Project Santa Monica

Kali Audio is presenting its most advanced loudspeaker yet. With top-of-the-line materials, components, and manufacturing processes, it promises the best of Kali Audio’s innovative engineering in a no-compromises studio monitor that will reveal every detail of your mix.

Active Model

The active Kali Audio’s SM-5 offers unparalleled accuracy, imaging, and translation, for every detail of your mix with pinpoint precision and fidelity. The SM-5 features user-editable DSP to process room calibration profiles on board, for a perfect fit in your room. With onboard processing for room calibration, each speaker can be programmed with delays, trims, and EQs to deliver accurate response in your room.

The SM-5 gives users full control of 8 parametric EQs, delay up to 12ms, and loudspeaker trim. These parameters can be accessed and edited using the Kali Control Panel* application, available for both Mac and Windows. Importantly, since these parameters are processed by the same DSP hardware already in line, using user-defined DSP adds no additional latency to the system. Total digital latency is acceptably low to allow tracking using the SM-5s.

Passive Model

The key to the SM-Series’ high performance is its 3-way coincident architecture. This design allows for the ultra-lifelike imaging of a coaxial speaker, while delivering the low distortion and midrange clarity that only a 3-way can achieve. Not only are the midrange and tweeter coaxial, they are also coincident, meaning that they are physically time aligned and thus phase coherent from all angles.

The SM-Series speakers are acoustic point sources, and particular care has been given to the transition from the midrange to the baffle. This transition is seamless to the edge of the speaker, resulting in an engrossing stereo image where details are lifelike and crisp.

Amplification

For full output with minimum distortion, Kali recommends bi-amplifying the speakers using an LEA amplifier with at least 100W per channel. Therefore the minimum choice for a pair of SM-5-Cs would be an LEA Connect 164. Nearly full output and acceptable distortion may also be attained using the single wire tuning and one of LEA’s 80W amplifiers. This means that it is possible to amplify up to four speakers using an LEA Connect 84 or up to 8 using an LEA Connect 88. Max SPL will be 1 dB lower and distortion will be slightly higher at full output.

Other Amplifiers

If you’d like to use a different amplifier, you’ll need to make sure that it can deliver 20VRMS into a 3 Ohm load. Most amplifiers rated for 100W at 4 Ohm should be sufficient, but you’ll need to verify that the amplifier you select is capable of handling a 3 Ohm load. The amplifier, or some other component after the amplifier in your signal chain, will need to include a peak limiter. Using the SM-5-Cs without a peak limiter will void your warranty.

NOTE: Kali Control Panel is currently in beta, and not all features may work as intended at this time.

Full specs and information are here.