I received the Kali IN-8's on Monday - about 10-days earlier than Kali originally stated - from Sweetwater.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/IN8--kali-audio-in-8-8-inch-powered-studio-monitor
https://www.kaliaudio.com/independence
https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...Monitor_Speaker_Full_Specifications_Sheet.pdf
https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...onitor_Speaker_Users_Manual_Guide_English.pdf
They are replacing my JBL 308P MKII monitors which replaced my Presonus 5" 2-way/sub combo - see both threads below:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/presonus-eris-e5-temblor-t10-review.4089/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...8-inch-2-way-monitors-first-impressions.7977/
The Kali's are slightly larger and heavier than the JBL's but fit nicely on the same 32" sand-filled stands that hosted the JBL's. The tweeters are at ear height, the speakers located about 1 meter from the rear wall and about 1 meter away from me - closer than Kali would like them to be used. The speakers use DIP switches for environmental and tone settings. To make them correct for stand mounting more than .5 meter from the wall with neutral tone settings I put all the switches in the DOWN position. My system consists of a Topping D50S/P50 combo into a JDS Labs Atom with one-foot of Blue Jeans Cable RCA's. I am using 6-foot RCA/XLR cables from Benchmark to connect the Kali's through their XLR inputs. As required by JDS Labs when using the Atom with powered speakers the unit is set for low gain. I set the gain on the Kali's at their recommended center detent position and found that max volume for me ranges from 12 o'clock to 2 o'clock - they will play plenty loud but of course I'm using them as nearfield monitors.
I spent the last 2 days comparing them to the JBL's but it was not an ideal situation. After using pink noise to calibrate the monitors I listened to the JBLs and then the Kali's back and forth, adjusting the gain on the back of the JBL's to match the dB settings I was getting with the Kali's at the midpoint detent - the JBL's have multiple detents on their gain controls. Listening critically to the JBL's again I was unsure that I had made the right decision buying the Kali's but after several comparison sessions I came to the following conclusions:
- The bass on both is good, about the same level of low frequency capability - good for an 8" driver but I would add subwoofers if I could
- the bass on the Kali sounds "tighter" to me, whether that is the result of different bass tuning (lower Q), front ported Kali vs rear ported JBL or some other speaker/room interaction I can't say for sure
- the Kali's reveal more information - details are easier to hear, vocals sound more natural and clearer - likely the result of crossing over the 8" woofer at 330 Hz and letting the 4" midrange and coincident 1" dome tweeter handle the rest. In my experience a well-designed 3-way speaker will always outperform a well-designed 2-way - but the 3-way is MUCH harder to get right
- both speakers image very well and both speakers did exceptionally well on the LEDR "shaker" test - see my previous speaker threads for more details
- the Kali's play louder with less stress than the JBL's - the tweeter on the 308P's can sound "edgy" by comparison to the Kali's when driven hard - something I never noticed before but now audible in comparison to the Kali's.
- I really like both speakers but I really like the Kali's more so I'm keeping them
- I used Tidal as my source, running in CD-quality HiFi mode. I used albums recommended by engineer Bob Katz on his Digital Domain site here:
https://www.digido.com/honor-roll/
Now about the hiss...
I cranked up the Atom to full gain and the Kali's to full gain as well - could not hear hiss from 1 meter away or with my almost 64 year-old ears up close and personal to the tweeters. I didn't hear the hiss on the JBL's under the same circumstances either. But my 30-something niece did when she put her ears up close to the tweeters on the JBL. As soon as she is available to listen to the Kali's I will update you.
