I use a set of white IN-8 V2's as my main nearfields, and they're amazing. Make sure they're placed properly, set the gain on each to about 80db, and set the dip switches to the right position and they compete with stuff many many times their price. Maybe not Genelec levels of detail, but absolutely worth a re-review.
@@petemorrisrocks4922 Guitar Center, but I also work for them so when I saw we had like 4 of em in stock a couple months ago I placed the order almost immediately. Check Pit Bull Audio or American Musical Supply, I think they have some in stock.
@@petemorrisrocks4922 For sure! I'm not sure tbh. I thought they were just a different color option, but maybe they were a limited edition run. I think Thomann and Juno have the white IN-5's in stock, but yeah I don't see the white IN-8's on any UK based website :/
It makes sense. These likely have 3 amps, one for each driver and it’s all dsp controlled so you get perfect overlap behavior with the drivers with no compromise at all. Concentric drivers with all active dsp amps. All the ingredients you need for perfection.
I have the LP6, im trying to find if its worth upgrading.. im going to, but wanted to ask you. Worth going to IN5 from LP6v2 yes? Please convince me to spend this money :')
If anyone is asking why the bass amp on the IN-5 is stronger than the ones on the IN-8, it's because the IN-8's bass driver is big enough that it doesn't need that much power to output the same SPL. Also, the bass driver on the IN-8 has lower distortion values vs the IN-5.
great. would u help me picking in series. my room is 8x12x10ft height. i have budget for in8v2 also. does in8v2 serve me well in my room? right now i use a 10 inch sub also with jbl lsr 305s
@@vipingkumar dude, is your room treated? I have it in a room of a similar size with several clothes racks and a bed and it sounds great especially when I adjusted the sound profile using the dip switches on the back. I've demoed this unit vs the KRK ones and this really just has a tons of detail. Not boomy though but you might be able to use your sub with it.
@@vipingkumar yeah V2 is the only one with the dip switches if I remember correctly. I think that's 1 of two differences vs V1, the amp itself is a lot cleaner (less hiss) + dip switches, otherwise the housing, driver, etc is the same.
I literally just got these a day ago and they are amazing!! I was really impressed with the full sound as well the expansive soundstage even without a subwoofer! Then of course I added a subwoofer and I am totally speechless.
@@chrisnotyourbusines7739 I’m using a Monoprice subwoofer that supports balanced XLR/TRS inputs and outputs! It routes the audio through the subwoofer!! I actually have a MINIDSP on the way and will be running Dirac !! Again the IN5 are already amazing, but I believe room correction will take it too the next level, although they have boundary controls built in! I am also coming from a pair of Kef R3 bookshelves if that matters!
@@JTTheITGuy If poss try to get the matching Kali sub or atleast audition, they're awesome as the crossover perfectly as per speaker frequency ranges :)
These sound amazing when paired with the Kali WS-12 sub. Clears them up massively and removes any perceived "boxiness" that some other reviewers have commented on. NOTE: Per Kali support, use the 80hz crossover when pairing with the IN-5. The sub takes these monitors to another level.
i personaly use a focal sub one wich only offer 90hz and 60hz highpass and the 90hz was too high, but even highpassing at 60hz it did the trick and cleared them up a lot. these monitor get so much from having a sub.
I'm using WS-12 with IN-8 (1st gen), actually subwoofer's crossover is adjustable and it's more important to set it for a room, so in my case 60Hz crossover sounded much better than suggested 80Hz
Wow, congrats to the Kali team if they are reading this! Great companies are stated by disgruntled ex employees. Lucid Motors: Lucid Motors was founded by Peter Rawlinson, who was previously an employee at Tesla. Rawlinson left Tesla after he was unhappy with the company's management. Intel: Intel was founded by Robert Noyce, who was previously an employee at Fairchild Semiconductor. Noyce left Fairchild after he was unhappy with the company's management.
