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Kali Audio Appears to Be Releasing a Coaxial Speaker (NAMM video featuring Charles Sprinkle)

So it's really the linearity of the differences among the directivity curves at various frequencies.
 
Kyle / MrHeeHo said:
The LSR305 does have that problem too and I was able to reduce the hiss to easy to ignore levels by using a cheap preamp. I also suspect some people complaining about hiss might be doing things like plugging their speakers directly into their motherboard. I hope this won't hiss but it may be a compromise they have to make to reach that price point.
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Directly into their motherboard YES I think that is my issue. Waiting for a USB DAC/AMP to be delivered.
 
For sure. I had my first set of 305s plugged in directly to PC "HD" audio card - hiss was unbearable.
Upgraded to Topping D50, which removed most of it (not to mention sound quality improvements), and then found a USB power strip for the D50 that eliminated any audible hiss (at 18" from my ears)...at least quieter then the Noctua fans I have in the PC:)
 
Nice. I am buying Fiio K5 pro.
Neddy said:
For sure. I had my first set of 305s plugged in directly to PC "HD" audio card - hiss was unbearable.
Upgraded to Topping D50, which removed most of it (not to mention sound quality improvements), and then found a USB power strip for the D50 that eliminated any audible hiss (at 18" from my ears)...at least quieter then the Noctua fans I have in the PC:)
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Got my IN-8s today. Looks like #99 & 100.
Owing to a surfeit of audio gack and dearth of AC outlets it'll be a while before I get them hooked up to an actual audio source.
Next to a 305 running off a cheap (OTA) TV's headphone output (!) they sound similar, but go much deeper; hardly worthy of note, except to prove they (well, one of them, haven't opened the other one yet) work.
It is nice they are switch selectable between bal and unbal inputs.
Build quality seems roughly equiv to 305s, maybe a tad better. Came double boxed, FWIW.
 
Neddy said:
Got my IN-8s today. Looks like #99 & 100.
Owing to a surfeit of audio gack and dearth of AC outlets it'll be a while before I get them hooked up to an actual audio source.
Next to a 305 running off a cheap (OTA) TV's headphone output (!) they sound similar, but go much deeper; hardly worthy of note, except to prove they (well, one of them, haven't opened the other one yet) work.
It is nice they are switch selectable between bal and unbal inputs.
Build quality seems roughly equiv to 305s, maybe a tad better. Came double boxed, FWIW.
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any hiss or hum in 0.5m away? Thanks
 
Neddy said:
Got my IN-8s today. Looks like #99 & 100.
Owing to a surfeit of audio gack and dearth of AC outlets it'll be a while before I get them hooked up to an actual audio source.
Next to a 305 running off a cheap (OTA) TV's headphone output (!) they sound similar, but go much deeper; hardly worthy of note, except to prove they (well, one of them, haven't opened the other one yet) work.
It is nice they are switch selectable between bal and unbal inputs.
Build quality seems roughly equiv to 305s, maybe a tad better. Came double boxed, FWIW.
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Folks at Kali have made it pretty clear that a pretty box is quite far down on the list of their priorities, if they can DSP their way out of box related anomaly rather than raise prices they would opt for the former so long as consistency is there. I'm perfectly happy with the build of the LP-6 and if the IN-8 is just the same I'm ok with that as long as sound quality is improved in keeping with the price increase over the LP-8.
 
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Jmudrick said:
Folks at Kali have made it pretty clear that a pretty box is quite far down on the list of their priorities, if they can DSP their way out of box related anomaly rather than raise prices they would opt for the former so long as consistency is there. I'm perfectly happy with the build of the LP-6 and if the IN-8 is just the same I'm ok with that as long as sound quality is improved in keeping with the price increase over the LP-8.
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They are clear about everything unlike other giants like JBL who are not clear about it but still are cutting corners.
 
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/showpost.php?p=14318512&postcount=40

"Ah yes... there is a hiss. From my mixing position about 4 feet away, I have to stop and think about it to hear it, but I can definitely see it erking some people. Doesn't bother me at all though."-earthworld on GS
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I guess this is what happens when the foundation had a hiss.

Aren't you supposed to listen to these at 10ft?

Great review on the gs site.
 
