Neumann KH 150 Monitor Review

[Klonatans]

After using KH 150 for two months and a half I can say with confidence that they are seriously impressive monitor speakers. One shouldn't blame any speakers for acoustically compromised room related issues.

 

[Karmacoma]

After a few days of use, I can say that's the best money i've spent on audio Gear.
Absolute clarity.

 

[Pearljam5000]

After a few days or use, I can say that's the best money i've spent on audio Gear.
Absolute clarity.

What monitors / speakers did you have before ?

 

[mgrobins]

I'm suffering a wee bit of buyer anxiety before pulling the trigger . I think partly it's that these are a departure from the build density, inertness, silky lacquer and are marketed for studio. I rap on the shell and it rings - I can feel the vibration on the opposing side with hand resting on it. THey are metal or cast plastic ... It shouldn't matter but it does play on my mind... grrr.

I sat for an hour and listened to a genuine AB comparison of the Neumann 80, 120, 150 and 310. I have just sold my home theatre speakers (M&K S150) and the neumann's will be an interim fit if I get them. a KH750 was in place for bass management so I could get a genuine sense of them in the range I'll use.

The 150 and 310 - I could not tell when they had switched between sometimes - and at others it sounded like there was just a bit more emphasis present. I guess that is the way they should be but it makes it hard to choose a purchase!

Pro gear seems less ridiculously priced than "home" / Hi-fi yet even so I think the $3500 M&K passive speaker compared to the $2600 Active KH150 was elevating my anxiety a bit with the notion "it mustn't be as good in some way". Also the "3 tweeters and 2 mids" vs "1 tweeter and 1 mid" thing. Not rational yet still making me a bit uneasy about the direction having not owned such monitors before for home theatre use.

Neumann confirm they will be perfectly good for me and once I pull the trigger and get them I am looking forward to seeing how they compare to my memories of the M&K.

A standout piece of content I like to use is the opening of Bladerunner 2049 - where the car is flying over the solar field and the kitchen scene with the bubbling stove stew and creaking floors etc. I'm hoping it seems even more like i'm standing in the kitchen than the S150 had me feeling .

[just for note: I solde the 150's because I plan a move to new home where I will have a dedicated cinema again and want a larger setup than the S150 offered. I'll use the KH150's for now as LCR speakers and in the new place trhey can be in my Office/computer room or lounge for music listening.]

 

[mgrobins]

So you STILL unsecure people with this missinformation? Of ocurse it's NOT a very bad idea to use them in a 20qm room!

In fact they will do fine and the narrow dispersion will bring you more direct sound to the listening position and is ESPECIALLY good for wider listening distances! (would not be needed at very close distances and could even be a drawback cause sweetspot is smaller. At 2-3m distance sweetspot is easy big enough)

I wrote to Neumann and in discussion with their engineering staff was assured that the KH150 is completely suitable in my large open plan room, sitting at 2.5m -3m. I was also assured it will manage the 20db of dynamic range that movie formats require in my space.

That does not sound like "nearfield only".

 

[Robbo99999]

I'm suffering a wee bit of buyer anxiety before pulling the trigger . I think partly it's that these are a departure from the build density, inertness, silky lacquer and are marketed for studio. I rap on the shell and it rings - I can feel the vibration on the opposing side with hand resting on it. THey are metal or cast plastic ... It shouldn't matter but it does play on my mind... grrr.

I sat for an hour and listened to a genuine AB comparison of the Neumann 80, 120, 150 and 310. I have just sold my home theatre speakers (M&K S150) and the neumann's will be an interim fit if I get them. a KH750 was in place for bass management so I could get a genuine sense of them in the range I'll use.

The 150 and 310 - I could not tell when they had switched between sometimes - and at others it sounded like there was just a bit more emphasis present. I guess that is the way they should be but it makes it hard to choose a purchase!

Pro gear seems less ridiculously priced than "home" / Hi-fi yet even so I think the $3500 M&K passive speaker compared to the $2600 Active KH150 was elevating my anxiety a bit with the notion "it mustn't be as good in some way". Also the "3 tweeters and 2 mids" vs "1 tweeter and 1 mid" thing. Not rational yet still making me a bit uneasy about the direction having not owned such monitors before for home theatre use.

Neumann confirm they will be perfectly good for me and once I pull the trigger and get them I am looking forward to seeing how they compare to my memories of the M&K.

A standout piece of content I like to use is the opening of Bladerunner 2049 - where the car is flying over the solar field and the kitchen scene with the bubbling stove stew and creaking floors etc. I'm hoping it seems even more like i'm standing in the kitchen than the S150 had me feeling .

[just for note: I solde the 150's because I plan a move to new home where I will have a dedicated cinema again and want a larger setup than the S150 offered. I'll use the KH150's for now as LCR speakers and in the new place trhey can be in my Office/computer room or lounge for music listening.]

