IN-5 vs LP-6 v2 for mixing

[heanjurrera]

Hi all, I'm trying to make a decision between these two sets, for mixing. Normally I mix using DT770s with a bit of Sonarworks and CanOpener. I'll try to explain my situation as best as I can.

This room setup (about 25sqm, with a slanted ceiling and a drywall column somewhat in the middle of the room) is maybe a bit unusual as it's an office/work room in our rental apartment.

Both my wife and I work in this room and it's not treated. While it could be an option to add something in the way of treatment once I've measured it, due to the nature of this being shared space, I would probably expect to be limited in what I can do as I don't want to slowly take over all of the space. My listening position is again not ideal because of the aforementioned slant (my desk is under this slant), and the speakers would be placed directly on my desk, on some sort of isoacoustics stands or pucks (recommendations are welcome) for decoupling; I'd be about 1m from them.

With this in mind I've narrowed it to these two Seemingly Pretty Good affordable sets of speakers.

Now... according to Spinorama, Preference-wise, the LP-6s seem better at 6.5 vs the IN-5s at 5.6 (both scores are with EQ). This difference is pretty significant, so I guess it's a no-brainer to just go for the LP-6s but... is the 3-way configuration on the INs ultimately "better"? I unfortunately have no way of listening to these speakers to compare, so I'm kind of basing my decision on measurements.

Anybody with experience with both units care to share some thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Rednaxela]

Have you checked YouTube?

There is quite a number of kali in5 vs lp6 videos there.

 

[Penelinfi]

Any drawing of which way the slant goes and how severe it is?
Maybe could put an absorber panel on the column. Even a simple one from a little bit of poly or fibreglass batt, in cloth, lightweight wooden frame to make it neat.
Or buy already made if too much hassle

 

[Ellebob]

I have used both and currently have 3 IN-8s in my home for the front three of my theater and have a pair of IN-5 in my workout room. I would go with the IN-5 over the LP-6. The midrange is just nicer with the IN-5, period. I would spend the extra for the IN-5.

 

[dfuller]

The IN-5 is straight up better.

 

[TylerR]

To me the IN-5s measurements are a no go when it comes to mixing due to the dip at about 10k, but YMMV. I've stuck with the LP6's.

 

[holdingpants01]

Both have their rather big problems, just in different part of the spectrum. If there's no other choice then I would go with LP6, as a more conventional design with a bigger woofer, 2 way and waveguide. I don't see advantage with a 3 way monitor if the woofer is just 5", you need to use a sub anyway, also the suboptimal coaxial combo generates more problems than it solves, it's a weird product.

 

[heanjurrera]

Have you checked YouTube?

There is quite a number of kali in5 vs lp6 videos there.

for sure. The more detailed ones e.g. the ones with people discussing them as opposed to playing recordings of both seem to lean towards the IN-5 (including Erin in the comments of his LP-6 V2 video, where he flat out says the IN-5 is the better speaker) because it's "better"; but as seen both on this thread and Spinorama, there's a bit more going on to that so I thought I'd ask. If you know of any particularly informative video with this specific comparison I'd be happy to check out tho!

 

[heanjurrera]

Both have their rather big problems, just in different part of the spectrum. If there's no other choice then I would go with LP6, as a more conventional design with a bigger woofer, 2 way and waveguide. I don't see advantage with a 3 way monitor if the woofer is just 5", you need to use a sub anyway, also the suboptimal coaxial combo generates more problems than it solves, it's a weird product.

Thanks - yeah a sub, at least for now, is definitely out of the question but I'm not entirely dismissing that in the future. I also am leaning towards the LP6.
Are there any other options you'd recommend? I mainly locked in to these options due to my room situation - I don't know if it makes sense to go over something a bit higher grade if I don't feel comfortable adding treatment in a shared room.

With that in mind though, other speakers I've looked at are the Genelec 8030Cs and the Neumann KH80s. I also appreciate the smaller size on these, as both Kali options seem rather large.

 

[heanjurrera]

Any drawing of which way the slant goes and how severe it is?
Maybe could put an absorber panel on the column. Even a simple one from a little bit of poly or fibreglass batt, in cloth, lightweight wooden frame to make it neat.
Or buy already made if too much hassle

Sure, I tried putting something together real quick... it's a bit jank and the scale is a bit off are off but it should provide a rough idea. The slant covers about 3/4ths of the room or so, and my desk is under that. The slant is about 40º and starts at about 85 cm from the floor. The slanted area is about 2.35m from the column to the wall. Honestly from what I can tell, the column won't really get in the way of my listening position but I' m not entirely sure if it would affect in any way.

 

[Count Arthur]

Why not put the sofa under the slope, where the reduced height is less of an issue?

 

[holdingpants01]

Thanks - yeah a sub, at least for now, is definitely out of the question but I'm not entirely dismissing that in the future. I also am leaning towards the LP6.
Are there any other options you'd recommend? I mainly locked in to these options due to my room situation - I don't know if it makes sense to go over something a bit higher grade if I don't feel comfortable adding treatment in a shared room.

