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Kali LP-6 v2 or Elac DBR62 for Home Theater?

Niels Franck

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Mar 10, 2023
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I know it may look a bit strange that I'm doubting between passive speakers and active studio monitors.
But after the research I have done, these 2 seem like a good option for my first Home Theater setup.
Both are around the same price class and seem to fare better than most speakers when placed close to a wall / corner.

For now I will keep it at a 2.0 system and, maybe, add a sub or 2 later.
Listing position is at 3 meters (10 foot) out into a 36m² (390 ft²) living room that is untreated.
I only intend to listen at moderate volumes, never at full blast.
My main concerns are, besides the placement constraints, that vocals are clear when watching movies and that the treble is not harsh or fatiguing.

If I go with the LP-6, The optical out of my tv will feed a topping E30 (which I'll also have to buy).
For the DBR62 I'll use my existing SMSL-m6 and an old kenwood kr-a4070 stereo receiver I have lying around.
I will get an better amplifier down the line if I choose to go with the Elacs.
That's an investment I'm willing to make if those speakers would be a better option than the Kali's.


As an additional question, is it worth it to invest into something like a MINIDSP ddrc 24 to apply DIRAC room correction? Or is that wasted money with this kind of setup?


Thanks in advance for your opinion!
 
36m2 is pretty big for a home theatre. also you would need a center and a sub (3.1 is the absolute minimum HT setup).
As usual, I'd suggest to buy an old AVR which would handle almost everything for you.
 
36m2 is pretty big for a home theatre. also you would need a center and a sub (3.1 is the absolute minimum HT setup).
As usual, I'd suggest to buy an old AVR which would handle almost everything for you.
Well maybe that's something for the future, I just want something to get the ball rolling. At the moment I'm using my 10 year old BeatBox portable speaker from Beats. As Long the Elac's or the Kali's are a better than that, will be already be pleased.:)
 
if I were you I'd go with the old good set up, old avr + speakers. I don't think there is much different between those two in terms of sound quality (Albeit I'd prefer DBR62 for "reasons", but only personally). if you can find an AVR with preouts, you can pick either of them. lower level AVRs do not have preouts so you will have to stick with passive ones.

one you have that you can go on and add speakers later.
 
I've never heard the Elacs but the measurements look nice. I've been through quite a few hi-fi loudspeakers in my theater room. Some were pretty good. The best I heard were JTR Quintuple 8s. At the time my room was not treated and I now believe the narrow dispersion had a lot to do with the pleasing sound of the JTRs.

After watching a review on the Kali LP8s the wife and I drove over to Guitar Center and picked up a pair to try out. Surely, the reviews were hype, I thought. I plugged them into an Onkyo RZ830, noticed some hiss when within a meter. Wife and I were angered when we started playing music. Those supposed overpriced hi-fi speakers we used in the past were easily beat in terms of neutrality by the Kalis. We have wasted so much money trying to achieve what these $200 ea speakers were doing. Since then we picked up an IN8 V2 for the center channel. The remaining speakers are Mirage OMs series (4 are mounted on the ceiling). Also, I run six 18" Stereo Integrity DIY sealed subs (I got these for free after my little brother died - he was always buying "upgrades").

If you have a Guitar Center nearby you could simply buy a pair of Kali speakers and give them a try. If you don't like them I believe Guitar Center will let you return them with relative ease.
 
Subwoofer ridiculousness:

Kali.jpeg
 
Definitely ELAC's (DBR62's) or big wide disposition active monitors that can play loud without much distortion (not LP 6 V2 Kali's) as that is not a small room. You will probably need two 12" sub's with healthy power (W - max SPL) to gain one bottom octave and better overall bass performance and linearity.
 
Definitely ELAC's (DBR62's) or big wide disposition active monitors that can play loud without much distortion (not LP 6 V2 Kali's) as that is not a small room. You will probably need two 12" sub's with healthy power (W - max SPL) to gain one bottom octave and better overall bass performance and linearity.
I think the Kali will play louder than the Elac. The Kali are spec'd at 115 db and the Elac don't even have a loudness spec. I would be very surprised if they could play meaningfully louder than the Kali. The Kali are the best deal out there -- good speakers with amplifiers for a very reasonable price. DACs are very cheap these days, so for a 2.0 or 2.1 system the Kali are hard to beat. Plus a Kali sub can be added and it has a built-in cross-over for the LP-6. Nothing wrong with the Elac, but I think the Kali is the better value.
 
