Kemper Power Rack and FRFR speakers

    Just a "heads up" ... Here in the US I put myself on Atomic's reserve list last week and they shipped my 2 CLR wedges yesterday, should have 'em by this Wednesday. That's pretty fast.


    BTW, I'm truly excited to use them, they've had some great reviews by people I really respect plus it's my opinion that, as a guitar player, you need to check your tone settings at multiple volume levels and with a combined 1000W of power, pretty sure that's going to be more than enough juice.


    I also plan to pump rhythm tracks (drums, bass, piano, etc) into them at varying levels to reference my tones against the track(s).


    An added plus is these speakers can easily double as ultra high powered studio monitors with the widest sweet spot imaginable.


    And as a final test, I'm going to crank them up outside to get the "outdoor concert" vibe. Figure I can get maybe 5 minutes before the cops show up. :D

    Edited once, last by MLScola ().


    You are very lucky.

    Edited once, last by PBGas ().

    As an update.....I got a call from Tom King himself this morning apologizing for not getting back to me sooner. I sent him the third email and he responded very quickly. It was very much appreciated.
    That being said I had a nice discussion with him and I'm ordering a passive CLR tonight from him. They have all of the models in stock so if you are looking to buy one, now would be an opportune time.
    I'm taking a real chance here doing this without having heard one myself. Thanks to Ingolf and Viabroce for the encouragement. I do realize that what I am doing with the 4x12 cab is really not getting the full potential out of the profiles of the Kemper and thus, I'm returning the 4x12 tonight and going this route.


    I just hope it sounds great!


    :)

    PBGas,
    IMHO if you like recording and really dig hearing your guitar/amp sound thru studio monitors and really marry to a track then you're an excellent candidate for FRFR. And Atomic is one of the very best FRFR solutions available today.


    The only reason to hesitate is if you're an "amp in the room" only kind of guy. Nothing wrong with that, many great artists are exactly this. Myself, I like both experiences. The KPA has always delivered what I expect sonically and I like the idea of getting great (and repeatable) recording tones both live and in the studio. I think you will too. :D


    I get my 2 CLR active wedges tomorrow and while I'm fairly certain of the outcome, I'll report my honest impressions if anyone's interested.

    Edited once, last by MLScola ().

    Quote from MLScola

    PBGas,
    IMHO if you like recording and really dig hearing your guitar/amp sound thru studio monitors and really marry to a track then you're an excellent candidate for FRFR. And Atomic is one of the very best FRFR solutions available today.


    The only reason to hesitate is if you're an "amp in the room" only kind of guy. Nothing wrong with that, many great artists are exactly this. Myself, I like both experiences. The KPA has always delivered what I expect sonically and I like the idea of getting great (and repeatable) recording tones both live and in the studio. I think you will too. :D


    I get my 2 CLR active wedges tomorrow and while I'm fairly certain of the outcome, I'll report my honest impressions if anyone's interested.



    I would love to know what you think. I'm in the hunt for that or a xitone, considering I already have a matrixgt1000fx

    Quote from PBGas

    As an update.....I got a call from Tom King himself this morning apologizing for not getting back to me sooner. I sent him the third email and he responded very quickly. It was very much appreciated.
    That being said I had a nice discussion with him and I'm ordering a passive CLR tonight from him. They have all of the models in stock so if you are looking to buy one, now would be an opportune time.
    I'm taking a real chance here doing this without having heard one myself. Thanks to Ingolf and Viabroce for the encouragement. I do realize that what I am doing with the 4x12 cab is really not getting the full potential out of the profiles of the Kemper and thus, I'm returning the 4x12 tonight and going this route.


    I just hope it sounds great!


    :)


    You're welcome, and I'm glad TK finally got back to you for business.
    Of course I'm no prophet but I think and hope you'll love the CLR.

    So if you purchase the passive CLR, during live playing, will there be any issues running the powered signal to your CLR and an unpowered signal to the sound board?


    Also, does the passive CLR come with the same tone controls as the active CLR? I couldn't find that information on the Atomic website.

    None at all. The on-board Profiler poweramp gets fes by Monitor Out. Main Outs remain free.


    No tone controls on the passive CLRs. Download the UG from their site, it's a short document.


    :D

    MLScola, PBGas , what are your first impressions of the CLRs? I got on the reserve list to try out a wedge. Even if you're not sure from a guitar amp standpoint, how are they at high levels? As clear as others have said? I am curious to hear what I am missing, so I've gotten on the reserved list. Do they sound good as studio reference monitors?

    I've been using them every day since they arrived and the short story is ... I love them! GREAT TONE and ridiculous SPL. They strike me as very neutral. I did compare them to my Tannoy Precision 6D's and DynaAudio BM5a's. The CLR's sound much better, show greater depth and detail. I'll know even more after I pump music and backing tracks through them.


    Ive tried them in all positions. My ceiling is low so the wedge position is too close, way too many nodes/standing waves. Think of it as trying to play directly into a wall 8 feet away. Using them in floor mount/back line and free field/pole mount, in a 27 foot living room they sound great. Haven't had a chance to take them outside yet. Will test this in the near future.


    When it comes to performance volume, it's worth reading this recent Kemper forum note from Tom King, president of Atomic:


    Hi Brick_top,


    I think some of the confusion here is based on the perception that the Speaker Limit Indicator is a clip light. It is not. It is a signal that you are approaching the operating threshold of the speaker. There is at least 6dB more SPL in the CLR when you start to light it. The setting for it is too conservative. In hindsight we shouldn't have included it at all. We're considering getting rid of it in future production to avoid this type of confusion. Ultimately, it has no real purpose because there are other protective mechanisms that will prevent the speaker from being damaged. The moral of the story is to disregard the Speaker Limit Indicator and use your ears.


    I find it very strange to hear people say the CLR is not loud. Most customers say it can be dangerously loud. The CLR specs are not hyped they are accurate (regardless of what other manufacturers may or may not be doing). When we say the CLR can do 120dB continuous / 130dB peak, that is based on conservative ratings using professional measurement techniques and test equipment. That's how loud it is for better or worse.


    Hope this helps.


    Best,


    Tom King
    President
    Atomic Amplifiers

    Thanks for the review man! I just got an email from him saying that they are shipping from inventory now in the U. S. I'm going to try one and if it doubles well as a reference monitor for mixing, I'll check out another one. Really curious how this is going to feel compared to cranking my stack...

    You're more than welcome, Trainwreck.


    Just a word of advice: an amp in the room and FRFR are very different animals so give yourself a chance to adjust. I keep my AC30H2 and 65 Amps Lil' Elvis right between my CLR's to remind myself of the difference. I enjoy both but more and more I'm preferring the KPA/CLR's. I get better control and can dial in more detail. Of course you own a KPA so I'm just preaching to the choir.


    Pretty sure you're going to enjoy your CLR, just take your time. Pump some music through it too. BTW, crank it up if you can. A cool rig at 85 db may reveal itself to be too bright at 98 db. And you're going to notice that some rigs have a lot more bass than others, which your CLR will show you. But that's just how they were profiled. In Performance mode, I ended up inserting a studio EQ into the B slot to cut the low end off my fave rigs.


    Would like to hear what you think after you get it. Have fun!