Bookshelf speakers with kemper?

  • Hi there,

    I user my Kemper only in my work bed/room(small one, 3X2 meter, with no acoustic treatment at all ) which is also the place where I play guitar currently via my Kemper and Headphones.

    I wanna buy speakers so I can listen to music while I am working and also connect to my Kemper and play with.

    My budget is around the 1K$.

    Should I buy bookshelf speaker or studio monitor (4 inch I guess)?

    Most of the time I listen to music in low volume and I am afraid that the studio monitors will not serve one of my purpose. On the other hand i am not sure is bookshelf speakers suits to ny Kemper.

    Thanks!

  • Do you think 4 inch Studio monitor speaker like Adam Audio A4V should be fine for me? or 3 inch Studio monitor speaker lie SC203 would be better?

  • The smaller you go with the woofer size and the enclosure size, the less bass response you get. While this might not be a huge issue when you play electric guitar only ... you'll likely notice it quite a bit when you e.g. play over a backing track with bass and kick drum/floor toms.

    Regarding "guitar only", I don#t know what genre you typically play. But don't expect such small speakers to "chug" properly (this plam muted ooomp in high gain). :)

  • The smaller you go with the woofer size and the enclosure size, the less bass response you get. While this might not be a huge issue when you play electric guitar only ... you'll likely notice it quite a bit when you e.g. play over a backing track with bass and kick drum/floor toms.

    Regarding "guitar only", I don#t know what genre you typically play. But don't expect such small speakers to "chug" properly (this plam muted ooomp in high gain). :)

    So, if I understand right, you advice me to go bigger? even for my small room?

    4 inch should be enough?

  • So, if I understand right, you advice me to go bigger? even for my small room?

    4 inch should be enough?

    I would avoid spending a lot of money on speakers for a small untreated room. The room will affect the sound as much as the speakers. Pumping a lot of bass into the room will result in a lot of modal interference will substantial peaks and troughs in the response.

  • Depends on what you expext them to be able to do. :) And obviously how much space you have for bigger ones.

    Just by guessing, I would say 5" speakers might be good. Yamaha HS 5 are great value for money.

    With 4" speakers you can always add a subwoofer if you're missing the low end too much.

    Personally, I can't imagine 3" speakers to sound anywhere close to acceptable and enjoyable.

  • Depends on what you expext them to be able to do. :) And obviously how much space you have for bigger ones.

    Just by guessing, I would say 5" speakers might be good. Yamaha HS 5 are great value for money.

    With 4" speakers you can always add a subwoofer if you're missing the low end too much.

    Personally, I can't imagine 3" speakers to sound anywhere close to acceptable and enjoyable.

    Thanks ! I am really not sure which monitors should i buy, i know Adam audio have good reputation and A4V model looks good for my need, but maybe should i consider the budget Monitors (Yamaha HS 5)? because my room has no acoustic treatment

  • I use Adam A7X and love them but wouldn't spend the money for a very small untreated room. Personally I would save the money just now and buy something like the Yamaha HS5.

    If you want to find out roughly what you are dealing with in terms of small room acoustic problems try playing a test oscillator from your DAW through a set of speakers. Choose a frequency (say 60hz) and walk around the room. You might be amazed at the variation in volume from one spot to another. In some cases the note will be super loud and in others almost (or totally) inaudible. Now move to a different frequency (say 80hz) and do the walk around again. There will also be massive variation in volume but not necessarily in the same places as previously.


    The room's frequency response will dwarf the differences between speaker models. so it isn't worth spending a fortune on great speakers for most small untreated room purposes.

  • I have the JBL306's, They put out decent bass at low volumes. I also have the subwoofer. As other's have said, 4 inch will leave you lacking in bass. You could even opt for 12 inch and as long as you keep volumes at talking levels then you are good to go.


    Besides my 306's and subwoofer, I have a pair of Realistic 2x12 towers for leisure playback, and all in a 11foot x12foot room. I like to feel music as well as hear it. I also have a Monsoon 7.1 Planar surround system for gaming. I don't lack sound waves for sure. ;)

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

    Edited 2 times, last by BayouTexan ().

  • I only have a few ideas to present, no real opinions.


    I have a few different places around the house where I play. My main setup uses Behringer P2031 8" monitors. My relaxed PC station uses Edifier R1280T 4". What I have noticed is the 2031s are better in every way. But also cost a lot more.


    NOTE: I have not compared 2031s to Yamahas, JBLs, KRKs, Adams, etc. So I have no opinion on what brand to get.


    FLATTER IS BETTER

    The 2031s are flatter so they color the all important high freqs less. The R1280s have a very crispy sound which is pleasant for music, but is not close to what an actual profile may sound like. So most of the Kemper/Line 6 profiles I may use, will all sound similar because you are hearing the speakers voice more than the profiles. You do not want your Marshalls to sound like Fenders or there is no reason to even have a Kemper.


    LOUDER IS BETTER

    Your guitars acoustic sound is very loud. You will find low wattage speakers like the 1280s will not be loud enough to really enjoy the sounds you are playing. I have a cheap stereo receiver driving my 2031s and they get plenty loud enough. Most active studio monitors will be close to 100 watts. Which may be a good spot even though you will never play them that loud. But you do not want to push speakers/amps so hard they go non-linear and start coloring the sound. That extra headroom will keep them operating in a clean and flat area.


