Powered Kemper vs. external power amp for bass

MartLTB · November 23, 2018 at 9:06 PM

Hello everyone, seriously tempted by the Kemper after trying one but I would need it to work well with a bass cab for rehearsals and most gigs and I'm looking for some experience if the powered Kemper will work fine or if I'd be better off with an external power amp. Given a good and efficient cab will the powered Kemper have enough headroom to keep up with a loud band and deliver proper punch? I know about it not officially supporting 4 ohm loads but I guess this won't be an issue as it will be unusable for me if I have to crank it to 600W to keep up with the band anyways. Fwiw I used to gig with an SVT3 that delivered 240W into my 8ohm cab and this was always more than enough power.

SKollapse · November 24, 2018 at 12:35 AM

It will definitely be more than enough compared to your SVT3 - I've never wanted for more power.

4enima · November 24, 2018 at 11:36 PM

I don't know the powered kemper version, but for the nonpowered i can recommend the Synq 1k0 https://synq-audio.com/digit-1k0

Neoland · November 27, 2018 at 10:41 AM

I did a few gigs playing bass with an AC/DC tributeband, with a powered Kemper and used first a 8x10 Hartke cab. Later I used a 1x15 + 4x10 Ampeg cabs, and in both cases I had more than enough power.

MartLTB · November 27, 2018 at 7:00 PM

Thank you for the replies, sounds promising so far. Were you happy with the Kemper for live use or did you miss something compared to a classic bass amp? One of the main reasons for leaning towards the KPA is that I love the sound and feel of all tube bassheads like a SVT but I don't want to lug one around and the Kemper was the only thing I tried that came close without weighing half a ton.

wwittman · November 28, 2018 at 7:10 AM

I've been using the powered head with an Ampeg 1x15 cab even in arenas

a good passive cab will be fine