Kali Audio LP-6 Professional 6.5" Active Near Field Monitor Studio Speaker, black

Product Information

I was immediately right at home with the LP-6s. They sound organic and natural, uncoloured and clean, just like the IN-8s that I am so fond of. They have a surprisingly rich, deep bass response given their comparatively small cabinets and drivers. The bass isn’t as impactful as the IN-8s, nor as authoritative, but I wouldn’t expect it to be. It’s refined though, without too much blurring around the edges of sustained notes and without audible colouration at high listening levels. The speakers also produce very little idle noise so won’t become irritating if you’re close to them in an extreme near-field setup. It also means that the midrange needs to stay still. In many other co-axial or concentric systems, high excursion from the larger driver causes intermodulation distortion, and degrades the accuracy of the system. The midrange on the IN-Series is limited to less than 1 millimeter peak-to-peak excursion, making it acoustically stationary while still providing midrange to keep up with the powerful woofer and tweeter. That, dear readers, is monitoring in a couple of sentences. You want to hear all the detail, even the mistakes; in fact especially the mistakes so that you can correct them. I'll describe the benefits of dual-coincident drivers in a few paragraphs time, but first there's a little more general IN‑8 description to run through. The IN‑8 is not a small monitor. I had read the dimensions from the spec sheet before the monitors arrived but I was still slightly surprised at just how substantial an IN‑8 turned out to be in the flesh. At 10.4kg each they're not particularly heavy, so there ought not to be any great issue with mounting arrangements. The LPs have always been praised for their accuracy, and we’re pleased to share that the 2nd Wave versions realize slight but noticeable improvements in that regard, particularly on the top end. POWER

Because the LP-6 and LP-8 are so close in frequency response, there is little cause for concern here. Further, room modes can be mitigated with clever placement of the loudspeakers, or acoustic treatments that target problematic frequencies. The only issue here was that we weren’t expecting this euphoric moment as these speakers come in at half the price of our reference monitors. At best we were expecting them to hopefully match the response of the more expensive speakers; instead they gave us that ‘wow’ moment anyway. The IN‑5’s high‑frequency performance is similarly well judged and does a competent job without drawing attention to itself. The benefits of the midrange/tweeter dual‑coincident format are very clear, with the IN‑5 showing strong image focus and really good consistency at different listening positions.

Another dimension

So far I like them more than the Eris, full and big sound, they seem even through out the full range frequencies (mayby and that's a big maybe, they have a touch sweeter highs). Zero hiss, several settings to adjust them for your room/placement. Unfortunately, I can't directy compare them with the Eris since they are not operational. Whilst Kali Audio have aimed to make their monitors as natural and accurate as possible to give you a true representation of your mix, they also understand some mixing engineers are used to a certain response from their monitoring rig. If you prefer a certain character of speaker with more or less bass, you can reach for the high and low-frequency controls to customise the response of the monitor to your personal taste. These controls are also handy if there are any problematic frequencies in your space that need to be compensated for. Diagram 2: A measurement of the IN‑5’s frequency response, from 100Hz‑20kHz. Second‑ and third‑harmonic distortion is shown in the dotted traces (green and red, respectively).

