Krampera KVB 800
KRAMPERA KVB 800
Krampera is a new name in the world of high end bass amplification that is already causing a stir among the tight-knit bass fraternity…
Words: DP Wilson
Manufactured in the Czech Republic, the Krampera bass system is based around the KVB 800 head and its range of three separate speaker enclosures. The head itself is a serious looking beasty and while not excessively heavy certainly flies in the face of the current trend for micro bass amps. Two versions are available, one being rack mountable whilst the other stands alone completed by some smart black wooden end cheeks. Specification- wise the KVB 800 seems to tick all the boxes: 800 watts (at 2 ohms), 500 watts (at 4 ohms), valve input stage, four band equaliser, compressor/overdrive, contour, effects loop and footswitch.
Once fired-up, the front panel is illuminated in a swathe of white light and the compressor/overdrive, contour and effects sections feature dedicated red, blue and green lighting as you switch these sections in and out. It is also nice to see that a footswitch is included for this very purpose too!
KRAMPERA KVB 800
KVB 800 B1
B1T B1B
ACT
£1,794.00 £918.00
£1,038.00 £894.00
All prices include VAT CONT
KV2 Audio Europe Ltd T:
W: 01423 816 868
www.kv2audio.com
Speakers The three speaker cabs are all serious looking boxes: The KVB B1B is a tall front ported cabinet containing the only 15-inch driver of the range, the B1 and the B1T are identical 12 inch cabinets apart from the B1T’s tweeter that offers a bit more top end oomph. All three cabinets are rated at 300 watts and 4 ohms meaning that a pair will run the KVB 800 at it’s minimum 2 ohm load ensuring maximum power. Some of the more eagle eyed of you may have noticed that a pair of these cabinets will handle 600 watts whereas the amp is capable of 800 watts. Don’t worry too much, this is a well designed system and you will hear very easily if you are taxing the speaker drivers. The speaker boxes themselves are a good weight and seem to be largely bomb proof featuring Baltic birch construction with a tough and good looking polymer coating. To my mind the obvious paring would be the B1B with a B1T perched on top, this set-up looks the absolute business but it must
18 3
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be said it’s completely huge, fine for the stage of the O2 but maybe a little impractical for a Thursday night down the Frog & Bucket!
KVB 800
OK, so on to the amp. As previously mentioned this bass amplifying behemoth seems to check all the
right boxes. Once plugged in it’s clear to see that the valve preamp isn’t designed for SVT style rock overdrive but more for super clean almost Hi-Fi sounds. On an amp like this it makes sense to opt more towards plenty of clean headroom as there are heaps of ways to emulate the classic dirty rock bass sound using effects but the
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