In terms of perceived value it's a tough one. If you had to pay $500 list price for the JBL's this upgrade is a no-brainer - get the Kali IN-8's for another $300. But I bought the JBL's new for $150 each shipped and so can you in a few days - I can't imagine the price will be higher than that come Thanksgiving. That makes the Kali's more than twice as expensive and that is a tough proposition. As long as the Kali monitors continue to sell for their list price in the marketplace the JBL's will always be serious competition - I did not buy the Kali LP-6 or LP-8 for that reason. I suggest you try and find a local dealer that has both and compare them. If you do as I did and take a chance buying them unseen and unheard remember this - yeah it's free shipping TO YOU but if you decide to send them back to Sweetwater or wherever you will pay some serious money.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/IN8--kali-audio-in-8-8-inch-powered-studio-monitor
https://www.kaliaudio.com/independence
https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...Monitor_Speaker_Full_Specifications_Sheet.pdf
https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...onitor_Speaker_Users_Manual_Guide_English.pdf
They are replacing my JBL 308P MKII monitors which replaced my Presonus 5" 2-way/sub combo - see both threads below:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/presonus-eris-e5-temblor-t10-review.4089/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...8-inch-2-way-monitors-first-impressions.7977/
The Kali's are slightly larger and heavier than the JBL's but fit nicely on the same 32" sand-filled stands that hosted the JBL's. The tweeters are at ear height, the speakers located about 1 meter from the rear wall and about 1 meter away from me - closer than Kali would like them to be used. The speakers use DIP switches for environmental and tone settings. To make them correct for stand mounting more than .5 meter from the wall with neutral tone settings I put all the switches in the DOWN position. My system consists of a Topping D50S/P50 combo into a JDS Labs Atom with one-foot of Blue Jeans Cable RCA's. I am using 6-foot RCA/XLR cables from Benchmark to connect the Kali's through their XLR inputs. As required by JDS Labs when using the Atom with powered speakers the unit is set for low gain. I set the gain on the Kali's at their recommended center detent position and found that max volume for me ranges from 12 o'clock to 2 o'clock - they will play plenty loud but of course I'm using them as nearfield monitors.
I spent the last 2 days comparing them to the JBL's but it was not an ideal situation. After using pink noise to calibrate the monitors I listened to the JBLs and then the Kali's back and forth, adjusting the gain on the back of the JBL's to match the dB settings I was getting with the Kali's at the midpoint detent - the JBL's have multiple detents on their gain controls. Listening critically to the JBL's again I was unsure that I had made the right decision buying the Kali's but after several comparison sessions I came to the following conclusions:
- The bass on both is good, about the same level of low frequency capability - good for an 8" driver but I would add subwoofers if I could
- the bass on the Kali sounds "tighter" to me, whether that is the result of different bass tuning (lower Q), front ported Kali vs rear ported JBL or some other speaker/room interaction I can't say for sure
- the Kali's reveal more information - details are easier to hear, vocals sound more natural and clearer - likely the result of crossing over the 8" woofer at 330 Hz and letting the 4" midrange and coincident 1" dome tweeter handle the rest. In my experience a well-designed 3-way speaker will always outperform a well-designed 2-way - but the 3-way is MUCH harder to get right
- both speakers image very well and both speakers did exceptionally well on the LEDR "shaker" test - see my previous speaker threads for more details
- the Kali's play louder with less stress than the JBL's - the tweeter on the 308P's can sound "edgy" by comparison to the Kali's when driven hard - something I never noticed before but now audible in comparison to the Kali's.
- I really like both speakers but I really like the Kali's more so I'm keeping them
- I used Tidal as my source, running in CD-quality HiFi mode. I used albums recommended by engineer Bob Katz on his Digital Domain site here:
https://www.digido.com/honor-roll/
Now about the hiss...
I cranked up the Atom to full gain and the Kali's to full gain as well - could not hear hiss from 1 meter away or with my almost 64 year-old ears up close and personal to the tweeters. I didn't hear the hiss on the JBL's under the same circumstances either. But my 30-something niece did when she put her ears up close to the tweeters on the JBL. As soon as she is available to listen to the Kali's I will update you.
In terms of perceived value it's a tough one. If you had to pay $500 list price for the JBL's this upgrade is a no-brainer - get the Kali IN-8's for another $300. But I bought the JBL's new for $150 each shipped and so can you in a few days - I can't imagine the price will be higher than that come Thanksgiving. That makes the Kali's more than twice as expensive and that is a tough proposition. As long as the Kali monitors continue to sell for their list price in the marketplace the JBL's will always be serious competition - I did not buy the Kali LP-6 or LP-8 for that reason. I suggest you try and find a local dealer that has both and compare them. If you do as I did and take a chance buying them unseen and unheard remember this - yeah it's free shipping TO YOU but if you decide to send them back to Sweetwater or wherever you will pay some serious money.
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