Kali IN-8 v2 in room response

[starfly]

I had initially bought the Adam Audio T8V monitors, to replace my JBL LSR305s which I had bought over 10 years ago. Three things I didn't like about the T8V:

• The listening window was a lot narrower due to the ribbon tweeter having a small sweet spot.
• Imaging seemed a bit off, it more just sounded like sound coming from two speakers vs. a cohesive soundstage (to me, in my room).
• It generates a lot of hiss. I'm about 40" away from each speaker.

I decided to try the Kali IN-8 v2 instead, with its coaxial driver and being a 3-way design. Anyway, there's a detailed review of it done by Erin (https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/kali_in-8v2/)

Decided to take some measurements in REW and adjust the response. Pleased with the final results given the limitations in my untreated office:

• The red line is the response without any filters. The blue line is what REW recommended using a house curve that has +6dB at 30hz, sloping down to 0dB by 200hz (no further corrections above 200hz).
• Both the unfiltered response and REW filters create a big null around ~120hz or so, and also a boosted bass response around 58hz. I added an additional filter at 58hz to lower that boost (cuts it by -27dB with a Q of 4) - all of this only applied to the right speaker as that appears to be the main culprit due to its positioning.
• End result (green line) is a significantly flatter response between 40 - 200hz vs. how it initially was, also minimizing the impact of the null around ~120hz.

Not sure if it's wise to apply such a large cut on one speaker, but the combined L+R output looks good at least, and it sounds good too.

 

[Stoutblock]

I had initially bought the Adam Audio T8V monitors, to replace my JBL LSR305s which I had bought over 10 years ago. Three things I didn't like about the T8V:

• The listening window was a lot narrower due to the ribbon tweeter having a small sweet spot.
• Imaging seemed a bit off, it more just sounded like sound coming from two speakers vs. a cohesive soundstage (to me, in my room).
• It generates a lot of hiss. I'm about 40" away from each speaker.

I decided to try the Kali IN-8 v2 instead, with its coaxial driver and being a 3-way design. Anyway, there's a detailed review of it done by Erin (https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/kali_in-8v2/)

Decided to take some measurements in REW and adjust the response. Pleased with the final results given the limitations in my untreated office:

• The red line is the response without any filters. The blue line is what REW recommended using a house curve that has +6dB at 30hz, sloping down to 0dB by 200hz (no further corrections above 200hz).
• Both the unfiltered response and REW filters create a big null around ~120hz or so, and also a boosted bass response around 58hz. I added an additional filter at 58hz to lower that boost (cuts it by -27dB with a Q of 4) - all of this only applied to the right speaker as that appears to be the main culprit due to its positioning.
• End result (green line) is a significantly flatter response between 40 - 200hz vs. how it initially was, also minimizing the impact of the null around ~120hz.

Not sure if it's wise to apply such a large cut on one speaker, but the combined L+R output looks good at least, and it sounds good too.

View attachment 450354

Curious what dip switch settings you used on the LN-8 with these measurements? High pass and low pass settings? Also, were you able to use the speaker’s DSP to do some of the correction in REW measurements?

 

[starfly]

Curious what dip switch settings you used on the LN-8 with these measurements? High pass and low pass settings? Also, were you able to use the speaker’s DSP to do some of the correction in REW measurements?

I ended up replacing this setup for Neumann gear. I splurged and went straight to end game.

 

[BradSteen]

Hello, woudl you be able to let me know which Neumann monitors you went for in the end? I've got a pair of the small KH80 which sounds great, my plan is to use these as overhead in my atmos mixing setup. I'm also trying out the Kali IN-8 and Adam A8H. Have only had a half a day so far to test these out and will do some REW measurements. I'm impressed by both but going full Neumann is still an option!

 

[starfly]

Hello, woudl you be able to let me know which Neumann monitors you went for in the end? I've got a pair of the small KH80 which sounds great, my plan is to use these as overhead in my atmos mixing setup. I'm also trying out the Kali IN-8 and Adam A8H. Have only had a half a day so far to test these out and will do some REW measurements. I'm impressed by both but going full Neumann is still an option!

I went with KH150 + KH750. Music has never sounded this good before

 

[BradSteen]

I went with KH150 + KH750. Music has never sounded this good before

Thanks, I tried out both the Kali In-8 and Adam A8H in my room for a couple of days. I was impressed by both, especially the Kali, superb for the price. My use case it a bit odd for active monitors, I'm looking at using actives in my cinema room (which I also occasionally use for some dolby atmos mixing) and I don't think either of these are quite right. They'd need to go behind an acoustic transparent screen and even bass managed I'm concerned these might not quite manage before the limiter/compression becomes an issue.

I don't listen extremely loud but the limiter was kicking in on the A8H when testing them out with Tenet (heavy workload during some of the action scenes!). No issues at all for music though.

I've got a pair of the KH80 which I actually prefer the sound of so might consider the KH150 but again I don't know if these will quite cut it on the SPL level!

 

[starfly]

Thanks, I tried out both the Kali In-8 and Adam A8H in my room for a couple of days. I was impressed by both, especially the Kali, superb for the price. My use case it a bit odd for active monitors, I'm looking at using actives in my cinema room (which I also occasionally use for some dolby atmos mixing) and I don't think either of these are quite right. They'd need to go behind an acoustic transparent screen and even bass managed I'm concerned these might not quite manage before the limiter/compression becomes an issue.

I don't listen extremely loud but the limiter was kicking in on the A8H when testing them out with Tenet (heavy workload during some of the action scenes!). No issues at all for music though.

I've got a pair of the KH80 which I actually prefer the sound of so might consider the KH150 but again I don't know if these will quite cut it on the SPL level!

Can't speak to that. I use it in a nearfield setup in my office, which is what they were designed for.

 

[Ellebob]

The KH150 and IN-8 have a good bit more peak SPL capability then the A8H. The Kh150 has even a couple db more than the IN-8. So, it might work for your situation. Even with the added headroom of the KH-150, you might consider a larger speaker if you were hitting the limiter in the A8H. Having more headroom is important if you play louder. The KH150 are great speakers and many people use bookshelf speakers in their system but it depends how loud one listens. Unfortunately, it sounds like you are nearing that point where a larger speaker might be necessary.