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Neumann KH120 II Monitor Review

Rate this monitor speaker:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 3 0.6%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 3 0.6%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 37 8.0%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 419 90.7%

  • Total voters
    462
Have you compared the Kali in8 V2's (or in5's for that matter) to the KH120 or KH150? What was your take - and can you comment on output capability? I'm also in a similar dilemma, and the Kali's look too good to be true - but seem to have lots of trustworthy hype. I have them saved in my Amazon cart - but I'm still lusting after the KH's :)

Also -

(Bolded for emphasis by me)
So @RDoc - No hassles with customs/taxes for the KH120 pair? I'm curious if a pair of KH150's L/R and a KH120II Center would trip any import flags / VAT charges from MusicStore.com? Seems the "trip point" is $800 USD - and a pair of KH120's is way past that (but under that "per unit"). The KH150's blow past the $800 limit "per unit". But a KH150 L/R + KH120 Center for $3100 is very tempting!!! But then a trio of Kali in8's for $1300 is a heck of a deal for my pocket book!

And what's the deal with USA warranty if purchased from MusicStore.com? Do they require shipment back to Germany, or can warranty repairs be handled by Neumann in the USA?

Thanks!
I was paranoid so paid extra to have the 2 speakers shipped separately to keep it under the customs limit. Others have bought them as a pair and also had no issue with customs. For warranty, my reading of the Neumann warranty is that it's worldwide.

We listen is a 30x14' room about 10' from the main speakers and are completely happy with them. The max output isn't ear shattering, but our normal listening level is around 80 db spl and the speakers can easily handle that. The maximum spl I've measured at 10' is about 96 db which is much louder than we want to listen normally. For the occasions when we're listening to Hendrix with enthusiastic friends it's just loud enough for our taste, but may not be for some people.
 
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For the occasions when we're listening to Hendrix with enthusiastic friends it's just loud enough for our tastes
You might try supplementing your monitors with a large stack of marshall amps for that use case :D
 
Are these ‘standby’, ‘reset’ and power failures only in the case of using the digital in or Ethernet connections.
Is it a dsp issue.
Has anybody had problems when simply connecting via xlr analogue?
 
Are these ‘standby’, ‘reset’ and power failures only in the case of using the digital in or Ethernet connections.
Is it a dsp issue.
Has anybody had problems when simply connecting via xlr analogue?
I've been using the KH120II for a year in September. I use the analog input. All is well with my pair of monitors. But I always turn the monitors on and off at the back, I don't leave them on all the time, I don't let them go into standby mode. I don't know how safe it is to constantly flick the switch, but it makes me feel better...
 
I've been using the KH120II for a year in September. I use the analog input. All is well with my pair of monitors. But I always turn the monitors on and off at the back, I don't leave them on all the time, I don't let them go into standby mode. I don't know how safe it is to constantly flick the switch, but it makes me feel better...
How about firmware updates or using ma1 software.
 
+1 to just switch it on/off manually each time. No big deal, and I would be paranoid if I am away from home and a storm is raging and my monitors connected to surges in the line... Better safe than sorry.
 
+1 to just switch it on/off manually each time. No big deal, and I would be paranoid if I am away from home and a storm is raging and my monitors connected to surges in the line... Better safe than sorry.
Agree
 
+1 to just switch it on/off manually each time. No big deal, and I would be paranoid if I am away from home and a storm is raging and my monitors connected to surges in the line... Better safe than sorry.

Do you unplug it from the wall socket as well? I don't think it matters much if the speakers are completely turned off or in standby mode if the lightning strikes. I always unplug my stereo equipment from the sockets when I know there will be a storm coming up.
 
Only switch off. Not ideal but good enough.
 
When you visit a self-proclaimed "professional" audio forum called GearSpace, you always see this speaker being bashed. But by looking at these measurement values, you can understand what kind of people gather in that professional audio forum...
There are some normal people over there, but there are a lot of strange fanboy types. The ATC crowd especially get rather defensive of anything but ATC. Really odd thing to see in the 'professional' sector, just proves the absurdity of human nature and herd mentality I guess. I think it's kinda natural though, everyone wants validation of their choices I guess and all the science or subjectivity means nothing when that mindset persist's. Hell, at one point I was that way to a degree regarding audio, it's something people can grow out of though as they begin to actually gain knowledge and understanding.
 
