our 4-piece has been using Mackie SRM450's for a long time. We have guitar, keys, e-drums, bass, and 4 vocals. Great sound. We also use Mackie SRS1500 powered subs. We also use a Mackie ProFX16 board. We love Mackie -- great sound, built like a tank, great support.
I and many others here are using Yamaha DXR10. Sounds and feel great. Our band ended up buying a whole PA based on the DXR series.
Sorry to be pedantic but this isn't about the best speaker for the KPA but for a band? The KPA will sound great through a great PA and crap through a crap PA, it has no "special " requirements.
There are loads of choices out there, depends on budget, depends on things like transportability. General considerations - more power is generally better as you need headroom to cope with the bass sounds from drums and bass. I would also suggest bass bins, they make a huge difference but are bulky to transport
I think Alto for budget systems are pretty good, otherwise Mackie, Yamaha or RCF are all pretty good. Peavy used to make good PA systems as well as mid range solutions. Behringer do make some good stuff but they are in the budget end of the market so...
If you are really concerned about the sound of your KPA, do what I did when I was testing out FRFR speakers - take it and your guitar to a PA/music shop and try it out....
I and many others here are using Yamaha DXR10. Sounds and feel great. Our band ended up buying a whole PA based on the DXR series.
this
I personally use Yamaha DSR112 tops as well as DSR118 subs . Great Sound and really loud. Our band owns TW-Audio, which is a local german pro-audio brand.
With any brand you use, I would consider nothing less than 12'' speakers.
We use RCF Art 715-A MkII and some generic Fame subs - the subs aren't great but plenty loud enough - my KPA and vocals all go through the RCF tops and sound awesome. I used Mackie SRM450's + SRS1501 for a good few years but they would always get very hot during a show (especially in summer) - the RCF's run as cool as a cucumber lol
Desk is a Behringer X32 Compact and I love that - takes a bit of getting used to but got the gist now - the scene saving is a god send - soundcheck in 15 minutes 
Display MoreSorry to be pedantic but this isn't about the best speaker for the KPA but for a band? The KPA will sound great through a great PA and crap through a crap PA, it has no "special " requirements.
There are loads of choices out there, depends on budget, depends on things like transportability. General considerations - more power is generally better as you need headroom to cope with the bass sounds from drums and bass. I would also suggest bass bins, they make a huge difference but are bulky to transport
I think Alto for budget systems are pretty good, otherwise Mackie, Yamaha or RCF are all pretty good. Peavy used to make good PA systems as well as mid range solutions. Behringer do make some good stuff but they are in the budget end of the market so...
If you are really concerned about the sound of your KPA, do what I did when I was testing out FRFR speakers - take it and your guitar to a PA/music shop and try it out....
After googling "pedantic".... thank you for the input. Hahaha. Yes, I am looking for a speaker that helps the KPA shine, but also a speaker that works well for the other elements of the band. I'm trying to find a good option to handle both.
The Kabinet is an absolute godsend for the stage. Loving it so far.
And.... correction... I'm using the Mackie SRM550's and they are undoubtedly awful in handling the KPA, IMO (acronyms everywhere).
Maybe another hint that I stumbled upon at the beginning with the Kemper.
I had put together profiles at home at room volume, which sounded great there.
When I then played them loudly over our PA system during the band rehearsal, they sounded terribly high-pitched (Fletcher Munson curve)
My tip, always test the profiles for live performances at the appropriate volume and the PA you use.
Anything but Behringer, Alto on any other off named brand. Buy cheap get cheap.
DXR10 is well loved, but your band will need subs with it. DXR12 with a DXS18 sub would be divine, but much bigger than the DXR10.
If you have no monitor for your guitar, you will find it difficult to get good feedback action on your strings (unless the FOH is so loud that it bounces around on stage too). I would argue that you want your FOH to sound good first, and then for your Kemper monitor on-stage to sound good 2nd.
