Best Power Amp For Kemper

Some people love it, some people love to diss it - the Matrix GT800FX or GT1000FX power amps. I've got the 1000, love it. Some people say a cheap Crown amp sounds just as clean, but I beg to differ. I love it.

believe it or not, I bought a EH Magnum .44 as a low cost experiment and I think it sounds great
Im running a single 12" open back cab. and haven't had to turn it up past 10:00, so no noise !
very quiet and powerful. ( as a combo type amp )

+1 for the Matric

Quote from old crow

believe it or not, I bought a EH Magnum .44 as a low cost experiment and I think it sounds great
Im running a single 12" open back cab. and haven't had to turn it up past 10:00, so no noise !
very quiet and powerful. ( as a combo type amp )

Darn. I just sold one of these. I probably should have held onto it, but I couldn't think of a good reason.

The 44Magnum was the first cheap power amp I considered when on the market for one. I preferred to look elsewhere for a number of reasons, but users usually said the volume was not an issue.
The only drawback would be that it's meant to distort at extreme settings, so the nominal power with a device like the Profiler is - generally speaking - unusable.

If it needs to be small, you can go for the ISP Stealth 1U halfrack class D poweramp.
I myself went for the Kock ATR-4502, but this is a lot havier

for me personally I would always go with a tube power amp, Carvin and Mesa both have some awesome stuff but I know that the Matrix GT1000FX is extremely popular both with kemper and Axe Fx

the fryette power station has a lot of hype surrounding it. 50w tube power amp gives me gas!

Generally speaking look for the most neutral poweramp.
Tube poweramp likely add coloration and therefore would not be my recommendation

Hi, i use a 2 He t.amp e 800 from thomann with a Mesa Boogie slant rectyfier 2x12 V30 cab. Many punch.....
Monitor out, mono cab sim off. Nice sound, big punch less money. Before, i used a rocktron velocity with a reactance tube cirquit. I sold it because it colours the sound like Ingolf has written. The t.amp e 800 was a tip from deadlight studios. It was a good decision to buy it. 170€!

Your choice of poweramp depend a lot on whether you plan to use a regular guitar-cab or if you intend to use a full-range cab. If you choose a traditional cabinet it also depends on which cabinet and what kind of tones you are after.

Quote from viabcroce

The 44Magnum was the first cheap power amp I considered when on the market for one. I preferred to look elsewhere for a number of reasons, but users usually said the volume was not an issue.
The only drawback would be that it's meant to distort at extreme settings, so the nominal power with a device like the Profiler is - generally speaking - unusable.

For what it's worth, I personally found the 44 Magnum to be a bit on the dark side, even with the bright switch engaged. Ultimately it was intended as a backup so I was willing to live with that just to get through a gig. But as a primary unit there are probably better options.

That ISP Stealth looks interesting. I've pretty much sworn off carrying my own guitar cabinets due to back injuries. But the Stealth could be useful in situations where I am forced to use existing backline.

Interesting. The "darkness" had not popped up during my researches. Anyway, you can always create an output preset for it

Quote from heldal

Your choice of poweramp depend a lot on whether you plan to use a regular guitar-cab or if you intend to use a full-range cab. If you choose a traditional cabinet it also depends on which cabinet and what kind of tones you are after.

Would you mind elaborating on this?

I built my own poweramp for the Kemper. I used a kit from Chipamp. It sound great with a guitar speaker. I haven't tried it with a FR speaker yet.

Quote from viabcroce

Would you mind elaborating on this?

What I mean is that someone who focus alot on typical mid to high-gain tones coming out of a certain amp could be well of with a tube poweramp and guitar cab of said brand. For example a marshall EL34 with ditto cab(s). This rig is obviously limited wrt the type of tones it is not designed for. The KPA can't make wonders.

Someone with a neutral FR-cab would OTOH be better off with a neutral FR-amp. This would be the most flexible rig that should be able to produce just about any type of guitar sound.

Mhhh... I think I am missing something in your rationale.
If you like the contribution a tube power amp gives a profile, a linear cab would magnify it, I guess?

Generally speaking, if I felt I have to rely on a tube amp to give my sound credibility I'd never spend two grands on a Kemper.
I prefer to choose\tweak the right profile(s) in order to reach that "tonal temperature" I seek. If the Kemper was unable to sound like a tube power amp (through a guitar cab) it would hint at a concept failure IMO

Maybe it's just me... X)

Depends how much space you have...!

You might want to talk a look at Quilter Amps Tone Block. I love quilter amps. They make great solid state equipment. I have 2 of their Mach 2 solid state guitar amps, and they are fantastic.

G