Neumann KH 150 Monitor Review

[dymonde]

So, I just joined this forum, but have been reading a lot of the reviews. Especially the ones about the KH150s, before I ended up buying them. Been really happy with how they sound using MA1 to calibrate. Bought them a year ago.
I always turn them off when taking longer breaks and at the end of the day. Haven't been using the standby feature. A few days ago, I didn't do that and left them on overnight. The next morning one of the speakers had no sound. I tried everything. Turned on/off, waited a long time before turning on, switched cables, upgraded firmware ... Sometimes it seemed like it didn't turn on at all, sometimes the logo light turned on, but the sound was not there. I also thought there was a subtle burnt smell of the speaker. Of course this happened when I was about to finish the mixing of an album I've been working on for four years. So great timing!
Really disappointed that these speakers seem to have some issues, like the ones reported earlier in this thread. Mine are now on their way to service via the dealer. Sort of lucky this happened while the guarantee is still valid.
To those who have sent their speakers to service: How quick is Neumann here? It's really a bummer to be without the KH150 for a long time.

Also, the other speaker sometimes make a high-pitched sound, very low in volume, when I turn it on. If I turn it off and back on again, it disappears. It happens so rarely, that I suspect the dealer may not discover the issue if I send it in, so for now I won't do that. But I'm wondering if others have the same issue?

 

[VTKZ]

I had it only once that one speaker dont worked . After switching powercable and waiting 10min it worked suddenly. Never had any Problems with the functionality of the Speakers. (beside MA1 but i dont use it anymore)
Just write a Mail to the Neumann Service.

Imo it's pointless to write around in forums. Simply contact the service. With DSP speakers where everything is integrated, you can do almost nothing except replace cables.

And in my experience, the Service from Neumann & also the Dealer where i bought them, are pretty good and helpful. But i live in Germany where the Neumann HQ is located. I dont know how the international service is.

 

[dymonde]

I had it only once that one speaker dont worked . After switching powercable and waiting 10min it worked suddenly. Never had any Problems with the functionality of the Speakers. (beside MA1 but i dont use it anymore)
Just write a Mail to the Neumann Service.

Imo it's pointless to write around in forums. Simply contact the service. With DSP speakers where everything is integrated, you can do almost nothing except replace cables.

And in my experience, the Service from Neumann & also the Dealer where i bought them, are pretty good and helpful. But i live in Germany where the Neumann HQ is located. I dont know how the international service is.

Yeah, thanks, I'm not writing here to fix the problem, just to hear what others have experienced. I have already contacted Neumann and tried everything they suggested. The speaker is clearly damaged and on it's way to Neumann/Sennheiser via the dealer I bought it from (in Europe).
Their service seem reliable and good though, so I'm sure it will be fixed. Just annoying to be without the speaker for what I guess will be a few weeks (or months).

 

[VTKZ]

Yeah, thanks, I'm not writing here to fix the problem, just to hear what others have experienced. I have already contacted Neumann and tried everything they suggested. The speaker is clearly damaged and on it's way to Neumann/Sennheiser via the dealer I bought it from (in Europe).
Their service seem reliable and good though, so I'm sure it will be fixed. Just annoying to be without the speaker for what I guess will be a few weeks (or months).

ahh okey. I just wanted to help . As i said i only had once this small Start Problem. Otherwise i dont have functionality Issues with my 80's & 150's.
Stay strong without speakers :-D

 

[Ktacos]

I still can't believe how good the distortion performance is on these speakers. It's up there with purifi woofers but it's probably just some custom thing from peerless that costs a fraction of the purifi.

 

[kharan]

Purifi's claim to fame is mainly about IMD, for regular THD Purifi is among the best, but not necessarily a step ahead the competition.

We don't know the about the KH 150's IMD.

Come to think of it, the KH 310 probably has better IMD than the KH 150 despite its age, 3 drivers will do that.

 

[VTKZ]

I still can't believe how good the distortion performance is on these speakers. It's up there with purifi woofers but it's probably just some custom thing from peerless that costs a fraction of the purifi.

Its all about the whole concept i think. When youve an great treated room, and Subwoofer Concept against Roommodes (DBA, Multi Sub, SBA), who realy cares about the Driver Distortion. I mean, i use them in Homecinema / Music Use with higher SPL than most 150 user and even there the 150's can play so loud that my ears fall of without even a hint that the Limiter activates.

A friend of mine uses Genelec 8341 in the same Music / Homecinema Combo Use also with 4 Subs (Multi Sub) and he drive the Genelecs at 105 dB on the Listening Position.

So, i think the products from Neumann & also Genelec are just the maximum you can get out of this sized boxes with this Linearity & Resolution. Great engineering & part choices for my taste + for an awesome Price.

