New nearfield adds a dual-concentric combined high/mid-range driver

The debut two‑way LP6 nearfield monitor from Kali Audio won praise from Paul White in SOS December 2018. Now they’ve returned with a new active design that incorporates some of the same tech.

The IN8 (as the monitor is known) shares its eight‑inch woofer and one-inch tweeter with the LP6’s larger brother, the LP8. However, the newer speaker is a three‑way design with a concentric four-inch mid‑range driver. That is, the treble driver is housed within the mid-range driver, which also acts as a waveguide for the tweeter. The IN8’s built-in 140W Class-D amp drives the woofer with 60W, and the tweeter and mid-range with 40W of power each. Just like the LP6 and LP8, simple room-tuning EQ controls are available on the rear of the speaker.

As with similar concentric designs in the past (notably many Tannoy monitors), Kali claim the advantages are better phase coherence, as a result of the treble and mid-range acting as a point source. They also suggest the IN8 offers greater detail in its imaging and improved distortion performance, because the mid‑range driver takes over some of the MF duties handled by the bass driver on the more affordable LP monitors.

The IN8 is available now in the USA, and will be shipping internationally before the end of the year, retailing for €798 a pair in Europe and the UK$798 a pair in the US.