Anyone useing Kaliaudio monitors

Hi all—
I'm looking to possibly replace my old presonus eris e5's. I've heard good things about Kali audio, and I'm wondering if anyone here has been using them with HW and what their thoughts were.
Thanks,
James

Hi James

I too have came across these and was curious about them. They are in the same price range of its competitors. I did a quick comparison between the Eris E8 and Kali LP-8 V2. Both have similar wave guides for the tweeter but the Eris uses composite materials for the woofer and is rated at 150watts where as the Kali is uses paper and is only 100 watts. So based on specs only I'd lean more toward the Eris. Of course that means nothing if the Kali units sound is superior.

I'm curious why you'd want to replace your Eris E5s. I have a project coming up and I am considering using them for HW. I've been happy with Presonus products I've used in the past, mainly the Temblor sub and Eris E8s.

Danny B.

A couple of reviews with objective measurements:

PreSonus Eris E5 XT: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/foru ... iew.13436/

Kali LP-6: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/foru ... tor.17978/

Kali IN-5: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/foru ... iew.22487/

Thanks for these links Josq. The Kali units seemed to be winner in the comparison reviews! I'll need to give them a try.

I have always found my Erie e5’s muddy and unsatisfactory. And they don’t have enough low end oomph to be of any use without a sub. I have 6, and after selling my sub (#reasons), I can’t stand to use my erises (which never wowed me before… it was just what I could afford at the time’). I’m thinking of just pairing down to a two channel system with higher-end components, because once I update my computer, I’m fairly certain my sound card will become obsolete, as the controller software stopped being supported a while ago.

So the Kaliaudio LP-6 V2 is the model you are considering? At 80 watts each they have a little more power than the Adam T7v which is rated at 70 watts. I'm curious why Kaliaudio divides the wattage evenly between the tweeter and woofer (40 watts each)? The Adams are more expensive but is an excellent product with a some small caveats:
- The mid point for the volume knob on the back is at the 2'oclock mark vs 12 like most other monitors. It also doesn't have a 'notch' so you can feel the center point. You have to look for the mark.
- No TRS female plug, just aa RCA and XLR
- Rear firing port vs a front port(s)
- Ribbon tweeter vs a dome.
- Break in period is not a myth

With regards to the ribbon tweeter, I felt I had to bump the HF switch setting to +2 in back to boost get the highs I was use to hearing. They also had a surprising amount of bass for their size which sounded great! I have a Hauptwerk friend who has a pair of the bigger T8v model and he has postponed his subwoofer purchase in lieu of a 2nd pair of T8v units. According to him the bass is that good. Granted he has a nice environment of sheet rock walls and hardwood floors. The Adams are also refined in that they are silent, no amp noise while idle nor any audible 'thumps' when turning them on or off. I had them for about a month before delivering them with a Hauptwerk project. I used them quite often and noticed that they seemed to have a warmer sound later on before I boxed up them up for delivery. I've read on the audiophile forms a recommended "break in" period is marketing hype. I didn't think so in this case.

Finally, don't forget about the old standard Behringer 2031A monitors. A few of the benefits I've enjoyed about these are the great price, plenty of treble, powerful output (265 watts), and consistent design. Since Behringer hasn't come out with a V2 or V3 model change, you have some comfort knowing you can add additional pairs later on that will fit right in.

Danny B.

I have to replace another of my 4 KRK RP10-3 G3 rear floor speakers -- both failures were because the gain knob stopped limiting the gain. I don't like the G4 version because it pops on power up/down, hums despite a balanced connection and the same AC power as the 3 non-humming G3s, and has a finicky settings button+knob and hard-to-read LCD instead of nice separated control knobs. The G4 is also just different enough from the G3 that it's audible in the speaker group, even though it sounds better. So it's time to replace them all.

I also have 4 Adam T7V as rear shelf speakers, 4 A8X and 8 A3X on front shelves. The T7V sounds almost as good as the A8X and A3X to me, obviously with less bass than A8X, but that's in the range where the sub takes over anyway. The T7V sounds brighter in the treble to me than the A8X or A3X. It's also less expensive.

(Since the A8X is discontinued, I need to move on to something else eventually. I've had to replace one that failed so far. My front speaker shelves aren't deep enough for the rear-ported T*V line, unfortunately.)

I'm thinking of replacing the KRKs with T8V or possibly T7V (so I can make one rear group of 8 instead of two groups of 4). I'm not sure how well they'd do sitting on the floor, though. Two would have to peak out from under the piano.

LATER: After playing Oloron front channels alone on only the KRKs, then the T7Vs, back and forth with different registrations, I really need the bass and midrange strength of the KRKs. The positions are rear floor and a little too far away for nearfield monitors. The subwoofer is in a front corner, and the T7Vs + sub don't really make up for having the 10" woofers behind me. Also, the hum is now low enough that I can't hear it from the console. Guess I'm ordering another RP10-3 after all.

I also compared the T7V to the A8X and A3X again, and they are nearly as effective on the manuals as the A8X, with wider treble dispersion. If they were close to the sub, they'd probably be decent main speakers, but I'd go for T8V instead if I had clearance for rear ports.

Thanks to recent HW versions, I can leave the rank routing window up with ranks selected while I play on different groups of speakers, with little delay to change groups.

I was actually considering the 8" model with the concentric mid/tweeter design. They are $400 per unit though; but they have stellar reviews and due to their coaxial design, their imaging is supposedly stellar.

I've also been interested in adams because they are so highly regarded, but they escalate in price really quickly. I've mostly been interested in ribbon tweaters since I'm told their clarity is outstanding. I"m not concerned about directivity (might actually be a plus in this instance) since I would be using them very near-field. Barely double arm's length away from me on stands.

I am using 2- Adam S3V speakers for the front channels and 2 -Adam S2V speakers for the rears and also a 12" Adam sub.
After fiddeling around with speakers and amps for like10yrs,would not want anything else anymore.Nice clean,dynamic sound.
Cost a lot of money but worth it for me.

I've mostly been interested in ribbon tweeters since I'm told their clarity is outstanding.

You will notice a difference with the ribbon tweeters. For me it might have been 2 fold: my sound reference was accustomed to the bright sound and crispness of different monitor or (as I mentioned previously) the speakers needed a break in period. I going with the latter, thus the treble and bass boost or limiter on the back to these Adam units. After 3.5 weeks of use, I noticed an improvement in the overall sound.

I"m not concerned about directivity (might actually be a plus in this instance) since I would be using them very near-field.

Correct. I think most higher end studio monitors now promote a "wider sweet spot". Generally ribbon tweeters hamper this attribute but the Adams have a wave guide to broaden the desired listening area. Also ribbon tweeters lessen the ear fatigue that studio folks talk about when comparing monitors.

The cool thing about auditioning speakers with Hauptwerk is you'll be able to tell in a short time if they will make the grade or not. The Adams recommendation.came from 2 other Hauptwerk users who own them and whose maturity in audio I respect. Please report back when if you get a chance to audition the KaliAudio units. I'd love another brand/model to add to my list!

Danny B