 

[40th Anniversary]

Update on previous posts. I moved my KH150 to my smaller office (untreated) to see how they would perform in a smaller room.
The room is 10x10.
I'm about 8 or 9 feet from the speakers, but I can move the speakers closer.
I've been moving them forward and backward an inch at a time; max position change is 1 feet + or -. I did this until I thought I hit a sweet spot.

In this smaller room the sound is "phenomenal" with the KH150s. I've turned the bass and the mid-bass on the monitors down 2 notches (I think that is -4 db). And the sound is just WOW stunning. I know subs can move air and shake a house, but I'm not into that. That said, the room wall's were indeed shaking. Everything sounded so perfect.
So I will leave the KH150s in the office room for now...which begs a new question.

My basement system sits in a room that is 11 x 19 feet with 8 feet high ceilings. I sit anywhere from 1o to 11 feet from my TV and speakers. Hence I would need 'far field' speakers, and something coherent.

How do you go about selecting far field and coherent speakers? OMG! I read that Klipsch Heresy's are coherent for voices. ??

Thank you.

 

[levimax]

Update on previous posts. I moved my KH150 to my smaller office (untreated) to see how they would perform in a smaller room.
The room is 10x10.
I'm about 8 or 9 feet from the speakers, but I can move the speakers closer.
I've been moving them forward and backward an inch at a time; max position change is 1 feet + or -. I did this until I thought I hit a sweet spot.

In this smaller room the sound is "phenomenal" with the KH150s. I've turned the bass and the mid-bass on the monitors down 2 notches (I think that is -4 db). And the sound is just WOW stunning. I know subs can move air and shake a house, but I'm not into that. That said, the room wall's were indeed shaking. Everything sounded so perfect.
So I will leave the KH150s in the office room for now...which begs a new question.

My basement system sits in a room that is 11 x 19 feet with 8 feet high ceilings. I sit anywhere from 1o to 11 feet from my TV and speakers. Hence I would need 'far field' speakers, and something coherent.

How do you go about selecting far field and coherent speakers? OMG! I read that Klipsch Heresy's are coherent for voices. ??

Thank you.

Since you like your KH150s why not KH420s for the larger room.

 

[40th Anniversary]

Since you like your KH150s why not KH420s for the larger room.

I have an amplifier that I can use; and KH420s might be very expensive (I can only imagine).

 

[¥€$]

Do the room EQ controls work the same way on these Neumanns as they do on non-SAM Genelecs? When you enable a reduction in those, such as in the 'bass' range, the reduction covers the whole output below bass's upper range, meaning that if you have both bass and deep bass reductions active, the reduction of the deep bass range will be even greater. I can see that this has both advantages and disadvantages. The "tabletop" setting doesn't work like that, of course. It only reduces output in a certain narrow range.

 

[Drew456]

All of a sudden one of my Kh150's doesn't show up in MA-1 when I connect it between a router and PC, having tried a few different ethernet cables to be sure, as well as doing a reset. Only connected it a few times in the past and never had any issues. It doesnt show up in the router either (no LED), as if it's dead.

So I now have one monitor with the latest firmware (because it did update yesterday) and the faulty one only with the previous firmware. Looks like it's going back.

I've read many times about standby issues on these pages (which also affects my pair about once every two months or so) but not about the ethernet port stopping functioning. I have the aes67 version of the kh150, which has two ethernet ports, although only the primary port is used for connecting to MA-1. I'll try again later just to be sure -)

 

[Pritaudio]

could a passive speaker with hypex amps rival this.
What passive speaker could that be. (Surely three way), and will it be below £2000.

 

[unpluggged]

could a passive speaker with hypex amps rival this.

No. This is not about the amps, it's about the DSP. Without it, you won't get as linear frequency and phase response and room correction.

 

[Pritaudio]

No. This is not about the amps, it's about the DSP. Without it, you won't get as linear frequency and phase response and room correction.

It would be about selecting a neutral speaker and applying eq to mic measurements.
The distortion would be important too.

 

[Pearljam5000]

I don't get the logic of thinking DIY could even reach that level
I could probably build a car but obviously never at the level of Ferrari or Bugatti or even Kia

 

[unpluggged]

It would be about selecting a neutral speaker and applying eq to mic measurements.

This is not what your previous post implied. Still, it's better to get a completely engineered package with these considerations having been taken care of rather than trying to work around the limitations of passive design.

 

[Karmacoma]

could a passive speaker with hypex amps rival this.
What passive speaker could that be. (Surely three way), and will it be below £2000.

You'll hardly get a better performance/price ratio. They're worth the 3000£. And as a bonus you'll avoid a headache.

 

[holdingpants01]

With these newer companies like Ascend Acoustics or AsciLabs that lean heavily onto Klippel NFS during design process it will certainly be possible to come close to this level with passive speakers, I mean they already are there or close enough. Though not necessarily cheaper because the amps aren't included, they can certainly look more home friendly

 

[Pritaudio]

It would be about getting value, and maybe versatility of exchanging speakers later too.