Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1501110
REVIEW www.postmagazine.com 29 POST MAY/JUNE 2023 was given the opportunity to check out Kali Audio's 2nd Wave of Coincident Studio Monitors at our facility in Bethel, CT, this past May. I was interested in how these monitors would sound against my favorite reference monitors, the tried and true Yamaha NS- 10 Pros, and a set of Neumann KH 120 As. I was impressed with the results. The scenario Testing was done in our main mixing suite, which is a true 'reflection-free zone,' where no first-reflection echoes will reach the listener. An RFZ is obtained by proper acoustic treatment of your listening environment. All monitoring was done at 85dB using the same musical performance set to loop playback. The IN-8s were connected to Blackmagic Design's DaVinci Resolve 18 Studio sys- tem using the +4dB XLR connectors. Unboxing Right out of the box, the IN-8s stand out. I received a pair of white models and was impressed with the sleek, ergonom- ic design. I had the IN-8s on display so clients could see them before connecting them. I was interested in hearing what words came to mind when looking at them. Words like "expensive," "futuristic," "clean" and "impressive" came to mind. Even my mom said, "They're a conver- sation starter, that's for sure." I told her that Kali uses a soft dome 1-inch tweeter, which is child-proof. She reminded me that I could've used that on my B&W Towers, which one of my kids stuck a crayon through. Fair enough, mom! Testing On the rear of the IN-8s you will find Kali's suite of boundary EQ tunings. The robust tunings have settings for speakers against a wall, on speaker stands, on a desk and on a console bridge. You can even position the monitors horizontally, helping with your sight lines. I was curious to hear the new and improved mid-range and woofer drivers, which are produced from less materi- al, enabling faster and more consistent transient responses, which boils down to significantly less total distortion in the system. The new IN-8s have less than .3 percent distortion above 400Hz, com- pared to 1.1 percent on the first wave versions. Playback was through DaVinci Resolve's DAW, running on a Fairlight three-bay console. The control audio clip was a 32-bit wave file @ 48KHz Fs. I used native parametric EQ for the testing pro- cess. I began looping the audio clip and boosting selected frequencies, testing the ruggedness of the IN-8s. Using the NS-10 Pros as my trusted old friend, I be- gan experimenting. The IN-8s were able to play back with exceptional clarity. I was able to hear less audible distortion in the high mids and high frequencies than the NS-10 Pros and the KH 120 As! The port tube is front firing, which, to my ear, kept the low frequencies clean & discernable without introducing unwanted noise, like chuffing or port compression. Bass Kali did a fantastic job with their port- tube design. The IN-8s have very low distortion. This is the result of unbur- dening both the woofer and the tweeter so that both are doing less work — the woofer only has to deal with low frequen- cies, and the tweeter is focused only on the high frequencies. In between those components is the four-inch, profile-op- timized midrange driver. Not only does it reproduce midrange frequencies, but it also acts as a waveguide for the tweeter. This means that the shape needed to be precisely engineered to provide an ideal dispersion characteristic for the tweeter. It also means that the midrange needs to "stay still." In many other co-axial or con- centric systems, high excursion from the larger driver causes intermodulation dis- tortion and degrades the accuracy of the system. Not cool. The IN-8's midrange is limited to less than 1mm peak-to-peak ex- cursion, making it acoustically stationary while still providing midrange to keep up with the powerful woofer and tweeter. Spatial imagery Two-way systems with good waveguides, like Kali's LP-6 and LP-8, do a great job at conveying spatial information. Interesting spatial effects let you visualize each element of a mix so you can quickly hear exactly what happens if you make changes. The tweeter and midrange share an acoustic center, and the woofer is crossed over at a low-mid frequency so the distance between the woofer and midrange is under a 1/4 wavelength at the crossover point. This means the IN-Series monitor is acoustically a point source. In this design, you are hearing all of the spatial information at the listening position so the soundstage that you hear will have every detail that is present in the mix. Bottom line Kali's done an excellent job of expanding the spatial experience. It is very noticeable when switching between different speakers. The clarity and mirror-like tonality of the IN-8 is significant. I was very impressed, and was not expecting to hear such a vast difference in the spatial element of sound played out of these gems. At $399, you won't find a better monitor at this price range. KALI AUDIO IN-8 COINCIDENT STUDIO MONITORS BY TIM ROCHE DIRECTOR BROWN LAB SOUND STUDIOS BROWNLABSTUDIOS. COM SIGNIFICANT CLARITY AND MIRROR-LIKE TONALITY I VITAL STATS MANUFACTURER: Kali Audio PRODUCT: IN-8 V.2 WEBSITE: www.kaliaudio.com PRICE: $399 per monitor