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There’s been a welcome trend over the past few years of high-quality audio companies entering the gaming market. Industry newcomer Kali Audio is jumping in head first with its debut studio monitor, the LP-6 (See it on Amazon). The company was formed at the beginning of 2018 by JBL Pro alums, and their knowledge of speaker design shines through with the LP-6. They are excellent speakers with thumping, clean bass and a nice, round midrange.
The most interesting section of the back panel is the Boundary EQ control. Speaker placement can vary the frequency response significantly, and these EQ adjustments take different setups into account and tune the frequency output based on 8 different possibilities. These include sitting on a desk near a wall, on a stand more than a half meter away from the wall, or placed on a studio mixer for monitoring mixes. There are pictures on the back to indicate how to set the toggle switches for each option.
Additional toggle switches allow for high and low frequency trim by +/- 2 dB, and to turn the RCA connection on and off. I kept both trims set at neutral.
Kali Audio LP-6 Studio Monitor Speakers – Gaming and Music
Desktop speakers without subwoofers usually suffer from one of two problems: lack of bass that causes them to sound thin or muddy, or boomy bass that overpowers all the other frequencies. Neither of these issues are present in the Kali LP-6. They sound nothing short of amazing, especially for just $149 each.
Destiny 2 was thoroughly enjoyable with the Kali LP-6. I could feel the power of my weapons through the speakers. Explosions had great depth, the spoken language of the Fallen sounded menacing, and even when the firefight was messy it felt like an organized cacophony. None of the sounds were jumbled together. They all had their defined place.
The score of Destiny absolutely shined. The LP-6 are well suited to get the most out of the orchestral tones. I’m already a huge fan of it, but there were moments I found myself just sitting back and listening. That is, until an enemy found me.
It doesn’t take a fast-paced first-person shooter to see how good the LP-6 are, though. The background ambience of wind blowing, or the ringing of metal clashing in battles during Civilization VI were wonderfully immersive. And when the soundtrack kicks in it supports the epic feel of colonizing the world. They just sound great.
They just sound great.
Mike Doughty’s vocal stylings on Soul Coughing’s Screenwriter’s Blues fit perfectly between the instrumentation without any of his words being covered or obscured. The thud of the bass drum is nice and round while the high hat sparkles behind him. Bass and synth show off the width of the soundfield that the LP-6 provides. The high end can get a little forward, so some might want to bring the HF trim down 2 dB. It certainly mellows it out a bit without losing the sparkle.
Purchasing Guide
The Kali Audio LP-6 have an MSRP of $149 for each speaker, or $298 a pair.
The Verdict
The Kali Audio LP-6 are truly amazing speakers for under $300 for a pair. They are a bit big for someone that has a small desk or isn’t used to studio monitors, but the tradeoff in sound quality is worth it. If you’re looking to upgrade to some high quality speakers these are the way to go.
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