Kali Audio LP-8 Powered Monitor Loudspeaker Review

[bounce]

I am ignorant please enlighten me. These LP-8 are sold individually. typically powered speakers are sold in pairs,master & slave. How is this hooked up? how is a subwoofer hooked up?I use cds & a cd player. People still use cds. how would I hook this up?Kali also makes an IN-8.

 

[lovinthehd]

I am ignorant please enlighten me. These LP-8 are sold individually. typically powered speakers are sold in pairs,master & slave. How is this hooked up? how is a subwoofer hooked up?I use cds & a cd player. People still use cds. how would I hook this up?Kali also makes an IN-8.

What is the rest of your playback electronics aside from a cd player? The speakers simply hook up one channel at a time, either via rca, xlr or trs connectors. No particular provision for incorporating a sub.

 

[bounce]

Are you going to review the Kali Audio IN 8? It is more expensive but is the higher price worth it? I saw your video comparing the 4 monitors. very good.

 

[shadyJ]

Are you going to review the Kali Audio IN 8? It is more expensive but is the higher price worth it? I saw your video comparing the 4 monitors. very good.

No plans for that, sorry. Audio Science Review already has extensive measurements for the IN-8, anyway.

 

[Adam2434]

Picked up a pair of LP-8 to play around with.

I am pretty darn impressed. They sound balanced and detailed. They have deep and detailed bass for a bookshelf sized speaker – the kind of bass extension I would expect from a smallish floorstander. They will also play plenty loud without signs of distress. All of that performance, including built-in amplification for $400/pair is pretty crazy.

As has been highlighted by others, they do have some self-noise. However, with no content playing, the noise fades to nothing at about 4 feet distance for me.

Pair these with a good DAC/Pre or even an AVR with preouts and you will have a great sounding 2-channel system, if you can handle the studio monitor design (utilitarian looks, no grill, front LED). These would make for a killer garage or home gym set-up.

I really have no use for them right now, and was really curious more than anything. These are the first studio monitors I’ve tried, so I did not know what to expect. They sound so good that I will find a use for them!

I’ve been testing them with the following:
Tidal 16/44.1 FLAC -> Chromecast Audio via optical out -> Emotiva DC-1 DAC/Pre via XLR out -> LP-8

 

[Adam2434]

Curious about DSP functions in the LP-8, and other DSP’d active speakers. I think the DSP’ing of active speakers is pretty interesting, and I would image that well-implemented DSP really helps speakers to be kind of “better than the sum of their parts”. In the case of the LP-8, the analog input signal has to go through an ADC, which probably compromises the signal a bit (the purist in me does not like this ADC step!). However, I’m thinking that the overall benefits of the DSP functions probably greatly outweigh the negatives from the ADC step.

In the LP-8, I wonder if DSP is doing any of the following:

• Woofer/tweeter crossover filters?
• EQ’ing out some non-linearities in the frequency response?
• Highpass filter to limit very low bass frequencies to improve distortion and headroom in bass frequencies above filter point?
• Output/distortion limiter to set a max SPL vs. distortion limit?

In addition to active speakers like studio monitors, I have to think that DSP is being used to optimize many/most portable or Bluetooth speakers. I have a couple Bluetooth speakers at different sizes/prices that really do put out surprising sound for their footprint. On the larger side, my UE Hyperboom, to me, sounds like a pretty good pair of bookshelf speakers pushed together. On the small and cheap side, my Soundcore Motion Boom puts out way more bass extension and output than you would think possible in such a small speaker. I’m thinking that some DSP magic must be happening in these speakers.

As a side note, I do wish Kali would offer a “home” version pair with digital inputs, grills, and a remote to control volume and input selection. I realize this would be a pretty big design change, but these LP-8’s sound so good that I could see them kicking butt in a simple home stereo application where all you need is to do is connect your digital source(s) directly to the speaker.

 

[Adam2434]

I discovered a pretty big caveat yesterday on the LP-8.

Using the RCA inputs generates a lot of self-noise, including a hum that is not present using the XLR inputs. The noise is so bad that I would not be able to use the RCA inputs. Since the majority of home audio gear only has RCA outputs, this noise could be a non-starter for a lot of home use scenarios.

James Larson, did you use the RCA inputs when you tested the LP-8s?

I am going to contact Kali on this.

Here are the details of my testing with the RCA inputs:

I wanted to test the LP-8 with a different front end, so I connected them to the L/R RCA preouts on an older Denon AV-2807 that I use in our home gym area. The high level of noise and hum was immediately noticed. I switched to a different set of RCA cables, and the high noise and hum was still there. Next, I connected them to the RCA outs on my Emotiva DC-1 DAC/pre, and the high noise and hum was still there. Finally, I disabled the RCA inputs on the LP-8s, disconnected the RCAs, reconnected them to the DC-1 with XLR cables, and the noise dropped significantly and the hum went away.

 

[shadyJ]

I discovered a pretty big caveat yesterday on the LP-8.

Using the RCA inputs generates a lot of self-noise, including a hum that is not present using the XLR inputs. The noise is so bad that I would not be able to use the RCA inputs. Since the majority of home audio gear only has RCA outputs, this noise could be a non-starter for a lot of home use scenarios.

