Note that the bass unit needs to be located on a desktop, as it is not designed to be floor‑standing and will most likely sound wrong if placed on the floor. It can, however, be set up either horizontally or vertically, so you can choose the arrangement that suits your desk layout. The volume control is indented in the central position, which is recommended for normal use, though while slight adjustment may be necessary in some situations, monitoring levels should be controlled from your mixer or DAW. So specs-wise, we’re looking good so far, and setting up, we’re impressed too, as the ‘more for your money’ vibe continues. These are big speakers for starters, not too heavy (10.4kg each) but at 44.1 x 28.5 x 25.4cm (height x depth x width) they won’t suit tiny studios.

Whilst Kali Audio have aimed to make their monitors as natural and accurate as possible to give you a true representation of your mix, they also understand some mixing engineers are used to a certain response from their monitoring rig. If you prefer a certain character of speaker with more or less bass, you can reach for the high and low-frequency controls to customise the response of the monitor to your personal taste. These controls are also handy if there are any problematic frequencies in your space that need to be compensated for. This means that anywhere within that listening distance, you can listen for long periods of time at reference volume, and momentary peaks such as bass drops or explosion effects will come through clearly and with minimal distortion. The LP-6 has enough output for most 1-2 person setups, and the LP-8 can handle larger setups easily. A speaker’s given position in a space can drastically change it’s frequency response. A speaker placed against a wall or on a desk will sound very different than a speaker placed on a stand, even in a well-treated space. Hard surfaces like walls, desk tops, and recording consoles can change the low end frequency response of the monitor, and degrade the overall clarity of the sound.Kali Audio is a manufacturer of best-in-class audio products for the professional audio market. Kali was started in January 2018 by some of the professional audio industry’s most passionate individuals. With engineering at the forefront, Kali aims to make loudspeakers and related products that present the best possible value to our customers. By devoting time and resources to research and development, and with a little bit of panache, we offer high-performance products that fit any budget.

The IN-Series monitors have very low distortion. This is the result of unburdening both the woofer and the tweeter, so that both are doing less work; the tweeter is only focused on high frequencies, and the woofer only has to worry about bass. Both are two-way loudspeakers with 1-inch textile dome tweeters set within Kali’s custom 3D imaging waveguide. Unlike other waveguides which are a highly directive horn shape, with sharp angles designed to aid directivity but with a small sweet spot, the Kali waveguide is a gentle, gradual contour. Almost an ovoid, though wider than it is deep and with a sharper curve to the faces spanning the tweeter’s vertical axis. The result is an even dispersion that doesn’t adversely affect frontal imaging, but gives you a much wider listening sweet spot than you might be accustomed too with a typical waveguide arrangement. The intent is to cohesively blend the sound from them loudspeaker to the reflective sound that is result of physical obstacles, or even dispersion into the air itself, that occurs as the sound travels toward your ear. Nothing can image like a true coaxial speaker does, but the LP-series waveguide comes very close. The LPs have always been praised for their accuracy, and we’re pleased to share that the 2nd Wave versions realize slight but noticeable improvements in that regard, particularly on the top end. POWER I mainly use them with my modeler (FAS FM9) for playing guitar and bass, listening to my recordings/music (FM9 as an interface) and mixing (haven't spent much time doing that yet). I live in an apartment so we are talking about low to moderate volumes. I was always impressed by the level of bass the Ayras could produce given their small driver and cabinet and that holds true to this day, though there’s no doubt the Kali LP-6 has the edge. More so than the extra inch of cone surface would suggest. The larger cabinet helps, but no doubt the efficiency of the driver and the clever port design are major contributors. Not to mention the more modern amplifiers, a total departure from the fully analogue, archaic class AB amps of the RCFs.Diagram 1: A close‑mic measurement of the IN‑5 bass driver, revealing a port tuning frequency of around 43Hz. We tried it with the IN speakers and the attention to detail down there is astonishing; not that you don’t get a great response already with the IN range, but this subwoofer presents you with an extra few Hz of detail and a more accurate picture.

The cabinets comprise a vinyl-wrapped MDF with moulted plastic front baffle. The front port tube is moulded as part of the baffle itself, and is shaped using computer simulation to minimise port chuffing by ensuring that air exits the port at a constant velocity. A similar port is used to great effect in the IN-8, and I find them to be entirely unfussy about room placement and without the sonic downsides I often hear in ported loudspeakers, namely bloated bass caused by the constricted passage of air through the port, or puffing noises as large volumes of air are forced through a thin port tube.

These days, with so many of us capable of producing professional-quality masters in domestic environments, the mid-sized monitor is gaining popularity apace. This is no surprise; far from being an unhappy compromise, the eight-inch driver has the potential to offer much of the low-end heft of larger designs (such as our Tannoy Berkeleys) along with the real-world presentation of music as consumed via domestic hi-fi loudspeakers. The power of three Output power is 40W for the treble and 40 / 60W for the midbass, LP-6 and LP8 respectively. Maximum listening distance is 2.9 m for the LP-6 and 3.6 m for the LP8. Kali’s maximum listening distance figures define the distance at which the speakers can maintain a continuous 85dB SPL with 20dB of dynamic headroom, allowing for large momentary peaks to be played at reference volume without overload or distortion. Protective limiters prevent harmful voltage from ever reaching the drivers, so there is no risk of blowing these speakers. These have been updated for the 2nd Wave, allowing for 3 dB higher output. Kali Audio only launched at the start of 2018 but it already has big ambitions, a great naming philosophy and a debut monitor that seems, on the face of it, to be incredible value for money. The Southern Californian’s first release is the LP-6, the ‘LP’ standing for ‘Lone Pine’ (which is actually a small town in the Eastern Sierra that is the first port of call for climbers wishing to scale Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the United States outside of Alaska, fact fans).