Neumann KH 150 Monitor Review

[holdingpants01]

I feel the KH310 MK2 are coming soon, the price for KH310 on Thomann is 1823€ vs 1454€ for KH150, that is as low as I paid for them back in 2020

 

[Pearljam5000]

I feel the KH310 MK2 are coming soon, the price for KH310 on Thomann is 1823€ vs 1454€ for KH150, that is as low as I paid for them back in 2020

New KH310 would probably cost more than current ones unfortunately

 

[holdingpants01]

New KH310 would probably cost more than current ones unfortunately

For the last two years KH310 MK1 were about 200€ more, my guess is MK2 will be priced at 2500€ or so

 

[SlothRock]

Neumann KH310 in the states are $2500 each. My guess is that Mark 2 is $3k/each or $3250/each ($1500 more than KH150). I think my true "upgrade" path if I'm looking for something that will be a large upgrade to my KH120 A's is going to be a KH310 (or 3 way speaker in general) but ponying up ~$6k isn't something I'm very open to

 

[SlothRock]

Quick noob question but if I was to go with the KH 150 or 120 II, would there be a benefit in going to a digital connection from my pre-amp vs analog XLR for my two subs? It looks like the wiring is a bit less complicated from this graph (no need for splitters for instance) but unsure if there were additional benefits to consider…

 

[Karmacoma]

How come?

They're double the price

 

[Karmacoma]

If I understood your situation correctly (by now), it appears financial constraints are an important factor for your choice. Which is quite normal, I do not even have the money to buy a new pair of 120 II’s.

Which is why your question appears quite illogical to me: for full range reproduction, you will need bass management in both cases. My speakers play to ~43 Hz -3 dB and I will add a subwoofer soon. It’s perfectly fine listening on them to all sorts of music. Bass “oomph” (@SlothRock) is usually around 100 Hz. Sub bass is adding scale, not power to the bass presentation.

Bigger woofers are more important to control distortion. Neumann did manage to have very little distortion with the small woofers, and adding a sub will further mitigate the issue.

My x-mas present to you, to react again to your ever circling, inconclusive questions, I want to finish with an advice that I gave to you before: buy what you can afford, and buy it now. Do not think about the question whether (in the case you won the lottery?) you should invest ten grand Schekel for the best system there is. In ten years, cardiod active speakers might be a mainstay in consumer audio and you might prefer this technology.

Then again, as I see myself painting this image: probably you should just wait ten more years...

Happy holidays, stay safe.

Always been my view. Our ears are degrading no matter what. Buy now. I'll buy less and less stuff as time passes. Plenty options to get accurate and balanced sound at any price.

 

[SlothRock]

Got ~$300 off per speaker so I decided to go after the KH 150's. Gonna be pair REAL nicely with my two KH750's. Feel like this will be my "forever" set unless there's massive improvements in 15-20 years (which i'm sure there will be)

 

[SlothRock]

Well, well, well! Happy New Year!

 

[Pearljam5000]

View attachment 338577Well, well, well! Happy New Year!

How's the sound ?

 

[SlothRock]

How's the sound ?

I just got through the MA 1 setup and have run about 5 songs and I gotta say I am EXTREMELY impressed vs my KH 120A's. The bass oomph/punch is finally where I was hoping it would be, and I didn't even need to EQ the alignment to boost it like I did when I was aligning with my KH 120 A's. I'm not sure if it's because the 150's have DSP themselves and that, in and of itself, makes a bigger difference in the accuracy of the alignment but it worked fantastic on the first attempt.

I'm not sure if my KH 120's just didn't have the power to get the most out of my dual KH 750's but, with the 150's, it really feels like the dual 750's are now singing and putting out what they should be. Other than the bass, the mids and highs also just sound a lot more vibrant/realistic than the KH 120 A's (even after DSP with the 120's). You can definitely tell how low the distortion is with how clean of a representation I'm getting. So far, very very satisfied with making the call to upgrade. I was really worried the improvement would be marginal and I'd feel buyers remorse but that is 100% not the case.

 

[SlothRock]

Don’t speak to me or my son ever again

 

[Pearljam5000]

Size difference is crazy lol

 

[Karmacoma]

Don’t speak to me or my son ever again

View attachment 338602

I'm interested to see you try a surround setup now

 

[SlothRock]

I'm interested to see you try a surround setup now

I’m sure that’d be incredible but im now maxed out for space on my desk setup. I decided to go for the 150’s because even if a 310 II came out it’s just too wide for me to want to fit on my desk (and too expensive lol) and I don’t have the space behind my desk to put them on speaker stands/behind the desk. So unfortunately surround doesn’t feel possible.

 

[AudioJester]

Stack them

 

[dfuller]

Don’t speak to me or my son ever again

View attachment 338602

I should find somebody with a KH80 and put it next to one of my 420s to do this

 

[SlothRock]

I should find somebody with a KH80 and put it next to one of my 420s to do this

That would be hilarious

 

[teashea]

I feel the KH310 MK2 are coming soon, the price for KH310 on Thomann is 1823€ vs 1454€ for KH150, that is as low as I paid for them back in 2020

It will be interesting to see. I have a pair of KH310's as well as several other Neumann monitors in my studio - including KH 150's and KH 120 II's). It will be particularly interesting to see how the new KH 310's compare to the KH 150's.

 

[sm5]

Hello Filio45,

Both versions are possible. Going into the monitors first reduces the overall system delay because of the latency free digital out of the monitors.

View attachment 324723

These two ways don't seem to get past the part where the speakers are made silent to check levels in the MA-1 calibration. (I also tried going the way in the manual says too.
2.1 doesn't work either.

Digital to KH150 to next KH150 does work though as long as no subs are involved.

Not sure if there's a bug in the software or firmware as they calibrate fine completely analog. (If it's analog to the left sub and a digital cable to 2nd sub and analog to both KH150's: it works too.)

EDIT: The new KH150 firmware seems to have fixed it! Thanks!