KPA powered or not?

I have the Yamaha DXR12, which is similar to the ten and love it, but seldom need to use it. I have unpowered head. This is what is called the FRFR method, that is using a fairly flat powered speaker to amplify your sound. This way, the Yamaha or similar product won't color your sound much. Thus a fender twin amp with a fender twin 2x12 cabinet still sounds like a fender twin amp with a fender twin 2x12 cab, just like it would if you put a mic up to a real fender twin w/ 2x12 cab and pumped it through a PA. The Yamaha DXR is a PA speaker, so what you hear on stage matches what comes out of the PA system if playing live.

You'd want the Powered head if you want the option to play through a real guitar cabinet. The negative to this is that a real guitar cab sounds like only one guitar cab. In other words, you can turn off the virtual cab sound in the outputs going to your real cab. However, let's say you have a Marshall 1960 cab on stage. You dial up a fender twin amp. You'll want to turn off the virtual cab in the Kemper. Now you have the sound of a fender twin amp going through a marshall 1960. If you leave the virtual twin cab on, you still have that sound additionally colored by the Marshall 1960 cab. Keep in mind any profile you find was tweaked and created to sound the way its supposed to through the guitar cab it was created with. This doesn't mean that great sounds can't be found and tweaked, it just means that everything you play with won't sound as it originally intended, as your real cab colors it.

I'd say, go with the Yamaha DXR10. If you already have a cab that you love or committed to, then you'll want to go with a powered Kemper, as it's the cleanest and easier way to power a real cab. otherwise you'd need some sort of external amp to power your cab. Also if you buy a powered Kemper, you can always use it with the Yamaha, as it also has the unpowered monitor when output. That way, you have any option you want. You can hit the road with just the Kemper head and power the house cabinet at any club with your Kemper. However, when you're able to bring your DXR 10 with you you can use that. Keep in mind that it sounds like you don't already have a good cab you are dedicated to. In this case, if you went the powered option for the sake of using it with a good guitar cab, you'd have to buy that as well, as the spider speaker is not going to give you as near of good tone as going with the DXR10 or similar quality powered monitor. It's also extremely portable

Oh, and the DXR 10 has way more volume and headroom than any traditional 100 watt tube through 4x12 has. So you'll have more power in a much lighter package. As do most powered monitors of that sort and cost. You can also get the powered head and power an unpowered PA speaker, this will give you a similar platform like using a DXR10 or other self-powered PA speaker. However, you'll get the most accurate results going through a speaker that is self-powered as the entire system was designed together to be flat. Whereas, there's no telling how a particular PA speaker will respond to the Kemper's power amp. It'll be close but for accuracy's sake your better using a dedicated powered speaker, not an unpowered one.

the other reason this approach is best is that the Yamaha DXR 10 will pretty closely match the sound you get through headphones on the Kemper or through studio monitors, as all three are products designed to accurately produce the sound in a flat way. This means you can tweak on your studio monitors or good headphones and the sound will be fairly close when you play them through the DXR 10. However, if you use a regular guitar speaker cab live, everything will sound different through headphones or when monitoring with the virtual cabs through studio monitors.

For me, while I personally use in ears with no stage cab of any sort weekly at my church, I know that if I have a gig I can bring my Yamaha along and everything will sound pretty close to what I heard through the PA and my in-ears. I don't have to create a whole new set of presets (called rigs in kemper-land) to sound good through a specific guitar cabinet.

If you buy a powered head you could run a 4x12 or a non powered FRFR speaker like a Matrix or CLR if you buy a unpowered head you could run all these speakers 2 but you would have to buy a seperate power amp, which is more gear to carry. but...... you could like you mentioned buy a DXR10 which is great buy the way i used to run 2 of them before i went the in ear monitor route. You have to think weather you would be wanting to run a 4x12 behind you or if having the DXR10 will be what sounds ok for you. If you are a person who likes the feeling of a 4x12 pushing air behind you then a powered one is the way to go, but if this doesnt bother you unpowered with DXR is perfect.

Ciao kenenth, welcome

Since you'll be mainly using your amp\cab FOH (no PA for guitars), a linear cab is perfect because the audience will hear a much better sound all over the room without the typical narrow\piercing directivity of a guitar cab, specially if you lace it on a pole.
Not to mention that a guitar cab will hardly respond properly to a dropped A (55 Hz)... the extra bass you'll be able to get from a linear cab will be great, and you'll always be free to cut them off or tweak them to your taste.

The better active cab in terms of sonic diffusion pattern I am aware of in a reasonable price range is the CLR: your sound will basically be perfect in a 90° cone around the front of the speaker... which is a lot.

Sure, the powered Profiler is - generally speaking - more versatile. You could also for example consider that, and a passive CLR. I think it basically depends on whether you actually plan to use guitar cabs. Should you be unsure on the matter, you might consider the possibility to buy a passive Profiler and add a power amp later.

Said it before and I'll say it again:

Better to have power and not need it than to need power and not have it.

Well, I guess "better" relates to an array of parameters. Sure, better to own and drive a better car than a lesser one.

Quote from NyteOwl

Said it before and I'll say it again:

Better to have power and not need it than to need power and not have it.

That's what I also propose.
Be prepared for all situations. I even sometimes use both: a small 1x12" Celestion-Creamback-Box (for the more "natural" gigsound on stage also for my bandmates) driven by my Powered KPA and additionally an Alto active 400W-Floormonitor right into my face (for my orientation) via Direct Out. Both can be controlled independently. On top of that I go to FOH by the Main-Outputs. I love my live-sound (though it took a pretty long time to loose my "paradigm").