I got a pair of the original IN-5s last spring. I was planning to just get the LP6s or the Mackie MR624s but thought I’d try these since for a desk setup that they might’ve been a bit smaller with the 5 inch driver. They are in fact not really smaller. I had my heart set on the Mackies as Z was talking up their low level listening (I have young kids), that wave guide and I think they look great. However it wasn’t even close, these blew the others away in terms of quality so I kept them. I had my wife listen to confirm and help justify the price difference. She wondered why I was even considering not keeping them. The clarity, detail and tone is just leagues ahead on these. I love them on my desk near-field on Soundrise stands. I have even taken them out to the TV room and hooked them up with a sub thanks to a Topping EX5. That is a great 2.1 setup and leaves little to be desired. And I’ll say that these outclass the Swan M300s that I have as well. I still use the Swans for the TV most of the time beacause they are good enough but that’s only because of my situation with the kids (I can’t leave anything out) and what a hassle it is to connect and reconnect the Kalis from my desk set up. I don’t have the Swan M300 MK2s so I can’t comment on that but I agree that these are just so detailed and natural sounding and I heartily recommend them. Just make sure you have the proper equipment and cables to make powered monitors work. You won’t be disappointed.
LP6 we’re good. When it was just between the Mackeys and the LP6 they both sounded good and it was hard to pick a winner. Then the IN5s came and made both sound bad but only in comparison. The IN5s are in a whole other class above them. They have a significant price difference to go along with that. So really I’d say that if the price tag doesn’t worry you then go IN5 all day long. If the cost is an issue I would seriously consider saving up and putting off getting anything until you can afford to get the IN5. And you can always get both like I did and sound test for yourself and send back the ones you don’t want. Happy listening!
My work from home setup is Kali LP-6v2s and the matching WS-12 subwoofer. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I have heard the IN-8s… I don’t know if they were the v2s or not. They were part of a sounds installation in a art gallery. AMAZING, so good. A different room had the big boi Genelec 8361s. The Genelecs are the best sound I have ever heard in my life, literally jaw dropping… but the Kali IN-8s sounded like 95% as good.
I have the original LSR305s (bought for $180 a PAIR after being dB matched to boot) + Kali WS6.2 setup for nearfield and it BANGS. Next step will be the Kali IN-8 v2s and WS-12 (already on backorder), and then eventually the goal is to move to a full Dolby Atmos system with ALL Genelec 8361s. That's like a 10-15 year project though LOL.
A midrange driver with a concentrically mounted tweeter creates a point source. And a point source is phase coherent across it's entire frequency range. KEF used that technology as the basis for their Uni-Q series. Some of THE best imaging ever from a set of stereo speakers. That Kali uses the same technology.
@@techeteri Your personal feelings about KEF speakers are completely irrelevant. The concentrically mounted tweeter and midrange driver IS phase coherent and therefore creates near perfect imaging. Unless the recorded content has phasing issues, in which case no speaker design can fix that.
@@MeTuLHeD concentric driver placement is not a perfect solution and while it is probably better at phase coherence than many other placements it is not perfect. There is a tradeoff with such a design in the realm of controlled directivity which is usually flawed in concentric placements, in addition to dynamic concerns which affect the mutual response of the concentric drivers unpredictably. There is a reason why speakers that really shine in theaters, large venues, and small near-field applications all use horns / waveguides for tweeters. If you dig into human perception of directivity and how it changes over the audible frequency range you may find some interesting new design parameters that you might consider high priorities which may not be fully addressable with a concentric design.
