Kali LP-6 Review: Studio Monitor

[dorirod]

Anyone else experience woofer rattling with bass notes with these monitors?

I haven't had that happen, but I haven't played them at max volume or anything like that.

 

[KikoKentaurus]

How is this power connector type called? IEC? Lost my cables during relocation, now wondering which to buy...

 

[Bruce Morgen]

How is this power connector type called? IEC? Lost my cables during relocation, now wondering which to buy...
View attachment 333287

Yup -- it's the same type of power connector used for desktop computers, an IEC C13.

 

[ntuong59]

w/ sub

the way i understand that you measure with sub, right?
Can you tell me the name of the subwoofer used in, please?
I want more rumble in low freq get but I don't have any options yet.
Many thanks.

 

[MZKM]

the way i understand that you measure with sub, right?
Can you tell me the name of the subwoofer used in, please?
I want more rumble in low freq get but I don't have any options yet.
Many thanks.

No, it just means I ignore bass for the score (as if you cross to a sub then the speaker’s bass doesn’t matter).

 

[Ron Texas]

There is a version II of these available for $200 each with its preference score improved from 5.1 to 5.8.

 

[somebodyelse]

There is a version II of these available for $200 each with its preference score improved from 5.1 to 5.8.

Also reduced noise.

 

[Zaviex]

Between the LP6-v2 and the KRK Rokit 5 G5 what do you recommend? I would use them connected to my PC for everyday use (work, videos, and games), for listening to music, and occasionally for recording some guitar pieces. I've already tried the T5V speakers, I liked them for the mid and high frequencies but I had to return them because of excessive hissing. I also tried the KRK Rokit 5 G4 and I liked the bass and the lower hiss. Since I usually work in silence it's important to me that they have minimal hissing.

 

[Ron Texas]

Between the LP6-v2 and the KRK Rokit 5 G5 what do you recommend? I would use them connected to my PC for everyday use (work, videos, and games), for listening to music, and occasionally for recording some guitar pieces. I've already tried the T5V speakers, I liked them for the mid and high frequencies but I had to return them because of excessive hissing. I also tried the KRK Rokit 5 G4 and I liked the bass and the lower hiss. Since I usually work in silence it's important to me that they have minimal hissing.

If silence is vitally important get passive speakers and an amp with a high SINAD.

 

[Zaviex]

If silence is vitally important get passive speakers and an amp with a high SINAD.

Uh, I hadn't thought about that. Would something like the SMSL AO300 be okay? I already own an SMSL DL200. Would you recommend connecting the AO300 directly to the PC or using the DAC of the DL200 and only using the amp of the AO300?
Anyway, from the tests I managed to find it seems that the LP-6 V2 has low hiss noise(four times the v1). I've already ordered them and they'll arrive next week.
If I'm not satisfied I'll follow your advice. Thanks.

 

[Andrew.Y]

Hi,

Here is my take on the EQ.

Some data for the LP8 is available here
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...orama-and-eq-design-inside.16689/#post-539358

The raw data with corrected ER and PIR:

Score no EQ: 5.18
With Sub: 7.06
Spinorama with no EQ:

• Too bad for the resonances in the 600 - 1500Hz range
• The directivity is excellent, good candidate for EQ
• Decent LF for the size without large boost in the 100-200Hz range, may be temperature dependent.

View attachment 96583
Directivity:
Better stay at tweeter height
Horizontally, almost perfect 0 t0 +/-20deg maybe toe-in the speakers by 10deg and have the axis crossing in front of the listening location could help dosing the reflexions .
View attachment 96592
View attachment 96584
EQ design:
I have generated two EQs. The APO config files are attached.

• The first one, labelled, LW is targeted at making the LW flat
• The second, labelled Score, starts with the first one and adds the score as an optimization variable.
• The EQs are designed in the context of regular stereo use i.e. domestic environment, no warranty is provided for a near field use in a studio environment although the LW might be better suited for this purpose.
• It would be great if we had some measurements of the built in controls, they may make additional EQ redundant as we saw with the JBL 308p mkII

View attachment 96579

Score EQ LW: 5.72
with sub: 7.66
Score EQ Score: 6.24
with sub: 8.12

Kali LP6 APO EQ LW 96000Hz
November302020-180916

Preamp: -1.3 dB

Filter 1: ON HPQ Fc 45.7 Hz Gain 0 dB Q 1.01
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 126 Hz Gain -0.79 dB Q 3.48
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 326 Hz Gain -0.84 dB Q 6.08
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 991 Hz Gain -3.14 dB Q 13.5
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 1759 Hz Gain -2.1 dB Q 3.85
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 2302 Hz Gain -1 dB Q 4.73
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 14756 Hz Gain -1.11 dB Q 6.59