Quote from viabcroce

Well, I guess "better" relates to an array of parameters. Sure, better to own and drive a better car than a lesser one.

Whether you drive a Bentley or a Buick, if you run out of fuel it ain't going anywhere except to the bottom of the hill. Just saying it's better to be prepared for any situation one might encounter than to encounter a situation for which one is unprepared.

Sure, got it! But fuel is something you'd need anyway, while usually you (me at least) are very careful in deciding how much to spend for a car.
With what I saved by not buying a Ferrari I'll have fuel for my Seat for all its life... or mine!
On a more serious note, my point is that you save money and face some compromises. Only you can evaluate how important this is for you, and how much you'll have to "pay" for that saving.

Quote from kennethvdw

Ok, I understand powered is better to have then wanting it and don't have.
But could you please explain in which cases I would need it but I don't have it?

The classic use case: there are cabs available at the venue, like a 4x12 or a 2x12 which are shared between bands. Now you only turn up with your powered profiler. how cool is that?

Quote from kennethvdw

Most of the gigs I have have either no PA, so unpowered KPA + Yamaha would be sufficient?

Yes.

Quote from kennethvdw

Or it has PA and I can just plugin the KPA to the FOH and a monitor on stage to the band (or i can even use my own Yamaha?)

Again yes.
In the end your choice depends on your use cases (and if the 'shared cabs' use case I outlined above is actually happening to you).

Quote from viabcroce

Sure, got it! But fuel is something you'd need anyway, while usually you (me at least) are very careful in deciding how much to spend for a car.
With what I saved by not buying a Ferrari I'll have fuel for my Seat for all its life... or mine!
On a more serious note, my point is that you save money and face some compromises. Only you can evaluate how important this is for you, and how much you'll have to "pay" for that saving.:)

Okay, maybe the vehicle analogy isn't the greatest, but all that money you saved by not buying a Ferrari isn't going to be much help if you run out of gas on the way to a gig in the middle of nowhere and you can't even see a building anywhere, let alone a fuel station. The type of vehicle one is driving becomes irrelevant when one is standing by the side of the road wishing there were a couple of 5 gallon containers of fuel in the trunk. But enough car talk...

You're absolutely correct about an individual being the only one who can decide what is right for themselves. Whatever the OP does, I'm sure he'll enjoy his KPA.

Welcome!! You are on the right track with non-powered and DXR. If the difference in $ between powered and non-powered is not a big deal to you then by all means get the powered version. You won't regret the non-powered + DXR either. How's that for fence riding, haha

Quote from NyteOwl

Okay, maybe the vehicle analogy isn't the greatest, but all that money you saved by not buying a Ferrari isn't going to be much help if you run out of gas on the way to a gig in the middle of nowhere and you can't even see a building anywhere, let alone a fuel station. The type of vehicle one is driving becomes irrelevant when one is standing by the side of the road wishing there were a couple of 5 gallon containers of fuel in the trunk.

I know where you're coming from
But my point was somehow different... OK, let's try this, maybe we can make the car metaphor work after all
I bought a Seat, OK? I would have liked a Jeep.
There will be times when I'm driving up to a mountain that I will regret not having the 4x etc. It has already happened to me, actually. The point is tho that I'd have never spent twice or thrice the price for a 4x, just because once in 15 years I have found myself hoping I'd own one: this investment was simply not worth it for me.
OTOH, if I was a person who often happens to drive on\in the mountains, or to drive in winter on dirt tracks, and would risk not reaching home because of that, than I would probably consider spending that much.
Hope this makes sense.
Back to music, I own an Ambrosi power amp that I use less than once a year with a guitar cab and never in a business situation. So for example, I am in the position of determining that a powered Profiler would not be an investment for me, but just a (nice) add on\luxury. Things might be different for others tho, as you correctly point out!

Quote from viabcroce

I know where you're coming from
But my point was somehow different... OK, let's try this, maybe we can make the car metaphor work after all
I bought a Seat, OK? I would have liked a Jeep.
There will be times when I'm driving up to a mountain that I will regret not having the 4x etc. It has already happened to me, actually. The point is tho that I'd have never spent twice or thrice the price for a 4x, just because once in 15 years I have found myself hoping I'd own one: this investment was simply not worth it for me.
OTOH, if I was a person who often happens to drive on\in the mountains, or to drive in winter on dirt tracks, and would risk not reaching home because of that, than I would probably consider spending that much.
Hope this makes sense.
Back to music, I own an Ambrosi power amp that I use less than once a year with a guitar cab and never in a business situation. So for example, I am in the position of determining that a powered Profiler would not be an investment for me, but just a (nice) add on\luxury. Things might be different for others tho, as you correctly point out!

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Point made perfectly clear!

And I since can see exactly where you're coming from, I won't expand on the analogy any further other than to say, although we have slightly different viewpoints, we're still in agreement that one should take all things into consideration and buy whichever unit suits their particular situation. We're just explaining it differently.

And even though I live in South Florida without a mountain in sight, there are times I wish I'd bought 4x, too.

Quote from kennethvdw

So you are saying I should buy a 4x Jeep instead of the KPA

Only if you plan to play on muddy, sleepy mountains

Back to topic, I'd not say that the poweramped version is by default "the best" choice

Have a lot of fun!