Powerhead volume issue

    I am sort of confused and could really use some help. I have a kemper powerhead and a Marshall 1960b 4x12 cabinet. When playing with a full band I almost have to crank the master volume and the rig volume. We do play a little loud and the amp is loud, but it's not super loud. I originally had a 120 watt Line 6 Hd100 head and it was 5 times louder than my kemper. Last night I also ran through the PA system and I immediately had to turn down the master volume drastically. I run the powerhead through the marshall cabinet at 16ohms mono.


    So my issue only seems to be when I am running through a guitar cabinet

    I'm really new to this but I have noticed the lack of volume vs my 100 watt marshall. I have found if you hold down the output button it brings up a screen for an output boost. Then by turning the knob next to the gain knob you can boost the signal and get it more into the 100 watt marshall territory. Also you can double your power by running into a 8 ohm cab, instead of 16 ohm. I just got my Power haed last week so newbie here other guys will chime in.

    Edited once, last by jamme61 ().

    I spoke with a rep at sweet water today and he explained to me that since its a Class D power section it will not be as loud as a traditional Marshall which uses a Class A power amp. It was used in the kemper for temperature reasons.

    This is a wrong information.


    Class D amps do not match tube amps of the same wattage.
    This is why we have a multiple of the wattage, while producing a fraction of the heat.


    Have you turned Power Amp Boost in the meantime?

    Edited once, last by ckemper ().

    1 W is 1 W. 50 "tube" W sound louder when you exit the linear zone, which is by al means undesirable when you're powering a modeller (unless it's crappy... LOL).
    Furthermore, at equal output the loudness depends on the cab's impedance and (very important) on the cones' sensitivity.


    The difference between an all-linear SS poweramp and a tube amp is that the latter expresses its maximum output current (how loud it sounds will depend on the cab) when all its controls (gain, tones, presence, gain and brightness switches, master volume etc.) are maxed out. I'm aware of no-one using a tube amp in this fashion, and if someone does the amp will distort like hell, making it the worst possible choice to power a modeller. Usually, a 100-W amp used onstage outputs around 5-15 W RMS. When at 25 W, it is really scaring.


    OTOH, if a SS amp is well designed (and not meant to distort) you'll be able to drive all its power staying below or equalling its nominal THD.