Kali Audio IN-8 Studio Monitor Review

[amirm]

How close is the near field measurement to the drivers? if it is near field just wonder how it calculates the far field response and driver size compensation.

The measurement points vary but in general it is 1 foot or less. My feeling is that there is no compensation for baffle gain but then I can't explain how they get the same response as anechoic that is typically done at 2 meters. I will ask once they sort out the half a dozen questions I have already posed to them.

Alternatively I will measure a speaker at different distances and see how the results vary. It is snowing and cold in the garage though....

 

[daftcombo]

The measurement points vary but in general it is 1 foot or less. My feeling is that there is no compensation for baffle gain but then I can't explain how they get the same response as anechoic that is typically done at 2 meters. I will ask once they sort out the half a dozen questions I have already posed to them.

Alternatively I will measure a speaker at different distances and see how the results vary. It is snowing and cold in the garage though....

Can you perhaps attach two pieces of woods on the right and left of the speaker to simulate an infinite plane panel?
That can be a domestic situation with things all around a bookshelf.

 

[Thomas_A]

The measurement points vary but in general it is 1 foot or less. My feeling is that there is no compensation for baffle gain but then I can't explain how they get the same response as anechoic that is typically done at 2 meters. I will ask once they sort out the half a dozen questions I have already posed to them.

Alternatively I will measure a speaker at different distances and see how the results vary. It is snowing and cold in the garage though....

Ok that's rather close distance. For near field, assuming piston movement of the drivers you need compensation in level when merging signals from different-sized drivers. Will be interesting to get some more information.

I wish there would be snow here now - very warm and unusual winter in Sweden this year.

 

[LTig]

Woofer break in will shift the woofer resonance frequency a little bit, but it won't affect anything much above that. It's a subtle effect which is visible in the TS parameters and not the frequency response.

Correct. This is exactly what Markus Wolff (chief developer at Neumann) told me in 2004 (then at Klein & Hummel).

 

[JohnBooty]

I continue to wonder what producers are using in the studi and if this is actually having a bearing on all of the poorly produced music that is getting delivered.

Simple answer is "no."

The problem with the production of modern popular music is the absolute crushing of the dynamic range - the whole "loudness wars" mastering thing. That's a deliberate choice. You can't accidentally do it. And there's no studio monitor issue that could somehow trick you into doing it. Everything else pales compares to this.

Gear is certainly not the problem. Smaller, independent musicians/studios will of course not have equipment that is not as good as the big-budget boys, but the overall trend has certainly been "large improvements in the price/performance ratio of all audio gear."

Read about how Sgt. Pepper's was recorded. That entire album was done on 4-track. Tons and tons and tons and tons of tracks copied and recopied and recopied to condense dozens of tracks down into just four. A bedroom studio today can have better equipment than the biggest band in the world and the most famous studio in the world had in 1967.

edit: It is also my understanding (I do not work in the business) that any halfway well-equipped studio is going to have more than one type of monitor, and that a lot of engineers/producers/artists check their work on everyday consumer stuff (car stereos, bluetooth speakers, etc) especially when the music's getting close to being "done." You would not go through the entire process hearing your work on only a single set of speakers. I'm sure industry folks here can educate us or at least correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Darkweb]

Is there a return period on the Klippel?

Just slap these monitors on your desk and let us know if they’re crap or not. It’s easy peasy.

 

[pozz]

Is there a return period on the Klippel?

Just slap these monitors on your desk and let us know if they’re crap or not. It’s easy peasy.

What a perspective, gents: really sets all the issues straight and makes the work simpler. Wish I could spend my days that way with 3 or 4 marbles canoodling in my brain. Marble? Neuron? Same old, same old. Stuck one up my nose once so I could do long division. Sneezed, and that was that: no more long division, but no dead weight either.

 

[LTig]

Is there a return period on the Klippel?

Just slap these monitors on your desk and let us know if they’re crap or not. It’s easy peasy.

Wrong forum.

 

[Charles Sprinkle]

I suspect he has been crying hard without access to multiple anechoic chambers, double blind listening tests, and access to Harman portfolio of harman patents in the new job. Let's remember that the innovative waveguide came from Harman luxury group (Revel, Automotive Sound), not from the JBL group.

