Correction: 160 watts total, not 180. Buy the Kali Audio IN-5's on Amazon: bit.ly/KaliAudioIN5 These Kali Audio IN-5's are excellent affordable studio monitors in my opinion. I'm a fan of the coincident/coaxial/concentric design. Disclosure: The Affiliate links above earn me a commission if you purchase using those links. This is at no additional cost to you. Kali Audio did send these free for me to review. My opinion is my own and they did not watch this prior to me posting.
DON'T try to correct the 13kHz with EQ! It's a diffraction artifact, and it doesn't affect reflected or perceived timbre. If you try to correct it for an on-axis single point measurement, you're gonna end up with a big old 13k spike overall.
In his measurements the 13k problem not only appears on axis but in all directions. And what do you mean by reflected timbre? These are supposed to be studio monitors, so the room will be acoustically treated and supressing the early reflections from the side-walls at 13k
@kaliaudio Hey what about the dip at around 8-10k or is this what is meant from the RU-vidr by “13k”? Frankly the dip seems significant and I’d would hope Kali can touch on this. I’ve been using the Kalis for a while, hoping to keep them. Would it be advisable to add an eq at the end of mix buss that lifts this dip during mixing, then remove before bouncing? I don’t use correction software. Please weigh in and I can stop commenting around regarding this concern. Thanks!
@@chinmeysway The dip is an on-axis artifact that won't be noticeable in total sound power integration in most rooms. In other words, in an anechoic chamber, the dip will be apparent. In a real room, including most well-treated studios, the dip will not be apparent. "Fixing" that dip would result in lumpy sound power, which is not good. So, no, don't EQ it. Unless you've measured it and can determine that it's a problem in your room, which it probably isn't.
Joe is forever innovating. Like that quick spin of the speaker right at the start. It was like that 360 sports camera where they freeze a play and then spin around . I love finding new things. Like hidden Easter eggs. Love you Joe.
I have a pair of these in my small mixing studio and I love them. I'm about to add a Kali WS-12 Subwoofer to the set up so really excited to hear what it sounds like together. 😎
The new "2nd Wave" IN-8s (same coaxial midrange/tweeter as the IN-5 but with a bigger woofer and enclosure) are even better and an immense improvement over the previous generation of that model -- 12dB quieter and 3dB louder at max. Their bass extension is so good that I had to reduce the low-pass frequency on my sub to 50Hz -- and if I could, I'd probably set it even lower!
Definitely on my short list for shopping... I heard the Yamaha HS8, Adam A8X, and Focal Shape 65 at a pro audio desktop room at my local shop. The HS8s for the price blew me away... Clearly the Adam and Focal were better but it went from $350 -> $750 -> $1500 per speaker and maybe you get a 10% stepups in SQ. I'm not into pro audio/mixing and mastering but was looking for a desktop application and perhaps midfield listening as well.
This should be the first pair of speakers for most people. Upgrade with a sub or Devialet Phantom Reactors. Endgame with a Genelec subwoofer and GLM paired with The Ones. Or just build a fully active surround sound system with these and a few Kali subs and a Dolby DP564 and use a MiniDSP with Dirac for room correction.
Joe, Joe, Joe! 180 Watts, but doesn't 80+40+40 like you said in the video add up to 160. Surprised no one noticed it. 😁 Plus: free comment for the RU-vid algorithm.
In terms of sound quality and listening experience, how would you rate the Kali against something like the Elac Unifi Reference or other Unifi speakers. It's very difficult to find sound quality comparisons between hifi speakers and studio monitors.
Hello and congratulations for your excellent speakers’ analysis! I would like your opinion on something that is probleming me and I believe that you are the best to help me! I am thinking of buying either the Kali Audio in-8 2nd wave (760 € pair) or the Heco Aurora 300 (383 € pair) What is your opinion? which of the two affected you most subjectively? (soundwise only?). Not considering the addition of an amplifier for the Hecos. Thank you in advance.
I wish I had an Elac Navis and this at the same time... Wouldn't be surprised if subconsciously I think of the Elacs as better because they look like they should be better, and cost more.
That's possible. I'm human and it's been a while! I'm definitely susceptible to bias based on looks and price. That's kinda why I just tell people the Leaderboard is just there to give a general idea where things land.
@@joentell Yeah. No sweat man. We all have bias. Even I think to myself the Navis HAS to be better... The only definitive thing I can say is the Navis has port chuffing where the Kali didn't, and the rest I'd have a hard time saying. I wish I'd known about Audio Science Review at the time to send mine in. I was one of the first people with the Navis.
