Kali Audio IN-8v2 (Second Wave) 3-Way Studio Monitor Review

[2020]

I'm really bummed out..got another converter box, optical no luck, e-arc made it much worse. I also feel like these LG tv's that cost so much also are pieces of crap in some ways. I was really hoping that the converter box would have done the trick but no luck.

Now I'm thinking of returning these speakers cause if I can't use them for movies they are almost useless. I guess the only thing to get is the bluetooth audio reciever.. I'd have to use my macbook pro to hook up to the tv and make it play the movies and sound with. But I have no idea if bluetooth audio will be ok since I've never used it.

Don't even get me started on LG TVs.

They have sat on their laurels for a long time because of the OLED hype/exclusivity that they built during the mid to late 2010s, to the point of actively sabotaging their mini LED line and having no real competition in this entire product category. Then QD OLED arrived and threatened to eat their lunch, so they had to scramble and offer 5 years of software updates on their TVs as a customer retention strategy. Problems with black crush over the years, MLA caused black lift, now their new tandem panel has visible dithering patterns and still doesn't have the massive color saturation of QD, also they let the devil apparently decide on their new remote design. Samsung is somehow shockingly poorly managed but you can't fault I'm from a flash perspective or trying to buck the market leader.

And the in built speakers? Some of the most basic compared to its competitors. Samsung has that object tracking, Sony has weird proprietary technology that essentially makes the entire screen a speaker(s), and Panasonic has a soundbar built into the TV. I don't believe you really need a sound bar If the onboard speaker is good enough, but they aren't even that sometimes.

 

[Joeyd33]

I find it tough with many reviewers that seem like they have a book of adjectives and have to use all the adjectives in their reviews. Unfortunately, I have no idea what having a velvet sound means. That was from an actual reviewer. I could say something is cucumbery for the sound, what does that mean? Some common descriptions I understand, is the speaker bright, boomy bass, Etc.

My best friend is a wine connoisseur, and he sniffs the wine, swirls it in his mouth, tastes it, and can pick out all these flavors from it. He teaches classes at a University on wine. (They didn't have classes like that when I went to college). But what he says to people, it doesn't matter about all these attributes. What matters is whether you like the wine or not. I think there's a lot of truth to that with speakers. If you find them engaging and drawing you into the material. Then they are good speaker for you.

If you like the JBL sound, you should get it. I'm not sure there's much you can do about the hiss though. I can see how that would be bothersome.

With the other speakers you have I have to see.. I may return these Kali audios now that I can't get optical or e-arc working without noise. If it was low noise I would be able to take it.. I remember my JBL 305s were actually way more quiet than the Kali's when I hooked it up to the TV. I was looking at some bluetooth receivers or ground loop isolators but I'm seeing so many reviews on how much both of them end up killing the sound quality. When I plug them in to the power supply theres no sound, I could try the other cables but I don't want to keep on wasting money on cables if nothing is going to work.

Sigh...might just go do a Sonos Arc Ultra and call it a day for the TV.

 

[neRok]

I'm really bummed out..got another converter box, optical no luck, e-arc made it much worse. I also feel like these LG tv's that cost so much also are pieces of crap in some ways. I was really hoping that the converter box would have done the trick but no luck.

Now I'm thinking of returning these speakers cause if I can't use them for movies they are almost useless. I guess the only thing to get is the bluetooth audio reciever.. I'd have to use my macbook pro to hook up to the tv and make it play the movies and sound with. But I have no idea if bluetooth audio will be ok since I've never used it.

Are you using RCA input? My IN8 are basically silent with the RCA switch off, but start hissing with it turned on, even without the RCA cable connected.

 

[roladyzator]

How did you power the optical DAC you used? Did you use, for example, USB power from the TV?
That could reintroduce the ground loop you tried to break when using optical.

Can you try powering it with a phone charger that has just 2-pin power plug?

 

[Joeyd33]

How did you power the optical DAC you used? Did you use, for example, USB power from the TV?
That could reintroduce the ground loop you tried to break when using optical.

Can you try powering it with a phone charger that has just 2-pin power plug?

Yeah I plugged the USB into the tv for power. I"m going to try tomorrow and plug it into another power source.