For the record, I invented the Image Control Waveguide (Patent #US9924249B2) while at Harman Consumer Group.

With regards to the measurements posted, as Kali Marketing previously stated, these do not match the design or measurements of IN8 smaples I have tested. I'm not sure what happened, but I would be happy to help figure it out.

With regards to measurements we use for voicing, I use anechoic data in addition to ground plane and spatial average measurements. Crossover points, summation, spinorama, etc. are optimized using anechoic data. The chamber we use has 3' wedges and is equipped with a Klippel measurement system. Low frequency calibration of the chamber is not perfect, so we use ground plane measurements to ensure that low frequency response is as expected.

With regards to being hired by Kali, the fact is that I am one of the founders of this company. As someone for whom music is very important, I wanted to be able to continue developing loudspeakers that provide the maximum value to people who create music. I hope that you will find that this is the case with every product we make.

As an aside, if anyone is at NAMM this week, we have the IN8 speakers set up next to the LP8 and LP6. We are at the Courtyard Marriott at 2045 S. Harbor Boulevard if you would like to stop by and listen, I will be available for any questions you may have.

 

[jtwrace]

@Charles Sprinkle when are you coming out with a statement type speaker?

 

[Charles Sprinkle]

@Charles Sprinkle when are you coming out with a statement type speaker?

I'm not sure what you mean by "statement", but we are working on several new projects. ;-) More information will be released in the coming months.

 

[jtwrace]

I'm not sure what you mean by "statement", but we are working on several new projects. ;-) More information will be released in the coming months.

Statement level speaker like the M2

 

[matt3421]

Hello, Mr Sprinkle. I have your LP-6 speakers and love them. Will you ever be coming out with 'true' coaxial speakers similar to Genelec's "The Ones"? I would definitely buy something like that.

 

[JustIntonation]

Audio production is completely broken in this regard. Every studio uses a different speaker in a different room. Why they have not tried to standardize and at least provide metadata about their rooms so that we can try to replicate, is beyond me.

This type of testing though will move us more toward a single standard.

There are standards as far as big budget purpose built rooms which depend mostly on the designer.
I believe current the top designer is Jouanjean at www.northwardacoustics.com and he now only uses ATC in wall speakers in a semi anechoic room.

 

[laudio]

This thread just got really intetesting.

 

[LeftCoastTim]

This thread just got really intetesting.

I expected no less when Amir got his Klippel.

Real measurements will ruffle feathers, one way or another. We consumers benefit.

 

[HammerSandwich]

a lot of engineers/producers/artists check their work on everyday consumer stuff (car stereos, bluetooth speakers, etc)

Every small-time musician I know (and they all have their own CDs,years ago now) uses the daily driver as the absolute sound.

 

[laudio]

I expected no less when Amir got his Klippel.

Real measurements will ruffle feathers, one way or another. We consumers benefit.

Or...

 

[aarons915]

I expected no less when Amir got his Klippel.

Real measurements will ruffle feathers, one way or another. We consumers benefit.

Definitely agree but I also have no reason to doubt Kali audio, my first thought when seeing the measurements were that I couldn't believe former Harman engineers would release a speaker like that. I think it makes a lot of sense to measure a speaker or 2 that we already have Harman Spins for so we can be confident that the measurements are accurate and reproducible based on a known control speaker.

 

[amirm]

Definitely agree but I also have no reason to doubt Kali audio, my first thought when seeing the measurements were that I couldn't believe former Harman engineers would release a speaker like that.

They have very different constraints than when they worked at Harman.

I think it makes a lot of sense to measure a speaker or 2 that we already have Harman Spins for so we can be confident that the measurements are accurate and reproducible based on a known control speaker.

I am working on that but with Samsung being in charge Harman, such simple things have gotten very hard.

On reputability, I am testing some of the variables in Klippel NFS with the JBL 305P. So far, it is very repeatable. Will report back when the current scan finishes.

I think we should accept that just because a speaker is tested in anechoic chamber, it doesn't mean it produces the right results. As long as there are no issues found with Klippel NFS, testing every speaker on it the same way should provide very accurate comparable data. Whether they are right in the absolute becomes secondary. As with electronics measurements, we will have our own library of devices to pick from.

But your point is also good. I am doing everything I can to verify accuracy of the system.