non-powered vs powered Kemper

    Quote from Tritium

    That is because most other digital "modeling" amps do not accurately or authentically duplicate the dynamics of a tube amp's power stage, and the impedance interactions between the power section and a connected guitar speaker. Most companies that offer solid-state power amplification, which are geared for guitar preamps, deliberately design their amplification to intentionally emulate the response of a tube power amp, and the "color" that they characteristically impart.


    This is already taken care of by the KPA in the profiling process, which clones not only the reference amp's preamp but also it's poweramp, including the dynamic interactions with the connected load (speaker). Therefore, Kemper specifically recommends using a transparent and flat power amp for their non-powered units. This is also why Kemper selected the IcePower Class D poweramp (powered KPA units) for it's clean, flat and transparent amplification.


    Cheers,
    John

    Right, but given that guitar amps and the speakers you are emulating aren't by any means flat, a lot of these companies seek to design something that delivers an accurate representation but also behaves like an amplifier. The Mission Engineering stuff in particular feeds back like a traditional amp despite being FRFR where it seems a lot of other FRFR solutions don't, especially PA speakers. It's a plus for me that it behaves like a guitar speaker should while not recoloring the sound.


    When Bryan Turner reviewed the Mission Gemini for Guitar Magazine, he had a powered and unpowered Kemper. To compare side-by-side, they got a Gemini 1 (110W powered speaker) and the Gemini 1-P (250W passive). They balanced the volume between them and the rest of the guys in his band didn't think it was even close to compare. The powered Gemini had, according to him, far and away the best punch and feel. He returned the Gemini 1-P the next day and focused the review on the powered Gemini. Given, I knew of that story before purchasing the Gemini 1-P and my powered Kemper, and for a person like me it isn't the end of the world, but that story is pretty consistent with what I've heard from a number of industry professionals. They much prefer providing their own power, be it through a speaker or a power amp like the Matrix GT1000FX.


    For me the powered KPA works fine and I like having the option for the sake of convenience, but I'm sure I'll end up investing in a powered speaker, most likely from Mission Engineering.

    I have an ISP Stealth Power amp. Little thing rocks. Very portable and sounds very good with the Kemper.
    Can run Stereo 80 watts @ 4 ohms and 180 watts bridged mono @ 8 ohms.
    Around $350. I have used this with a 2 x 12 Marshall cabinet and a 4 x 12 Marshall. Both sound awesome.
    Run the monitor out (no speaker emulation) into amp, line outs to FOH.
    Pretty cool.

    Quote from wheelzr

    Well, there is one thing to be aware of --you'll still need a external Power Amp if you want to go stereo on stage.



    The internal power amp only has a mono output. It's one of the few gripes I have with the product.

    Hey man, can you actually turn off the power amp sims on the powered Kemper???

    Quote from Georgy

    Hey man, can you actually turn off the power amp sims on the powered Kemper???

    You can turn off the built-in (internal) power amp, of the powered Kemper.


    However, if you mean can your "turn off" any power amp sims...then the answer is no. Another way of looking at it, is that there are no power amp "models" or "simulations" in the Kemper. Here, I am talking about the standard Studio Profile, which make up the vast majority of profiles available on the Kemper, and not getting into the "weeds" with subtle distinctions like special, DI / preamp-only profiles.


    When the KPA makes a Studio Profile, it is taking a snapshot and making an authentic clone not only of the entire reference tube amplifier (which includes the preamp + power amp), but incorporates contributions of the reference guitar cabinet/speaker and even the microphone used in the making the profile. So, in other words, the power amp (of the reference amp being profiled) becomes an integral part of the final Studio Profile, and that includes the complex, dynamic Independence interactions between the poweramp and the connected speaker/load. Therefore, there are no "simulations" to turn off...as the KPA is not using an algorithm to model or simulate the reference amp's poweramp. This has already been captured, in total, during the profiling process.


    With that said, the Kemper has the ability to separate the Cabinet (i.e. cabinet + microphone) from the Amplifier. This occurs when you disable the Cabinet Module, or when you copy/paste a different Cabinet profile in place of the original. However, one cannot "disable" the power amp section of the amp's profile.


    I hope that makes sense.


    Cheers,
    John