It has to be something with the TV. Cause I hook up my MacBook Pro to the tv since the LG has all sorts of problems with movie formats (another pain in the ass LG thing). When I hookup the speakers to the power it's fine, when I hook it up to the MacBook they are fine, but the moment I hook up the HDMI from the TV to the macbok it gets that noise. I think it's the 50-60hz noise from a video I saw. I also get the same noise when I use the converter box with optical and e-arc (with e-arc being louder).

What I'm also going to try is TV -> Converter -> Xduoo xd-05 amp -> MacBook -> Kali Speakers.

Going to see if putting the amplifier in the chain maybe gets rid of the noise.

I remember I had that issue with the JBLs but forgot what I did. I remember I did buy the TRS cables but I forgot if there was noise or if it was heavily reduced.

 

[Ellebob]

I would try something like a Fosi ZD3 and connect everything through that.

 

[Joeyd33]

I would try something like a Fosi ZD3 and connect everything through that.

@roladyzator had it right.. tried a different power source for the converter

I would try something like a Fosi ZD3 and connect everything through that.

Finally got it working with no sound!! But I don't think I will have time today to watch a movie and test it out again..maybe in a few days or def do a movie night next weekend.

It kind of felt like a breakthrough hahah. I bought a different HDMI cable, so I did Macbook -> HDMi -> TV-> Optical to converter box -> 3.5mm to dual RCA cable, and plugged the usb power into something different.. Finally worked great! I could use it with my macbook connected to the TV and also just with the tv by itself. I want to see what this is capable of now with the Kali + 12 inch sub for a movie.

I did try the Xduoo amp and it made zero difference. But at least I finally got it working!!

I wonder if this setup would be nice with the JBLs to cut down on sound cause I still want them. But I'm still debating on the 306 vs 308. Volume wise the 306's are more than enough but I do like my low end since I am not getting a sub for my desk. Not sure if theres that much of a difference in noticing the 308 getting a bit lower or if there are any other benefits other than volume.

 

[roladyzator]

@roladyzator had it right.. tried a different power source for the converter

Finally got it working with no sound!! But I don't think I will have time today to watch a movie and test it out again..maybe in a few days or def do a movie night next weekend.

It kind of felt like a breakthrough hahah. I bought a different HDMI cable, so I did Macbook -> HDMi -> TV-> Optical to converter box -> 3.5mm to dual RCA cable, and plugged the usb power into something different.. Finally worked great! I could use it with my macbook connected to the TV and also just with the tv by itself. I want to see what this is capable of now with the Kali + 12 inch sub for a movie.

I did try the Xduoo amp and it made zero difference. But at least I finally got it working!!

I wonder if this setup would be nice with the JBLs to cut down on sound cause I still want them. But I'm still debating on the 306 vs 308. Volume wise the 306's are more than enough but I do like my low end since I am not getting a sub for my desk. Not sure if theres that much of a difference in noticing the 308 getting a bit lower or if there are any other benefits other than volume.

If I'm not mistaken, the bigger the driver the less wide dispersion is. I would think the "spaciousness" aspect would be stronger with the 305P.
The 305P shows a boost to 2 kHz in measurements - could it be part of what made you appreciate its sound? Or maybe a treble shelf at 2 or 4 kHz could get that special effect that you're after?

 

[Ellebob]

A bigger driver doesn't mean narrower dispersion. However, when the wavelength is smaller than the diameter of the driver it will start to beam. Beaming doesn't mean it will only play straightforward it is quite a more like petals on a flower where it will have multiple areas where it beams and others where it don't. So the response will be varied as one moves around the room
In theory you could take one large driver and have it play the whole frequency range, but the beaming would not be good. I'd have to do the calculations but roughly a 15 inch driver will start to beam about 850hz, a driver half that size will start to beam at 1700hz, etc. this is one of the reasons we don't have a big full range driver used for a speaker.

Also using a larger driver means using a larger cabinet and you can get edge diffraction starting at a lower frequency. That's why some speaker designers prefer to use multiple smaller drivers to get the same output while keeping a narrower cabinet.

So larger drivers by themselves do not necessarily mean a more narrow response, as long as they're used within their limitations

 

[Joeyd33]

If I'm not mistaken, the bigger the driver the less wide dispersion is. I would think the "spaciousness" aspect would be stronger with the 305P.
The 305P shows a boost to 2 kHz in measurements - could it be part of what made you appreciate its sound? Or maybe a treble shelf at 2 or 4 kHz could get that special effect that you're after?