@@BrianBolhofner I never once said the design was flawless. Of course, all designs have their trade offs. No one has yet figured out how to overcome the laws of physics. I was merely pointing out that the imaging he was experiencing in his review is grounded in physics. That is all. Nowhere did I state that concentric driver designs are superior to all other designs nor anything of the sort. And as far as waveguides are concerned, in a properly implemented concentric design, the midrange driver acts as a waveguide for the tweeter. That's an integral part of the design. By the way, if horn loaded drivers were perfect, everyone would own Klipsch and be done with it. They have their own colorations and limitations. And in the world of PA/theater sound, the trade offs are even more significant. Projection and mid field clarity have to be carefully balanced with pure sound quality. Trying to create a speaker that projects to mid hall while retaining fidelity is a daunting challenge that requires a LOAD of compromises. A very different proposition from listening to a stereo in the nearfield. Anyway, I'm not interested in an internet debate. Nothing will come of it. And everyone has their own biases/preferences. I'm just stating for the record that there is a good reason the Kali monitors are so coherent. And it's based on solid engineering principles, not audiophile voodoo.
I was scratching my head when you said Black Ice Audio. Recently I had heard that brand name, just couldn’t place it right away. Then it hit me, the Legendary Pioneer of sound….Jim Fosgate, “The Foz”! He actually developed this I believe back in the 80’s and it eventually made it’s way into the early Rockford Fosgate car audio amplifiers for a fuller, richer sound. One of his last audio companies was Black Ice Audio. Unfortunately, Jim recently passed and never really got all the credit he deserved. I bet that piece is worth its weight in gold for what it does with a soundstage. My guess “Z” is you’ll never get rid of it. Thanks for these reviews. Keep them coming.
Take this with a pinch of salt.... I worked my way to a pair of Elac Navises testing a dozen or so bookshelf passives & AE1 actives. Actives had to be the way to go as I was crossing with subs and I needed to cut the bass from the bookshelves for proper integration, so a HPF was a must. Reading all the tremendous reviews on the IN-5s, and costing less than half the price of the Navis, which have an identical configuration, I thought if the Kalis came anywhere the performance of the Navis, I could sell them on. I dont want to disappoint anyone, but I returned the Kalis. The bass was boomy & indistinct, totally veiling the mids. Highs were non-existent. Construction was poor and the cabinet didnt pass the knuckle test. They were also hissy. I know Z is not impressed with the Navis, & I got bored with them too after 2 months. I have now moved onto the Focal Shape 50's after being influenced by Jays review on the Shape 6 vs Navis. ......6 months now & still going strong. I know the Kalis wont compete with the Navis on price, but the Shape 50s are a lot closer. I would have saved a lot of time if the Kalis got at least one negative review.....so here it is!
What were you using as a Preamp/DAC? Not using balanced connections is generally undesirable unless very short distances and RCA connections are much more likely to hiss.
@@st.thomas5802 I have a topping D90/A90 stack and run everything balanced. All conditions were equal for the speakers I tested. If you like rolled off 'musical' highs, boomy 'powerful' bass, congested 'warm' mids go for the Kalis. I can't see how an unbraced 1/2" MDF cabinet with a crappy plastic baffle is going to offer the level of performance the reviewers generally give this speaker.
Burn your speakers in, guy. Also, using them with a sub will only benefit the speakers and add to the fidelity -both sonically and efficiency. In5’s + WS6.2 sub
You should consider listening to a single speaker in mono as part of every speaker review. Listening to a single speaker in mono really allows you to judge the sound a lot better, can tell differences between speakers and find flaws easier that way. Listening to stuff in stereo messes with your head, the psyco acoustics, and it makes it harder to judge the speakers, stereo automatically makes things sound better and masks issues.
It’s not that you like / love everything..it’s that your not reviewing garbage…yes, there’s bad stuff ..but you don’t do a whole lot if it. Best of the Christmas season to you and yours.🎄😋❄️
Nooo, not the KRK Rokits to yard sale! I just bought those haha. Thanks for the entertaining review as always. I've seen Kali speakers highly regarded by other reviewers as well. A little big for my liking as a desktop monitor...although it is a 3 way, so...