James Larson, did you use the RCA inputs when you tested the LP-8s?

I am going to contact Kali on this.

Here are the details of my testing with the RCA inputs:

I wanted to test the LP-8 with a different front end, so I connected them to the L/R RCA preouts on an older Denon AV-2807 that I use in our home gym area. The high level of noise and hum was immediately noticed. I switched to a different set of RCA cables, and the high noise and hum was still there. Next, I connected them to the RCA outs on my Emotiva DC-1 DAC/pre, and the high noise and hum was still there. Finally, I disabled the RCA inputs on the LP-8s, disconnected the RCAs, reconnected them to the DC-1 with XLR cables, and the noise dropped significantly and the hum went away.

Yes, I did try the RCA inputs, and yes, I did find they were noisier, however, I don't know that the problem may have been that the source was noisier, not the speaker electronics, so I didn't mention it. The Kali amp may be giving a lot of boost to the unbalanced inputs, so you may need a low noise source to have that be as quiet as the balanced inputs. I don't know that your Denon or Emotiva would do that.

 

[Adam2434]

Well, the much higher noise plus hum was there with RCAs even when the Denon and Emotiva were powered off. The only way to reduce the noise was to lower the LP-8 volume knob below the detent.

I have a Marantz AV7704 Pre/Pro in another system, so I might try the LP-8 RCA input with that, but I suspect that the high noise plus hum will be present there too.

 

[shadyJ]

Well, the much higher noise plus hum was there with RCAs even when the Denon and Emotiva were powered off. The only way to reduce the noise was to lower the LP-8 volume knob below the detent.

I have a Marantz AV7704 Pre/Pro in another system, so I might try the LP-8 RCA input with that, but I suspect that the high noise plus hum will be present there too.

Interesting. Sound to me like the gain stage is boosting the self-noise of the onboard electronics. You have to remember that the signal of the consumer RCA connection is nearly 16dB lower than balanced inputs, so the self-noise might be amplified by 16dB. That is unfortunate. Kali is making an effort to reduce the hiss, and they have done that in the IN series, so I think they will do that to the LP series, hopefully soon.

They are great speakers, but they need a low-noise balanced input. I had to use a MOTU M2. Everything else sounded bad with them, too much noise. But if you have a good clean analog source, these are a crazy good value.

 

[Adam2434]

Yeah, I have no issues with the self-noise using the Emotiva DC-1 balanced XLR outs. I mean there is a bit of noise noticeable at closer than 5 feet, but not a problem at all at normal home listening distances.

Using the RCAs would be a no-go though, way too noisy.

 

[TCW]

About a year ago I purchased a pair of LP-8s from Guitar Center with the intention of returning them if the noise was too bad through the RCA pre-amp outs on an Onkyo TX-RZ830. I was pleasantly surprised that there was no additional noise/hum through the RCAs. I have plenty of pro audio gear and tested the XLRs and RCAs and could hear no discernable difference. Maybe I simply got lucky and the Onkyo is a good match. The faint white-noise is all I could hear through using either XLRs or RCAs. Additionally, I use 18" Stereo Integrity 18" sealed subs with the Kalis crossed over at 80 Hz.

I have a set of IN-8s on back order and plan to use three across the front in my home theater. I don't have an acoustically transparent screen so the center will be turned on its side. The IN-8 coaxial design makes this feasible. I expect the RCAs to work the same on the IN-8s with little to no additional noise. We shall see.

If you have a Guitar Center nearby I recommend you try the Kali monitors. Like me, you too, may be impressed. Return them if you find the RCA inputs too noisy like Adam found.

 

[Adam2434]

TWC, interesting and good to hear that you don't have high noise using the RCA inputs.

Interesting, I tried 2 different preamps and 2 different RCA cables and had high noise including hum in all scenarios. Switched back to the XLR inputs, I just have a bit of tolerable noise that is not noticeable a few feet away.

I kept the LP-8's, BTW, as at $400/pair, I can't think of a better all around speaker, in terms of tonality and bass extension for their size and cost...although I don't have a real need for them, but could not part with them.

 

[TCW]

A little more detail how I tested the different inputs: First, powered them up with no inputs plugged in at all, cranked the gain all the way and listened. Flipped the dip switchs for RCA and listened (nothing plugged in). Only thing audible was the faint white-noise hiss. At around 4 feet out I couldn't hear the hiss. Next I plugged in XLRs from a Behringer MIC 2200 using XLRs (I didn't test the TRS even though I could have with the MIC 2200). I use the MIC2200 as a pre-amp, kinda old-school version of mini-DSP, for my four, 18" SI sealed subs - driven by a Marathon MA5050 pro amp. Using the XLRs there was no additional noise added. I tried the RCAs next through the Onkyo expecting hum. I was elated that the RCAs performed like the XLRs.

My wife and I auditioned 2-channel music for the next hour or so with the Onkyo in Pure, or Direct - no bass management. Her reply, "How are these only $200 each?" Next we tried some movie scenes with bass management engaged and were impressed. The blue lights were annoying but easily fixed with a small piece of black electricians tape.