You won't really be able to remember too accurately how your M&K's sounded, because auditory memory doesn't last that long, but you should be able to tell whether or not you enjoy the Neumann's, and I'd say by the measurements that they'd be utterly fantastic!

For speakers I'd trust measurements more than my ears for finetuned differences unless I had a speaker switcher to quickly switch between two different room-corrected speakers - which is a big ask. But on a broad level you should know if you like the Neumann's or not when you listen to them, it's hard to imagine someone not liking them.

 

[AM88]

I'm suffering a wee bit of buyer anxiety before pulling the trigger . I think partly it's that these are a departure from the build density, inertness, silky lacquer and are marketed for studio. I rap on the shell and it rings - I can feel the vibration on the opposing side with hand resting on it. THey are metal or cast plastic ... It shouldn't matter but it does play on my mind... grrr.

I sat for an hour and listened to a genuine AB comparison of the Neumann 80, 120, 150 and 310. I have just sold my home theatre speakers (M&K S150) and the neumann's will be an interim fit if I get them. a KH750 was in place for bass management so I could get a genuine sense of them in the range I'll use.

The 150 and 310 - I could not tell when they had switched between sometimes - and at others it sounded like there was just a bit more emphasis present. I guess that is the way they should be but it makes it hard to choose a purchase!

Pro gear seems less ridiculously priced than "home" / Hi-fi yet even so I think the $3500 M&K passive speaker compared to the $2600 Active KH150 was elevating my anxiety a bit with the notion "it mustn't be as good in some way". Also the "3 tweeters and 2 mids" vs "1 tweeter and 1 mid" thing. Not rational yet still making me a bit uneasy about the direction having not owned such monitors before for home theatre use.

Neumann confirm they will be perfectly good for me and once I pull the trigger and get them I am looking forward to seeing how they compare to my memories of the M&K.

A standout piece of content I like to use is the opening of Bladerunner 2049 - where the car is flying over the solar field and the kitchen scene with the bubbling stove stew and creaking floors etc. I'm hoping it seems even more like i'm standing in the kitchen than the S150 had me feeling .

[just for note: I solde the 150's because I plan a move to new home where I will have a dedicated cinema again and want a larger setup than the S150 offered. I'll use the KH150's for now as LCR speakers and in the new place trhey can be in my Office/computer room or lounge for music listening.]

+1. I did the same at a local hifi show recently, where a pro audio shop was demonstrating the kh80, original 120 and 310s. Probably because it was a reasonably small room and the volume wasn’t that high, I really couldn’t tell the differences between all 3 models. They switched using a monitor switcher so it was almost instantaneous. I was very impressed with the tonal similarity between all models. And if there were any monitors that sounded utterly “neutral” to me, it was them.

 

[barefootbaby]

Hello, I am a lurker on these forums and was looking for new speakers. I got bored of listening with headphones (Massdrop ESP95X Electrostatic headphones) and wanted something that I can actually feel the sound on my body. I read a bunch of threads, and decided that the KH 150 was the move. Anyway, I just want to report back on my experience. Here is my very subjective and unexperienced take.
These speakers now sit in my living room on my desk with konig and meyer desk stands. I have listened to them anywhere from 1 meter to 4 meters and they deliver all over. I definitely do not need a subwoofer with this while I am still in my apartment. My living room is about 6x8 meters. the sound quality is amazing. I was worried after reading all these posts that i might need a bigger speaker to achieve what I wanted as far as bass is concerned ; its amazing what neumann has done with these 6.5 inch woofers.
My previous speakers were Elac UB5 and Adam T8V. These definitely are definitely on another level.
Right now I just have them setup with the switches in the back for my setup. In the future I plan on getting the MA-1 once my bank account recovers and maybe add a KH750 or two just for completing the setup, even though as it is I am delighted with this setup and I have 0 regrets.

If anybody has a room with my size , I highly recommend the Neumann KH150. amirs reviews helped me make this decision; Thank you amir and forum contributors for helping people like me get in.

 

[dfuller]

So I finally got a chance to try the KH150s. This was a less than ideal environment (poorly designed studio, on a console's meter bridge). Still, they are exceptionally detailed and clear. I did find them a bit more mid forward than my KH310s though.

 

[Elder]

Thanks to everyone who is dropping in to leave their subjective impressions of these KH150's.

Currently slowly saving up for a pair (based on Amir's measurements) and it's nice to get some confirmation that money will be well spent.

 

[Curvature]

So I finally got a chance to try the KH150s. This was a less than ideal environment (poorly designed studio, on a console's meter bridge). Still, they are exceptionally detailed and clear. I did find them a bit more mid forward than my KH310s though.

Can you please, since you are in a position to listen to many in studios, split the auditory band into >1kHz and <1kHz? Literally dial in HPF and LPF. Especially in bad listening environments is the lower and mid frequencies that are room dominated, so those comments are more about the room than about the speakers. At higher frequencies, and the speaker

I know you are familiar with the acoustical theory, but I would hope that by followong that practice you can make better judgments about speaker and room sounds.

