With respect to the LP-6 hiss, I’m not doubting that balanced cables may benefit some, though do question an earlier post about dated production “batches.” Could be Kali is sending mixed signals about this?
My detailed email to Kali this past December, providing serial numbers as I bought from a third-party vendor, was answered by a justification that this class of monitor was within the range of being acceptable for the noise it emits. This, even as I described how these chronically sounded like it’s raining outside my studio. My “batch” were of the later white model, btw, and Kali did not clarify with my respect to the info I got here about any earlier production runs. Incidentally, my balanced cables were the same ones connected to my Adam A7s, which have never hissed.
Perhaps it’s obvious that when I contact any support, I am fairly detailed about the info I have, lol. My checklist of questions, and their response, is that this nicely priced monitor is what it is: arguably better than other options in that $300 class/price range, yet with its own inherent caveats.
As for my impressions, I think I got caught up expecting that a decent monitor at such a great price could perform miracles. My experience with the LP-6 was that the annoying hiss was secondary to the way it (mis)handled rigors of midi orchestration. Despite the dip switch settings, these were not adequate for my needs, particularly with mid-range strings. Yet, they did exceed some expectations in other ways.
The initial use was impressive with a focused lower end, especially for some brass, and a crisp tightness with some higher frequencies. But the proof was in the daily use over time, my assessment after a couple of days being that of a surprisingly good monitor when composing sections in isolation, but where, after that first week, the orchestral spectrum never came together for me. I gave them a month, in fact.
I own/use most sample libraries available, and cello, viola, lower violin all sounded tinny and thin - no matter how I adjusted the switches to match placement my room. To my ears, there is/was just a distinct drop-off for a two-way monitor, as can be anticipated even with some higher priced monitors, but where these entry level Kali (now that they have introduced a higher-end three-way) does not hold up to orchestrating/mixing demands I’m looking for. Others may disagree.
In the end, I missed the Amazon window for a return, but have these boxed for some future purpose, if not for cross-referencing mixes if/when I find more space to set them up. My synths sounded great on these, and for the money, I felt these were really good for certain genres, even crisper and more true than my original Adam A7s in some contexts. But a lot of (better) options have debuted in the years since the A7s were released, hence my taking a chance with the cheaper Kali after its glowing reviews.
And hence, I got a bit caught up late last year in muddling this notion of a lower priced monitor’s claims compared to others out of its league. Not a bad monitor in its class, but not designed to compete with a higher quality investment either - I ended up with DynAudio LYD 8s (which I am very happy with). But I took a $300 detour before coming back to the realty of what my needs demand I spend.
This free user review provided as a courtesy by gpax, lol.