Kemper Power Kabinet Comprehensive Review

Hi Dan, nice job!

Have you tried out the "Power amp boost" in the output section?

Quote from DanMmusic

Hey Matthews, I haven't yet! That's in the new beta update right? Sounds like I have something I need to check out today

Yup. It'll bring that bad boy up to gig volume.

Very good video Daniel!

Now, try the new "Power Amp boost" and turn down the main volume on the Powered Kabinet. It is LOUD now

I have been using the unpowered for 6 months now ( which is effectively the same as the unpowered kabinet is rated at 200 watts and hence the theoretical limit).

Love it and plenty of volume!

Quote from V8guitar

I have been using the unpowered for 6 months now ( which is effectively the same as the unpowered kabinet is rated at 200 watts and hence the theoretical limit).

Love it and plenty of volume!

what poweramp did you use? I'm interested in getting a Kabinet and i have the unpowered Profiler with a Palmer Macht 402 Poweramp. If there is no (or just a little) difference i could save myself some money and get a used kabinet instead of a new powered one... (but it looks so much nicer with the little edge...)

Quote from spotter

what poweramp did you use? I'm interested in getting a Kabinet and i have the unpowered Profiler with a Palmer Macht 402 Poweramp. If there is no (or just a little) difference i could save myself some money and get a used kabinet instead of a new powered one... (but it looks so much nicer with the little edge...)

Sorry, I have the power rack.

Thanks for posting ! Will the Kab work with other modelers as well? I'm thinking of an Atomic Amplifier i bought used recently. I can't see myself dragging my expensive Toaster to a gig.

Quote from munkienl

Thanks for posting ! Will the Kab work with other modelers as well? I'm thinking of an Atomic Amplifier i bought used recently. I can't see myself dragging my expensive Toaster to a gig.

no imprints on other devices. It all happens in the profiler.

why wouldn’t you take the toaster to a gig? It is a brilliantly designed piece of gear for stage use. As for cost, even the toaster casts a lot kess than many of the valve amps we all lugged around B.K. (Before Kemper).

If you are happy with your tones from the toaster why compromise?

DanMmusic interesting review. There are a few points that I think need clarification.

The reason “Kemper doesn’t want you to” mic the Kabinet is because it has two speaker cones. Micing these can cause phasing issues. Basically a dual cone speaker isn’t suitable for close micing. They say that quite clearly in the manual.

The only legitimate comparison between the Kone and a real amp is to use a room mic. You explained this in the video by saying that the room mic sounded closest (very close) to the real amp. This isn’t an accident. Having, done A/B comparisons with my unpowered Kabinet/powered Head against valve amps,I would agree that the in the room sound is very close when comparing to a traditional closed back 112 cab. Obviously, the speaker is only part of the equation and a single Kone in a small cabinet will never sound the same in the room as 4 speakers in a huge box.

You made a comparison with IR which (to me at least) implied you thought the Imprints were a similar thing but an IR always has a mic as part of the chain (similar to a Studio profile) whereas the Imprints were specifically designed to give that “amp in the room” sound which doesn’t have a mic in the chain.

You also alluded to the fact that you thought it a little strange that Kemper “don’t want” you to be able to send imprints to FOH so they are only available for onstage monitoring. Again, this is specifically the design intent of the Kone/Imprints; to let you experience the traditional amp on stage sound while letting the FOH have a miced sound that sits in the mix with other instruments. This isn’t any different than playing with a traditional valve amp in terms of the different sounds onstage vs FOH.

The handle is that thin so that the Kemper Head can sit securely on top. It isa good example of joined up design. If the strap was thicker it would cause the feet on the bottom of the head to be too short and would no longer be secure. Before I got the KPA my main amp was a Mesa Dual Rectifier. It was designed to sit on top of a 4x12 cabinet with no top handle. However, I hate 4x12 cabs so use a pair of Mesa thiele 1x12 EVL12M cabs or a Rectifier 2x12 both of which had handles on top. The way the amp rocked was a major pain in the ass.