Question about power amp setting "stereo" + Kabinet

  • Hi everyone,


    when connecting my powered head with the Kemper Kabinet the last option in the menu is "stereo".

    I always had it off (mono) because I assumed it was meant for connecting two different cabinets. But of course that wouldn't even be possible.

    So what does stereo actually do? If I'm not mistaken the sound changes and actually sounds a bit better in stereo since my reverb has a stereo setting activated.


    I searched the German manual but couldn't find anything about this setting. Thanks!

  • I’d never have guessed that...

    Yep, you set monitor out for one channel and the power amp out for the other. That's why people like me going nuts to add a powered kabinet for monitor out so we get booming stereo sound!

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • Yep, you set monitor out for one channel and the power amp out for the other. That's why people like me going nuts to add a powered kabinet for monitor out so we get booming stereo sound!

    But the monitor out wouldn’t use the imprints would it? Would the two sounds even match?

  • In addition to what the others have said, the reason your sound changes when ticking Stereo with a single speaker is because you are only getting half the signal. I cant remember if its the Left or Right side but you aren’t getting the full signal. Try it with a ping pong delay and you will notice half of the repeats are missing. With reverb or modulation the same thing is happening but it is harder to identify as the cues aren’t so obvious.

  • Yep, you set monitor out for one channel and the power amp out for the other. That's why people like me going nuts to add a powered kabinet for monitor out so we get booming stereo sound!

    That isn't exact.


    The signal at the MONITOR OUTPUT is identical to the signal feeding the internal power amp of PowerHead and PowerRack, because this is hard-wired internally.


    If you want to enjoy stereo sound leveraging the SPEAKER OUTPUT of the internal power amp with an unpowered cabinet e. g. KEMPER Kabinet and using another powered cabinet e.g. KEMPER Power Kabinet you need to activate Monitor Stereo - which pairs the MONITOR OUT with the DIRECT OUT - and feed the powered cabinet from the DIRECT OUT.


    One side of the stereo signal is the MONITOR OUT => internal power amp => unpowered cabinet.

    The other side is the DIRECT OUT => powered cabinet (or external power amp with unpowered cabinet).


    As soon as you activate Monitor Stereo, all settings like Kemper Kone mode, Monitor Cab. Off., Sweetening, Directivity, Bass Boost, Monitor Output EQ,.... affect both sides of the stereo signal - so also the DIRECT OUT.


    And another hint for effective manual usage: If you electronically search our PDF manuals for "Monitor Stereo", you receive a list of locations, where this feature is mentioned. The information above can for example be found within seconds on page 41 of the German version of the Main Manual "Das Große Handbuch".

  • And another hint for effective manual usage: If you electronically search our PDF manuals for "Monitor Stereo", you receive a list of locations, where this feature is mentioned. The information above can for example be found within seconds on page 41 of the German version of the Main Manual "Das Große Handbuch".

    Yeah... I was using rig manager and the function is only called "stereo" here. Not "monitor stereo". I can see that it says that if you press the button directly on the toaster, but not in the software. Searching only for the word "stereo" in the PDF will obviously not help. Once you know there's an option for "monitor stereo" you would of course assume that this is what rig manager means with "stereo". But without that previous knowledge it's a little confusing. Alas, at least it was for me and has been clarified now.

  • One side of the stereo signal is the MONITOR OUT => internal power amp => unpowered cabinet.

    The other side is the DIRECT OUT => powered cabinet (or external power amp with unpowered cabinet).


    As soon as you activate Monitor Stereo, all settings like Kemper Kone mode, Monitor Cab. Off., Sweetening, Directivity, Bass Boost, Monitor Output EQ,.... affect both sides of the stereo signal - so also the DIRECT OUT.

    I did exactly the same connected the powered output to passive Kabinet and DIRECT OUT to the Powered Kabinet and I have check "Monitor Stereo".
    I used stereo ping pong sounds to me pretty mono. I did the same test with headphones to make sure that my effect is set correctly.