Kemper Kabinets

  • Ok, so I know this is a kiss the Kemper ring Forum. But I bought the Kemper Powered Kabinet and I am EXTREMELY disappointed in the volume. It's really really wimpy for $800.

    My Princeton Recording amp is 3X louder than this. I think I just wasted my money on this. I'm also disappointed in Kemper for not being more forthcoming that is a glorified small and EXPENSIVE practice amp. Don't even think about band practice with this. Please let me know if I'm missing something on getting more volume. I also turned up the Amp volume in the profiler all the way and I can still hold a room level conversation in front of this Kabinet. My crappy EV ZLX12 powered Monitor gets three times the volume and costs almost half as much. What gives Kemper. Would have paid a little more to get some real DB's
    I'm also 90% sure that these YouTuber review sites are just plants from Kemper and not legit honest reviewers. Youtube has been totally "rigged" pun intended.

    Edited once, last by seannaps ().

  • dmatthews - Already all the way up. The one thing that was keeping the volume down a bit was the -12 DB cut was engaged. That definitely gave me a boost. I'll retract part of what I said earlier but I still think for the money they should have added a higher watt output. Again, my powered monitor has so much more volume and range. This thing still sounds very thin.

  • The link is OK, you have to select what you want i.e. Main Manual and than download it. This is how this web is set up! And NO (!) there is MUCH more in the manual than in video tutorials for sure! You must only be willing to read.

  • The link is OK, you have to select what you want i.e. Main Manual and than download it. This is how this web is set up! And NO (!) there is MUCH more in the manual than in video tutorials for sure! You must only be willing to read.

    Cool - Thank you again. My eyesight is slightly impaired so I like listening better but I'll take a look. Appreciate it.

  • What output do you have connected to the Kabinet? Do you have monitor output connected and in the output section monitor output turned up? Do you send the right signal to that output? (Full monomaster?)

    Did you try another cable?

  • What output do you have connected to the Kabinet? Do you have monitor output connected and in the output section monitor output turned up? Do you send the right signal to that output? (Full monomaster?)

    Did you try another cable?

    Great questions and things to check. I'll check when I get back to the unit. Thank you for the suggestion!!
    Brand new cab;e but worth checking anyhow
    Cheers

  • What output do you have connected to the Kabinet? Do you have monitor output connected and in the output section monitor output turned up? Do you send the right signal to that output? (Full monomaster?)

    Did you try another cable?

    Hey Bud! That totally did it! Many thanks for your help!

  • The power amp in the Powered Kab is an ICEPower 300ASC, it is rated for 300W @ 4 ohms. The Neo Kone in the Powered Kab is rated at 200W and 4 ohms. IMHO this is perhaps plenty of amp you might expect to need with the Neo Kone in the powered Kab. It should get pretty darn loud, and if everything is set and plugged in correctly and the Kab is working correctly, you might just need more Kabs as a single one just won't get loud enough (it is a single 1X12 after all).


    I dimly recall a way to set the maximum power out of a powered Kemper head in the settings, having that set too low would reduce max volume of an unpowered Kab. Is there a similar power limit setting for a powered Kab in the Kemper?


    To the OP; when you are running out of volume with the powered Kab, did you happen to notice how much power was indicated on the power meter in the Output block, and was the volume set on the Kab where it needs to be for the power meter to measure accurately? IIRC you have to have the volume on the Kab itself all the way up for the power meter in the Kemper to read accurately.

  • Ok, so I know this is a kiss the Kemper ring Forum. But I bought the Kemper Powered Kabinet and I am EXTREMELY disappointed in the volume. It's really really wimpy for $800.

    My Princeton Recording amp is 3X louder than this. I think I just wasted my money on this. I'm also disappointed in Kemper for not being more forthcoming that is a glorified small and EXPENSIVE practice amp. Don't even think about band practice with this. Please let me know if I'm missing something on getting more volume. I also turned up the Amp volume in the profiler all the way and I can still hold a room level conversation in front of this Kabinet. My crappy EV ZLX12 powered Monitor gets three times the volume and costs almost half as much. What gives Kemper. Would have paid a little more to get some real DB's
    I'm also 90% sure that these YouTuber review sites are just plants from Kemper and not legit honest reviewers. Youtube has been totally "rigged" pun intended.

    Perhaps next time you post:


    1) Don't assume we are all Kemper stooges. We are advocates because we get good results, none of us would pretend stuff is any good. I have 2 Kabinets because they sound great, not for any other reason.


    2) You check some basics before assuming its crap.


    That way you can be assured people will help you.


    Hopefully the help responses you got proved that people are focussed on helping, not promoting Kemper. I'm curious where you got this view...

  • Whoa - I stuck a diminished chord here. IMO the Kabinets are OK they are not as good as a high-quality Amp. I also understand they are profilers and not amps and are offering a wide range of tones packaged into one small unit..(This is OUTSTANDING) but to say they are as good as the original (NO F'n WAY) they are a reasonable facsimile that provides a much more compact simpler version, (Similar to what MP3s are of the original recordings) which I agree in many situations is worth the small sacrifice for convenience sake and it gets the FOH engineer of the hook on having to mix true live sound. However, most people on here bow down to the product like it has no short comings and it's as good as the original. Sorry NO, IT's NOT! Chill Daddy Chill

  • The power amp in the Powered Kab is an ICEPower 300ASC, it is rated for 300W @ 4 ohms. The Neo Kone in the Powered Kab is rated at 200W and 4 ohms. IMHO this is perhaps plenty of amp you might expect to need with the Neo Kone in the powered Kab. It should get pretty darn loud, and if everything is set and plugged in correctly and the Kab is working correctly, you might just need more Kabs as a single one just won't get loud enough (it is a single 1X12 after all).


