Kali LP-6 Review: Studio Monitor

[laudio]

Nice review and speaker. The flat response from 100 to 50 is something you won't get with a passive out of the box.

"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. "

That's a pretty strong statement. Last year could have had a bought 530s at same price which have a better preference score at same price (just not on sale this year). Yeah I know it's just a preference score, but all the speakers on this site are rated that way.

Maybe I'll try a set a set of actives someday - but the hiss issue (which is addressed but never measured on actives here) is something I wouldn't want no matter what.

Any way to get that $100k setup you have to measure hiss? Just seems odds to me with all the measurements on this site you pull out a ruler and make a recommendation on hiss with your ears.

 

[Francis Vaughan]

It's interesting that newer shipments of the Kalis seem to have more well-behaved hiss levels. I've read some statements that the JBLs were actually noisier, whereas it used to be the other way round.

Given they seem to contain the basically same electronics it isn't too much of a surprise that they are similar. It may be that the hiss in both is dependant on the exact production run. Which isn't good. I have LSR 305 mkII (listening to them as I type) and I can't hear any hiss half a metre away. It is there, and with no music playing in a quiet room I can hear it. But in normal use it isn't perceivable. For the money it is really hard to argue with what you get. Any of these speakers is a miracle of value engineering and design.

I'm curious as to why they seem to be so close internally. What is the link between Kali and Harman? Or did they both go to the same Chinese manufacturer and get an off the shelf solution? Clearly there are detail differences, minimally in the DSP programming, but the electronics looks nearly identical.

 

[Bruce Morgen]

Given they seem to contain the basically same electronics it isn't too much of a surprise that they are similar. It may be that the hiss in both is dependant on the exact production run. Which isn't good. I have LSR 305 mkII (listening to them as I type) and I can't hear any hiss half a metre away. It is there, and with no music playing in a quiet room I can hear it. But in normal use it isn't perceivable. For the money it is really hard to argue with what you get. Any of these speakers is a miracle of value engineering and design.

I'm curious as to why they seem to be so close internally. What is the link between Kali and Harman? Or did they both go to the same Chinese manufacturer and get an off the shelf solution? Clearly there are detail differences, minimally in the DSP programming, but the electronics looks nearly identical.

I suspect both companies get their electronic assemblies from the same outside (likely Chinese given where the speakers themselves are manufactured) supplier. I doubt they're "off the shelf" per se, but rather bespoke variants of a basic product available to OEMs.

 

[AnalogSteph]

I'm curious as to why they seem to be so close internally. What is the link between Kali and Harman?

Kali was founded by a bunch of ex JBL folks. Hence not a huge surprise.

 

[Francis Vaughan]

Kali was founded by a bunch of ex JBL folks. Hence not a huge surprise.

Ah. I did suspect that sort of a connection.

I doubt they're "off the shelf" per se, but rather bespoke variants of a basic product available to OEMs

Yeah. That would make a lot of sense. Essentially basic blocks on a PCB. I wonder how much commonality there is in the drivers. A side by side teardown would be likely to create a lot of interest.

 

[Ericglo]

Kali was founded by a bunch of ex JBL folks. Hence not a huge surprise.

Ah. I did suspect that sort of a connection.

Yeah. That would make a lot of sense. Essentially basic blocks on a PCB. I wonder how much commonality there is in the drivers. A side by side teardown would be likely to create a lot of interest.

Charles Sprinkle was one of the lead designers of the M2. I believe he was on a htgeek podcast several years ago talking about the development of the JBL. I am not sure if any or how many engineers besides him came over. The rest of the guys to my understanding were sales, marketing, etc.

My guess is they decided to go after the most sales and a 306 and 308 competitor were the two to achieve that goal. I wouldn't be surprised if they went to the same companies that JBL uses to source their parts.
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9ne8ce

 

[laudio]

Given they seem to contain the basically same electronics it isn't too much of a surprise that they are similar. It may be that the hiss in both is dependant on the exact production run. Which isn't good. I have LSR 305 mkII (listening to them as I type) and I can't hear any hiss half a metre away. It is there, and with no music playing in a quiet room I can hear it. But in normal use it isn't perceivable. For the money it is really hard to argue with what you get. Any of these speakers is a miracle of value engineering and design.

I'm curious as to why they seem to be so close internally. What is the link between Kali and Harman? Or did they both go to the same Chinese manufacturer and get an off the shelf solution? Clearly there are detail differences, minimally in the DSP programming, but the electronics looks nearly identical.

And why can't all these bright guys solve hiss? Are the Chinese to blame lol.