I watched the OSD review just now, so was interested in seeing how you felt about theIN 5 against the LP 6s. Interesting that they have a quieter noise floor and that the new versions of the 6 improved that, but not by a lot, but they are more expensive. Also checked out the Hercules 5, so yes, I am now more confused, not less. lol Still leaning towards the 6 due to its frequency response being quite flat. I also really like the DIP switches for tailoring to your own room.
Hey Joe what do you recommend for a 4 ohm surface mount speakers box speakers for rear of my gmc Savana raised roof van. There’s no place to instal within walk or ceiling and want be able reposition them depending where sited. size approx 8”Hx8”Wx7”D altho interested in Bose like the 301 or other. Placement can be in area above front seats aimed to rear, upper rear corners and midway on each side to swivel front and back. Also for front doors considering Focal, 165FXE (sold my KX2s cause too expensive ) JL 3 or 5, or others. An installer had recommended saving money and get quality Alpines. For rear I still have the little 6.5 boxes that the 165KX2s were installed in so could utilize for something like focal 165CA coax .
From an accuracy standpoint, I would have to say yes. The UB5's can be corrected using DSP, and they have magic when it comes to their bass response in my opinion.
hi there great review, can I ask you how the vanatoo t1e's stack up to these? Just ordered them but after watching this video I'm kind of reconsidering my current decision. These kali's are quite a bit cheaper for me to get because I live in the EU. For me the most important factor is SQ. I don't care that much about things like multiple inputs because I'll use them on my TV (which will work as a multiplexer anyway). Is there anything in the vanatoos that's better in SQ over the kali's? Thanks :)
hello there!! i want to purchase kali audio monitor. I want your help. for a small room is better in5?? I need monitor for producing (dance and cinematic music). i want to know if in5 is loud as monitor and if is better for a small room than in8. thank you very much
I think Amir reviewed the IN-8. I know from testing various speakers that sometimes the larger/smaller speaker from the same line aren't tonally the same. Erin did review the IN-5 after measuring them on his Klippel NFS and he really liked them.
I've got a pair of mr524's, and they are nice for a budget, they get the job done, but for me, I'm upgrading them to better speakers. I'd consider getting the xr series if your going down the mackie route, they might be a better option.
i dont understand how a budget monitor with buzzing cheap internal amps can be at the top of every list? basically you are saying that the DAC and AMP is so good inside these that they make all passive speakers irrelevant or you are saying non of those things make a difference in sound either way? cant tell if amir brainwash or just lack of nuance to the list to include such details.
AFAIK the IN-5 does have an AD/DA conversion built in to allow the DSP to work on the audio signal. BTW well-designed studio monitors generally outperform separate speaker and amp at the same price range, especially on near-field since the amp is chosen to match the driver and cabinet instead needing to accompany a wide range of speaker. The all-in-one design also allow the manufacturer to use DSP to compensate for the shortcomings of the driver and cabinet, which can’t be done with separate speaker and amp without a measurement microphone.
@@hl321662 of course the frequency response is flatter. If that's what you equate with the best sound then of course . But the space is very small inside the speaker and even class D quality amplifiers will not fit inside a speaker like that and are around $800 each such as purify or ncore which is what I use. There is no way for that price that they are fitting in on amplifier with distortion characteristics and signal to noise as well as the DAC or ADC is anywhere near even a $100 separate item. So yes I'm sure it does sound flat. But I have a hard time believing instead it sounds better than a well engineered bookshelf speaker with quality amplification and conversion. Let's say a gr research encore xls. With an ncore amp around 600-700 dollars. I think will wipe the floor with this. As far as clarity and dynamics . However I am sure that the future is like this and I'm sure it does sound good and much flatter than most speakers but I feel the quality of the components is not even close to seperates. But if you want loud and flat with decent distortion as far as the drivers in the speaker than go for it. But I'm not going to believe that it sounds better than a equivalent bookshelf with quality gear.
@@redleather420 With the advancement in technology, it actually doesn’t cost much to design and build high-performance DAC and amp nowadays. Transparent DAC can be had for about $100 and you won’t get much improvement above that. And that’s the retail price of a stereo DAC. It cost even less for a manufacturer to acquire a single-channel DAC. Great class-D amp also doesn’t cost much if you don’t need a lot of power, which is the case for near-field monitor. I also think a flat frequency response is much more important than low distortion and high dynamic range as long as the distortion is below a certain threshold and the dynamic range is at an acceptable level.
