Neumann KH 150 Monitor Review

[Pearljam5000]

The Neumanns are currently in my bed room (approx. 35 m^2) and the Geithains are in my living room (approx. 60m^2). The listening distance to the Neumanns is below 2 m (< 3 m to the Geithains). Both rooms are untreated (but this might change in the future). I performed measurements at both listening positions and corrected boomy bass frequencies accordingly. I like both speakers very much. If I wouldn't suffer midlife crises the Neumanns provide all I need. The Geithains and Neumanns are the best speakers I have heard so far. I recently attended a listening session of a 350 kEUR system here in Berlin and was pretty much disappointed.

Subjectively the Geithains have a more 3D soundstange since they are positioned in the middle of my living room. When it comes to tonality both speakers just sound great.

Current Neumann set-up:

View attachment 277230

View attachment 277231

View attachment 277232

I also have a Genelec system in my little home office. Genelec makes room correction really easy...!!!

And do they Genelecs compare ?

 

[Berlin]

And do they Genelecs compare ?

Genelec: better software
Neumann: better sound
Geithain: no software, no DSP, great veneer, best sound

...

 

[JustCoolin‘]

The Neumanns are currently in my bed room (approx. 35 m^2) and the Geithains are in my living room (approx. 60m^2). The listening distance to the Neumanns is below 2 m (< 3 m to the Geithains). Both rooms are untreated (but this might change in the future). I performed measurements at both listening positions and corrected boomy bass frequencies accordingly. I like both speakers very much. If I wouldn't suffer midlife crises the Neumanns provide all I need. The Geithains and Neumanns are the best speakers I have heard so far. I recently attended a listening session of a 350 kEUR system here in Berlin and was pretty much disappointed.

Subjectively the Geithains have a more 3D soundstange since they are positioned in the middle of my living room. When it comes to tonality both speakers just sound great.

Current Neumann set-up:

View attachment 277230

View attachment 277231

View attachment 277232

I also have a Genelec system in my little home office. Genelec makes room correction really easy...!!!

That was quick, thank you, appreciate it!

 

[Pearljam5000]

Genelec: better software
Neumann: better sound
Geithain: no software, no DSP, great veneer, best sound

...

Do you have the Ones? thanks

 

[computer-audiophile]

I recently attended a listening session of a 350 kEUR system here in Berlin and was pretty much disappointed.

Hallo Berlin

I can well imagine that.
BTW: I like your stylish interior photos with furniture classics and pictures.

 

[Berlin]

Do you have the Ones? thanks

No, 8330 AWM plus 7350 APM. Listening distance is < 1 m (or < 3 m when watching TV)...

https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...hoto-of-your-desktop-setup.29756/post-1468368

 

[Pearljam5000]

No, 8330 AWM plus 7350 APM. Listening distance is < 1 m (or < 3 m when watching TV)...

https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...hoto-of-your-desktop-setup.29756/post-1468368

Oh OK
I guess a more fair comparison would be to compare your Geithains and the Ones as they're both coaxial

 

[Tovarich007]

@Berlin, which Geithain model do you own ? (maybe you wrote it before but I haven't found it).

How could you compare the sound you get from your 3 speakers set -Neumann Kh150, Genelec 8330+7350 and Geithain ?
Anyway, you don't listen to them in the same room, nor at the same distance, nor in the same acoustics, so comparison could be a difficult task, but at least these will give us your subjective impressions (after all, we all listen subjectively, too).

 

[Tovarich007]

As for the coaxial HPs, its implementation in the Geithain and in the Genelec the Ones is quite different. And it's only one of multiple parameters to rely, there are many others : fistering and amplification -Geithain have no DSPs and traditionnal class A/B amps- of course different size and bass extension, SPL max, room interaction may be different too (Geithain have a special so called (partially) cardiod diffusion in the bass and mid bass, etc.

 

[Berlin]

@Berlin, which Geithain model do you own ? (maybe you wrote it before but I haven't found it).

