Neumann KH120 II Monitor Review

[ROOSKIE]

There is a thread somewhere here where some fellas did just that. Although it was limited to be statistically sound, it showed that the better measuring speakers came out on top in the preference ratings. As far as I remember one of the speaker was the KH80 and the other some JBL bookshelf. (Even Dr Toole applauded the effort). And of course there is the whole Toole/Olive research. ;-)

Yah that was fun & well great fun.
Seemed like the results were a bit hazy often limited by one thing or another, though I was into the journey.

So, I mean a double blinded extremely well conducted test using a few large groups so we could assess different things about different groups of listners. Like the exotic scale of what Harman did. Except with a focus on top tier and 2nd from top tier contemporary 2023 speakers. Toole and Olive used speakers that are long gone now and all we have now publicly are predictions/predicted scores.

I think the range where the predicted scores could be seen as potentially equal is +/-0.8
So a 5.2 & 6.8 are essentially 6ish in terms of real comparative value.

Anyway, what if any conclusive subjective benefits are there when using all speakers with nice high predicted scores against those with the highest? Pit a 5.7 against a 6.7
And also dealing with dispersion in some way as well.

Who will fund it though? Not likely anyone.

Anyway not well related to review except in the sense this speaker rates very high for a 5.25" system at 6.7/8.5

 

[Hexspa]

In this graph we see over 6% at 60Hz at 86db.
And that's at what distance?One meter.

How can it play near 100db music material at 2.3 m (without a sub) like this where will exceed 10-20%?
Something isn't in line or I got it wrong?

EDIT: Disregard this first paragraph.
[That graph doesn’t show 6% distortion at 60Hz at 86dB at 1m. The graph doesn’t even show 6%. It looks like less than 1% Are we looking at the same thing?]

Also, the 80dB graph in Amir’s review says “KH 120” for the 80dB measurement and not KH 120ii.

How is it possible for this speaker to have more distortion at 80dB than 86dB? EDIT: I see amir said it could be the table or something.

 

[somebodyelse]

Just connect a streamer and possible find a way to add a bit of manual PEQ if that is not there already.

MA1 would be the official way.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-sennheiser-sound-control-protocol-ssc.38607/ if you want to home brew. Not sure it's been confirmed working with this model yet, but works with other Neumann DSP models.

 

[Joachim Herbert]

has digital inputs and room alignment*.

Just connect a streamer and possible find a way to add a bit of manual PEQ if that is not there already.

I would use Roon for volume control and pew that goes beyond MA1.

 

[somebodyelse]

If your source material were CD's or LP's, what would be the best way to control volume?

https://github.com/jj-wohlgemuth/pyssc-level-controller might be worth a look if you don't mind a bit of DIY.

 

[Robbo99999]

Wow, this speaker is just fantastic! What's their next one up in woofer size, have we measured that one yet?

 

[Pearljam5000]

Wow, this speaker is just fantastic! What's their next one up in woofer size, have we measured that one yet?

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

 

[Robbo99999]

It all works for my needs. I cut down the top end and the very bottom on the PEQ to save energy and this is right there with what I do anyway. I can only dream about what it sounds like. I have probably never heard anything this flat in my life. So I have no reference.
View attachment 298578

I think I may have said this before when I've seen your headphone & speaker EQ's, but are you certain that you're not gonna worsen/damage your hearing by boosting areas at the limit of your hearing to such extreme levels? I'd be concerned about that, plus I don't think there's a good argument for compensating for age related hearing loss in headphones & speakers, not unless you use a hearing aid (at which point you'd remove your hearing aid when compensating through the headphones or speaker) - simply because we normalise what our normal hearing is in our day to day lives, it's not necessary to compensate for age related hearing loss in music.

 

[Robbo99999]

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

That ones perfect too! Have we done the next one up from that, ha?!

EDIT: researched this myself, looks like there's only two current Neumann speakers that are "bigger" than this one: KH310 and KH420, both are 3-way though rather than 2-way:
KH420 review:

Neumann KH420 Review (Studio Monitor)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Neumann 3-way, active speaker (monitor). It is on loan from the company and costs US $5,195. Speaker was too heavy to lug to the loft where my main system is so you have to put up with the cell phone picture above and listening tests there. Back...

www.audiosciencereview.com

KH310 review:

Neumann KH 310A Review (Powered Monitor)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Neumann KH 310A active monitor (speaker). It was kindly sent to me by the company for testing. I see it discounted to US $2,200 (each) as of this writing. This is one dense and heavy 3-way speaker: I was relieved to find "rack mount" ears...

www.audiosciencereview.com

So it looks like we've measured most of the Neuman lineup already!