I’m very surprised you prefer these to the krk 7s. I’ll definitely be buying these instead lol. When you made the video about the in 8s I bought the v2s almost immediately but now I need more space so I’ve got to go smaller. Thanks you. Merry Christmas!
This is awesome Z! I’ve been debating between getting the IN-8s, and building my own studio monitors. Theoretically, I could build some really high-end monitors for less money, but idk if I can beat the IN-8s… Also, I would think, since these are designed to be neutral, they’re probably really good for testing things like amps or that stage expander👍
I agree however, if the amps for any reason fail or any part of them fail its gonna cost to replace it. You could buy the warranty for how low the price is though.
Nice speakers ! A friend of mine said he almost started crying after hearing the all new T+A Solitaire S540 Line Source Loudspeakers. He told me it was the first time he had ever heard Speakers sound like a Live Event ! He heard these at House Of Stereo in Fla. Not cheap though at $55K ! They have the S530's at $45K though. I need to hit the Lottery now !
Just DIY with 7 planar tweeters per side x$85, five scanspeaks per side x$250 and GPA woofers at $2k per side (alnico)... total: $600+$1.25k+2k = 4k x2 = 8k. And cabinets, crossovers. You should be good under $10k
Zeos have you tried typing HQ music on YT. Not the best source but all kinds of music from best voices or best bass songs. I wouldn't think it would get copyright strikes. Cheers.
*Rebelling and sneaking out (at night?) of the "Death Star" ------- legendary behemoth JBL ------- and deftly Euro-stepping the Superlaser.* *Then becoming Jedi-fied (?) and returning to fight the legendary behemoth! Popcorn Time!* *Saving up for a pair or so of IN-5, LP6v2 or MM-6.*
@@4wheel4real yes! By Robert Eggers. The witch is also by him. Both are considered horror but the witch is more of a horror movie than the lighthouse. Both very dense authentic and out of the ordinary : ) Merry Christmas Cheers from Vienna Austria
i bought the lp6 and they accidentally sent me the IN5, easily the greatest trade deal in the history of trade deals these speakers measure like an absolute beast and with the output to match, easily one of the best studio monitors you can get
The best part is they make a mountable version & I can't even imagine a full dolby atmos system using all of the IN5s & 8s. And everyone knows having same speakers on all channels is the best way to do home theaters.
@ZReviews I looked it up you're talking about the new record day thing right. That's fair that you don't want to review them. If you bought them yourself I don't think there is anything they could do though. Thanks for responding.
No longer $299 on Amazon :( Edit: The IN-5C is exactly the same except for a removable mounting bracket, and is on sale! Just received them and set them up, and the Emotiva Airmotiv 6S (original best speaker ever) are being relegated to another room.
Hifi has gotten so affordable these days I remb 25 years ago prices where to the Moon N back for a decent set up - Now under $1k you can own a nice setup paper drivers most of the time have grrat Tonality - Wonder how the Freya noval would pair up dropping video review Tommorrow 😃 Thanks Zeos
Been running in8v2 as LCR in my tiny homecinema, they sound very, very good for the price, as in I have yet to hear anything better at the same price. Do give them a chance if your in the market.
@st.thomas5802 I'm using an older Onkyo receiver with 7.1 pre Amp out, the TX-NR809. I have also tried the speakers with a few dacs and the Onkyo holds its on surprisingly well.
Z, I really appreciate your reviews of power monitors/speakers but many of us who are interested use AVR's, AVP's or integrated amps. I'm hoping you could maybe discuss or use one of them in your reviews. This way we can see the best way to connect and adjust the volume levels so the supplied remote with the speakers aren't necessary. Thanks
If you are looking for speakers for home theater or high-volume listening in a farfield situation like a living room or media room, these speakers are not recommended. These are designed for nearfield listening; the manual states the recommended listening range at 1 to 2 meters and most engineers mix in the 80-85dB range.
