    The output of the Camplifier is 4 ohms. So it should be a perfect match. I've emailed Tilman Ritter (maker of the Camplifier) and also tagged him on a post on Facebook, hopefully he'll see it soon and be able to offer a solution, the Camplifier is less than 3 months old and has been used sparingly, and not at very loud volume...

  • Update, I took my cab to my amp tech (well, he's not MY amp tech, but the local guy who's basically a wizard with this stuff) and had him rewire the cab with new wire and a new jack, got it home and within 20 minutes the volume was dropping. So I know now it's not the cab.

    The output of the Camplifier is 4 ohms. So it should be a perfect match. I've emailed Tilman Ritter (maker of the Camplifier) and also tagged him on a post on Facebook, hopefully he'll see it soon and be able to offer a solution, the Camplifier is less than 3 months old and has been used sparingly, and not at very loud volume...

    Tilman is a great guy. He'll take care of you for sure.

  • Thinking about it I had this issue with a tube amp a few years ago. Was an input issue. This may not be applicable here but the bottom channel one input on a Marshall style (four input) was going bad. Had the inputs replaced and all was once again well. Again good luck...let us know the root cause.

  • Hi!


    I have the camplifier 290 from Ritter! It has two stereo outputs that is 90w each and with an impedance of 4ohm. And the third output is 180w with impedance 8. See the picture down below!

    Do you know which cabs i can use with it! I wanna have it at home and also live as a monitor!


    Do the original kemper cab work with the camplifier 290? It says when I plug it in the right output, it will be in a bridged mode?!


    https://www.thomann.de/se/kemper_kabinet.htm


    Do it also work with a cab like this one? https://www.thomann.de/se/harley_benton_g112_vintage.htm

    That one is on 60w with an impedance of 8ohm.

  • I have the same 290 amp.

    Yes, the Kemper Kabinets will work fine with it, no problem. You may want/need to increase the overall volume with the Power Amp Boost in the Output section, depending if you need to keep up with a drummer or not. Works great.

    But... if you want to take advantage of the Kemper Kabinet Imprints you'll need to use the Monitor outputs (Monitor and Direct) instead of the Main outs. Main outs will not provide Imprints, they are made for feeding FOH or recording.

    Use the Monitor outs.

  • You can use the 290 with the Kabinet. But as the Kabinet is 4 Ohms, you can only use it with the 90 Watt @ 4 Ohm output.


    From Tilman Ritter :

    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"


    And as DMathews wrote above: for the Kabinet use the monitor output of the Kemper and activate the imprint function (see manual)

  • I've also daisy chained 2 Kabinets (8ohm) and used the 180w output for mono. :)

  • Thank you very much for your answers! Appreciated!


    As it seems, I will always use only 1 cabinet! And the kemper cab I think on is passive! So why should I put it in the "monitor out" output? What does that mean?


    So what's your opinion? Is it waste to buy the kempercab just because I can only use 90w?


    Or will it be a "better" sound with it, than what I will get with a normal guitar cabinet?


    And Tenderboy you said that I can not use the bridged output on a single Kemper Kone speaker. Why can I not do that? I don't understand why there is a bridged output? What does it mean?


    What do you mean with the power amp output?


    Thank you for your patience =)

  • The advantage of the Kemper Kabinet is that it can emulate numerous different speaker (V30, Creamback, Jensen,etc), but that can only happen using the Monitor out of the Kemper going to the input of the Camplifier.

    So, remove the leads you have coming out of your Main output, and plug one cable into the Monitor out, and the other end to the input of the Camplifier. You can remove the other cable completely.

    The bridged output is 180w at 8ohms, and the Kemper Kabinet is only 4ohm, so don't use the bridged output.

    The Power Amp Boost option in the Kemper output menu is used to increase the volume. Not needed for bedroom volumes with the Kabinet.