I think the Kali will play louder than the Elac. The Kali are spec'd at 115 db and the Elac don't even have a loudness spec. I would be very surprised if they could play meaningfully louder than the Kali. The Kali are the best deal out there -- good speakers with amplifiers for a very reasonable price. DACs are very cheap these days, so for a 2.0 or 2.1 system the Kali are hard to beat. Plus a Kali sub can be added and it has a built-in cross-over for the LP-6. Nothing wrong with the Elac, but I think the Kali is the better value.
Dbr62 has sensitivity of 86dB and max power input 120w. Which means you can get 20.8dB gained. I.e. ~106dB max at 1m
 
I think the Kali will play louder than the Elac. The Kali are spec'd at 115 db and the Elac don't even have a loudness spec. I would be very surprised if they could play meaningfully louder than the Kali. The Kali are the best deal out there -- good speakers with amplifiers for a very reasonable price. DACs are very cheap these days, so for a 2.0 or 2.1 system the Kali are hard to beat. Plus a Kali sub can be added and it has a built-in cross-over for the LP-6. Nothing wrong with the Elac, but I think the Kali is the better value.
Then I advise you to read rewievs and see measurements plots (all available on ASR). And when Amir says ear bleeding levels it's above 100 and closer to 110 dB while LP 6 fall apart about 90 and LP 8 about 96 SPL and both are narrow dispersion near field active monitors.
 
The Kali are spec'd at 115 db
That they are, but it's not happening.
The Elacs will have more dynamic headroom with a sufficiently powerful amp. However for a room that size I'd recommend just getting used floorstanders, for 500$/€ you could get something really decent.
@Niels Franck Do you live in Germany? If so, have a look around eBay Kleinanzeigen for some big old Canton, Heco or similar, whatever you can find at a good price.
 
I'm using dbr62 for music and occasionally for movies. I'm very pleased with them, I don't have a center speaker and don't find it a big issue, dialogues sound good to me. A center speaker, subs, an AVR with room correction, all of these would make for a better experience, but even without them I'm enjoying them quite enough.

I haven't listen to Kali's, but I think also that the Elacs (or some floorstander) would be a better choice for farfield, as would the Kali's be a better choice for nearfield.
 
Kali vs Elac is not going to be a big difference in output level. They are both ~6" woofer and a tweeter. The question is are they loud enough for your listening? If you need louder than you need a bigger speaker, period! However, not everyone wants to get to reference level and some never play louder than a moderate playback level. I am currently testing the Kali LP-6 In my 21x23 family room which is also open to my kitchen on one side. The Kali LP-6 will plays louder than I would ever use in this room. Seating is 12-13 feet away. With any bookshelf type speaker if you want more bass add a sub which also lets the speakers play louder when you take some of that work off the woofer. Speakers with 6" woofers simply can not go much below 40hz with any volume and not everybody wants to get those lower octaves depending on their circumstances. Because the lower the bass the more easily it transmits through walls. So a sub will depend on the situation. I of course prefer a sub whenever possible:)

In general, if everything is equal an active design will beat a passive one. No getting around this. Everything is not always equal however. These are two different speakers in different size boxes, with different drivers, etc. The only way to know is to listen and see which you prefer. Because these both measure very well and are more simialr than different in measurments you'd probably be happy either one. I don't have any experience with that model of Elac so I can't comment on it. We just got in the Kali but Ifrom my initial impression, it is a tremendous value for $400/ pair.
 
People like to go spec crazy on SPL, but you had best get a realistic grip on how loud you listen. Amir tests for extreme SPLs in his listening tests - man, I wonder about hearing damage. I do have hearing damage from live music and listen only at moderate levels - which is still quite loud by my wife's standards. She's always telling me to turn it down. I have a 29m^2 with high ceiling and completely open to the rest of the home, and listen at approx. 2.5m. I have tried both the LP6v2 and the IN8v2. I do not have SPL issues with either. If you listen at moderate levels, I wouldn't let SPL be the deciding factor.

