Kali Audio IN5-5" Active Studio Monitor, Black (Single Unit)

Product Information

These compact monitors from new company Kali Audio strike an enticing balance between performance and affordability." - Sound on Sound It also means that the midrange needs to stay still. In many other co-axial or concentric systems, high excursion from the larger driver causes intermodulation distortion, and degrades the accuracy of the system. The midrange on the IN-Series is limited to less than 1 millimeter peak-to-peak excursion, making it acoustically stationary while still providing midrange to keep up with the powerful woofer and tweeter.

Diagram 1: A close‑mic measurement of the IN‑5 bass driver, revealing a port tuning frequency of around 43Hz. So here we weren’t really expecting that claimed greater sweet spot but we certainly got it, so much so we nearly wore our chair wheels out rolling around the studio space finding its limits. We’ve enjoyed reviewing the IN-8s so much that it almost pains us that we can’t recommend them to everyone. In terms of bass, the IN‑5 acquitted itself well in that Kali have not been too greedy in terms of trading LF bandwidth extension against timing and pitch accuracy. The IN‑5 doesn’t have the bass quality of a high‑end closed‑box monitor, but at its remarkable price that would be expecting too much. The bass it plays is useful and trustworthy in a nearfield mix context, and I think an improvement on what I remember of the IN‑8, which I felt was a little overcooked. The compromises inherent in bass performance from a small ported monitor appear to have been handled pretty well.

All the tools you need

You can take any Linux and install pentesting tools on it, but you have to set the tools up manually and configure them. Kali is optimized to reduce the amount of work, so a professional can just sit down and go. The IN-Series solves this problem. 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 well under a quarter wavelength at the crossover point. This means that each IN-Series monitor is acoustically a point source. As such, it has the same excellent directivity that the LP-6 and LP-8 have at their sides in a full 360 degrees around the speaker. You’re hearing all of the spatial information at the listening position, so the soundstage that you hear will have every detail that’s present in the mix. Clarity

Adam Audio - I'm pretty sold on their brand and also done a lot of research on the brand & both A & T series line of monitors, so this is what I'm leaning towards as of NOW.... This is decent but should you wish to expend the low end, there’s also a new (and absolutely massive) subwoofer in the Kali range, the WS-12 [see boxout]. The [massive] WS-12 sub-woofer Do we recommend it? A little like the IN-8’s themselves, WS-12 is overkill if your studio is small – this thing is huge – but it is a great option for bass producers.

Subjective listening was primarily at 1.5 meters. Subjective listening was conducted at 80-95dB at this distance. Higher volumes were done simply to test the output capability in case one wants to try to sit further away.

Hiss: When sitting in the nearfield, approximately 1 meter away, I didn’t experience any issues with noise floor in my living room. When I put my ear next to the speakers, I notice the noise floor. But, in my opinion, this is a non-issue. The T7v would be my minimum for an Adam, as the T5v only goes to 106 dB (103 for a single one I believe) which isn't low, but for some dynamic peaks it will be, and however it's handling distortion I don't like. The Devialet Phantom Reactor claims only 98dB but it doesn't sound as ragged when it's hitting that. The front port means you have more ability to move these speakers in to the prime spot for your needs. And thanks to the dip switches you have more ability to place the speakers where you need; whether free standing, near a wall or on a console. Profile-optimized Midrange Driver: Clear mids and excellent directivity all the way to the top of the frequency response.As stated in the Foreword, this written review is purposely a cliff’s notes version. For more details about the performance (objectively and subjectively) please watch the YouTube video. Based on my results above, it is obvious the output is limited (via internal DSP) somewhere above the 96dB @ 1m output level. Kali confirmed this measurement is accurate and a limiter is purposely used here to protect the speakers from being overdriven. I do find it interesting that the limiter does not restrict the 80Hz region as much as it does the other frequencies, though.