    I dimly recall a way to set the maximum power out of a powered Kemper head in the settings, having that set too low would reduce max volume of an unpowered Kab. Is there a similar power limit setting for a powered Kab in the Kemper?


    To the OP; when you are running out of volume with the powered Kab, did you happen to notice how much power was indicated on the power meter in the Output block, and was the volume set on the Kab where it needs to be for the power meter to measure accurately? IIRC you have to have the volume on the Kab itself all the way up for the power meter in the Kemper to read accurately.

    Thank you. all great advice which I have, since first posting, uncovered some of it, I would suggest that Kemper give some sort of heads up with the packaging regarding all these factors or even just a couple of the more important bullet points. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to give me advice. That was very generous and kind. Thanks Mate!

  • Whoa - I stuck a diminished chord here. IMO the Kabinets are OK they are not as good as a high-quality Amp. I also understand they are profilers and not amps and are offering a wide range of tones packaged into one small unit..(This is OUTSTANDING) but to say they are as good as the original (NO F'n WAY) they are a reasonable facsimile that provides a much more compact simpler version, (Similar to what MP3s are of the original recordings) which I agree in many situations is worth the small sacrifice for convenience sake and it gets the FOH engineer of the hook on having to mix true live sound. However, most people on here bow down to the product like it has no short comings and it's as good as the original. Sorry NO, IT's NOT! Chill Daddy Chill

    In your opinion....which you are entitled to, just don't try to state it as fact, particularly when you haven't even set it up properly.


    My view....I would agree that the KPA loses something for the amp in the room sound IF you use a studio profile with the Kabinet. Use a guitar cab and direct profile....nah. This also assumes that a regular guitar amp set up is perfect - its not. A guitar cab colours the sound so much that the amp has less to do with the sound than the cab. 4x12 also have a much narrower spread than you would expect, the Kabinet in my view is much wider.


    The Kabinet is there to articulate the different configs ( speakers as well as amps) so you trade off perfect in the room sound for the ability to hear different amps and cabs properly so you are not comparing like for like - most people realise the Kabinet is a compromise between FRFR flex and guitar cab amp in the room sound....im sure you looked into that and understood that before buying.


    FOH ( which is the most important because its what your audience hears) I don't agree. The KPA is indistinguishable from the real amp which arguably is what its designed for/biased towards. I don't even trust my view, I trust other people and I have never had so many positive comments about my sound since I had it - so its not even me saying it, its sound engineers, general public


    I am chill - but your comments were unfair and unsubstantiated and not conducive to getting people to help hence I commented.

  • My power kabinet came with a simple one-pager. I followed the instructions and so far, it works pretty much as expected - and desired. I played an outdoor gig last week and the other guitarist had a fender twin. (I'm currently using a Michael Britt Grammatico Steel String Singer profile as my main base rig). Granted, we didn't really crank it as loud as we could - we were told to turn down twice - but I was able to hear myself the whole time and got compliments on how well we sounded as a whole. YMMV.

  • 4x12 are the work of the Devil 😠


    Should have been banned years ago.

    In forty years of buying/selling/trading amps I have only owned one 4x12 cab. I didn't keep it very long as it was a strenuous task, even for a 21-22 year old, to load in and out of the car by myself. Fortunately I had fathered my only child prior to owning that amp and cab, no other offspring were produced afterward 🥴

  • 4x12 are the work of the Devil 😠


    Should have been banned years ago.

    I have a gorgeous 70s Marshall slant 4X12 with G12M-25 Greenbacks, all it does is provide a stand for my 100W Marshall Vintage Modern and the fine covering of dust it has accumulated. I have not needed to switch it on for years except to profile it. Both will eventually be sold; the Vintage Modern when the prices rise to their inevitable end value as it WILL be collectible, and the 4X12 just gathers more value so no hurry there.


    The gigs and venues that justify a 4X12 cab are becoming less and less in my area, I haven't used one live in over a decade. The absolute killer rig for most venues IMHO is a Powered Kab and Stage. It's hard to optimize a solution that is as well integrated and thought out, with the best tone and versatility on a loud stage and for FOH, boiled down to the minimum hardware to carry around. And I am not just being a Kemper fanboy, I have tried hard over the years to find a better solution, and nothing else comes close. Fractal still expects you to find your own loud stage amp solution, and that task is not easy unless you have a wad of cash.

  • The gigs and venues that justify a 4X12 cab are becoming less and less in my area, I haven't used one live in over a decade.

    I totally agree and believe 4x12's are redundant because:


    1) In my view you should always go through the PA regardless of size of venue not for volume but balance. Otherwise, particularly in a small venue the first 2 rows have their ears ripped off and can only hear the guitar, at the back all they hear is bass and kick drum and vocals.


    2) The Kabinet kicks out enough volume to compete easily- I ran my powered rack to the point where it because really painful to be in the room - way louder than any band/drummer I've ever been in....and it was tickling 25 watts...


    3) Its not all about volume but cut anyway. The KPA by definition gives more tonal range than a cab that has a single speaker config


    4) 4 x12's are actually really directional - people think they give a wide soundscape, but go slightly off axis and sound and volume changes drastically hence why you often need to also stand in a smaller "sweet spot".


    The only thing 4x12's are good for is looks, in my very humble opinion. I still have mine for nostalgic reasons but retired it years ago...