For me, the much more important consideration (for me) is the problem with electronics if you go with powered speakers. If you're really getting into HT and will want to set up a surround system with dolby processing, etc., you will be stuck with only high end receivers costing >$1000 as a starting point.
 
People like to go spec crazy on SPL, but you had best get a realistic grip on how loud you listen. Amir tests for extreme SPLs in his listening tests - man, I wonder about hearing damage. I do have hearing damage from live music and listen only at moderate levels - which is still quite loud by my wife's standards. She's always telling me to turn it down. I have a 29m^2 with high ceiling and completely open to the rest of the home, and listen at approx. 2.5m. I have tried both the LP6v2 and the IN8v2. I do not have SPL issues with either. If you listen at moderate levels, I wouldn't let SPL be the deciding factor.

For me, the much more important consideration (for me) is the problem with electronics if you go with powered speakers. If you're really getting into HT and will want to set up a surround system with dolby processing, etc., you will be stuck with only high end receivers costing >$1000 as a starting point.
It's really disappointing how modern receivers with decent pre-amp outs have increased in price. I lucked out and got my Onkyo for $550 a few years ago. I simply wanted a receiver that could pass 4K through the HDMIs to the projector and had pre-amp outs for all channels; Atmos was a bonus. I also had to work out how to turn on/off the active speakers and found a simple solution with my Panamax and the trigger out on the Onkyo. It works well for me but I could see how that too would turn people off to active speakers.
 
It's really disappointing how modern receivers with decent pre-amp outs have increased in price. I lucked out and got my Onkyo for $550 a few years ago. I simply wanted a receiver that could pass 4K through the HDMIs to the projector and had pre-amp outs for all channels; Atmos was a bonus. I also had to work out how to turn on/off the active speakers and found a simple solution with my Panamax and the trigger out on the Onkyo. It works well for me but I could see how that too would turn people off to active speakers.
Agreed on the price increase issue, and agreed on the power issue, too. Right now, I'm just leaving the speakers on 24/7, but it sure isn't ideal. Working around it will definitely be awkward.
 
Then I advise you to read rewievs and see measurements plots (all available on ASR). And when Amir says ear bleeding levels it's above 100 and closer to 110 dB while LP 6 fall apart about 90 and LP 8 about 96 SPL and both are narrow dispersion near field active monitors.
I have. The LP v2 is actually on Erin's site. Amir's DBR review doesn't have distortion plots as far as I can tell (the review is now 108 pages so maybe it was added later). They both have 6" drivers and they shouldn't be very far apart. It is unlikely to be a night and day difference. But I would be happy to be wrong -- I just wasn't able to find any evidence for the Elac. The other Elac speakers on Erin's website had similar harmonic distortion profiles as the Kali (though obviously different speakers). I just don't see any evidence that one is substantially better than another.
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@HooStat
This is Kali LP 6 first gen but nothing changed with V2 (they reworked amplifier).
All do Amir didn't do Elac measurements on high SPL he is quite sensitive to distortion and wouldn't push them to insane levels if such happened. Actually he rarely ever did that with any speakers for mentioned reasons and you can clearly see what happens in case of LP 6.
It's not just about driver diameter; it's about materials, excursion rate of drivers and stiffness of cabinets. I do think LP 6 V2 are best budget near field monitor's but I wouldn't use them for far feald which 3 m arguably is. As for his use ELAC's are better and will fill the relatively large room quite nicely and to wide listening positions.
I hope you will all understand this much now as I am getting tired of repeating it over and over again.
 
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@HooStat
This is Kali LP 6 first gen but nothing changed with V2 (they reworked amplifier).
All do Amir didn't do Elac measurements on high SPL he is quite sensitive to distortion and wouldn't push them to insane levels if such happened. Actually he rarely ever did that with any speakers for mentioned reasons and you can clearly see what happens in case of LP 6.
It's not just about driver diameter; it's about materials, excursion rate of drivers and stiffness of cabinets. I do think LP 6 V2 are best budget near field monitor's but I wouldn't use them for far feald which 3 m arguably is. As for his use ELAC's are better and will fill the relatively large room quite nicely and to wide listening positions.
I hope you will all understand this much now as I am getting tired of repeating it over and over again.
This is not true.
 
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