If you already have a Kabinet, you already have great on-stage monitoring. For your FOH, what is your budget? A "good" FOH speaker system will be around 4K. A "really good" FOH speaker system will run more like 6-7K. A touring class FOH pro FOH speaker system will be >10K.
FWIW, I always think that bands spend too little on their FOH speaker system. It's a shame since this has the most effect on how good you sound to the audience.
FWIW, I always think that bands spend too little on their FOH speaker system. It's a shame since this has the most effect on how good you sound to the audience.
I would suppose that the biggest effect has the quality of the foh engineer
After googling "pedantic".... thank you for the input. Hahaha. Yes, I am looking for a speaker that helps the KPA shine, but also a speaker that works well for the other elements of the band. I'm trying to find a good option to handle both.
The Kabinet is an absolute godsend for the stage. Loving it so far.
And.... correction... I'm using the Mackie SRM550's and they are undoubtedly awful in handling the KPA, IMO (acronyms everywhere).
I think that's the other point - the sound through your Kabinet will not be the same through a PA.
PA speakers are FRFR and theoretically should be the same - that of course is not really true but it should not be night and day in terms of handling your sounds. In other words, I would check your profiles through headphones first or try the Kabinet in FRFR mode to ensure your profiles are how you want them to sound through a PA, as good sounds through the Kabinet might not automatically translate as good sounds through a PA.
Just a thought....
I would suppose that the biggest effect has the quality of the foh engineer
This first ! 
My band doesn't have a sound guy.
I fed up with this in particular cause on stage i'm' always disappointed or i can't hear myself with monitors.... (I know conditions differ from rehearsal).
I've asked the band to adjust the mix table during a rehearsal instead of playing....
we used to let all in the middle and push the output 
Only vocals and guitars are on the table.
The bassist knows nothing and thinks i do it too. But i know some stuffs with modelers (that he thinks are bullshit comparing to traditionnal rigs) and i've done some inquieries before....But of course, i needed some other knowledges (didn't find the solo button cause it was named otherwise on the table PFL )....
We have been able to improve the result but at the end, a singer needed more volume so the bassist increased the gain pot 
.
Who knows how to setup a mix table can understand what i mean 
It was a game in which every one wanted to push or turn a button 
We've bought PA speakers, passive ones cause the table is active....(The other thing is that the drummer's best friend runs a music store). So we have "good advices"....At first, we were told to take 2x15" (for one speaker) ; 45Kg (99Lbs), we play for audiences with 200/250 persons max...
I asked who will carry those fantastics speakers and if they've read the datasheet ? At the end we've bought 1x15" (*2 ) passive speakers ; 26Kgs (57 Lbs) and it's always too heavy for my back and take too much space in my car....
Following our needs, i would have gone on a totally different configuration ; leighter as possible ; a digital mixer, two 12" or 10" speakers for FOH (eventually a sub) and could do settings with a tab....
The drummer is the the president of the music club and the rehearsal room is managed by him too.
We've got another equipment installing to play there. I've noticed that the mix table knows the same settings, lowcut button is not pushed /100Hz, all the buttons at noon, no Frequencies settings, no gain settings, Pan at noon 
I play with my Kabinet 
All that to say, choose a sound's band referent who will be interested in working on it and who will be in charge to do all the settings...Choose your equipment following your needs....
Display MoreThis first !
My band doesn't have a sound guy.
I fed up with this in particular cause on stage i'm' always disappointed or i can't hear myself with monitors.... (I know conditions differ from rehearsal).
I've asked the band to adjust the mix table during a rehearsal instead of playing....
we used to let all in the middle and push the output
Only vocals and guitars are on the table.
The bassist knows nothing and thinks i do it too. But i know some stuffs with modelers (that he thinks are bullshit comparing to traditionnal rigs) and i've done some inquieries before....But of course, i needed some other knowledges (didn't find the solo button cause it was named otherwise on the table PFL
We have been able to improve the result but at the end, a singer needed more volume so the bassist increased the gain pot
Who knows how to setup a mix table can understand what i mean
We've bought PA speakers, passive ones cause the table is active....(The other thing is that the drummer's best friend runs a music store). So we have "good advices"....At first, we were told to take 2x15" (for one speaker) ; 45Kg (99Lbs), we play for audiences with 200/250 persons max...