Kali Audio’s unique front port is another result of extensive R&D and is a huge boon for small or bedroom studios where you need to place your monitors near a wall. This shape came about from running airflow simulations on a dedicated engineering laptop for four days straight. It fixes many of the issues that front-firing ports face, eliminates noise and lets you position your speakers anywhere in your studio space without worrying about unruly bass frequencies. The innovative waveguide design is another product of Kali Audio’s meticulous research process and ensures that the sound is spread out in an ideal way. This gives you a clear and detailed stereo image that you’d usually find on a much more expensive monitor. Best-in-class Woofers The cabinets comprise a vinyl-wrapped MDF with moulted plastic front baffle. The front port tube is moulded as part of the baffle itself, and is shaped using computer simulation to minimise port chuffing by ensuring that air exits the port at a constant velocity. A similar port is used to great effect in the IN-8, and I find them to be entirely unfussy about room placement and without the sonic downsides I often hear in ported loudspeakers, namely bloated bass caused by the constricted passage of air through the port, or puffing noises as large volumes of air are forced through a thin port tube. And besides, that coaxial design means they are best suited to a space where you can really enjoy that fuller and wider sweet spot and are really designed for spaces where up to three people can listen at the same time.Kali Audio was started in January 2018 by some of the Professional Audio Industry’s most passionate individuals. With engineering at the forefront, Kali aims to make loudspeakers and related products that present the best possible value to our customers. By devoting time and resources to research and development, and with a little bit of panache, we offer high-performance products that fit any budget. Since I reviewed them I’ve had numerous requests to look at their entry level range. Project ‘Lone Pine’ consists of two models, the LP-6 and LP8. Now in their second wave ‘V2’ iterations, the model number designates the size of the midbass driver (six and eight inches respectively), but otherwise the two share a similar feature set. Naturally the LP8s have a slightly larger cabinet, approximately two inches (50 mm) taller and 1 inch (25 mm) wider and deeper, and 1.5KG heavier. Yes, I know that is unfair to compare a set of 300-quid speakers to monitors that cost a couple of grand more but what impresses me with the PMCs is their flat response, something the LP-6s are attempting to emulate, so this method should reveal how the Lone Pines stand up in that regard. Kali Audio produce studio monitorsthat are all designed in California, USA. Created by a team of experienced engineers, many of whom previously worked for leading manufacturers, these high-quality speakers unleash incredible sound. On most port tubes, air leaves at different speeds from different points of the opening, creating noisy turbulence. This turbulence can be heard as “chuffing,” or an audible air sound coming from the monitor. This sound will add to the noise floor and obscure the details of the low end.

Diagram 2, just for interest, shows the output from the IN‑8 port captured by a microphone placed a centimetre or two inside. Even though the port data typically captured by this type of measurement is unavoidably 'contaminated' by the bass driver output (especially when the bass driver is so close) it can still reveal if there's any undesirable 'organ-pipe' resonances going on in the port. As revealed in the curve though, the IN‑8 port looks completely clean. A very good, and surprisingly unusual, result. Setting them up is a breeze though. Kali say they are designed to be as easy to use as possible. There’s the flexibility of a trio of input types: RCA (for consumer grade inputs) plus TRS and XLR for more pro devices. Kali Audio is certainly one of the most successful new manufacturers of studio monitors, and the IN series is especially popular. The new Kali Audio IN-UNF builds on some of the same tech like coaxial mid and high frequency drivers, but in a compact 3-part system made to sit on your desk. The IN‑5 is slightly larger than I imagined when I first saw images online, though it still falls comfortably into nearfield monitor dimensions so shouldn’t present too many challenges to fit into even small studio spaces. At just over 8kg the IN‑5 is also unlikely to present any mounting structure problems — although, as with any monitor, it is important to provide a rigid, stable and non‑resonant mounting platform. way systems with good waveguides, like Kali’s LP-6 and LP-8, do a good job at conveying this spatial information. However, because the tweeter and woofer on those speakers (and most studio monitors!) are separate, this information gets lost in the space immediately above and below the speaker. This means that at the listening position, you’re not hearing the full stereo picture.So here we weren’t really expecting that claimed greater sweet spot but we certainly got it, so much so we nearly wore our chair wheels out rolling around the studio space finding its limits. We’ve enjoyed reviewing the IN-8s so much that it almost pains us that we can’t recommend them to everyone. This is decent but should you wish to expend the low end, there’s also a new (and absolutely massive) subwoofer in the Kali range, the WS-12 [see boxout]. The [massive] WS-12 sub-woofer

Kali Audio was formed in January 2018, but despite their youth, they are already establishing themselves as one of the leading brands within the affordable home studio market. You can expect pro-grade audio from their LP Series studio monitors. Adjustments are provided for installations on stands or on desks close to a wall (within 0.5 m) or against a wall (as close as possible allowing for cables). There are also curves for placement on a sole bridge or on a desktop with stands or purpose-built studio desk with monitor platforms. These compact monitors from new company Kali Audio strike an enticing balance between performance and affordability.

Powerful Woofer

In the first option, which I've called 'Extended', the bandwidth reaches 50Hz at -3dB, the group delay peaks at 12ms (again at 50Hz) and the step response shows the system ringing for one and a half cycles. The port is tuned to 50Hz in this system.