Our theater room is weird. It's on the second floor and about 2900 cubic feet with a few sloping walls near the ceiling. The front wall is only 12.5' wide but opens up after 7' back to over 26' wide. The depth is 18'-ish. Our front row seating is only about 9' from the front screen (115" scope) so the Kali speakers atop the subs put the front of the speaker about 8'-8.5' from the listener. The Kalis have plenty of power to handle the higher volume using them as theater speakers. I'm not sure if they'd be enough in a larger room.

Couple other things to note. I bought a fairly burly extension cord to run from a Panamax device to power the speakers. I put the Kalis on an outlet that operates through triggering the Panamax outlet(s) from the Onkyo (my MIC2200/Marathon pro amp are also triggered on/off through this device). So, when I hit the Onkyo power the Kalis, subs and center channel (powered by an Emotiva which will be removed when in IN-8s arrive) all fire up and shut down by the one Onkyo power button. I'm not sure if it is a bad idea to power the Kalis on/off this way but it's a simple solution and this works well.

Also, the room has some acoustic treatment. Before the Kalis I was trying some JBL 8340s as the left and right channels as an experiment. They were actually much better than I expected with impressive dynamics, but it was obvious they're not completely neutral and have the X Curve. The acoustic panels on the side/rear walls tamed the room making center dialogue better than untreated. I'm going to remove the side treatments soon for the Kalis to see if the soundstage widens.

I've tried a bunch of other speakers (Salk, Mirage, Paradigm, JTR, etc.) in my theater room. I've enjoyed the Kalis the most except for some JTR Quintuple 8s. The JTRs were glorious but my older brother has them now. They were also a bit overkill due to their size for my particular room. The only reason I had the JTRs was due to my younger brothers passing due to cancer in 2014. He had gobs of excellent audio-video equipment so we two surviving older brothers shared those things we inherited from him. So, a lot of my speaker/equipment trials have been due to him having so much equipment he hoarded; I'm sure many here can relate.

 

[TCW]

I might've learned something about Kali speakers. I finally received a single IN-8 V2 to use as a center with the Lp-8s. I intend to upgrade to three IN-8 V2s across the front and move the LP-8s to the surround LR channels. Before carrying the new IN-8 up the stairs to the theater room, I tested it downstairs using an old iPod Shuffle hooked to the RCA input with a 3.5mm to RCA cable. With the Shuffle turned off and everything connected and powered up, the IN-8 made a faint ground-loop sounding hum that increased as I turned up the volume. It wasn't loud, probably just a bit louder than the LP-8 hissing. However, once I turned the Shuffle on, music paused, the hum went away and the speaker was silent. I couldn't hear any noise whatsoever. So, it appears this noise issue doesn't exist if the source is On. Weird.

 

[glock339]

I might've learned something about Kali speakers. I finally received a single IN-8 V2 to use as a center with the Lp-8s. I intend to upgrade to three IN-8 V2s across the front and move the LP-8s to the surround LR channels. Before carrying the new IN-8 up the stairs to the theater room, I tested it downstairs using an old iPod Shuffle hooked to the RCA input with a 3.5mm to RCA cable. With the Shuffle turned off and everything connected and powered up, the IN-8 made a faint ground-loop sounding hum that increased as I turned up the volume. It wasn't loud, probably just a bit louder than the LP-8 hissing. However, once I turned the Shuffle on, music paused, the hum went away and the speaker was silent. I couldn't hear any noise whatsoever. So, it appears this noise issue doesn't exist if the source is On. Weird.

Apologies for dragging up an old thread, but if TCW is still kicking around this forum did you manage to upgrade & add more Kalis to complete your HT set up? I've been scouring the internet trying to find some info/examples of people using active speakers for HT (Kalis in particular) so would be great to hear if you did & how you found them, or if anyone else out there has tried actives for HT

 

[TCW]

Apologies for dragging up an old thread, but if TCW is still kicking around this forum did you manage to upgrade & add more Kalis to complete your HT set up? I've been scouring the internet trying to find some info/examples of people using active speakers for HT (Kalis in particular) so would be great to hear if you did & how you found them, or if anyone else out there has tried actives for HT

Glock, I haven't been around here for a while. You might not be around either. But, anyway, in case you are still around I never did upgrade to more Kali speakers. I ended up with the single IN8 V2 in the center and LP8s for the the left and right. Surround and Atmos are handled by Mirage OMD speakers which work fine. We've been enjoying our theater a lot and are still super happy with the Kali speakers.

 

[glock339]

Glock, I haven't been around here for a while. You might not be around either. But, anyway, in case you are still around I never did upgrade to more Kali speakers. I ended up with the single IN8 V2 in the center and LP8s for the the left and right. Surround and Atmos are handled by Mirage OMD speakers which work fine. We've been enjoying our theater a lot and are still super happy with the Kali speakers.

Thanks for taking the time to reply & glad to hear you've been enjoying them. Eventually after what seems like a lifetime of going around the houses I've ended up going down the in-wall route as it really makes sense for the space I have to work with & I also completely blew my original budget out of the water on what better be my end game speakers as I'm certainly not pulling out that kind of money again any time soon!