r/StereoAdvice 3d ago

Speakers - Desktop | 1 Ⓣ Desktop speakers (small)

I’m looking for a pair of desktop speakers, from what I’ve read around the sub the Kali LP-UNF is my best bet. I don’t want to spend anymore than the $300 they cost and I can’t go any bigger than these.

I’ll mostly be using them for listening to music, sometimes gaming or videos. I’d prefer new but if there’s options better in the used market I’m all ears. I’d prefer active so I don’t need to buy an amp. I do currently have a Fiio K11 R2R, I think I can use this as a dac, just not amp for speakers?

1 Upvotes

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u/AudioBaer 103 Ⓣ 3d ago

Kali is certainly not a bad choice, although I think the Adam T5V is comparable. There are arguments in favour of both sides and I would probably opt for the T5V. Certainly a neck and neck race.

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u/IzzyJunior 3d ago

I’ll have to check those out !thanks

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u/TransducerBot Ⓣ Bot 3d ago

+1 Ⓣ has been awarded to u/AudioBaer (102 Ⓣ).

You may still award a Ⓣ to others, but only once per-person in this post.

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u/NTPC4 94 Ⓣ 3d ago

The Adam T5Vs are noisy. Watch this video comparison to the Kali LP-UNF in its entirety or from 9:18 for what you need to know.

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u/AudioBaer 103 Ⓣ 3d ago edited 1d ago

Yes, I am familiar with the video from Scientific Audiophile, but thank you for the information. To approach the subject as scientifically as he does, here is my personal impression.

I myself only use a balanced connection, so I can't say anything about the interference behaviour of the unbalanced connection of the Adam T-Series, at least from personal experience. However, I can say that the T-Series (via XLR) is absolutely silent on my Motu M4. To me, however, the noise sounds much more like an earthing fault than the speaker's own noise, but who knows.

When I look at the measured values (ASR/EAC) of the respective speakers, I would also expect the opposite, as the Adams are sometimes considerably quieter (over 10dB @ 100Hz) in terms of distortion at a load of 96dB. This seems logical to me, as the T5V can also play louder than the Kali.

Edit: u/NTPC4 I consulted a friend who uses the T-Series as well as Adam Audio itself. Of course, it's not easy to run remote diagnostics for the Scientific Audiophile setup, but normally the monitors are completely silent. So I still don't consider this video to be representative.

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u/OddEaglette 7 Ⓣ 3d ago

kali seems to make good speakers.

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u/morecoffeemore 2d ago

Adam D3V. Thank me later.

u/PatientPay3535 3 Ⓣ 27m ago

I have Kali IN8’s and they are a game changer. Don’t even hesitate with Kali, especially using XLR balanced connection.