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Small footprint monitors for the desk: Price/Performance winner?

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Fnord23

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Jun 7, 2023
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I have to downsize my monitoring since I'm moving to a much smaller desk unfortunately (second child arriving soon). Just sold my Focal Alpha 65, which have a terrible big footprint for 6.5" speakers but did sound good. They go for 300€ here which I'm afraid I'll have a hard time finding anything as good sounding for.

What is the current price / Performance winner in the <1000€ category with a very small footprint, around 5" or small 6.5" monitors in your opinion?

For example I thought that the Kali In-5 perform great according to the reviews here but they are actually bigger then the LP 6 V2 with 6.5" for some reason.. The LP-6 would fit on my desk but not anything bigger.

Unfortunately I can't afford the Neumann KH 120 II + their measuring mic. I need as much bass and as little hiss as possible. Monitoring will be on very low volume.
I really need something not to expensive and somewhat reliable for production and translation checks.

Is the Kali LP-6 really that much worse then the IN-5? Or is there any other recommendation with as much low end extension as these speakers?

Thank you for your help.
 
iLoud MTM Mk2 comes pretty close. Haven't heard the MK2 version but by specs its close. If you don't need loud these would probably work.

The IN-5 is a noticeable step up from the LP-6 IME. I bought a pair of IN-5s something I rarely do, since I get to take many speakers home and test them. I have heard the LP-6 and the IN-5 side by side. I also chose the IN-5 over the Kef R3 which I could have got at an incredible price but thought the IN-5 sounded better. YMMV.
 
Fnord23 said:
The LP-6 would fit on my desk but not anything bigger.
Click to expand...
What are your exact limits? The IN-5 is longer and higher but actually a bit narrower than the LP6. The Alpha 65 is fairly wide, the Evo even more so.

What is you listening distance going to be?

Would wall mounting be of any help? It's not that cheap but if it lets you keep your existing speakers...
Fnord23 said:
Unfortunately I can't afford the Neumann KH 120 II + their measuring mic. I need as much bass and as little hiss as possible. Monitoring will be on very low volume.
Click to expand...
Have you considered a used pair of KH120As (they seem to go for around 700€, maybe 800 on the 'bay) and some other measurement / EQ solution? At low volumes you should easily be able to flatten them out down to 45 Hz or even a bit lower (maybe about 41 Hz). That should get you close enough to the -3 dB at 40 Hz of your current Alpha 65s, and likely provide quite the upgrade in accuracy if you hadn't used any EQ previously. Stick with the <500, maybe <1000 Hz range for starters, above that it gets tricky fast.

All else being equal, a bigger cabinet volume is generally going to give you deeper bass, and tends to be the cheapest option for doing so. If you need small size, be prepared to pay for EQing, more amplifier power and longer-throw drivers.
 
Listening distance will be 2 - 3ft, quite near field and at rather low volume.
I use Sonarworks for eq. Unfortunately, wall mounting isn't an option but the speakers will be at appropriate height on Iso acoustics stands.

Looking at the dimension, Kali in-5 is indeed a bit narrower, it's surprising that according to the measurements low frequency extensions is as good as their 6.5" LP-6.

How incredible is the Neumann KH120 that manages to go even lower while being so much smaller? But the KH120A go for 800 to 1000€ here second hand, while the In-5 would be around 650€ for a new pair. Can't afford it unfortunately.

Seems like the In-5 is the way to go?


Btw, what about the Neumann KH 80 and checking the lows on my calibrated headphones? Would it be very stupid trying to produce bass heavy electronic music on 4" monitors without sub?
 
Fnord23 said:
Listening distance will be 2 - 3ft, quite near field and at rather low volume.
I use Sonarworks for eq. Unfortunately, wall mounting isn't an option but the speakers will be at appropriate height on Iso acoustics stands.

Looking at the dimension, Kali in-5 is indeed a bit narrower, it's surprising that according to the measurements low frequency extensions is as good as their 6.5" LP-6.