It'll be a while before I get these hooked up to a hi-res, low noise, AC filtered source, so I don't have much to say about them yet.
But, with the crummy source, no AC conditioning, un-balanced input, there is some hiss.
I can't hear it beyond about 2ft (my hearing rolls off around 14khz), and not at all from my listening position about 12' away.
(These will be used as TV only speakers, eventually.)
IRCC, it goes away when the speaker drops into power save mode (amber LED).
The 305s at my workstation seem to have less hiss though. I'll see if I can't make room for one of the IN8s there and provide a little better comparison.
 
Ok, this got me curious, so I dragged one of the IN8s to my workstation to compare with the 305s.
So this is with a Topping D50 (un-bal) running off a very noise free USB supply, with 1 ea 305 & IN8 about 14" from my ears, with the IN8 set at the 'default detent' gain setting.
Yes, the IN8s have hiss at idle, and yes, it's more than the 305, and yes it's annoying.
The hiss does go away when the IN8 switches to 'amber LED' mode (presumably power saving, it's not discussed in the manual) after a few minutes of no input.
As far as music goes, not surprisingly, it sounds much better than the '05...but will leave that characterization to others with more critical skills than I.
(The IN8s do play much louder than the 305s.)
If I had the desk space, and could justify the cost, I'd vastly prefer the IN8s to the 305s there, tho the 305s are no slouches for the size and money.
(I use this workstation to assess new music finds for 'keepers' to play back later on the big system, and the 305s often totally miss some great characteristics, esp VLF and things like triangles and cymbals.)
So far the IN8 seems far far better at both LF and HF, but my intention is to upgrade things so I can do all the 'capture & assessment' of new music directly on the large system anyway.
YMMV, of course.
 
Ordered mine. Also ordered a second LSR310s sub on sale for $242.
 
q3cpma said:
Very tempting, indeed (and it does look nice). We lack options in the active 3-way coaxials range; anything else than this and Genelec's now defunct 8260?
I hope they solved the nearfield hiss problem they inherited from JBL's LSR serie, though.
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They didn't solve the hiss issue.

I'm now looking at a Genelec 8260 for that reason: Low self noise, more bass extension, and even flatter response.

Kali could have had me if they'd done a touch more and just charged $1000 for a pair of IN-8 monitors, gotten rid of the hiss, and made them go a bit lower.

Edit: Heck, even if they didn't go lower, I'd buy a pair of subs happily.
 
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headshake said:
Aren't you supposed to listen to these at 10ft?
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Where is this suggested? I'd argue that you could listen to these closer than most speakers. In a living room you can basically stand up or sit down and they sound the same, unlike every non-coincident driver speaker I've listened to at similar distances where the balance of mids and treble changes a lot depending on if the tweeter or woofer is closer. (I have a HiVi DIY 3.1 and don't like how beamy it is.)
 
stevenswall said:
They didn't solve the hiss issue.

I'm now looking at a Genelec 8260 for that reason: Low self noise, more bass extension, and even flatter response.

Kali could have had me if they'd done a touch more and just charged $1000 for a pair of IN-8 monitors, gotten rid of the hiss, and made them go a bit lower.

Edit: Heck, even if they didn't go lower, I'd buy a pair of subs happily.
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You should look at the KH310, unless you NEED a coaxial's vertical directivity.
 
stevenswall said:
In a living room you can basically stand up or sit down and they sound the same, unlike every non-coincident driver speaker I've listened to at similar distances where the balance of mids and treble changes a lot depending on if the tweeter or woofer is closer. (I have a HiVi DIY 3.1 and don't like how beamy it is.)
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This sounds great and is basically what I'm looking for in a living room speaker too. Tempted to trial these and see how much the hiss bothers me... my rooms are probably noisier than most since I'm in the city.

Fantastic vertical directivity is so nice to have, though... and I can't really justify the prices of the coaxial genelecs.
 
Sancus said:
Fantastic vertical directivity is so nice to have, though... and I can't really justify the prices of the coaxial genelecs.
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What is your budget and do you have a subwoofer?

For $2000, maybe $2300 since they increased the price, the Elac Navis sounds incredible. I returned that for port chuffing, but if you cross it over at 80hz or so you won't have that issue, and it has no audible self hiss, and quite satisfying low end if you use it nearfield. Should be find in a larger room too if you have subwoofers.

For $2500 the Phantom Reactor also has excellent dispersion, goes stupid loud, and has plenty of bass without a subwoofer.

For cheaper but only a two way, Tannoy Golds might be your cup of tea, but I haven't heard those like the ones I mentioned here.
 
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