Neumann KH 150 Monitor Review

[phoenixdogfan]

Measures as well as any bookshelf I've seen reviewed and have their own amps and will play loud. All for $3500/pr.

 

[CMB]

KH310 and 8050 do not have room correction DSP so its an apple with pears comparison. Its direct competitor is 8340 which is older and does not have the same measured performance and its list price is similar to the KH150 one, it is offered cheaper though because it is older.

You pay extra for dsp right? Or is it included?
I saw something like Eur 250?

 

[Andreas007]

In my opinion the KH150 is somehow oddly placed - despite being a great speaker.
Especially, if you're thinking about an upgrade from KH120 or any other speaker in that range.
The additional low end is simply not enough to justify it.
I can imagine that after some time you will end up wishing for more bass extension or a subwoofer, again.

For 1000 Euro more you will get the KH310 which is not so harshly cut-off at the low end (at 30 Hz there's 20 dB difference between KH310 and KH150).
Therefore, in the long run I guess it is a more satisfying speaker which sounds more "complete" on it's own without urgent need for a subwoofer.

Reading amirs' comments on KH150 and K310 bass response is also clear indication that KH150 is not an option if you want somehow "full range":

KH150:

This persisted across many tracks which I contribute to nice bass extension. That led me into thinking subbass response would be good as well. That was not the case. Much of it is filtered due to sharp drop off in response. So for that, you still need a sub or a much larger monitor.

KH310:

Wow, wow, wow! This is some impressive bass coming out of this speaker! It was resonating not only my desk and chair but my entire loft! I cranked it way up and then I could detect a bit of distortion but if you were not looking for it, you would be plenty satisfied.

 

[abdo123]

That is diffraction above XO range.

Does it really matter what it is ?

I always viewed the DI trend line more like two or more slopes (1 per driver) rather than a continuous line. More like this:


View attachment 249055
The woofer purple and the tweeter yellow. That peak being a simple artifact of wher they meet, because of their differing angles. Am I wrong about that?

Erin shares horizontal only directivity indexes and I learned from there that the blip is 99.9% of the time caused by the vertical positioning of the drivers, so i always consider the blip the outlier.

 

[dshreter]

To get the objective result on par with kh150 you need custom designed drivers and a klippel measurement system .
Add to this the know-how of Neumanns engineers and you are read to go.

and the ability to design and manufacture a wave guide + deeply customize a DSP amp

 

[kimmosto]

The Directiva R1 has a blatant directivity mismatch (that has been discussed to death on the directiva threads). the KH150 is arguably more text book perfect.

View attachment 249049

One small comment about this. Amir should stop using his artistic talents for drawing multiple lines over measurements. Possible S shape compared to smooth line/arc also in that case can or should be visualized with a single line or arc. Not with two separate lines which are drawn to create or emphasis some assumed problem visually.

 

[abdo123]

One small comment about this. Amir should stop using his artistic talents for drawing multiple lines over measurements. Possible S shape compared to smooth line/arc also in that case can or should be visualized with a single line or arc. Not with two separate lines which are drawn to create or emphasis some assumed problem visually.

I drew these lines.

 

[Trell]

For 1000 Euro more you will get the KH310 which is not so harshly cut-off at the low end (at 30 Hz there's 20 dB difference between KH310 and KH150).
Therefore, in the long run I guess it is a more satisfying speaker which sounds more "complete" on it's own without urgent need for a subwoofer.

The KH310 is also a much larger speaker than the KH150.

 

[kimmosto]

Does it really matter what it is ?

I think yes. Otherwise members are just guessing and blaming some design detail without actual knowledge that better applications are possible and exist in real life. Just praising brand or false interpretation of measurements or reviewer's short subjective comments about on-axis listening using single speaker.

 

[MCH]

In my opinion the KH150 is somehow oddly placed - despite being a great speaker.
Especially, if you're thinking about an upgrade from KH120 or any other speaker in that range.
The additional low end is simply not enough to justify it.
I can imagine that after some time you will end up wishing for more bass extension or a subwoofer, again.

For 1000 Euro more you will get the KH310 which is not so harshly cut-off at the low end (at 30 Hz there's 20 dB difference between KH310 and KH150).
Therefore, in the long run I guess it is a more satisfying speaker which sounds more "complete" on it's own without urgent need for a subwoofer.

Reading amirs' comments on KH150 and K310 bass response is also clear indication that KH150 is not an option if you want somehow "full range":

KH150:


KH310:

Actually, one of the advantages i see on these is the possibility to add a sub properly integrated without spending significant $$ in additional boxes and software

 

[Music1969]

Does it come in white?

 

[Andreas007]

The KH310 is also a much larger speaker than the KH150.

True, but I would not say "much":

 

[kimmosto]

I drew these lines.

Ok. Draw line or arc next time to see that it's just S shaped +/- difference compared to smooth version.

 

[thewas]

Higher directivity is not required or at least not the best solution imo when listening distance increases. Of course massive directivity and radiating area could move sound images closer and make them bigger, but acoustic resolution is maintained to very long distance with adequate room acoustics (=without flutter echo). So that is the best approach if possible.

Yes, room acoustics matter there a lot but I think this also a matter of personal preference, there is a significant percentage of listeners who like to immerse into the (suitable for that) recordings like in nearfield listening and for such a high direct sound percentage is necessary.

 

[respice finem]

Does it come in white?

Soon

Neumann KH 150 WH

Neumann KH 150 WH; Aktiver 2-Wege Studio-Nahfeldmonitor; 6.5" Tieftöner; 1" Hochtöner; DSP-gesteuerte Elektronik; raumadaptive Kalibrierung mittels Neumanns Automatic Monitor Alignment MA 1 (optional, nicht im Lieferumfang enthalten); Schalter für...

www.thomann.de

 

[thewas]

I always viewed the DI trend line more like two or more slopes (1 per driver) rather than a continuous line. More like this:


View attachment 249055
The woofer purple and the tweeter yellow. That peak being a simple artifact of wher they meet, because of their differing angles. Am I wrong about that?

Also of the increased vertical directivity at the crossover point since it is not a coincidental design. And yes, as with many loudspeakers with large directivity tweeters it has some constant directivity characteristics which cause that change of slope.

 

[Pearljam5000]

You pay extra for dsp right? Or is it included?
I saw something like Eur 250?

You pay extra like GLM
And to me it's just not worth the price as you can get bigger speakers for the same money

 

[thewas]

You pay extra for dsp right? Or is it included?
I saw something like Eur 250?

The DSP hardware is included in the loudspeaker, the measuring microphone and software costs extra, same like the GLM package of Genelec.

 

[Trell]

True, but I would not say "much":

View attachment 249071

For desktop usage the KH 310 is definitely on the big side, thus the various sizes of monitors offered from manufacturers.

 

[abdo123]

I think yes. Otherwise members are just guessing and blaming some design detail without actual knowledge that better applications are possible and exist in real life. Just praising brand or false interpretation of measurements or reviewer's short subjective comments about on-axis listening using single speaker.

Well you seem knowledgeable enough not to blame the inevitable outcome of the mismatch in vertical positioning between drivers in a 2-way setup on the developers of the product but we're still having this discussion for some reason.