I asked who will carry those fantastics speakers and if they've read the datasheet ? At the end we've bought 1x15" (*2
Following our needs, i would have gone on a totally different configuration ; leighter as possible ; a digital mixer, two 12" or 10" speakers for FOH (eventually a sub) and could do settings with a tab....
The drummer is the the president of the music club and the rehearsal room is managed by him too.
We've got another equipment installing to play there. I've noticed that the mix table knows the same settings, lowcut button is not pushed /100Hz, all the buttons at noon, no Frequencies settings, no gain settings, Pan at noon
I play with my Kabinet
All that to say, choose a sound's band referent who will be interested in working on it and who will be in charge to do all the settings...Choose your equipment following your needs....
Great story, I think most of us have been there.... when it comes to sound, everyone has an opinion but few have enough knowledge to know what they are doing.
I agree, even if you have no expert, you still need just 1 person and then have to trust their judgement otherwise everything suffers..
Display MoreThis first !
My band doesn't have a sound guy.
I fed up with this in particular cause on stage i'm' always disappointed or i can't hear myself with monitors.... (I know conditions differ from rehearsal).
I've asked the band to adjust the mix table during a rehearsal instead of playing....
we used to let all in the middle and push the output
Only vocals and guitars are on the table.
The bassist knows nothing and thinks i do it too. But i know some stuffs with modelers (that he thinks are bullshit comparing to traditionnal rigs) and i've done some inquieries before....But of course, i needed some other knowledges (didn't find the solo button cause it was named otherwise on the table PFL
We have been able to improve the result but at the end, a singer needed more volume so the bassist increased the gain pot
Who knows how to setup a mix table can understand what i mean
We've bought PA speakers, passive ones cause the table is active....(The other thing is that the drummer's best friend runs a music store). So we have "good advices"....At first, we were told to take 2x15" (for one speaker) ; 45Kg (99Lbs), we play for audiences with 200/250 persons max...
I asked who will carry those fantastics speakers and if they've read the datasheet ? At the end we've bought 1x15" (*2
Following our needs, i would have gone on a totally different configuration ; leighter as possible ; a digital mixer, two 12" or 10" speakers for FOH (eventually a sub) and could do settings with a tab....
The drummer is the the president of the music club and the rehearsal room is managed by him too.
We've got another equipment installing to play there. I've noticed that the mix table knows the same settings, lowcut button is not pushed /100Hz, all the buttons at noon, no Frequencies settings, no gain settings, Pan at noon
I play with my Kabinet
All that to say, choose a sound's band referent who will be interested in working on it and who will be in charge to do all the settings...Choose your equipment following your needs....
Well, for your problems during rehersal, I would suggest to buy a cheap digital console, we use a cheap Beringer XR18. It has 6 busses, so everyone can dial in his/her monitor sound to their liking. Of course these have many possibilities to tweak (or „mistweak“), but if you run pretty basic, it should work - a good singer won‘t sound bad, even with a flat eq.
But this would require to reherse with headphone, as we do it.
I think that's the other point - the sound through your Kabinet will not be the same through a PA.
PA speakers are FRFR and theoretically should be the same - that of course is not really true but it should not be night and day in terms of handling your sounds. In other words, I would check your profiles through headphones first or try the Kabinet in FRFR mode to ensure your profiles are how you want them to sound through a PA, as good sounds through the Kabinet might not automatically translate as good sounds through a PA.
Just a thought....
I agree.
At least in my situation. We work with an agency that supplies a PA system and different people working it all the time. It's probably best to tweak your sounds in the profiler/modeler and leave your monitor as flat/neutral as possible because I assume that foh is starting with a similar flat tone and the sound will be more consistant.
Unless you own your own PA and have time to compare and hone your sounds.