Interesting. I'm way off completing my HT but after seeing glowing reviews about Kalis on Audioholics etc I've been searching for any available info about using them (& other active speakers) in a HT but found absolutely nothing. I presumed the reason for this was because they aren't suitable for HT so I also asked on a few forums & was a bit surprised that I just got responses along the lines of "why are you worried, just try it & see". Call me frugal but I'd quite like to do a bit of research before designing/building & paying to kit out an entire HT! Thanks for commenting 🤟
@@northeastcorals fyi the listening range for the In-5 is .5-3M, above comment is incorrect. I’m getting ready to pull the trigger on these speakers to replace my LP-6 monitors which sound fantastic in my wide open living room with my sources: a wiim pro and a MasterSounds rotary mixer and turntables.
@@northeastcorals it’s not the norm, but it doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It’s what pleases you. People who tell you it’s wrong to use them if they are more than 2/3 meters from your ears are just silly. That specification is meant for audio pros getting the perfect sound working at a mixer.
It seems that Kali took a page out of Andrew Jones' book with these. They remind me a lot of ELAC UB5's and UB52's. Of course the ELACs are passive, not powered, and are NOT studio monitors, but in terms of size/price, those little ELAC's are very hard to beat. I have a pair of UB5's on my desk as near field speakers, and they are AMAZING. Not easy to drive at 4 ohms, but I have a little SMSL DA-9 that drives them with ease. The only downside to the UB5's is that the highs are rolled off a little too much for my tastes, but is easily fixed with a little DSP. It seems the future belongs to those who know the power of the coaxial speaker.
My desk has a pair of coaxial planar fostex rm765 monitors from 1985, and a cheap DSPed sub, the imaging is absurd! I won't buy another pair of desk speakers unless they're also coaxial.
"This guy gets it. I like him. He's getting angry. Angry is good! Angry gets-shit-done!" Orlando Jones as Anansi telling the story of black people in America! in "American Gods". might very well be one of the friggin best, most powerfull and true monologues ever done on comercial television . Shame the show runners got cold feet and streamlined the show to be less offensive to "upright americans". Season one was a beast.
How much is amp inside of these? $50 worth? if they play sooo good, whats the point of $500 amps? $1,500 amps? Room and speakers and source will have , like 666x more impact on sound than damn amp!
Mr Z, we need a video summary of every piece of gear that didn't meet your expectations. I remember the odd speaker that didn't float your boat - God knows you've put plenty in yard sales.
Kali's sub is decent also it crosses over accurately to whatever model frequency you are using, but yeah their sound atleast for me is perfect, I'm sick of inflated highs or bumps when monitors are meant to be "flat"
I have that sub with adams tv7's and they sound great together with the kali crossover. Was looking at the new adams models for replacement but now I'm thinking the in8's might do the job...
Will this be a big upgrade compared to my beloved jbl's lsr 305's? I can't find the heart to replace them, eventho they will be eventually moved to my tv setup. Currently using them as desktop speakers in close proximity
@@Beusta Thank you. Every comparison review/video has conflicted comments and still can't decide tho. Maybe If I add the LSR310S or the presonus temblor T10 and upgrade my wall acoustic panels I might get some better results. I've had the pleasure to test jbl 308's, the mkII's, yamaha 5's and 8's and krk 5's and 8's but I didnt like any of them. I cant find anyone with Kali's yet
Exciting review - Pardon my simple question, but what could i use to interface from my computer bluetooth out, to these Kali 5I's, and what would I use to adjust bass, & treble?
3.5mm headphone outs to 1/4” left and rights or a 3.5mm to RCA will work for both the in5 and the ws6.2 sub inputs. Just start the tv volume low or off until you fine tune the volume you need. And turn on the tv first before powering on the sub to avoid speaker pop, and turn off the sub first and the tv last when powering down. Yes you should get the sub with these.
