New Kali Audio monitor

[songOVERsound]

I mean, pressure absorbers, but also I'd wonder why you need infrasonic info like that. I'm not pooh-poohing room EQ. I'm saying it's not a replacement for actually getting reverb times controlled.

I don’t think you understand the context of what I said. I have spent massive amounts of money on acoustic treatment and will happily spend the small amount Trinnov costs to take it to that next level.

In other words. Trinnov comes in when I have exhausted all other options

 

[Descartes]

Maybe they are after the customers of KEF R3 Meta. Curious to see how they compare.

"The woofer design has been refined, and incorporates features that reduce magnetic flux modulation, bringing distortion down dramatically."
Thinking of Purifi woofers here

Would love to see that comparison?

 

[Liopleus]

Should You Get a Subwoofer? Why and Why Not [MixCon Q&A]

Get all your monitor and subwoofer questions answered live by Kali Audio Co-Founder and Director of Marketing Nate Baglyos! Big thanks to Kali Audio for help...

www.youtube.com

Kali said they plan to get these on the market in Feb 2024.
They also said the powered ones will be $1700 each. That's much more expensive than I expected. Hope they beat Genelec.

 

[sweetchaos]

They also said the powered ones will be $1700 each.

That's great news!
I wasn't thrilled about the passive version, but seeing how the active version is coming, that changes my mind.
I hope to see these reviewed by Amir or Erin ASAP!

This price point has some good competition...
Genelec 8340A are US$1700/each
Genelec 8050B are US$1900/each
Neumann KH 150 are US$1750/each

I hope Kali delivers on their promise of world-class speaker!
I can't wait.

Also, in the video, Kali mentioned an 8" woofer version is coming soon. Nice!

 

[Pearljam5000]

Hope they beat Genelec

I doubt it

 

[sweetchaos]

Initial subjective impression is that they will compete with Genelec, Neumann and higher end JBL.

This is promising.

Hope they beat Genelec.

Just for comparison...
Genelec 8331 is US$2450/each.
Now we know that Kali SM-5-C (powered) is US$1700/each.
So for a 3-way, Kali's are 30% cheaper than Genelec Ones.

Not everyone can afford the Genelec Ones, so if this speaker comes close to Ones's performance, then a lot of people will buy these, simply due to $ savings.

 

[AM88]

The passive version, if they still require a particular amp with specific dsp seems like a strange choice. I wonder how they came up with that idea? Especially when it increases the total price quite significantly (MSRP of USD2.2k for the recommended 4 channel amp). It also means the flexibility of power amp choice isn’t really there for the end user as they really will sound much better with Kali’s recommendation. Also I wonder if the powered version will be fully 3 way active vs the passive mid/tweeter and active woofer of the passive version.

 

[Liopleus]

This is promising.

Just for comparison...
Genelec 8331 is US$2450/each.
Now we know that Kali SM-5-C (powered) is US$1700/each.
So for a 3-way, Kali's are 30% cheaper than Genelec Ones.

Not everyone can afford the Genelec Ones, so if this speaker comes close to Ones's performance, then a lot of people will buy these, simply due to $ savings.

Genelec are made in Finland and Kali are made in China. For me personally, Kali needs to offer significantly better price/performance to justify the purchase.

I'd argue that people looking at $1500+ speakers usually have more flexibility in their budget than people buying $500 speakers, since these people are generally willing to pay a premium for superior performance and quality even when facing diminishing returns.

Kali themselves said "in terms of translation, you could do as good of a job mixing on IN-5 compared to SM-5, what you're paying for the SM-5 is that it sound nicer and is more pleasant to work on".

I love my IN-5 and I really like the way Kali communicate with their customer as a company, but the SM-5 better sounds damn nice at that price, otherwise I guess most people would still go for Genelec.

 

[dfuller]

Should You Get a Subwoofer? Why and Why Not [MixCon Q&A]

Get all your monitor and subwoofer questions answered live by Kali Audio Co-Founder and Director of Marketing Nate Baglyos! Big thanks to Kali Audio for help...

www.youtube.com

Kali said they plan to get these on the market in Feb 2024.
They also said the powered ones will be $1700 each. That's much more expensive than I expected. Hope they beat Genelec.

$1700 each is KH150 pricing. Hard speaker to beat.

