KPA vs. real tubeamp - strictly for home use

What kind of answer do you expect here?

Ide get the KPA anyway as you can have all the amps you want and most of them for free, or very little cash.... I've played mine through my little super champ xd, right into the guitar input and was absolutely amazed... if you ever want to record quietly and get that real tube tone, you also wont be sorry... I'm still amazed to this day at the sound of this thing.... playing through cheap studio monitors is also great, amazing actually...

For home use a KPA into a pair of decent studio monitors is a far more rewarding & fun experience to me than a clean tube amp.
Clean tube amp means you're going to start buying pedals, how much is that going to cost, and when and where does that pedal search end?

Plus, you're at home, you're going to want to record yourself playing.
How can you do that with a tube amp, buy mics and all sorts of other gear to record just the tones of that one particular amp.

You mentioned the Bogner Goldfinger...here's what it sounds like recorded with the Kemper.
https://soundcloud.com/quintaquad/kempergoldfinger

Quote from Armin

What kind of answer do you expect here?

The correct one.

There is not 1 amp in the market that can even come close to what the Kemper does. Obviously everybody here has made up his mind in this regard.

My answer is: even better! To get my Triamp to sound good I had to crank it way too loud to play at home, even my Mesa Studio 22 through a 1922 was way too loud for home use. Now I can get ANY sound at ANY level with the same consistent quality/feel through headphones, monitors or my 212 FR-A from 20db to 120db

Yes, definitely.
It,s a pleasure to play with...and You can obtain great tones at low volume if You don,t want to loose Your hearing...
I,m using at home, in the studio and on stages my KPA, from arenas to free air concerts. It,s the best solution everywhere.
At home with headphones or my hi-fi, in studio with the Adam A7 studio monitors, and live with my Shure in-ears combined with a small TC Helicon VSM or Mackie SRM450.
It can,t replace the feeling of my Marshall stack (two 4x12) when I,m staying in front of them...., but the sound of Kemper is perfect and now I,m selling my Marshalls soon after 10 monts of Kemperizeing....

I haven't sold my tube amps, and I may even buy some more when I eventually have the money, however I also haven't really fired any of my tube amps up more than maybe 5 or 6 times since getting the KPA a year ago

My experience is that the KPA delivers excellent sound in spades, at any volume.
To get my Marshall full stack or my Vox AC 30 to sound that good I have to crank them way too much and even then the sound is not as persistently great as to what I can get with the KPA.

I'm still new around here but have had my Kemper for about 3 months. I went out on a limb and sold my Mesa Mark V head to finance the Kemper. I currently play it through a QSC K12 or KH120 studio monitors using my Carvin "strat" with DiMarzio Area 61 pickups. The tones are definitely good and you can achieve it at any volume, however, to me the feel is different, maybe because I'm playing through a FRFR setup, or maybe I haven't tweaked the profiles enough.

Yesterday, I plugged into an old, beat up Peavey Bravo112 and it just felt good. Of course, the sound was limited and got boring after a while, but it felt good. Not sure if that helps but I would definitely say the Kemper is a keeper, especially for recording and flexibility. I've owned a lot of Mesa's over the years and haven't quite found the profile I like out there. Rectoverb, Road King, Mark V, Stiletto, LoneStar Special.

Quote from Nio

Of course I´m aware that the users of this forum are KPA-afficionados, and what I read with good reason. Nevertheless, I don´t think that all KPA users immediately sold their tubeamp(s).... or am I wrong?
This is exactly the point: I understand that the KPA is a great tool for recording, but when it comes to playing at home and enjoying the tone of an excellent tubeamp - does the KPA deliver the same experience?

Yes, you are right.

Since I own the KPA I sold 3 of my tube amps (Elmwood M60, Mesa Boogie MK V, Mesa Boogie Lonestar Special) and bought a new one (Mesa Boogie Mini Rectifier).

I love both real tube amps and the KPA.

Is it the same - no.

The KPA is much more versatile, for playing at late night much better sounding, for recordings once you have some great profiles very good, it has very good effects inbuilt, you can store your setups (rigs), play via headphones, ...

Will it replace all my tube amps - no!

So if you have ONE tube amp sound you love very much - get that tube amp.
If you are after MANY great tube amp sounds - get all these tube amps or get the KPA.

To play the KPA via some great speakers is as much fun as to play a great tube amp - you can't compare it with other 'modelers'.

Quote from Nio

Nevertheless, I don´t think that all KPA users immediately sold their tubeamp(s).... or am I wrong?

I sold all my tube amps and haven't regretted it one bit. I used to have GAS for amps and was always looking, but not these days. Now I see one for sale and think "nice", and then pass right on by ...

