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Kali IN-8 8-inch 3-way coincident mid/tweeter monitors - first impressions

Jmudrick

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Got my IN-8 set up, hiss is audible to me at about 1m. As noted I listen at about 3m so not an issue.
 

Gnasherrr

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wonder why they still havent released the CLF files for this. interested to see how good the directionality is
 
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ripvw

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first YouTube review I've found:


and another brief review that basically says that they hiss too much and were returned:


I listened to the second review with my Etymotic ER4SR's at high volume - could not hear any speaker noise
 

stevenswall

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and another brief review that basically says that they hiss too much and were returned:

I listened to the second review with my Etymotic ER4SR's at high volume - could not hear any speaker noise

I'm the guy who made the hiss video. Wait until 2 seconds after the blue light comes on. The first several seconds are just so that the listener can acclimatize to the sound of my fridge in the background.

Sorry for not doing a longer review, I was incredibly frustrated with the hiss on these and have been listening to speakers for over a year now trying to find something worth it to me.

These are like getting a 4K OLED TV for 70% off... But with 1% of the pixels randomly going white.

People who can't hear the hiss, it's not a personal slight, but many can. I used to wear ear plugs in the shower if the water running was too loud, and frequently plug my ears at the movies or wear ear plugs/filters, and am 27. I also wear ear plugs while mowing the lawn, and work in a quiet office. Chances are either a persons room isn't quiet enough, or there is some loss of hearing at whatever frequencies these hiss at.

Hiss wise, from most to least I've ever heard: Kali Audio IN-8, JBL LSR308, JBL LSR104, Mackie HR824, Genelec 1030, Harman Kardon Soundsticks, Elac Navis, which has no hiss because they use a class D as a power supply to a class AB amp.

I was 2 meters from the speakers at points, and it's not the source, see my thread on Reddit about details... https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/duxszn
Also took them to a studio with fully balanced connections, power conditioning, etc. and the his was the same. even tweaking the switches on the back, the Yamaha HS8 we put them in place of was much more clear for voices, so I'm not sure if that is a bright speaker or he had his switches emphasizing treble, but that would be the one potential nitpick though we only compared them for 30 minutes or so.

Since then I've gotten a pair of Devialet Phantoms, which also use amplifiers that don't hiss, but haven't been able to get them to sound right nearfield, even with their wide and even dispersion.

At this point it's looking like I will need to settle, find a non-coaxial that has good vertical dispersion, or save for a discontinued Genelec 8260.

(I haven't seen anything yet where the engineers pay attention to not hissing, minimizing diffraction, controlling the dispersion, using a coincident driver for even vertical dispersion, actually having bass extension, and an incredibly solid cabinet. Besides the Devialet Phantom, but it has it's own connectivity and app issues.)
 
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stevenswall

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sometimes early adopters get lucky...

^I got lucky with the sound, but the hiss was intolerable. Now I have Genelec 8260 monitors. I wish Kali had gone to the $1000 price range to improve the amp noise and bass extension.

Also, you should take a picture of your setup! I't probably less makeshift than mine was.
 

Jmudrick

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I'm the guy who made the hiss video. Wait until 2 seconds after the blue light comes on. The first several seconds are just so that the listener can acclimatize to the sound of my fridge in the background.

Sorry for not doing a longer review, I was incredibly frustrated with the hiss on these and have been listening to speakers for over a year now trying to find something worth it to me.

These are like getting a 4K OLED TV for 70% off... But with 1% of the pixels randomly going white.

People who can't hear the hiss, it's not a personal slight, but many can. I used to wear ear plugs in the shower if the water running was too loud, and frequently plug my ears at the movies or wear ear plugs/filters, and am 27. I also wear ear plugs while mowing the lawn, and work in a quiet office. Chances are either a persons room isn't quiet enough, or there is some loss of hearing at whatever frequencies these hiss at.

Hiss wise, from most to least I've ever heard: Kali Audio IN-8, JBL LSR308, JBL LSR104, Mackie HR824, Genelec 1030, Harman Kardon Soundsticks, Elac Navis, which has no hiss because they use a class D as a power supply to a class AB amp.

I was 2 meters from the speakers at points, and it's not the source, see my thread on Reddit about details... https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/duxszn
Also took them to a studio with fully balanced connections, power conditioning, etc. and the his was the same. even tweaking the switches on the back, the Yamaha HS8 we put them in place of was much more clear for voices, so I'm not sure if that is a bright speaker or he had his switches emphasizing treble, but that would be the one potential nitpick though we only compared them for 30 minutes or so.

Since then I've gotten a pair of Devialet Phantoms, which also use amplifiers that don't hiss, but haven't been able to get them to sound right nearfield, even with their wide and even dispersion.

At this point it's looking like I will need to settle, find a non-coaxial that has good vertical dispersion, or save for a discontinued Genelec 8260.

(I haven't seen anything yet where the engineers pay attention to not hissing, minimizing diffraction, controlling the dispersion, using a coincident driver for even vertical dispersion, actually having bass extension, and an incredibly solid cabinet. Besides the Devialet Phantom, but it has it's own connectivity and app issues.)

I have them 2.75m from listening position in typical living room, hiss not audible. Good for me.
 