Can you get hold of the Kali Audio SM-5-C's to test? These are passive by the way so you'll need a amp for them... see if you can couple it with their Kali Audio WS-6.2 sub
I audioned this one's, along some krk, KRK came out as the winners in resolution, cleanses and naturalness. And Im not a fan of KRK, goes to show that listening for yourself is everything.
If I’m ONLY using the IN5 on my desk near field like 2-3 feet from me on my desk is the IN5 better than the adam t5v for playing my guitar modeler and playing video games, movies, etc…? Or the IN5 might be too powerful for an exclusively desktop situation in a small not conditioned room?
my KRK rokit just died like all of them if you take time to do a search, am looking for successors as I love the krk sound but they are made to break I'm not wasting more time on them you gave me my laugh of the day I did not expect a waifu while searching for studio monitors LOL there's even one on the DAC rofl >
could you review a harman kardon onyx studio speaker? It'd be interesting to see you review a "consumer level" non-hifi but premium-ish portable speaker.
I had the KRK G8 (in that faux white), Adam T8V and the Kali IN8 V2 beat out both. Don’t get me wrong, there’s something magical about the Adam ribbon tweeter, but the Kali concentric driver was more impressive.
Still waiting for the IN-8 review... These or IN-8 will most likely be my next monitors, but since I mostly just listen to music and monitor stuff is secondary, I'm waiting for what you have to say about the IN-8 before I decide..
@@ZReviews i think a comparison is still valid considering you're saying kali is in top 5. I also think kali is a great speaker, wondering if you would pick kali over genelec in pure performance regardless of price.
guys, sorry about the rushed short comment and seems irrelevant to put is as "crappy", at a glance i was thinking about ILoud Micro straight away. didn't noticed ot was precision Legato was talking abaout. OMG , LOL. my bad , as i am regularly working in a well treated large studio booth/room with high end studio reference speakers. I have not yet tried the I Loud Precision. but most of my engineer friends mixed and used/tried it as main monitor reference are quite impressed by its sound , impressed by the all rounder , all in one package system, the DSP and ARC room calibration is really a fuzz free setup, but the feedback was that its good for bedroom musicians or basic bedroom home studio. Kali IN-5 beats the more expensive ILoud Precision by quite a large margin soundwise per said by fellow engineers. ILoud with its ARC calibration software is the only marketing bonus that sells this monitors. quite handy technology but not sonic accuracy. I still trust of course ATC , PMC even Adam Audio , and the cheaper JBL , Sonarworks and Smaart software for calibration also. im totally agreed on the hype that Kali (LP) monitors are the best budget reference now it replaces budget JBL 3 series that favoured by many. and im very impressed by mixing on it as a primary monitor . good also as a secondary or third reference set like yamaha NS10 or Avantone mIxCube.
@@wontonzilla I bought these off Amazon in the U.S. I listened to them for a day (not loud) and these are way too big for my room. I'm very likely going to return them, however if you want to split the shipping cost with me, I'd sell them to you. I will have to pay the restocking fee if I return them to Amazon. Let me know if you are interested. I'm still on the fence, but would consider doing it.
So if I'm looking to add more inputs to this setup-optical, Aux, phono for vinyl, Airplay 2, BT-what type of device do I need to look for? Any recs for a budget performer that would satisfy the reqs?
Sounds like you're just looking for a preamp. You might want to even look vintage. There aren't many modern ones I actually like or that are affordable
I've had these for a year and I don't know why anyone would buy anything else in the 1000$-ish range. They kick the living shit out of any passive speaker setup for the same money and more. I didn't want to buy active speakers but these were just the best sound for that money. I will own them until they die.
Well all was sounding amazing until that James Blake bass overload thing. Is that bass warble suppose to be there on the recording or were the speakers being overloaded and couldn't handle it? That warble was happening even after you turned the bass and xpander back to 0 and turned off the tube. You played it briefly and i still heard it and then you stopped talking about that and went into closing up the review. So confused about that bass thing that we heard happening....??
