Thoughts after Sweetwater Visit

David Lai

Sounds like a blast - thanks for sharing. It's very rare to get a chance to try so many products side-by-side as you did, so your impressions are very instructive.

I've heard a lot of good things about the those Kali LP6 monitors, especially for the price. I would consider getting them, but I'm afraid they are slightly too large for the space where I want to mount them, so I'm leaning more towards Genelecs as they have a more compact shape, even though they are a lot more expensive.

I would also love to hear the Focal Shape 65s, but I think they may also be too large for my space. But I've had a pair of Focal speakers in my hi-fi system for the past 20+ years, and they are probably the single best investment I ever made in terms of audio. Even today they still sound amazing and better than most new speakers anywhere near their price range.

jdg78 The Genelecs sounds bland to my ears, and not very fun to listen to at first, though maybe time will help you adjust? But it's not my cup of tea.

The Focal Shape 65s have much detail, and the default tuning makes fun and satisfactory listening. Be ware that these speakers are best in a nearfield setup, sitting away from it won't give you as much of the soundstage and imaging. It's my daily driver now for close to a year and I love them so much!!!

The Kali LP6s are good as a starter speaker, and the sound characteristics are, in my mind, very similar to the Focal Shapes, minus some high frequency shimmer, and also the amps they use are more noisy than the Shapes. I think if you have the budget for them, go directly with the Shapes. As for space, the pedestals my parents made for the KRK Rokit5 G4s I used to use can also fit the Focal Shape 65s, in fact, they fit perfectly. So I imagine, if you can house a pair of speakers with 5-inch woofers, then this wouldn't be a problem.

i don't understand the obsession with "monitor" branded speakers. it's mostly advertising. more neutral speakers are out there in the hifi space at comparable / lower cost, and you can pick your own dac/amp.

kawafanboi I know your opinions, KFB, and I respect them. However, we have different use cases. For me, a powered speaker is more space saving, and I have less cables to work with, only my audio interface and laptop (source and preamp). Also, this setup is what studios use anyway, so all the better. And marketing does contribute to how to get the word out, but these studio monitors are not just advertising. Hope this was enlightening.

David Lai Do you prefer digital pianos over the Pearl River pianos then, if you had to choose?

navindra If I choose, I'd prefer digitals for two reasons: 1 it's always in tune; 2 good digitals are just as good as acoustics, in my opinion.

My current practice setup is digital, FYI. I love an acoustic, but a university apartment doesn't allow it.

David Lai

david, do you find acoustic pianos are just too loud ? after going digital, i play my acoustics less and less due to volume, you don't realize it until you get a digital, and it's NOT an assault on your ears every time.

i distinctly remember as a child, piano practice would seem ungodly painfully loud for the first 15 minutes, before you get used to it.

kawafanboi No, I don't think acoustics are painfully loud. Yes, they are loud, but I guess I've gotten used to it. My main concern is the flexibility of such an instrument in modern day apartments. That's why I've gone digital with my setup.

David Lai Yes, I believe I've seen your setup with the VPC1 or something. It's very nice!

Do you have perfect pitch? If so, I can see how acoustic tuning variations over time could be bothersome.

navindra Yes, I do have perfect pitch. It mostly is a blessing, but sometimes can also be not so much. 🙂

Nice report, thanks!

Matias You're welcome. I thought I'd make the most out of it as I seldom get the chance to travel far because of my disability.

David Lai Matias You're welcome. I thought I'd make the most out of it as I seldom get the chance to travel far because of my disability.

It's such a shame the world is the way it is. I have a friend who is a blind computer scientist. She has a brilliant mind, but so many ordinary everyday things are a struggle. She's a great musician too.

Johnstaf Blindness is probably the most difficult disability out there in the world, I certainly feel it, especially when you're like me, having no light perception. The eyes are just… up there…

The amazing thing is that in many cases, where one sense is reduced, or not there, then other senses become stronger. In this case, hearing and possibly memory gets developed, and touch etc.

For music, even if we can 'hear' music in our minds if our actual hearing is not there ….. being able to hear … and hearing satisfactorily … definitely helps.

Thanks for the report/review @David Lai this is all very good to know!

RIP Thank you for reading! A friend posted some videos of me playing, all clips. I was having fun with the internal sounds of the Yamaha P-525 and the Nord keyboards, among other things. Wish you could see them… 🙂

@David Lai May I ask you one thing? I was intrigued by your slightly favourable comment about the casio s7000 (apart from the absence of buttons). A few months ago I bought a casio s1100 because the action felt good enough to me as a beginner, and quite frankly I really don't mind the short pivot. But it does not have continuous pedalling (not that I really can use it). There is a casio s5000 that has the same action of the s7000 and is exactly of the same size of my s1100 and so fits well in my custom "cabinetry". How much did you appreciate that casio action?

vagfilm Personally, I enjoy the action especially for fast passages, and even my friend who doesn't play the piano much understood me when I said that the action was "buttery smooth." So I think it's a good action, at least of the limited time I was able to have on it. I think the longer keys made it felt a bit more comfortable than the StudioLogic, but both left me good impressions after testing, all be it not exactly back to back. Hope this somewhat helps. 🙂