 

[jhaider]

The passive version, if they still require a particular amp with specific dsp seems like a strange choice. I wonder how they came up with that idea? Especially when it increases the total price quite significantly (MSRP of USD2.2k for the recommended 4 channel amp). It also means the flexibility of power amp choice isn’t really there for the end user as they really will sound much better with Kali’s recommendation. Also I wonder if the powered version will be fully 3 way active vs the passive mid/tweeter and active woofer of the passive version.

Because some people like to keep amplification centralized but don’t want to forgo the benefits of modern crossovers and/or active drive.

The founders have some experience with the JBL 7-series install line, which uses the same principle.

 

[ooheadsoo]

Because some people like to keep amplification centralized but don’t want to forgo the benefits of modern crossovers and/or active drive.

The founders have some experience with the JBL 7-series install line, which uses the same principle.

JBL M2 use the same principle, too, right?

 

[617]

JBL M2 use the same principle, too, right?

Correct. The 70* series also have this as an option.
I think the popularity of this comes down to two things:

• You need an electrician to run 120v, but not to run speaker wires
• It's easier to change settings on an amplifier in a rack connected to a workstation over ethernet than it is to fiddle with dipswitches on a ladder

 

[Digby]

Now we know that Kali SM-5-C (powered) is US$1700/each.
So for a 3-way, Kali's are 30% cheaper than Genelec Ones.

Not everyone can afford the Genelec Ones, so if this speaker comes close to Ones's performance, then a lot of people will buy these, simply due to $ savings.

Sure, not everyone, but if someone can afford the Kali they can probably stretch the the Ones. Those on strict, rather than flexible, budgets are usually looking at speakers up to about 1000 dollars/euros/pounds.

 

[Lbstyling]

The SM-5's are showing as in stock in my country (UK) they are also about 25% less than RRP!

117db is WAY more than the equivalent Genelec. I cannot see this being at 1m for 1 speaker.

Looking at the data available:

-Faraday rings on bass driver
- Geometrically optimised aluminium dome (fixes the soft dome inversion the IN-5 has at circa 10khz)

Given the drawbacks of the IN-5 2nd wave were:
-10khz null (dome inversion Freq)
-SPL limitations of amplifier circuit.
-Bass driver 2nd order distortion rising level at 96db+

Other than that, it is a stellar performer.

Very excited about this.

 

[Curvature]

117db is WAY more than the equivalent Genelec. I cannot see this being at 1m for 1 speaker.

Single number figures are meaningless.

How Loud: Genelec vs. Neumann

In an earlier thread, I posted a comparison of Neumann monitors using Sound & Recording data (and some Neumann sub data) for max SPL at 3% THD. I decided to make the same comparison using Genelec data. Neumann Genelec What's shocking is how similar the traditional huge mains monitors are...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[ernestcarl]

117db is WAY more than the equivalent Genelec. I cannot see this being at 1m for 1 speaker.

It could be for a pair -- many commercial studio monitor manufacturers aren't particularly explicit about the details. So could even possibly be just the short term dB(z) peak measured for a particular frequency -- i.e. wherein the speaker might not be so linear anymore within its operational range -- esp. when you consider the protection limiters built into such boxes.

Some companies will at least give you a little bit more detail:

https://www.fulcrum-acoustic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Prod-Spec-Sub115-v10.pdf

I suspect this subwoofer might be using the ff. B&C driver:

15PZB100 LF Drivers - B&C Speakers

1400 W continuous program power capacity, 100 mm (4 in) copper voice coil, 40- 2000 Hz response, 97 dB sensitivity, Double silicone spider with optimized compliance

www.bcspeakers.com

*But, I could be wrong!

While this still does not tell you exact distortion values and at what level before the subwoofer will begin to sound like something's off/distorted psychoacoustically, it's nevertheless very useful information.

 

[dziemian]

I wonder why there is no single review of these speakers yet. Especially the one justifing a big step up in the price.

 

[Pritaudio]

Can’t find any reviews on the passives. They have been out for a while. Was considering these with hypex ncore amps, or even replacing the passive crossovers with hypex fusion.

 

[Ellebob]

We got one pair in and now they are back ordered. I really liked them and wanted to get more time with them as well as do some comparison with Genelec/Neumann. My initial impression was these are going to compete with the Ones from Genelec. The Ones are my favorite speakers to work with, so that says a lot.

 

[Pearljam5000]

For $2K they should have been more similar to the Barefoots
6.5 inch active 3-way
Regardless I'd never buy a passive in 2024