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Kali Audio IN-5 Three-Way Active Studio Monitors
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| Kali Audio IN-5 Three-Way Active Studio Monitors |
Kali Audio has the IN-5, a three-way studio monitor that features a 5-inch woofer, and concentric or coaxial 4-inch midrange with 1-inch tweeter driver. The IN-5 adds to the IN-8 in their "Independence" line of monitors; they both now use the same 4-inch concentric mid-range/tweeter driver. Its diaphragm or cone is not allowed to move than +/- 1-mm and acts as the tweeter's focusing waveguide.
Because the overall size of the IN-5 (15.1 H X 8.2 W X 11.2 D-inches), its smaller 5-inch paper cone woofer along with the LF to Mid crossover point at 280-Hz and Mid to HF point at 2.8kHz, the sound emanating from the IN-5 is considered a single, "point source". This is an important detail because it allows the IN-5 to be oriented on its side horizontally such as on top of a console bridge or just for a lower profile. You still get accurate sound with them that way.
And for best results, the recommended listening position is anywhere from a close 0.5 meters (1.5-feet) to 2.2-meters (7.2-feet). Halleluiah for home/project studio workers in small and tight spaces!
The IN-5 is powered by three Class-D amps for a total of 160-watts (continuous total); that's 80-watts to the woofer, and 40-watts each going to the midrange and tweeter drivers. This is an increase in power over the IN-8 (140-watts continuous total). Also interesting is that self-noise of these amplifiers is reduced by 12dB so in super-close monitoring usage, you will not hear any hiss or hum.
Other changes are: the improved DSP provides smoother high frequencies and the paper cone material of the woofer and mid-range are upgraded and made from new materials for greater reliability. Also they are not as glossy looking as on my IN-8 pair.
The Boundary EQ dipswitches and the printed quick reference guide, like all Kali monitors, is on the back panel with a new configuration added for when you place the IN-5s on their side. All Kali Audio monitors will work from RCA, TRS, or XLR outputs from -10dBv to +4dBu operating levels and are powered from AC mains from 100 to 240-VAC worldwide.
(WARNING! I'm a big believer and fan of Kali Audio monitors from the beginning and have used them since the LP-6 two-way monitor.)
I wanted to try the IN-5s in both vertical and horizontal positioning. I hooked them up to my Avocet II monitor controller using the +4dBU XLR connection and I set the IN-5's volume controls to the center detent. My room is acoustically treated and my IN-8s are set up vertically. With the IN-5s in the same location and the dipswitches set in the same way--all down, I can hear better imaging compared to my older IN-8s but of course I don't get the same amount of sub bass as I get from the IN-8s.
I also can hear more deeply into the mix and things like distortion and unintended noises in the mix are more easily discerned by me. A very good thing for a studio monitor!
I then setup the IN-5s horizontally on my monitor shelf with the mid/tweeter on the outside and dipswitches 1, 2, and 3 in the "on" position. I liked the increase stereo width despite being physically the same distance and positioning as before. This is an excellent option and now with the IN-5, as two coherent point sources, I don't get that "swishing or phasing" sound as I've heard before when moving my head from side-to-side between other monitors setup like this.
I think Kali Audio has done it again with these smaller size IN-5s! They are about 2/3rd the size of the IN-8s and look just as awesome. They weigh in at just 19-lbs and are somewhat portable.
Nate Baglyos of Kali says: "We're proud of the innovation that we're bringing to these new speakers. This was our first opportunity to build systems with direct user feedback in mind, and we think we've done a great job implementing changes and improvements based on that feedback."
The IN-5 sells for $349 MSRP.
www.kaliaudio.com/independence
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