What speaker to use for Kemper Live?

You essentially have unlimited options, which is why you are confused. You probably need to either step back and define your own criteria, or be prepared to go through a test & evaluation of all options. Everyone has their own preference, budget constraints, band preferences, band constraints, etc. so you are not going to find a 'once size fits all' option.

For instance, you could:

1) Have no speaker of your own and run an XLR to FOH and have them provide your mix through the monitor.
2) Have #1, and have your own monitor wedge on the floor in front of you.
3) Have #1 and have your own guitar cab behind you
4) All of the above
5) Mix and match the above

My recommendation is come up with an approach that makes sense to you and your band. For instance, if you are used to hearing a cabinet behind you, and your drummer is used to the stage wash from that cabinet, than explore that option.

For instance, my gig rig is having my Kemper behind me, sitting on top of a Tech 21 Power Engine since I am used to having a guitar cab behind me. However, I also run a monitor out to an Alto TS212 wedge on the floor in front of me as I have problems hearing the guitar cab behind me at volume levels that don't annoy the other members of the band.

Different folks prefer different speakers (FRFR) and some folks with limited budgets can't afford the pricier options, but regardless of your budget, there are LOTS of options so don't get fooled into thinking only X and Y are worth consideration.

Hope that helps.

Quote from Steve079

Hi, i have been using my powered Kemper through a marshall quadbox with the cab sims off and it sounds good, but am thinking of making the switch to a powered speaker as i heard it doesn't color the sound...sounds better in other words..... Can i use a yamaha dxr 10 as my onstage rig instead of going to front of house?..or should i buy 2 Dxr 12's and 1 Drx 10 for monitoring onstage?...little bit confused..have never ran front of house before..i do my own sound as we don't have a soundman..a full explanation and some advice would be appreciated..thanks!

This topic has been covered quite a bit. Do a search and you'LL see plenty of DXR conversations. In short, my personal opinion is that the DXR10 isn't nearly loud enough or capable of handling palm muting at louder volumes without the speaker farting out (it is only a single 10" speaker after all). But the DXR series does sound good. So I'd go with the DXR and get the speaker size that best suits what you'd need in terms of volume. I used a single DXR15 to play a festival with roughly 10,000 people and it was MORE than loud enough (I actually had to turn down on a concert sized stage). I use mine in front of me in a monitor position, but leave all the EQ/options on the back of it set to "off." The bigger the speaker, the more air it'll be able to push as well, which will help a little in replicating the "feel" that most people are used to when using real guitar cabs. Just this week, I bought another DXR15. Not for using with my other DXR15. I bought two because they are a little heavy 55lbs or so, and I'd rather just leave one at our practice space and one in the back of my car for gigs so that I don't have to keep loading and unloading them each week. Plus, if one ever goes bad, I've got the indentical backup available immediately. Yamaha makes excellent stuff.

Quote from Steve079

ok, so you had the dxr 15 behind you acting as a guitar cab on a speaker stand i assume?.

No, I use it in the monitor position on the floor in front of me. This is something I've always done, even when using 1x12 and 2x12 guitar cabs. I like having the cab's sound hitting me from the front so I can get a far closer idea as to what my guitar really sounds like. Having the cabs behind you really doesn't make much sense when you think about it. The sound is coming out of speakers that are closer to ground level than your ears are, and they're firing at the back of your legs. If your legs were located in the back of your kneecap, then this would make sense.

If you put your head close to your speakers, where your mic would be located (do this at a safe volume) and then compare that sound to the one in which you're standing up, facing away from the cabs, it's going to sound drastically different to you, even though you haven't changed a single thing on the amp. So a long time ago, I started angling my cabs up at me like monitors so that I could get a much better idea as to what my mic was really picking up. Granted, it's still not perfect because a mic and the human ear aren't the same thing. And the distance between your ear and the speaker after you're standing up makes a difference too. But after re-tweaking my sound based on this new setup, my tones that were sent to the front of house improved a LOT.

This same sort of philosophy is what turned me on to the Kemper and using it with FRFR monitors. When I was using two 1x12 cabs, I'd use one angled at me as described above, and then I'd use another on the floor behind me shooting out at the crowd. This way, I heard exactly what my guitar was sounding like, cut down on the total stage volume which was shooting back at the sound man (which will also help your sound) but still had a little bit of volume hitting the people who were up really close to the stage beyond the reach of the main speakers.

I can do this same thing now with the two DXR15s if needed. But honestly, one is all you'd need. I had the DXR10, but it couldn't handle the low responses at high volumes. I didn't try the DXR12, so I can't comment on that. I just went straight to the DXR15 because I'd rather have more than enough and be able to turn down, than not have enough and be screwed. It also has filters on it so you can cut out some of the low frequencies on stage if it gets too "boomy" for you, but I've never found that to be the case. If you have your EQ set properly to begin with on the Kemper, then you shouldn't really need to use the filters on the DXR to get everything to sound tight and punchy. If it sounds too boomy, you've probably got too much low end dialed into your EQ, which is a whole other discussion about where the guitar belongs in the mix.