No.. odd thing is, 2khz is my pain area. I can't use any headphones that have a sensitivity in that range so a lot of headphones tend to sound bright and sibilant to me.

I think JBL had a few factors to it, but these are my assumptions and not facts. I think it's part sound of the box,I tend to hate boomy speakers but they have a slight boom that makes sound radiate like a warm electric buzz. It's like everything I imagined a tube amplifier would sound like. The sacrifice of pinpoint seperation also helps it. I did sell my Klipsch's but I may hold off now cause it seems like we may have a bad market crash and I'm not sure how things are going to go, so that sucks. In the meantime I'll just rock the Kali in-8v'2s at my desk and just unhook them when I watch a movie with the nephews on the weekends. Now that I have the converter box it's nice, it's only a couple of minutes to disconnect and connect everything so it's not bad.

Another comparison would be that JBL's were the old CRT tv's, where the color blending is what made it vs something like an LED monitor where everything was so sharp and precise. So with JBL,for me its the flaws are what makes the speaker sound good. I tend to hate it most of the time, but in this case, it works for me

 

[TheDichotomist]

Note: Rating meant for far-field listening.

Preference Rating
SCORE: 5.3
SCORE w/ sub: 7.1

Frequency response: +/- 6.1dB 45Hz-20kHz

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Assuming "with sub" means adding a subwoofer, how do you know that adding a sub boosts the score that much? (Sorry, if this is answered elsewhere. I haven't found it yet. )

 

[MZKM]

Assuming "with sub" means adding a subwoofer, how do you know that adding a sub boosts the score that much? (Sorry, if this is answered elsewhere. I haven't found it yet. )

Part of the score is bass extension (labeled LFX), the w/sub aspect basically maxes out that aspect of the score so that it’s a more level playing field, mainly between bookshelf and tower speakers, if you plan to have a subwoofer(s) in your system.

 

[tw 2022]

Assuming "with sub" means adding a subwoofer, how do you know that adding a sub boosts the score that much? (Sorry, if this is answered elsewhere. I haven't found it yet. )

One thing to remember about the preference score: it's based on measurements only and doesn't take into account driver quality.. I remember one time the Philharmonic AA monitor was measured here, it scored higher than the BMR monitor, which is a much higher priced speaker and is very good( I've heard it)... Dennis Murphy even commented that the AA wasn't in the same league as the BMR , I'd take his word for it: he built both and designed them both himself....

 

[TheDichotomist]

One thing to remember about the preference score: it's based on measurements only and doesn't take into account driver quality.. I remember one time the Philharmonic AA monitor was measured here, it scored higher than the BMR monitor, which is a much higher priced speaker and is very good( I've heard it)... Dennis Murphy even commented that the AA wasn't in the same league as the BMR , I'd take his word for it: he built both and designed them both himself....

I dunno, the driver quality on these kali's looks pretty solid. Like.... from a pure THD, frequency response, etc perspective, they measure pretty darn good. Like, a studio monitor at this price that's this clean is very competitive. and if you add Kali's sub, which seems to also perform extremely well, this 4-way combo has a total system THD < 2% @ 90db SPL from 1 meter... I don't know what other users who mention transient response "speed" mean, can only assume (based on measurements i've seen for "fast" speakers here and from Erin's corner) its a speaker with a very slight lift at and above ~2k. I tend to mean "dynamic range headroom that doesn't compress transients," when I refer to transient response... In context, for most people, if you're mixing at 75db SPL RMS, you have a VERY comfortable 20-25db of headroom for transients before distortion/compression kicks in.

I got a little off track there; I realize the score is for far field listening, which these monitors aren't designed for. But you mentioned driver quality and.... well, I rambled. ^^ But hey, what am I missing? I probably missed your point completely. (woops)

 

[tw 2022]

I dunno, the driver quality on these kali's looks pretty solid. Like.... from a pure THD, frequency response, etc perspective, they measure pretty darn good. Like, a studio monitor at this price that's this clean is very competitive. and if you add Kali's sub, which seems to also perform extremely well, this 4-way combo has a total system THD < 2% @ 90db SPL from 1 meter... I don't know what other users who mention transient response "speed" mean, can only assume (based on measurements i've seen for "fast" speakers here and from Erin's corner) its a speaker with a very slight lift at and above ~2k. I tend to mean "dynamic range headroom that doesn't compress transients," when I refer to transient response... In context, for most people, if you're mixing at 75db SPL RMS, you have a VERY comfortable 20-25db of headroom for transients before distortion/compression kicks in.