To get the "amp in the room" feel you can always buy yourself a good guitar cab then plug your KPA (with amplifier) in this cab. This way you can play all your prefered amps in only one box.

I love my KPA and I would not go back to tube amps BUT a high quality tube amp will always keep its value while digital boxes will not, there will always be something better in the future (KPA II, Axe FX VI or POD XVI, name it...

Quote from Pick909

I love my KPA and I would not go back to tube amps BUT a high quality tube amp will always keep its value while digital boxes will not, there will always be something better in the future (KPA II, Axe FX VI or POD XVI, name it...

Future value was not one of my criteria. For me, it's all about TONE, and the lunchbox delivered in spades. If there is never an improvement over this, I'll remain happy.

Like Guitarmania62, I'm using at home, in the studio and on stages my KPA, from arenas to free air concerts.

I still have an '80s Marshall half stack, and a '60s Fender Deluxe Reverb. I don't play either of them at home, or record with them - I use the Kemper.
I use it through studio monitors at home. I really like it that way. And, if you are running it in stereo, it has its own version of "in the room" that no regular amp can match'

If there is some other "ultimate amp of your dreams" , and anything else would feel like a compromise, get that one amp.

But, if it is just the SOUND of that one amp that haunts you, get a Kemper. You would ave that amps sound (if it isn't already profiled, it is just a matter of time), and you would have hundreds more.
\
If you get it, and occasionally want that "amp in a room feel", you don't have to go upscale to get that feel. It delivered that feel when I plugged it into the effects return of a $200 Crate amp, and even with one of these (at a Radio Station "on the air" appearance)

[Blocked Image: http://bbspirit.sakura.ne.jp/bbspirit.net/gt_eq/photo/amp/ga/fender_studio15r_1.jpg]

Since I bought the Kemper, I've turned the Marshall on a couple of times to profile it, and used it for one show. We opened for Nightranger, so a half stack seemed appropriate. Ironically, their amps and cabs weren't visible to the audience at all. I've used the Fender once, too - at a Fundraiser show where I knew all the other invited guitarists would be filling the stage with other blackface, and tweed amps. it was a good call that time - with those older guys, and their preference for stage volume, I literally turned it up all the way, and used my guitar to control it.

Hey Nio,
Lets face it honestly : this is all about money .
So, if money is not a problem one will buy as much real amps as he wants , plus Kemper on the top , am I right ?
If money IS the problem , one will buy only Kemper ,and enjoy almost every amp on this Planet with 90% of real feel, dynamic and tone .

It is not truth that all of +3.000 amp profiles sound so real and good, but at least 100 or 200 profiles are very close.
Maybe 20 -50 of them sound very , very close.
And maybe 10 -20 sound so close to the real thing that you wouldn't believe it !
(disclaimer : this is valid for me, for anyone else those numbers could be bigger or smaller)
Profiling process and success is better and better every day , so those 10-20 perfect profiles will arise to 20-50 or even more ...
On the end, for home use and home recording , Kemper will beat any amp !

I sold my beast Mesa Boogie Road King II , but I did retain two boutique hand wired amps, because they are so good and so rare .
Still, I play Kemper 99% of time , keeping my boutique amps which I will never sold .
If those two amps are mass produced, I will sold them ASAP, doesn't matter how they are good.
Hope it helps .

Sometimes you land on a Profile or tweak a Profile that has such a complex and out of control personality (in a good way) that you shake your head and think, WTF!.
You try remember what tube amp you've previously played that resembled a similar tone, and you realise you've actually never played a tube amp that sounded so good & 'complex/different/unique'.

Then the argument that all tube amps are still better than the Kemper, and that the Kemper only captures 90% of the tone and feel becomes irrelevant because in some cases you've actually surpassed the ability of the vast majority a tube amps.

I go into a music store and guys are playing through loud amps, and I stand there thinking to myself, "this sounds like shite", if my Kemper sounded like that I'd delete the Profile.

Back to the original subject, for home use, I have money for one amp or a Kemper, what should I do?
It's a no brainer...

Hi there,

especially when you play through a guitar speaker the experience with the KPA is 99% real! When I play the KPA through the insert of my Bogner amp with 2x12 cab it sounds REALLY good and I can get a wide range of sounds. With studiomonitors it sounds more like a recorded guitar what is to be expected and desired. You can also use e.g. a power amp and a guitar box and you will like it. Much more fun than just a tube amp. And you have the "power tube saturation" if wanted at low volume plus all the effects.....1500 Euro for the KPA and another 500 Euro for any amp / cab (1X12) for home (e.g. you could use also a Fender Mustang IV for stereo) and you have a really good sound and play experience.

Just my 2cents

Cheers
SAcapuntas