How could you compare the sound you get from your 3 speakers set -Neumann Kh150, Genelec 8330+7350 and Geithain ?
Anyway, you don't listen to them in the same room, nor at the same distance, nor in the same acoustics, so comparison could be a difficult task, but at least these will give us your subjective impressions (after all, we all listen subjectively, too).

I own the RL 901K. Yes, you are right. The speakers are in different rooms of different sizes. The listening distances are different and the room reverberation times are different. However, subjectively they all sound great to me. And when it comes to voices they do all sound much better than the passives ones I had before...

If I had to choose only one pair, it would be the Geithains. The Neumanns have IMHO the best price-performance ratio. The Neumanns and Genelecs have the smallest footprint. With a subwoofer, the Genelecs are unbeatable in terms of space. The Genelecs have the easiest room correction software. The Geithains, despite their lack of DSP, are the least critical in terms of placement due to their cardioid design.

 

[teashea]

Hi @Vadimchik ,
I just bought a pair of KH150's because i was so satisfied with the KH80's. They sound the same but with deeper bass. But their dispersion is different, it is less wide. For me they don't work in the same room and position as the KH80's (small room for nearfield listening ca. 1,3 mtr). So i use them in our livingroom which is perfect for how i like my sound (listening distance ca. 3mtr).

The narrow dispersion pattern of the KH150's is excellent for nearfield studio use as monitors. This minimizes the relative importance of room reflections. I have KH150's, KH310's, KH120's and KH120's/KH750 in my studio. I like the KH150's so much that I am ordering a second pair of them for my new mixing/mastering station.

 

[teashea]

Sound demo:

It is unfortunate that speaker tests played on YT are so meaningless. The true sound of the speakers are modified by the microphone and recording system used, by YT's filtering of the audio and by the playback system used to listen to YT.

 

[teashea]

For the distance, yes. I had Revel ultima studio's (serie 1) in the same place, they sounded bigger and with more deep bass but also less precise. You hear more with the KH150's. I think because of the narrow dispersion, you hear more of the speakers and less of the room.

well stated

 

[Pearljam5000]

In theory how close can a KH150 get to this Focal as they have the same size woofer (notice the price )

 

[Bamboszek]

No waveguide, passive speaker with traditional crossover and mostly important no DSP.
Despite price, Neumanns are probably better.

 

[Ardrazzt]

No waveguide, passive speaker with traditional crossover and mostly important no DSP.
Despite price, Neumanns are probably better.

Agreed, with these kind of performances, everything above it's prices it's practically jewelry, you pay for sound and looks

 

[mj30250]

Agreed. If you are in search of accurate sound with low distortion in something in the KH 150's size class, there's not much left to improve other than in perhaps going to a coaxial design such as the Genelec Ones. Beyond that, you're generally just paying for cosmetics/finish, exotic driver materials, brand name, and marketing/"exclusivity".

 

[DJBonoBobo]

View attachment 278962
In theory how close can a KH150 get to this Focal as they have the same size woofer (notice the price )

In theory, maybe if you throw the 150 out of a window and shoot it few times, it will come close to the performance of the Focal (i am exaggerating a bit).

Source: https://www.focal.com/sites/www.focal.fr/files/shared/minisite/presse/test_diablo_stereoplay_0.pdf

More seriously: As far as I can see and if i interpret the graphs correctly, the KH150 is much better in every aspect. It's not even close.

 

[teashea]

In theory, maybe if you throw the 150 out of a window and shoot it few times, it will come close to the performance of the Focal (i am exaggerating a bit).

View attachment 278976

Source: https://www.focal.com/sites/www.focal.fr/files/shared/minisite/presse/test_diablo_stereoplay_0.pdf

More seriously: As far as I can see and if i interpret the graphs correctly, the KH150 is much better in every aspect. It's not even close.

well stated.

 

[teashea]

View attachment 278962
In theory how close can a KH150 get to this Focal as they have the same size woofer (notice the price )

It is performance that counts. The Focal does not come close to the KH150.