Kemper Combo Amp?

    Good afternoon,


    On paper, the Kemper seems perfect for me (home recording and playing) I’ve tried KPA’s a few times through monitors and, though I can hear the excellent quality and realism in the profiles, something about playing through monitors just doesn’t do it for me. To that end I’m thinking about buying a powered KPA and building it into an enclosure above two 10 inch guitar speakers (wired in stereo). This should make a nice, portable combo unit that’s light enough (20KG-ish) to move around the house / studio and play out loud / with headphones as required.

    Any reason not to do this? (this is not for gigging, just playing and recording at home) Did anyone else not "feel" the KPA so much through monitors and then find their "magic" with guitar cabs?

    Thanks in advance for any opinions / advice.

    Quote from paults

    <p>If you want it to be a stereo combo, you would need a non-powered KPA and a stereo amp - the powered KPA is mono. &nbsp; &nbsp;</p>


    This.
    And welcome.
    Also I recommend trying the Profiler through one of the recommended monitors, not any monitor.

    Quite a few users stick with traditional guitar speakers, nothing wrong with anything if it's what you like. Nt sure if this is even relevant but have you tried using guitar cabs with your Kemper already? The Kemper is a different animal than a traditional amp, it's a FOH product with mics involved in the profiling process and that changes things quite a bit. Make sure it's what you want before you go building one, go to GC or a store and check out different cabs, may help you decide what you want to build. Just my 2 cents...

    IMHO this is a good idea and might work well depending on the speakers chosen. Back in my Line 6 HD500 days, when I had a need for really loud stage volume, the best setup I found was to install a "full range" single driver 12" (Eminence 12LTA) into a transtube Peavey Bandit. In some cases on really loud stages the FRFR monitors started compressing and all you could hear was the tweeter, which was very unpleasant. But the Bandit/12LTA did a great job in keeping its tone even at loud volumes.


    For some reason this same rig did not sound that great with the Kemper. But I do not have really loud gigs any more, so the KPA through a FRFR is fine.


    Beyma makes a few excellent full range single drivers, 10" and 12", that might do a terrific job in a guitar cab with a clean neutral power amp and a Kemper. I would definitely try a pair of the Beymas if they weren't so expensive in the US. I'd think a pair of these with a stout class D or T power amp would sing at all volumes with a Kemper, and you could keep the cab sim activated as well.


    In general, it is best to use the most neutral and full range speaker possible with a modeler, because most guitar speakers have their own unique tone and character that would then be placed on all your profiles. If you are playing through a V30 equipped cab, and are trying to get a AC30 or tweed Bassman speaker tone, it would be difficult to do.

    When I first got my kemper, I still owned a guitar cabinet that I previously loved with two different amps. A high end peavey 4X12, which I swapped out two of the speakers with Warehouse Speakers V30 model (which are similar and superior to standard Celestial V30' ) I tried all my profiles with the Cab sound off into my Peavey cab and ended up preferring using the profiled cab into a QSC K10 powered monitor. Though in fairness, I compared the profiles that I had first selected and tweaked for my QSC. Later on I got a Yamaha DXR 12, which I like even more than the QSC. The Yamaha is so ridiculously loud if needed, portable, and most importantly the best sounding. It is also able to be placed behind me, just like you use a real guitar cab, or pointed up at me like a monitor. And less beamy than a traditional guitar cab.
    this being said, building your own cabinet, you should know you love the sound of the guitar speakers you are going to put into it and expect some unintended coloring depending on the shape and dimensions of your home made cab. Otherwise, almost all the profiles in the Kemper and those shared online were tweaked and profiled the way they were because someone thought it sounded best that way. If they had used a different cab, they probably would have tweaked differently to compensate. So the extent that your fixed home made cab is similar to the profiled cabs, is the extent that they will effectively sound the way they were intended to by their creator. Keep in mind that the quality of the device you used to monitor the Kemper will drastically affect the quality. the Yamaha DRX10's are quite popular among Kemper users. There's some high end ones you'll find reviewed on these forums that people like and that also look more like a guitar cab.

    Thanks for the welcome and the great info folks, that's really helpful!


    The 2x10 idea was just to keep the size down as small as possible really (that way I *might* be abe to sneak it into the living room). Thanks for the info on the powered KPA - I hadn't realised it was mono. In that case, If I went for a powered rack I'd make it a 1x12 mono cab, which could make a really nice compact and simple combo.


    I haven't made a speaker cab before but am fairly handy in the workshop. Having said that I sent a quick contact to a very helpful cab maker in the UK (Vyseamps.com) and for a few pounds over the cost of a standard pine cabinet, he would make a bespoke cab to my specs. Without a router or a proper workshop, the finger jointing alone would take forever, so will definitely take him up on that if I decide to go down that route.


    I've also been looking at some of the FRFR suggested options too. Thanks for the speaker recommendations. I completely understand the advantage of FRFR (not adding another fixed filter into the chain with a guitar speaker) I've never really felt that method clicked (at least with monitors - I actually get on better with headphones with modellers!) but I can see the advantage and additional tonal flexibility that it would give you.


    For FRFR, the camplifier speakers look good to me, a bit more house friendly that some of the more traditional stage monitor type FRFR systems...the KPA solutions "blue 3" in particular seems like it would fit pretty well with a 180w stereo poweramp built in, though it would effectively mean having a "toaster and cab" 2 piece solution, not the end of the world. Looks like that one's not quite available yet, though.


    cheers all!

    Quote from jimification

    ...the KPA solutions "blue 3" in particular seems like it would fit pretty well with a 180w stereo poweramp built in, though it would effectively mean having a "toaster and cab" 2 piece solution, not the end of the world. Looks like that one's not quite available yet, though.
    !

    Just go and ask @Gitarrenschlumpf here in the forum as he is making them.

    Can someone list the recommended cabinets please. I see of post on TGP about the Atomic CLR. Stumbled across the Friedman, but both are around $1000 - seems pricey for a powered cab to me. I would just like to know some other options. Thanks. My KPA is not powered.