Advice needed. Kali in-8 v2 vs Genelec 8030c vs Neumann KH 120 II

[SoutosPavlos]

Hello guys!
Due to my inability to listen those studio monitors from up close, I would greatly appreciate your input in order to make my next studio monitor purchase.

First of all regarding my room, it is 2.92m x 2.75m in size and my desk (where the speakers are) is 10 cm away from the wall.
The room is untreated for now but I will slowly start treating it.
I am listening at a distance of 80cm to 1m with a max distance of 1.5m. (in case of watching movies with friends)
My current setup is 2 adam t7v on my desk and a kali ws12 v2 sub.
My main use of the studio monitors is computer use, music, movies and games and electric guitar.
I was looking to upgrade my system because I finally managed to gather a budget.
I have no problems with the adam t7vs, maybe for movies, home cinema they would not be able to go too loud but it is probably because i have set the gain at +0db.
I would like a speaker that would be as true as possible, and also although not as important, play loud if i wanted to. (prefer accuracy over loudness though)
I was looking at the kali in-8 v2 due to their coaxial, 3 way design and I had ordered them but due to a shortage of supply the delivery was delayed and I am considering of canceling.
The genelec 8030c and neumann kh120 II are also under my budget and I have read so many awesome reviews about their performance which seems to be better even though they are 2 way Monitors.
I am also considering purchasing isoaccoustics because unfortunately there is not enough space to put speaker stands behind my desk.
Your input is greatly appreciate it!
Thank you also for your time!

 

[unpluggged]

Of these three the KH 120 II perform the best. Should you ever feel that they lack the lowest octave, you could add the KH 750 DSP.

And I think it is unwise to get speakers with no DSP or no room EQ capability today, so it's again the KH 120 II, and I'd recommend getting the bundle with the MA 1 kit.

 

[SoutosPavlos]

Of these three the KH 120 II perform the best. Should you ever feel that they lack the lowest octave, you could add the KH 750 DSP.

And I think it is unwise to get speakers with no DSP or no room EQ capability today, so it's again the KH 120 II, and I'd recommend getting the bundle with the MA 1 kit.

Thanks a lot for the answer!

If i end up going the neumann route, will I have problems connecting the monitors through my kali ws12 v2 sub and then calibrating with the ma mic? Is there any specific requirment for the kh 750 dsp sub?
Also I've seen there are two different versions of the neumann 120, the normal one and the aes67 which is way more expensive. Is there any difference to them?

 

[unpluggged]

If i end up going the neumann route, will I have problems connecting the monitors through my kali ws12 v2 sub and then calibrating with the ma mic? Is there any specific requirment for the kh 750 dsp sub?

MA 1 software does not support third-party speakers. You can try to manually integrate the sub with the speakers and then use the MA 1 to do room EQ of the whole system, but you may not get the best result for your effort, if at all.

Also I've seen there are two different versions of the neumann 120, the normal one and the aes67 which is way more expensive. Is there any difference to them?

AES67 is a professional standard for multichannel audio over networks intended for large recording studios, broadcasting, and installations. If you ask what it is, then you probably don't need it

 

[SoutosPavlos]

Thanks again for all the info!
Considering my kali sub is new and I do not plan to buy a new sub soon, would you still suggest the neumanns without dsp calibration or would it be better to save money and get either the kali in8v2s or the genelec 8030c?

 

[unpluggged]

Considering my kali sub is new and I do not plan to buy a new sub soon, would you still suggest the neumanns without dsp calibration or would it be better to save money and get either the kali in8v2s or the genelec 8030c?

Neumanns without room EQ are still better than the other two options without room EQ

It's just that with the KH 750 DSP you can build a well-integrated and corrected full-range system almost effortlessly. With a third-party sub, you will have to spend some time trying to match them. BTW, you will have to do it also with Kali monitors, since Kali has no means to align the sub and speakers automatically.

 

[Bruce Morgen]

Thanks again for all the info!
Considering my kali sub is new and I do not plan to buy a new sub soon, would you still suggest the neumanns without dsp calibration or would it be better to save money and get either the kali in8v2s or the genelec 8030c?

The price differential between the (IMO marginally better) Neumanns and the Kalis is huge -- IMO the latter is the slam dunk choice based on price/performance ratio alone! Of course YMMV -- some of us are more budget conscious than others.

 

[dfuller]

Kalis offer much greater bang for buck but they are substantially larger. If that matters to you, get the smaller speakers.

