Help needed, looking for a pair of powered speakers for living room. Kali in-8? Neumann KH120/80 DSP?

[Tefnakht]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a set of speakers to have set up in a seriously non-optimal living room (4m wide, 7m long, 3m high). Bit of a nightmare positioning wise too so I'm ideally looking for something that isn't too fussy with rooms. Likewise, listening distance will vary from ~2m to ~5m. I would like these to sound really good at 2m but not fall apart totally further away than that.

I've spent a lot of time in studios as a musician and producer so have a bias towards standalone, powered speakers for their simplicity and flexibility across music genres. It seems that value for money and ease of use is dominated by speakers aimed more at studio use compared to typical hifi brands. Unfortunately, my experience has also been that room treatment absolutely trumps fancy speakers...

Thay being said, I would prefer speakers that aren't excessively harsh on treble as a lot of detail focused monitors are (I never want to work with a pair of ns10s ever again!). Detail is important to me but these are not going to be used for actual mixing so my priority is enjoying listening to them.

This is going to be a shared space so while I would love to organise the entire room around speaker positioning and acoustic treatment, that simply isn't an option sadly. Likewise, a sub isn't on the cards simply due to space requirements. With this in mind, what would people here recommend for a set of speakers that will make the best out of a bad room?

Room: 28m2, 84m3
Listening distance: 2-5m
Budget: <£1000
Will be plugged into wiim mini and placed on stands appropriate to listening height.

Currently I am leaning towards Kali IN-8s due to value for money and a gut feeling that larger speakers perform well outside of nearfield listening. The dsp options also seem suited to my suboptimal use case. I would also consider picking up a pair of Neumann kh-120 or kh-80 DSP if there is a strong reason to do so. My fear with these is that the analytical treble is less suitable for casual listening and their smaller size makes them less suitable for this use case.

Any recommendations heartily welcomed! Aside from those wise enough to recommend room treatment!

 

[Matias]

As an owner of the KH80 DSP I fear they are too small for such a large room. Even high passed.

So between the KH120 or the IN8v2 I would favor the IN8v2 for the larger woofer, and definitely add a sub like SVS SB2000 Pro and flatten peaks with its EQ.

Oh, and add room treatment. Welcome to ASR!

 

[radix]

I also have the KH80, which are great for small room, near-field listening. I don't think they'd move enough air in a large room for you to feel the music.

JBL also has some good powered speakers, like the 308P and 708P. See the active speaker recommendation thread:

Active Speaker Recommendations for USA (by @sweetchaos)

I'm constantly asked which speakers to purchase...so, here you go! :D This guide is for ACTIVE speakers. For PASSIVE speakers go here. Click on the "Spoiler" buttons below to expand each section. Readme: Legend: Active Speakers (aka Studio Monitors): Bookshelf speakers (when turned 90deg)...

www.audiosciencereview.com

You'll also want subs with many of those.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

KH150 plus subs (and if budget gets tight, start without the KH750).

Neumann KH 150 Monitor Review

This is a review, listening tests and measurements of the Neumann KH150 DSP 2-way studio monitor (active speaker). It is on loan from the company and costs US $1,750 (each). The design language is not changed of course. The main woofer is 6.5 inches now powered by 120 watt dedicated...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I own KH80 plus sub but for a much smaller room and for 1m listening distance.

 

[Trell]

The Kali monitors is the only option that is below your budget of £1000, according to Thomann UK. The KH 80 is too weak for your listening distance, and I guess the KH 120 might very well be too. The Kali has a larger woofer than the KH 120 as well.

Thomann Active Nearfield Monitors

Active Nearfield Monitors at Europe's largest retailer of musical instruments - fast delivery, 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee and 3-year Thomann warranty

www.thomann.de

 

[LTig]

The KH80 are not suited for this room at all, with or without a sub. The KH120 should do for 2 m and if you don't play loud for 5 m as well. A sub would help but is out of your budget. The Kali IN-8 are certainly suited best with respect to room size but I would try to have a listen to both (IN-8 and KH120) before you decide.

 

[Septentrio]

The KH80 DSP is a no go in that listening distance. I'd go IN-8, but I suspect they won't go crazy loud 5m away (Kali recommends 4m as the maximum listening distance if memory serves me).

 

[NiagaraPete]

Genelec 8040, 8340, 8341.

 

[AudioJester]

I actually prefer my IN6 to my KH120 in nearfield. Both work ok 2-3m in a small bedroom, actually pretty good with a sub

 

[TimW]

For that large of a space with potentially 5M listening distance I would expect you to need high output level capabilities. The IN-8s probably have the best output capability (114 dB spec) of any decently measuring speakers under 1000 euro a pair. For that reason I voted for them. But if you need more output there are speakers under that budget which get louder but probably sound worse. For instance, Behringer Truth B2031A (116 dB max spl spec) or a PA speaker like JBL EON 710 (125 dB spec).

 

[teashea]

I have a pair of KH120's with the KH750. I use them in my recording studio. I use them nearfield - 1 meter. They are excellent in this capacity. They are not designed for farfield and woudl not do well in that role.