 

[Sokel]

That graph doesn’t show 6% distortion at 60Hz at 86dB at 1m. The graph doesn’t even show 6%. It looks like less than 1% Are we looking at the same thing?

Also, the 80dB graph in Amir’s review says “KH 120” for the 80dB measurement and not KH 120ii.

How is it possible for this speaker to have more distortion at 80dB than 86dB?

Yes,we already talked about that,I was talking about a few Hz (5-7) lower:

Neumann KH120 II Monitor Review

If you mean the exact 60Hz ,ok,you're right,I didn't point it so exact. Say 55Hz,50Hz? No difference to me,plenty of music material there,and material that matters. You did point it very exactly "In this graph we see over 6% at 60Hz at 86db." which was obviously wrong. Then you mixed up Amirs...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Also,no one answered me at this:

Neumann KH120 II Monitor Review

If you mean the exact 60Hz ,ok,you're right,I didn't point it so exact. Say 55Hz,50Hz? No difference to me,plenty of music material there,and material that matters. You did point it very exactly "In this graph we see over 6% at 60Hz at 86db." which was obviously wrong. Then you mixed up Amirs...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[TSB]

So much value for money. You even get amplification. Just connect a source and you're good to go..

 

[Robbo99999]

6.7 damn, whats a guy got to do? Thought it would be higher.

(bass)

 

[Robbo99999]

That graph doesn’t show 6% distortion at 60Hz at 86dB at 1m. The graph doesn’t even show 6%. It looks like less than 1% Are we looking at the same thing?

Also, the 80dB graph in Amir’s review says “KH 120” for the 80dB measurement and not KH 120ii.

How is it possible for this speaker to have more distortion at 80dB than 86dB?

Suppose it's that there is a resonance (of cabinet?) that doesn't get much worse with increased SPL, and the increased SPL of 86dB means the fundamental is higher which lessens the percentage effect of the "largely unchanged in magnitude" resonance.

 

[thewas]

So,to know for the next time,this means anechoic,in half space?

Max. short term SPL with music material at 2.3 m in typical listening conditions (pair / full range)	98 dB(C) SPL

Typical listening conditions is partially half space and the calculations are based on anechoic measurements.

 

[Hexspa]

Yes,we already talked about that,I was talking about a few Hz (5-7) lower:

Neumann KH120 II Monitor Review

If you mean the exact 60Hz ,ok,you're right,I didn't point it so exact. Say 55Hz,50Hz? No difference to me,plenty of music material there,and material that matters. You did point it very exactly "In this graph we see over 6% at 60Hz at 86db." which was obviously wrong. Then you mixed up Amirs...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Also,no one answered me at this:

Neumann KH120 II Monitor Review

If you mean the exact 60Hz ,ok,you're right,I didn't point it so exact. Say 55Hz,50Hz? No difference to me,plenty of music material there,and material that matters. You did point it very exactly "In this graph we see over 6% at 60Hz at 86db." which was obviously wrong. Then you mixed up Amirs...

www.audiosciencereview.com

You’re right, I didn’t read through the thread. My apology.

 

[Sokel]

Typical listening conditions is partially half space and the calculations are based on anechoic measurements.

That's really good to know,all this time I was thinking that this measurement resembled real world conditions (like listening to them at home)
And I think I'm not the only one making this mistake.
Thanks!

 

[Hexspa]

I, for one, would like to see lower SPL distortion measurements because this better fits my use case. This is especially true for ‘studio monitors’ where the prevailing practice, afaik, is to mainly listen at a relatively low level; certainly under 86dB continuous.

 

[Pearljam5000]

So much value for money. You even get amplification. Just connect a source and you're good to go..

It's got a built in DAC

 

[Biblob]

With companies like this and knowing already other measurements of it and other Neumann models I for fun risked voting "fine" before scrolling down to the review and didn't need to edit my vote.

Only 'fine'..?

 

[xaviescacs]

Impressive. My 8030 are no longer a contender but a cheaper and not so good option.