 

[Bruce Morgen]

Kalis offer much greater bang for buck but they are substantially larger. If that matters to you, get the smaller speakers.

The IN-5 is excellent, and a pair of them would probably be indistinguishable from IN-8v2s with that monster sub in the system -- I have one for my center channel between my pair of IN-8v2s and it's very handy for movies and TV.

 

[geek101]

For the price Kali in8 v2 are very good and they need a good sub. I was able to grab new ones at $500.

None of the two other speakers have coincidental drivers, if vertical dispersion is not an issue Nuemann Kh120ii will be my choice at almost 4x the Kali in8 v2s price.

 

[SoutosPavlos]

Thanks a lot for all the wonderful answers.
Due to the shortage of kalis I canceled my order and managed to secure 2 pieces for Neumann kh120 for 685 per piece! (white color, my favorite)
Also managed to buy isoaccoustics 130 to place them on my desk.
They should be arriving tomorrow!
Will be pairing them with the kali sub for now and I will maybe get the neumann mic later.

 

[Ktacos]

Will be pairing them with the kali sub for now and I will maybe get the neumann mic later.

You'll probably want to get a regular measurement mic with cal file. I recommend an emm6 from cross spectrum labs. With neuman MA-1 you'll only get correction on the KH120 (if they are mk 2.) and you really, really want it to be on the subs as well so you'll have to do correction elsewhere either via software or hardware. The MA-1 mic is kind of way overpriced and not really useful if you can't apply their own correction to the entire speaker setup.

 

[SoutosPavlos]

You'll probably want to get a regular measurement mic with cal file. I recommend an emm6 from cross spectrum labs. With neuman MA-1 you'll only get correction on the KH120 (if they are mk 2.) and you really, really want it to be on the subs as well so you'll have to do correction elsewhere either via software or hardware. The MA-1 mic is kind of way overpriced and not really useful if you can't apply their own correction to the entire speaker setup.

Thank you! I will look into it!

 

[SoutosPavlos]

Following the advise of the isoacoustics selector for the neumann kh 120 II I was instructed to buy the isoacoustics 130. Is there any reason to ignore the advice and purchase the 155 model?
Do any of you have experience with those stands?

 

[SoutosPavlos]

Also upon further searching I can see that the Isoacoustics calculator suggests iso 130 for the normal Neumann KH 120 II and iso 155 for the Neumann KH 120 II Aes67 version, which is exactly the same monitor in terms of size and weight. Which stand do you think I should go for?

 

[Halbknapp]

You'll probably want to get a regular measurement mic with cal file. I recommend an emm6 from cross spectrum labs. With neuman MA-1 you'll only get correction on the KH120 (if they are mk 2.) and you really, really want it to be on the subs as well so you'll have to do correction elsewhere either via software or hardware. The MA-1 mic is kind of way overpriced and not really useful if you can't apply their own correction to the entire speaker setup.

The neumann MA1 Hardware seen on its own is a rather good measurement mic (much lower noise then cheap mics and very accurate calibration). Even with a sub it is useful to tap into the filters of the main monitors and do all correction you can there including propably the highpass needed. Of course its more work if the sub is not integrated directly.
If other external means of PEQ are used any other mic calibrated mic will do as well but if you have neumann speakers anyway there is value in the MA1 Mic and Software Bundle.

 

[Ktacos]

If other external means of PEQ are used any other mic calibrated mic will do as well but if you have neumann speakers anyway there is value in the MA1 Mic and Software Bundle.

Does it let you do highpass? I only got to use it when it just came out and it was so bad I managed to get sweetwater to change some wording on their site that was misleading and support was so bad that I got a full refund and could keep the mic. I hope it's better now. It's still a very expensive measurement mic considering a good one costs $70 and you're basically paying to access features already in the product.

 

[Halbknapp]

Does it let you do highpass? I only got to use it when it just came out and it was so bad I managed to get sweetwater to change some wording on their site that was misleading and support was so bad that I got a full refund and could keep the mic. I hope it's better now. It's still a very expensive measurement mic considering a good one costs $70 and you're basically paying to access features already in the product.

I really have to double check in the program but it won't let me unless i wire everything and the KH150s are currently sitting on the shelf. I have to get them out anyway and try to get them to good use so i will report back. The MA1 measurement mic however is my daily driver for all measurements (but i am propably not a typical user).

 

[SoutosPavlos]

Is there someone that owns the neumann kh120 II here that could measure this length? ( without the elevated back , just the footprint depth )

 

[AnalogSteph]

From Thomann's 360° view, I would estimate about 187 mm.