I got a little off track there; I realize the score is for far field listening, which these monitors aren't designed for. But you mentioned driver quality and.... well, I rambled. ^^ But hey, what am I missing? I probably missed your point completely. (woops)

You are on the right track, the Kali monitors are fine, I was pointing out in general terms that the preference score may not be an accurate tool to compare speakers, but it does give you the general quality of tonal balance on *that* particular speaker...just remember: the Kali are *budget* monitors...don't expect them to sound better than much higher priced stuff, but they probably sound better than some moderately higher priced stuff

 

[Jiraya369]

You are on the right track, the Kali monitors are fine, I was pointing out in general terms that the preference score may not be an accurate tool to compare speakers, but it does give you the general quality of tonal balance on *that* particular speaker...just remember: the Kali are *budget* monitors...don't expect them to sound better than much higher priced stuff, but they probably sound better than some moderately higher priced stuff

why exactly would these NOT sound better than higher priced stuff?

 

[TheDichotomist]

...just remember: the Kali are *budget* monitors...don't expect them to sound better than much higher priced stuff, but they probably sound better than some moderately higher priced stuff

I wouldn't know what to expect from a speaker better than these. I mentioned transient "speed" as a metric other's have mentioned to denote driver quality, and I've heard folks talk about how "effortless" reproduction of "tiny details" can be on better speakers. (rustling leaves, crumbled tobacco in someone's palm, dainty silver chain necklaces)... To me, this sounds like an accurate frequency response and low distortion/compression thing. That's something I find myself unable to quantify here on ASR. Directivity/reflection response plots gives an idea of how susceptible to room coloration a speaker can be, as well as off axis response variation problems if those are evident. CSD plots would show bad resonances that would upset tonal balance -- but that's a frequency response adjacent thing again....

Getting out of my head for a sec; what differences would you expect from a much higher end monitor? Footprint 03, Kali SM 5, Genelec-anythng-because-they're-all-too-expensive. (I've only ever listened to genelecs and neumann kh310s in a conference room in the mountains of west virginia -- where the room was skimming about 2/3rds of the value off the top of those speakers. )

 

[Bruce Morgen]

Getting out of my head for a sec; what differences would you expect from a much higher end monitor? Footprint 03, Kali SM 5, Genelec-anythng-because-they're-all-too-expensive. (I've only ever listened to genelecs and neumann kh310s in a conference room in the mountains of west virginia -- where the room was skimming about 2/3rds of the value off the top of those speakers. )

IIRC, one reviewer compared the SM-5 to the IN-5 and conceded that the SM-5 would be his choice only if the SM-5's extremely advanced GUI-controlled EQ capability was a top priority. Aside from that, the SQ difference between the two models was apparently tiny -- which to yours truly makes the humongous price difference a deal breaker. Would that conclusion also apply to a Genelec or Neumann product at the SM-5's price point? Danged if I know, but I sure AF know that I enjoy the frack out of my IN-8v2/IN-5/IN-8v2 front line...

 

[voodooless]

One thing to remember about the preference score: it's based on measurements only and doesn't take into account driver quality..

How is that quantified?

I remember one time the Philharmonic AA monitor was measured here,

This one: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/affordable-accuracy-monitor-review.13624/ ?

it scored higher than the BMR monitor, which is a much higher priced speaker and is very good( I've heard it)...

Did it? Where? The AA has a preference score of 5.0, and the BMR has a score of 6.0. That is significantly higher. The BMR also has a much lower bass response (35 vs 62). Distortion on the BMR also looks better. For sure, the BMR is the better speaker. And even then, the preference score is just a nice number ballparking the preferences of speakers. It definitely does not cover all aspects of the speaker quality, and especially not if they will play nice with your particular environment.

Dennis Murphy even commented that the AA wasn't in the same league as the BMR , I'd take his word for it: he built both and designed them both himself....

And therefore has every reason to make sure the more expensive speaker appears to be the better one. Even if true (as it apparently is), that is hardly a reliable source.

 

[tw 2022]

why exactly would these NOT sound better than higher priced stuff?

I didn't say they wouldn't.. but obviously it won't be universal.. there are going to be well implemented speakers with better drivers and boxes as well...