NAMM 2025: IK Multimedia has unveiled the Tonex Cab, a 1x12 FRFR speaker that is both compact and generously powered to push air around the room and get the most out of your digital guitar rig.
This was always the final frontier in the age of the digital amp modeller: just how could we get them to sound as inspiring as an old-school guitar amp, with a speaker that actually makes noise, real feedback, and all the time-honoured thrills of playing the electric guitar?
Our amps can colour their tone. They don’t play to their strengths, while the FRFR speaker (“full-range, flat-response”) presents a true representation of your tone – the detail, dynamics, the whole nine yards. As IK Multimedia puts it, the Tonex Cab offers “unmatched realism”.
Of course, as part of the Tonex ecosystem of products, IK Multimedia has designed this with its range of amp and guitar effects modellers in mind. But you don’t have to own a Tonex product. Line 6 Helix, Fractal, Quad Cortex, Kemper… Whatever. This will have you covered.
“Tonex Cab works equally well with any other digital amp sims, adding muscle, articulation and a rich multi-dimensional sound that makes playing live an electrifying and immersive experience,” says IK Multimedia.
Tonex Cab is rated at 350-watts RMS, with all that Class D power driving a single 12” Celestion speaker and a 1” Lavoce high-performance compression driver. It is capable of generating 132dB, and yet it is super-compact, weighting in at just 12.7 kg (28lbs on the old scale).
All the state-of-the-art FRFR features are here. You can upload custom IRs to the speaker, with eight onboard presets. Its onboard IR loader allows you to connect analogue preamps to the cabinet.
Tonex Cab can be configured with the accompanying software, making preset editing easier. It has a 3-band EQ (on a control panel that is reassuringly amp-like). But its USP is the Amp Tone control that gives you the “amp-in-the-room feel and response” that many digital rigs can lack.
Make that amps, plural, in the room, because you can link the Tonex Cabs by XLR and expand your rig. The cabinet has a wooden construction with integrated legs so you can tilt it at an angle. You can use it as a wedge monitor, or place it at an angle onstage so that it projects its sound across the stage.
Around the back of the speaker you will find a 1/4”/XLR combo input, a 1/4”/XLR combo aux input, MIDI and USB connections, XLR output with ground control and pre/post switch. If you don’t fancy the grille cloth colour you can swap it out.
The Tonex Cab is available at the introductory pre-order price of €699 (reduced from €799) and ships in April. See IK Multimedia for more details.
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