Kali LP6 APO EQ LW 96000Hz
November302020-175738

Preamp: -1.3 dB

Filter 1: ON HPQ Fc 45.7 Hz Gain 0 dB Q 1.01
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 130 Hz Gain -0.71 dB Q 2.42
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 331 Hz Gain -1.06 dB Q 3.7
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 983 Hz Gain -4.4 dB Q 14.3
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 1777 Hz Gain -2.6 dB Q 2.85
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 2448 Hz Gain -1.62 dB Q 7.22
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 3533 Hz Gain -0.95 dB Q 5.88
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 6973 Hz Gain -1.3 dB Q 0.84
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 14813 Hz Gain -2.26 dB Q 4.85

Spinorama EQ LW
View attachment 96580
Spinorama EQ Score
View attachment 96582
Zoom PIR-LW-ON
View attachment 96577
Regression - Tonal
View attachment 96578
Radar no EQ vs EQ score not night and day
View attachment 96581
The rest of the plots are attached.

At 300USD/pair including the amps go find something better...

Hi,
Sorry for the newbie question, but why is the overall preamp gain in the APO EQ set to -1.3 dB here?
Won't it be the same if I set 0 dB in the APO EQ and decrease the volume on my physical preamp (Topping L70) to the same -1.3 dB

 

[YSC]

Hi,
Sorry for the newbie question, but why is the overall preamp gain in the APO EQ set to -1.3 dB here?
Won't it be the same if I set 0 dB in the APO EQ and decrease the volume on my physical preamp (Topping L70) to the same -1.3 dB

I believe it’s because APO is doing digital EQ in the source signal, and with some boosting filters, you cannot boost over 100% of the dac output, so in segments with volume near 100%, only lowering physical amp won’t let the dac to boost past 100% output and hence at those situations without digital negative preamp you can’t get the desired EQresult

 

[bennybbbx]

Hi,
Sorry for the newbie question, but why is the overall preamp gain in the APO EQ set to -1.3 dB here?
Won't it be the same if I set 0 dB in the APO EQ and decrease the volume on my physical preamp (Topping L70) to the same -1.3 dB

setting a gain value is usefull so it is better possible to compare the sound with and without the EQ to hear what sound better.

 

[GratefulDAC]

@amirm is the LP-UNF going to be reviewed any time soon?

 

[Bruce Morgen]

@amirm is the LP-UNF going to be reviewed any time soon?

Erin has reviewed it, with Klippel-generated measurements: https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/kali_lp_unf/

 

[GratefulDAC]

Thanks! I did see and read that review (as well as watched it). He seems over the moon but I don't remember him mentioning anything about the internal dsp. Is Erin associated with this site? Does Amirm not review products reviewed by Erin? Sorry, while I have visited this site many times, I am still a newbie considering the amount of information here and how little time I have to ingest it.

 

[Bruce Morgen]

Thanks! I did see and read that review (as well as watched it). He seems over the moon but I don't remember him mentioning anything about the internal dsp. Is Erin associated with this site? Does Amirm not review products reviewed by Erin? Sorry, while I have visited this site many times, I am still a newbie considering the amount of information here and how little time I have to ingest it.

At this point, Erin and Amir are somewhat friendly colleagues after some harsh acrimony over Erin violating ASR rules to promote his own site -- but when Erin was threatened with legal action by the (rather unhinged IMO) owner of a small speaker company, Amir stood tall and publicly supported Erin. AFAIK there's no arrangement between them regarding what they do or don't review -- but they're both technically credible and provide a valuable service to the objectivity-oriented audio community.

 

[GratefulDAC]

At this point, Erin and Amir are somewhat friendly colleagues after some harsh acrimony acrimony over Erin violating ASR rules to promote his own site -- but when Erin was threatened with legal action by the (rather unhinged IMO) owner of a small speaker company, Amir stood tall and publicly supported Erin. AFAIK there's no arrangement between them regarding what they do or don't review -- but they're both technically credible and provide a valuable service to the objectivity-oriented audio community.

Thanks for the info. So I guess Amir could still feasibly review the LP-UNF, but considering I have read he wants to proliferate as much objective data about gear as possible, and considers Erin capable, he probably will not because he considered it covered. Seems like a logical conclusion to me. I just like to get as many takes on an item as possible, because you know what they say about statistics.....

 

[mac攻膜复合物]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Kali Audio LP-6 powered monitor (speaker). I purchased it for testing I think back in February or March. There has been a lot of requests to test it so I thought I do it before the year is over! The LP-6 costs US $149 on Amazon including Prime shipping.

The design of the LP-6 is understated with none of the plasticky look of its competitor (JBL 306P):

View attachment 96542

As you can see it is front ported. The back panel shows the various controls:

View attachment 96544

Measurements and listening tests were performed using the default settings you see above.

The LP-6 is bi-amped which I assume also means DSP crossover.