 

[hardisj]

Any way to get that $100k setup you have to measure hiss? Just seems odds to me with all the measurements on this site you pull out a ruler and make a recommendation on hiss with your ears

Maybe RTA nearfield. 1/4” from the baffle on axis with the tweeter. 32 averages. Powered on vs powered off just so you can make sure the noise floor isn’t causing any influence. Or measure the electronic component, then the raw driver itself to get sensitivity and do some math to figure out the noise produced by the tweeter/amp combo.

Just tossing some ideas out there.

 

[TheHighContemplator]

KH80 DSP just doesn't have enough power for me so I wouldn't buy that. I have a 306P in for review. Let me get that test done and then I will answer that part. For now, the LP-6 is very satisfying if the hiss is not a problem for you.

Cheers, Amir! Thank you for all the hard work you do.

 

[GimeDsp]

The Kali LP-6 looks like a really good budget speaker for studio work. At this price it's hard to have gripes if the performance is good enough for the job. Let's be honest, Warren is AMAZING and has tallent and skills like crazy, but for most studios, working studios, you will probably not see budget powered monitors. for near or mid field monitoring. Maybe on secondary mixing locations you will see some for nearfield but these are usualy mixing stations for non-critical work.
These and the JBLs serve the home studio market which is huge now based on the amount of new hear that is made and sold.

Seeing that these speakers will usually be matched with a budget interface, do they keep up with a budget interface performace? It looks like they do.
I've also seen these and the JBLs bought as "college" speakers for their kids, pretty cool.

 

[laudio]

Maybe RTA nearfield. 1/4” from the baffle on axis with the tweeter. 32 averages. Powered on vs powered off just so you can make sure the noise floor isn’t causing any influence. Or measure the electronic component, then the raw driver itself to get sensitivity and do some math to figure out the noise produced by the tweeter/amp combo.

Just tossing some ideas out there.

Not sure, but any measurements that disregard it (don't really need math to do it) are bogus. Because you can hear it. Don't need a double blind test to hear it one way or another. This site lives by the double blind test.

Nobody argues it really - but it tends to get ignored when making claims about how good actives are. All them plots make we wonder... as people stare at them all and go oh wow...

 

[amirm]

Any way to get that $100k setup you have to measure hiss? Just seems odds to me with all the measurements on this site you pull out a ruler and make a recommendation on hiss with your ears.

I can but the ear is the best instrument for this as I can tell you its audibility. A 20 Hz tone and 3 kHz at the at the same SPL don't sound as loud as each other.

 

[amirm]

That's a pretty strong statement. Last year could have had a bought 530s at same price which have a better preference score at same price (just not on sale this year).

You don't get amplifiers with the 530s which the Kali has.

 

[amirm]

It may be that the hiss in both is dependant on the exact production run.

The his is dependent on the driver/their efficiency as well as the upstream gain. So they won't be the same as their JBL counterparts.

 

[GimeDsp]

The his is dependent on the driver/their efficiency as well as the upstream gain. So they won't be the same as their JBL counterparts.

I thought there were snakes in them.
Of all the budget monitors I found tha Yamys to have the least hiss.

 

[laudio]

You don't get amplifiers with the 530s which the Kali has.

I'll buy that one based on cost. Touche.

 

[laudio]

I can but the ear is the best instrument for this as I can tell you its audibility. A 20 Hz tone and 3 kHz at the at the same SPL don't sound as loud as each other.

That in of itself is a conundrum. So my ear is better than any measurements? Seems contrary to what this site is about.

 

[Francis Vaughan]

The his is dependent on the driver/their efficiency as well as the upstream gain. So they won't be the same as their JBL counterparts.

True. It was curious however that there was some suggestion that the relationship of which was more hissy had swapped. I would not have expected that for exactly the reason you suggest. But if it did swap, it becomes more interesting.

 

[Francis Vaughan]

That in of itself is a conundrum. So my ear is better than any measurements? Seems contrary to what this site is about.

You ear is the best measure of what is objectionable to your ear. We have various metrics that can approximate the ear's response, but it is a complex and messy problem. The measurements hold all the data, but interpretation is another matter. Deciding on the exact relative apparent intensity at different frequencies is not easy. It is level and frequency dependant, not to mention age dependant.

 

[laudio]

You ear is the best measure of what is objectionable to your ear. We have various metrics that can approximate the ear's response, but it is a complex and messy problem. The measurements hold all the data, but interpretation is another matter. Deciding on the exact relative apparent intensity at different frequencies is not easy. It is level and frequency dependant, not to mention age dependant.

Are you making the argument measurements are not as important as what people hear? Not going to belabor the point, just sayin' there is a big miss going on with actives here. I'm talking about speakers one can hear hissing from 2 feet away with no music playing.

And yet this site wonders why there are those out there who don't believe in measurements and trust their ears first. And actually holds disdain for those type of people, like what's your problem?

Identify it, quantify it like any other measurement should be measured, and report back. That is all. No worries.