With that in mind though, other speakers I've looked at are the Genelec 8030Cs and the Neumann KH80s. I also appreciate the smaller size on these, as both Kali options seem rather large.

I would go with anything that includes room correction, so KH80 rather than 8030, I think for a small monitor it's hard to do better and if you add a sub later you'll get a real full range fully DSP-ed system

 

[heanjurrera]

I would go with anything that includes room correction, so KH80 rather than 8030, I think for a small monitor it's hard to do better and if you add a sub later you'll get a real full range fully DSP-ed system

would GLM or Neumann's solution be any better than SoundID Reference? I bought the SoundID reference mic and upgraded my license in preparation for this purchase, so I'm curious if it would be any improvement, or difference, to go for either of those systems

 

[heanjurrera]

View attachment 340265

Why not put the sofa under the slope, where the reduced height is less of an issue?

honestly, we had not really considered rearranging. My first thought on that is that I would probably need to do some tests with regards to the light from the window on my display, as my day job is design-related, but apart from that it might be a good thing to try for sure.

Is it possible to determine if being opposite to this slope could bring any potential acoustic issues? or... not without measuring

 

[Count Arthur]

I would probably need to do some tests with regards to the light from the window on my display

I did think about that, as I don't like my monitor facing a window either, but I don't like it with a window behind it either, because, if it's bright outside, it can make the monitor seem overly dim, unless you crank up the brightness.

For lighting, I would probably put the desk in the top left corner, it may be the best spot for acoustics too.

This would not be dissimilar to the layout in my room, albeit a mirror image, and I don't have a sloped ceiling.

 

[holdingpants01]

would GLM or Neumann's solution be any better than SoundID Reference? I bought the SoundID reference mic and upgraded my license in preparation for this purchase, so I'm curious if it would be any improvement, or difference, to go for either of those systems

They shouldn't be that much different but the biggest difference is having correction in the speakers without the need to constantly use any software. That may be handy if you want to record and monitor at the same time because of shorter latency. Or if you want to quickly check stuff on headphones, less clicks and no need to bypass anything. Or if you want to use more than one monitor set for referencing, again less clicking and having to remember to do it.

 

[Brian like sushi]

Hi all, I'm trying to make a decision between these two sets, for mixing. Normally I mix using DT770s with a bit of Sonarworks and CanOpener. I'll try to explain my situation as best as I can.

This room setup (about 25sqm, with a slanted ceiling and a drywall column somewhat in the middle of the room) is maybe a bit unusual as it's an office/work room in our rental apartment.

Both my wife and I work in this room and it's not treated. While it could be an option to add something in the way of treatment once I've measured it, due to the nature of this being shared space, I would probably expect to be limited in what I can do as I don't want to slowly take over all of the space. My listening position is again not ideal because of the aforementioned slant (my desk is under this slant), and the speakers would be placed directly on my desk, on some sort of isoacoustics stands or pucks (recommendations are welcome) for decoupling; I'd be about 1m from them.

With this in mind I've narrowed it to these two Seemingly Pretty Good affordable sets of speakers.

Now... according to Spinorama, Preference-wise, the LP-6s seem better at 6.5 vs the IN-5s at 5.6 (both scores are with EQ). This difference is pretty significant, so I guess it's a no-brainer to just go for the LP-6s but... is the 3-way configuration on the INs ultimately "better"? I unfortunately have no way of listening to these speakers to compare, so I'm kind of basing my decision on measurements.

Anybody with experience with both units care to share some thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

In my home, I have a pair of KH120 Mk2, KH80, and LP6 v2. I used to do mixing with the KH80, but later I switched to the KH120 Mk2. I found that without using room acoustic correction with a measurement microphone, the LP6 v2 doesn't perform worse than the other two pairs; its sound is natural and accurate. The KH speakers have a better soundstage than the LP, and the spatial positioning of the KH's sound is slightly superior. Apart from this, the LP6 offers excellent value for money. I'm planning to buy another pair to put in the living room. However, I'm also curious if the three-way speakers IN5 would be better than the LP6. I already consider the LP6 quite good, with good clarity. I'm also very interested in understanding how the IN5 compares to the LP6.

 

[heanjurrera]

had forgotten about this thread!
In the end, following @holdingpants01's suggestion of a DSP-powered system, I decided to go for a set of 8320s as I was able to get a pretty solid discount for the whole system through my work.

thanks all for your answers!

 

[Ellebob]

I have heard both and installed both and have had both for comparison. We also carry Neumann where I work but haven't comapred to any of the Kali directly. I have the IN series in my home, its midrange is much better and bass tighter IMHO and hearing side by side there is definitely a difference and IMHO the IN5 sounds better. YMMV. Is there some place that will let you bring them home for a demo or buy them and return them?