Measurements that you are about to see were performed using the Klippel Near-field Scanner (NFS). This is a robotic measurement system that analyzes the speaker all around and is able (using advanced mathematics and dual scan) to subtract room reflections (so where I measure it doesn't matter). It also measures the speaker at close distance ("near-field") which sharply reduces the impact of room noise. Both of these factors enable testing in ordinary rooms yet results that can be more accurate than anechoic chamber. In a nutshell, the measurements show the actual sound coming out of the speaker independent of the room.

All measurements are referenced to the tweeter axis. I could not find anything regarding this in the manual.

Temperature was around 60 degrees F which is on the cool side but I don't think there is an impact on the data.

Kali LP-6 Measurements
Acoustic measurements can be grouped in a way that can be perceptually analyzed to determine how good a speaker can be used. This so called spinorama shows us just about everything we need to know about the speaker with respect to tonality and some flaws:

View attachment 96545

Please don't be alarmed by the high SPL numbers. These are not real (NFS does not know about the amplification gain in the speaker). Actual level is pretty close to what I measure most speakers at.

Response is very good with some resonances around 1 kHz. There is also a bit of reduction in level/shelving in bass response.

Directivity which is a measure of how close radiation is relative to on-axis is very good. This makes it easy to EQ the sound in addition to the speaker being room friendly.

Early window is therefore similar to on-axis response:

View attachment 96546

Note that these are not necessarily the strongest reflections in near-field listening. And that, makes the following prediction of in-room response less accurate:

View attachment 96547

Still, other than noted issues, response is quite acceptable especially when we consider the price of this monitor.

Let's dig into the issue with disturbance around 1 kHz by looking at the near-field measurement of the woofer, port and tweeter:

View attachment 96548

Looks like our problem is that port resonance is too high and at a frequency where the woofer is already being rolled off. So as a result it causes those two bumps in the woofer response. The tweeter also has a rise above 10 kHz which seems to be diffraction based as it did not show up in off-axis response.

Distortion measurements don't paint a pretty picture despite statements to the contrary on Kali website:

View attachment 96549

View attachment 96550

The bright sign though is the fact that deep bass distortion is controlled and never gets above the fundamental signal itself as it often does in budget speakers.

Note: the above measurements have extended response to 30 kHz. This lets us see if the speaker has internal ADC/filtering which the KALI LP-6 seems to have. It also allows us to see the distortion products to higher frequency. LP-6's response stops at around 22 kHz so likely has an ADC running at 48 kHz sampling.

Note 2: I need to verify that the Klippel system did not limit the measurements on its own that way. When I test a passive speaker next, I will find out if this is so. Right now I don't think it is the limiting factor.

Directivity as noted is very good as seen in both beam width and contour graphs:

View attachment 96551

View attachment 96552

Vertical directivity gives more freedom than usual although I suggest you stay at or slightly below tweeter center:
View attachment 96553

Otherwise you get some accentuation of that resonance around 900 Hz.

Kali LP-6 Speaker Listing Tests
I have a very harsh test environment for larger monitors like the LP-6. I just drop them on my desk, with a half inch pad under it. I don't touch any of the controls and just listen. First impression of the LP-6 was quite good. Lots of detail, ability to get quite loud with some kind of soft compression that was much less noticeable in other monitors. I tried to improve the situation still, using equalization:
View attachment 96554

Starting on the right, the filter at 965 Hz reduced some of harshness and opened the sound a bit. Bass was shy so I dialed up the 70 Hz broad filter. That filled in the bass quite nicely with no increase in distortion.

My speaker killer tracks were reproduced with almost no distortion. Some of which was because the deep bass was not reproduced loudly. Turning up the level way high caused a few ticks here and there which may be due to internal amplifier running out of juice. Thankfully it did not bottom out the woofer at all which was nice. I have tested monitors costing thousands of dollars which produce extreme amount of distortion when pressed. Not so with Kali LP-6.

With the above EQ in place, the experience was very, very nice. I stat there listening to track after track and realizing once more how important accurate on and off-axis response is. The experience comes surprisingly close to other speakers so designed.

I tested for the audibility of hiss. Spectrally the noise is not as annoying as it is with some other active speakers. I measured with a ruler when the noise subsided and it was about 24 inches/60 centimeters. Even in my close in listening, it was not a problem. That said, I do wish that the noise was not there.

Conclusions
The Kali LP-6 despite its ridiculously low price produced excellent performance. Had it not had so much distortion and a couple of response issues, I would have given it my highest ratings. This is a wonderfully designed monitor which is going to perform better than any passive speaker system you can put together in its price class.

I am very pleased to put the Kali LP-6 on my recommendation list.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

how about lp8v2？I like the dynamic of its bass, lp6 and lp8 is almost cost in China，but everyone only buy lp6

 

[dorirod]

how about lp8v2？I like the dynamic of its bass, lp6 and lp8 is almost cost in China，but everyone only buy lp6

For me it was down to size. LP8 was bigger for not much more output. The LP6 fit better in my bookshelves.