Today I hooked up with a few guitar players friend of mine to test this guy Note that it was not a test to hear how a rig records or sounds through a PA..this was for stage monitoring purpose only so a recording of this wouldn't tell you much.You needed to be in the room to hear ( and play)..So just trust me..or perform your own test
First test I wanted to do was to hear how the Matrix performs compared to an FRFR type of amp that you find in powered speakers. For this test to be valid we need an active and passive version of the same cabinet. So we had the RCF ART310A and its passive version .MKII series with all neo's that was just being discontinued for the MKIII a couple months ago . Not the high end of RCF but in my experience after opening a few recent RCF's ,all 300,400 and 700 series have somewhat the same basic amp module.The difference is in the Speakers and a few tweaks
I plugged the main out of the KPA into the A and the monitor out of the KPA into the Matrix and P. This allows to quickly go from one to another and separate EQ. I first tried to get a balanced sound using a preset I did on my Studio monitors .First thing I'm going to say is that the active version needed more EQ.This cab is bass heavy .
The Matrix + passive sounded more like you'd expect .The feel is closer to a real guitar amp and cab,though you clearly hear you're playing plastic cabs.But no harsh highs.The highs sing with just the right amount of attack.No exagerated lows that could be a pain onstage .Not too tight ,not too soft.Just right .You get that springy response you expect from a good tube amp.That push in the right mids .The active can sound somewhat close but not that close You'll clearly hear AND feel the difference.Every part of the bandwidth is at the right place . In this particular case the only thing that could make you choose the active version is of course if you need to monitor something else onstage. But if 100% dedicated to your guitar rig the Matrix with the passive cab is a better choice with this particular brand and model and I'm almost sure that it should be the case with others
While we were at it we also tested a third RCF. An older ART 300 with a 12 ". Again the Matrix/passive was better.In both cases the 310's were more musical
For the second test entered a Mesa rack power amp.Not any Mesa but a modded one that was used by Steve Lukather onstage in 2010. This one is modded with two great Mercury Magnetic OT's,a bias pot and SED 6L6.It sounds much better than the stock version. We wanted to hear how that would compare to the Matrix into the passive RCF . I was not expecting much here because this is clearly not the way to go. And there it was.The mesa didn't sound right.it adds its own color and it was all "unbalanced" . Next ..
The next test was the one I was really waiting for..Enter real guitar cabs (and cab OFF on KPA this time ) .Two 2x12's Port City and among them the very best 2x12 I ever heard by far..Even the same models I tested before do not sound like this one.This cab is just Magic .It used to be mine but now belongs to my best friend cause I couldn't use it anymore because of the weight.It's not far away so if I need it
This one is equipped with V30's and doesn't have the usual high mids high spike.The other PC have WGS Veteran .
This is were I expected the Matrix to be good but not 100% as good as the Mesa.I was wrong.Not only it was as good but it was BETTER
The highs are smoother,the mids are fuller.I wish I had a CAE 3+ at the time to test it with the Matrix cause this should just be the best possible match
We hooked up the Amp module and also a GT1000FX .Both do sound about the same .
This really was a very big surprise cause if the Kemper changes a lot of things those amps do too. Minimal weight.Ton of power.And the most important factor : TONE
The matrix sounds like a tube amp in its sweet pot.You know a good tube amp doesn't sound the best on 1 and not really IMHO on 10. This sound just right were the amp have the right tube bias at the right volume.It's not stiff or hard . I hate when you can't play high notes without this ice picky attack or boomy lows.Nothing like this here
To sum it up the KPA paired with the Matrix module is a blessing for anyone who wants great tone in an ultralight (6,5 kgs),portable system.. Just get two good passive cabs and won't have to worry about tone for years
thx
BRUNO