    Most active monitors will also be bi-amped. Meaning, they will have a separate amp for the tweeter and woofer. This means they will have a cleaner flatter sound but will not actually be 100 watts. They may be split 60W woofer/ 40W tweeter for example. So the 100w is a good thing to shoot for even though it is not really 100w. You will probably only ever play at 5-10w unless you are a barbarian. And in that case, welcome to the club.


    FRONT OR REAR FACING PORT

    My 2031s and 1280s are front ported speakers. I am not a speaker expert, but many options presented here so far are rear ported speakers. The rear ports position to a close wall will change its freq response. You may have more freedom of speaker placement with front ports. May be an issue if the room is small and you only have a certain place you can put the speakers. My 1280s are on a computer desk pushed tight against a wall for example.


    FUTURE PROOF

    I would buy the biggest and best speakers you can afford or use in the room. You never know what the future holds. But you will want the tweeter to be located near your ears because the highs are very directional. So little speakers on your desk may be better than large speakers on the floor playing music at your ankles.


    Happy Hunting! Enjoy the journey.

  • As far as acoustical treatment goes, I think it's just not worth the effort for such a small room. Even for larger rooms you will be spending A LOT to get a somewhat flat room.

    Room treatment is fine and dandy, but most people underestimate how much time, effort and money is really needed. The usual "bass traps in the corners and first reflection points" is a good starting point, but often woefully inadequate. Add to that that the "bass traps" people often put up are in actuality only broadband absorbers and don't really address the stuff below say 150-200 Hz in a meaningful way.


    This is all based on my own (admittedly limited) experience and second-hand information (that I trust) - so take it for what it is.


    Much better in my opinion to find a good spot in the room for your listening position. Here the advice from Wheresthedug above is good - using a test oscillator in your DAW. They can often be set up to do a frequency sweep so you don't have to check each frequency individually. Just set it sufficiently slow so that you can get a good impression. Find the best listening spot. And get speakers you like to listen to.


    From what you're saying, this is for music listening and playing only (not mixing or necessarily recording), so translation to other systems is not a major concern. You don't necessarily need studio monitors to achieve your purpose (though of course you might prefer them - that's fair).

  • As far as acoustical treatment goes, I think it's just not worth the effort for such a small room. Even for larger rooms you will be spending A LOT to get a somewhat flat room.

    Room treatment is fine and dandy, but most people underestimate how much time, effort and money is really needed. The usual "bass traps in the corners and first reflection points" is a good starting point, but often woefully inadequate. Add to that that the "bass traps" people often put up are in actuality only broadband absorbers and don't really address the stuff below say 150-200 Hz in a meaningful way.

    Spot on Michael. In order to make the room relatively flat would take so much treatment that there would be little space left to actually play :)

    I'm in the process of building a new studio and the plans the acoustician has come up with are fantastic but the amount of treatment is significant to say the least.

    My comments so far are really intended to try and help zeldoom from spending lots of money unnecessarily rather than to suggest treating the room.

  • I would avoid spending a lot of money on speakers for a small untreated room. The room will affect the sound as much as the speakers. Pumping a lot of bass into the room will result in a lot of modal interference will substantial peaks and troughs in the response.

    100% agreed! I have a small Bose 5 (or 50?) in my livingroom. I use these for anything and they do the job very well and have a great "tone spreading" (almost surround like). On them, I listen to music, play PC games, play Keyboards, do some Music editing (not actually mixing) and - of course - play my guitars. If I need to tweak or edit anything critical, I use Headphones.

  • The smaller you go with the woofer size and the enclosure size, the less bass response you get. While this might not be a huge issue when you play electric guitar only ... you'll likely notice it quite a bit when you e.g. play over a backing track with bass and kick drum/floor toms.

    Regarding "guitar only", I don#t know what genre you typically play. But don't expect such small speakers to "chug" properly (this plam muted ooomp in high gain). :)

    I play Yamaha THR30II with two 3.5" speakers and maybe they don't deliver punch of 12" speaker, but I play over backing tracks ant it sounds damn good. I created a request for Kemper Desktop Amp, but they moved it to other gear. Well. I play other gear then. I don't play Kemper :)

  • Depends on what you expext them to be able to do. :) And obviously how much space you have for bigger ones.

    Just by guessing, I would say 5" speakers might be good. Yamaha HS 5 are great value for money.

    With 4" speakers you can always add a subwoofer if you're missing the low end too much.

    Personally, I can't imagine 3" speakers to sound anywhere close to acceptable and enjoyable

    Thanks ! I am really not sure which monitors should i buy, i know Adam audio have good reputation and A4V model looks good for my need, but maybe should i consider the budget Monitors (Yamaha HS 5)? because my room has no acoustic treatment

    Edited 5 times, last by zakchary ().

  • Thanks ! I am really not sure which monitors should i buy, i know Adam audio have good reputation and A4V model looks good for my need, but maybe should i consider the budget Monitors (Yamaha HS 5)? because my room has no acoustic treatment

    Look for a used, well taken care of, pair of MSP5s, they are build like tanks and will last decades. I prefer them over the HS5s