Fregly

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I hear the hiss easily in that video. I could not live with that either.
 

stevenswall

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thewas

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I have them 2.75m from listening position in typical living room, hiss not audible. Good for me.
I have them for my Hifi setup, so a listening distance of approximately 2 meters and I can hear it slightly when no music played, but does it really bother me? No, I use them only when I want to listen to music and when not I switch them off or even their automatic stand-by is enabled so imho it's only problem if you use them closely and have long silence breaks between your listening.
 

thewas

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^I got lucky with the sound, but the hiss was intolerable. Now I have Genelec 8260 monitors. I wish Kali had gone to the $1000 price range to improve the amp noise and bass extension.
About amp noise I can partially agree but bass extension? I hope you use the SAM/GLM on your Genelec to see that usually a lower extension just leads to more filtering there due to room gain and first room mode, see also https://www.hifi-selbstbau.de/grund...sinn-und-unsinn-einer-grenzfrequenz-von-20-hz
 
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maty

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His problem seems to be caused by internal very? high gain - to save money - used in amplification (tweeter with cheap class D in cheap JBL, Kali and others studio monitors). If unbalanced connections are also used, noise increases.

* Have you verified the above?

* Are you using balanced connections? Rear volume at 0 dB.

Kali-IN8-rear.png


https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/IN8--kali-audio-in-8-8-inch-powered-studio-monitor/reviews

by CJ
Kali made the same mistake twice

But, I found them painfully annoying to use up close due to the absurd level of hiss coming from the MFD/HFD. With the master volume dial on the back set to 12 o’clock, the noise was audible at over 3m away (pushing 10 feet!) How does this even happen? I understand the need to cut a few corners to keep the monitors priced appropriately, but when I have a $200 set of cheap active monitors produce less self-noise than this, there’s really no excuse.

All in all, it’s hard to recommend them for near-field users. However, if you aren’t as critical or sensitive to hiss, I’d say they’re worth a shot. Despite all, they are indeed nice monitors. Not much fatigue to speak of. Hiss aside, SOLID effort, Kali, but start using better amps...


Genelec users, with class D too, do not complain about that problem.
 
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maty

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https://www.google.com/search?q=kali+lp-6+lp-8+in-8+hiss+noise

-> https://www.gearslutz.com/board/showpost.php?p=14143294&postcount=19

by Fabian Kraal
I bought a set of LP-6's, loved the sound but sadly the hiss was too much for me. Maybe a power conditioner would have helped, it was a pretty present white noise sound.

I asked Kali Audio about the noise in the IN-8 and they said:
"We achieved a 6dB reduction in tweeter noise, but there is some noise from the midrange, so overall noise reduction is 2dB"
 
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thewas

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Not every Class D implementation is the same, it took very long for example for Neumann to be able to use them also for the tweeter, it's not a coincidence that a very good class-D amp module like for example Hypex Ncore costs more than a pair of above mentioned low price monitors.
 

stevenswall

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About amp noise I can partially agree but bass extension? I hope you use the SAM/GLM on your Genelec to see that usually a lower extension just leads to more filtering there due to room gain and first room mode, see also https://www.hifi-selbstbau.de/grund...sinn-und-unsinn-einer-grenzfrequenz-von-20-hz

Yes, I use GLM. They are extending down to 20hz, quite flat, with a null at 100hz I'm working on.

I always want lower extension, even if it's a tiny room and the speakers can play 160dB at 8hz... Just like I'd rather have an OLED TV capable of being as bright as the sun, and insanely, disgustingly, stupidly oversaturated... I can simply calibrate it and turn things down.
 

stevenswall

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His problem seems to be caused by internal very? high gain - to save money - used in amplification (tweeter with cheap class D in cheap JBL, Kali and others studio monitors). If unbalanced connections are also used, noise increases.

* Have you verified the above?

* Are you using balanced connections? Rear volume at 0 dB.

Genelec users, with class D too, do not complain about that problem.

Not sure if this was to someone else, but to clarify when I say the Kali IN8 hisses:

-Power conditioning
-Fully balanced signal chain
-Grounded
-Ungrounded
-Same Circuit
-Different circuits
-No inputs
-Shorted inputs
-Volume at and between 0, -8, +12
-Changing the source
-Moving them to a fully treated studio with different power cables
-Following all troubleshooting, maxing input gain, using them in a different house

None of these made a difference.

What did make a difference:

"How to Get Rid of Hiss on Kali Audio IN-8"
1. Turn off the music and go around to the back of the unit after disconnecting all sources.
2. Locate the largest plug that looks like a trapezoid/rectangle.
3. Firmly grasp it.
4. Remove it from the unit.
5. Place the unit in the box it came in.
6. Request a return label.
7. Affix the return label to the secured box with the monitor inside.
8. Drive to a shipping store.
9. Hand them the box.
10. Drive home and enjoy the lack of hiss.
 

thewas

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Yes, I use GLM. They are extending down to 20hz, quite flat, with a null at 100hz I'm working on.

I always want lower extension, even if it's a tiny room and the speakers can play 160dB at 8hz... Just like I'd rather have an OLED TV capable of being as bright as the sun, and insanely, disgustingly, stupidly oversaturated... I can simply calibrate it and turn things down.
But you must keep in mind that almost everything in this universe is a compromise, so if a loudspeaker or bassreflex is tuned unnecessarily low you have at the same also disadvantages in other disciplines, there ain't no such thing like free lunch.
 
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