Cab for live shows with Kemper Powered Head

  • Hi there!


    I'm going a bit round in circles over choice of cabs for gigging. I currently have a Kemper Powered Head running a 4x12 Marshall 1960AV which is wonderful but just a pain to move around! I'm going on a tour in Europe soon and wanted to downsize my setup a little bit.


    I'm hoping to put the Kemper straight through the FOH and have a cab mainly for stage monitoring though I suspect a few sound engineers will insist on mic'ing the cab up.


    I've thought of the Kemper Kabinet though that's only a 1x12 and I can see that opinions are a little divided on using 1x12's for gigs.


    Otherwise I've seen a lot of good review about the Laney LFR 212 but I have the powered head so I'm not sure if it makes sense to have an active cab? The same goes for the new Kemper Power Kabinet... Would that make sense with the powered head?


    Any suggestions or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated!

  • Two unpowered Kones. The passive Kabinet has an output for running into another cabinet.


    Ore, get a 212 cab and load it with 2 Kones.


    As for a mic - you can’t close mic a Kone due to the design. It’s not meant to be close-mic’d. But…you wouldn’t want or need to. Plug what would be the mic cable into the KPA.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

  • Two unpowered Kones. The passive Kabinet has an output for running into another cabinet.


    Ore, get a 212 cab and load it with 2 Kones.


    As for a mic - you can’t close mic a Kone due to the design. It’s not meant to be close-mic’d. But…you wouldn’t want or need to. Plug what would be the mic cable into the KPA.

    How would a Kone sound close mic'd? I still come across sound engineers who insist on it and don't always want to get in their way.


    I did think of building my own 212 cab but the Kones aren't currently available for sale in the UK...

  • I would say to get the kemper kone if you really want to hear that cab sound well. Your mix won't sound as good if you run others into it. Otherwise A nice neutral high quality monitor with cab included in your signal is better for monitoring. Foh of courses includes cab already.

  • I would think the sound guys would much prefer just using the outputs to FOH rather than messing with a mic, especially since the "mic'd" sound is exactly what the outputs do. To really cut down on travel weight, I would consider IEM for stage monitoring, or a Kabinet should suffice. Even similar to a Headrush 1x12 would work.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • How would a Kone sound close mic'd? I still come across sound engineers who insist on it and don't always want to get in their way.


    I did think of building my own 212 cab but the Kones aren't currently available for sale in the UK...

    It won’t sound good. It’s not a question.


    I can’t find the reference, so maybe someone can corroborate, but iirc the horn and cone design create phase issues.

    You’re not getting their way. You’re doing them an honest favor.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

  • I would think the sound guys would much prefer just using the outputs to FOH rather than messing with a mic, especially since the "mic'd" sound is exactly what the outputs do. To really cut down on travel weight, I would consider IEM for stage monitoring, or a Kabinet should suffice. Even similar to a Headrush 1x12 would work.

    I always thought it much simpler to take the sound direct from the Kemper but there are still some non-believers out there. They insist that nothing will ever top the sound of tube amps and a cab, even though they use beat up SM57s and a 30 year old unserviced PA...


    I think I'll give the unpowered Kabinet a try and I can always return it if it's not cutting it for me. I have a one-off gig before the tour so I can try it then.

  • It’s really important that you tell the sound engineer that YOUR sound, means taking two XLRs and taking the signal from the back of the Kemper, and using as a stereo pair.
    That is your sound. That is what you have invested in. That is what sounds best.


    I’m fortunate to work in high end touring. And up until a few years ago, I was a FOH or MONs engineer for some pretty big acts (I work in production more now). About eight years ago, guitarists started swapping to Kempers. It weirded us out. But it sounded great.


    These days, most don’t use a mic’d up guitar cab. You might see one on stage. But off stage, with the tech, will be a Kemper or two. And all engineers default channel lists these days, are a stereo pair for Kemper (and still quite often a separate DI channel for an acoustic).


    Top end touring is loving it. And these are tours that could easily deal with off stage mic’d up guitar cabs to control noise levels on stage.


    Truth is, on smaller tours. Taking the stereo pair is even more beneficial. And is what is right , for YOUR sound.