 

[dfuller]

Can you please, since you are in a position to listen to many in studios, split the auditory band into >1kHz and <1kHz? Literally dial in HPF and LPF. Especially in bad listening environments is the lower and mid frequencies that are room dominated, so those comments are more about the room than about the speakers. At higher frequencies, and the speaker

I know you are familiar with the acoustical theory, but I would hope that by followong that practice you can make better judgments about speaker and room sounds.

They were only up for a couple days.

Anyway, I've worked in that room enough to know its LF response is garbage and it's way too reflective for most monitors to work well, even those with directivity control. Plus, the ~250hz bounce off the console is rough.

That the KH150s were only a little forward around 1k is a testament to their design.

 

[Karmacoma]

They were only up for a couple days.

Anyway, I've worked in that room enough to know its LF response is garbage and it's way too reflective for most monitors to work well, even those with directivity control. Plus, the ~250hz bounce off the console is rough.

That the KH150s were only a little forward around 1k is a testament to their design.

I use them in an audiophile setup in an untreated mid sized room and i've used the back panel settings to lower the highs -1dB. I advice everyone in a an untreated environment to try it to counter the room response.
They really deliver, still amazed how they destroy a lot of high-end setups i've heard in terms of clarity (well that's kind of their job, but still).

 

[ririt]

I use them in an audiophile setup in an untreated mid sized room and i've used the back panel settings to lower the highs -1dB. I advice everyone in a an untreated environment to try it to counter the room response.
They really deliver, still amazed how they destroy a lot of high-end setups i've heard in terms of clarity (well that's kind of their job, but still).

Good to know. What is your listening distance?

 

[Karmacoma]

Good to know. What is your listening distance?

2.5 meters

 

[Pearljam5000]

The KH150 woofer

 

[mj30250]

I recently added a KH 750 to a pair of KH 150s for my office desktop setup.

Initially, I chose the KH 150s instead of the smaller 80s/120s because I wanted to go sub-less for my desktop. The KH 150s fit this role brilliantly, delivering great bass output and extension for their size, particularly once I ran them through MA 1 and added a bass boost to my tastes.

After nearly 8 months of ownership, I started seriously contemplating going against my initial decision and adding a sub into the system. Why? For three main reasons:

• The KH 150s' position in my room results in a sizable null centered at around 70Hz. I can fill this in to an extent via EQ, but of course that's loading up the amp and woofers with extra strain and limiting headroom.
• I recently built a new PC, with the result that I am gaming more from the desk. Extra bass extension / output is useful for that application.
• Given my preference for juiced up bass, it was tempting to relieve the speakers of lower frequency responsibility, particularly as I'm already attempting to boost them out of the room mode mentioned above.

So, what are the results? At first, they were somewhat underwhelming. Part of this is a testament to how capable the 150s are by themselves, but beyond that, I wasn't prepared for just how sensitive the sub would be to positioning in this space (as in moving it as little as an inch or two one way or another made a huge difference). After a lot of experimenting and trial and error, I settled on a spot under the desk, with the sub pushed nearly against the front wall and a bit to the right of my seat. From here I was able to achieve the strongest output and most linear response, mostly filling in the null at the same time. After running everything through MA 1 I'm now very happy. I added a 3dB low-shelf boost and tapered it down to 1dB by roughly 150Hz, after which it rolls off completely. To my ears this provides an extremely smooth / balanced integration without anything sounding overly-boomy or bloated. Even at very loud volumes (over 90dB from the MLP), there is no perceptible drop-off in sound quality or any introduction of obvious distortion / compression. While pushing the KH 150s to their extreme limits would require a second KH 750 to "keep up", for my needs and volume levels, I truly feel like this is a complete and rather exceptional 2-channel office system. It would have been nice to have achieved this with a less expensive sub, but the ability to throw the entire system into MA 1 and then spend a couple of easy minutes tweaking was worthwhile to me.

 

[Some Luck]

Anyone having any issues with their KH 150s? My right speaker peridocally stay on all night (instead of the auto shutoff). I also sometimes need to adjust (push/turn) the monitor cables in my audio interface to get the right speaker to play at full volume. This obviously could be a cable issue, which I will be checking into soon, but I wanted to see if anyone else has encountered a similar issue?

 

[Karmacoma]

Anyone having any issues with their KH 150s? My right speaker peridocally stay on all night (instead of the auto shutoff). I also sometimes need to adjust (push/turn) the monitor cables in my audio interface to get the right speaker to play at full volume. This obviously could be a cable issue, which I will be checking into soon, but I wanted to see if anyone else has encountered a similar issue?

I'm using the analog input, no balance or auto-shutdown issue so far; 90 minutes is too long for my taste though, just ordered a random bluetooth power strip to turn them off remotely.

 

[Some Luck]

Happy to hear everything is going well for you! Outside of this issue, I absoloutley love the speakers! By the way, I think you can shorten the time of the automated shut off via their MA 1 software.