How incredible is the Neumann KH120 that manages to go even lower while being so much smaller? But the KH120A go for 800 to 1000€ here second hand, while the In-5 would be around 650€ for a new pair. Can't afford it unfortunately.

Seems like the In-5 is the way to go?


Btw, what about the Neumann KH 80 and checking the lows on my calibrated headphones? Would it be very stupid trying to produce bass heavy electronic music on 4" monitors without sub?
Click to expand...
I'd pick the IN-5s, personally. Having monitors with better extension for bass-centered music is ideal.
 
Have you searched the ASR review database? Select speakers, sort by price, then start reading the reviews for recommended speakers.

The tests are done with a Klippel speaker tester, standard in speaker development R&D.
 
Have you thought about the small Kali LP-UNF?, at only €280 you could also buy the Kali WS - 6.2 subwoofer and be under €1000, add in the IsoAcoustics iso 130 stands , I imagine you’d be hard pushed to find a better desktop setup

Isoacoustic ISO-130 stands

Kali WS - 6.2 subwoofer here

 
Hi - do not buy kali bullshit
Test mtm mk2 and lsr305 - both enougth different and strong.
 
Try to get a Magnat Monitor Active 2000. The Price / Value Relation is increadible. The Magnat guys are using a Klippel for speaker development. I bought one pair a year ago for the desktop of my son and struggled hard with myself to hand it over to him…..:)
Peter, a friend of mine who has very very very large speakers, tubes etc. has visited me. Normal, because his setup is much better than mine, he just stand 10 Minutes or so to hear music with my more conventional HiFi setup. But at the evening we heared music with these tiny Magnats, he stays from 8.00 pm to 1.00 a.m.!!!
So he recommended the speaker also to two differend friends of him who both bought it, as he says to me the day before yesterday.
One of these friends of him is also in music production. He uses it now as a Monitor for producing his music.
Both are extremely impressed (as Peter and me!).

stereoguide.com

Magnat Monitor Active 2000: review

Review: The Magnat Monitor Active 2000 offers natural and detailed sound as a stereo speaker set. And the bass is fun too.
stereoguide.com stereoguide.com
 
galileon said:
somethin what they sell.and aome people call it accidentially speakers :)
Click to expand...

Well....I for one am convinced by your thorough takedown and detailed explanation as to why Kali monitors are bullshit, you should be a reviewer with such an intimate grasp of the English language
 
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Funny timing. Nothing to do with the recent comments but I was considering JBL 305 anyways because of the cheap price and small footprint and I just bought the JBL 305 mk1.

I've yet to set them up but I figured can't go wrong with these for 145€. They look incredibly ugly on picture but that doesn't do them justice - they are actually not that bad in reality.

I figured with two young children I couldn't really relax with expensive speakers in the living room. When I eventually update to Neumann, APS, Kali or something i'll retire the JBL to my little cabin.

I'll post a picture once I finished building my tiny desk.
 
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TylerR said:
Maybe get your ears tested. Kali's are reputable monitors with the data to back it up.
Click to expand...
Hah sure have U ever listend to the kali? Ot U are guessing? If U did then please place them next to jbl lsr, yamaha hs80 ( best if zenpro modded ) and compare what U hear.
If U will not hear that kali is cutting 50% of transients then i can't help
Cheers!
 
galileon said:
Hah sure have U ever listend to the kali? Ot U are guessing? If U did then please place them next to jbl lsr, yamaha hs80 ( best if zenpro modded ) and compare what U hear.
If U will not hear that kali is cutting 50% of transients then i can't help
Cheers!
Click to expand...
I own the LSR 305s and have heard the HS8's, with and without Dirac. Kali's are well designed for the money, period. Maybe stop gaslighting in a forum based on science? I would understand why you might have issues with IN series, but saying everything they make is useless is disingenous.
 
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