The smell of burning scares me into thinking it may develop into a fire given certain circumstances.
 
When you visit a self-proclaimed "professional" audio forum called GearSpace, you always see this speaker being bashed. But by looking at these measurement values, you can understand what kind of people gather in that professional audio forum...

Where is all the bashing of the KH120 II on Gearspace that you mention? The only thing I can see on that forum is that some members like the speaker, while others just seem to prefer something else for their mixing duties. There is nothing strange with that, people just have different tastes and what works for one person may not work for the other. As long as they reach the goal of a good-sounding mix, it doesn't matter which speaker they use.
 
Are these ‘standby’, ‘reset’ and power failures only in the case of using the digital in or Ethernet connections.
Is it a dsp issue.
Has anybody had problems when simply connecting via xlr analogue?
Is there a pure analog input at all? If you use room correction, which is a must with this speakers - the speakers work through DSP regardless of input type.
Turning speakers OFF every time you stop listening to music is a joke, unless you live in a house located in an open field in risk of lightning strike.
 
Is there a pure analog input at all? If you use room correction, which is a must with this speakers - the speakers work through DSP regardless of input type.
Turning speakers OFF every time you stop listening to music is a joke, unless you live in a house located in an open field in risk of lightning strike.
In my studio I turn off my monitors, turn off the power strip and unplug the power strip on the workstation I have been using.
 
In my studio I turn off my monitors, turn off the power strip and unplug the power strip on the workstation I have been using.

That might explain why you have never experienced the standby problem with your speakers. Isn't the problem isolated to when these speakers have been in standby mode over an extended time period?
 
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That might explain why you have never experienced the standby problem with your speakers. Isn't the problem isolated to when these speakers have been in standby mode over an extended time period?
I sometimes have situations where they are on for a couple hours without signal passing through - but not too often.
 
I think I discovered the cause of the problem, it is not about rituals, it is about speakers incapable of bit-perfect playback workflow like many cheap audio card\interfaces. I don't have speakers at the moment to do further tests, so I had to send them back, but I still have a kh750 DSP that has the same problem of not waking up, and tests I made recently show, that if you play different music with different sampling rate and your audio interface does not do resampling and sends signal in original sample rate(like 96k) the DSP of the speaker may hang.
I just noticed that speakers hang more often on one of the audio interfaces I use, though I use it more often than others but because it is capable of quickly changing its own sampling rate to match the record. Other interfaces like Motu M2 and Komplete Audio 6mk2 just hang when AIMP passes music to them and tries to change their sampling rate often. I performed the test and that test led me to the conclusion above. It is not 100% accurate result as I made just one test as it takes time, but I think I managed to hang the sub on purpose.
I just checked kh120II specs and it says:
Digital converter: resolution; design24 Bit
Digital converter: sampling rate32 kHz..200 kHz
Digital internal sampling rate48 kHz
Output sampling rateidentical to input sample rate
Does it mean that my audio interface should be set at 48 MHz to match the speaker's sample rate? I thought that "Output sampling rate identical to input sample rate" means I can pass any sample rate to the speakers/

Other people that have problems with this speaker what is your workflow? Do you use an alternative to a 48khz sampling rate in your work and listening?
 
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Just got mine and happy but there's a few things I'm trying to resolve before calling my setup perfect for me

One of the two speakers actually turns off instead of going into standby mode. I need to turn the switch off at the back and on again to get it to play music again.
I've updated firmware to the latest. Using XLR analog to a Minidsp Flex HT.
I've read the last few pages but didn't see anything too helpful there outside just resetting it everytime
Any suggestions to fix it? Otherwise I'll proceed with requesting replacement


LH65's are sold out everywhere in Australia (and $$$), so looking for alternative desktop stands/wedges.
Using Kanto's S6's at the moment and the angle is good, but I can't screw them in, so wouldn't mind something sturdier
Any recommendations?


All apps are Windows/Mac. Would have been nice to see some Linux apps
I'll see if it works via Bottles.
Anyone explored this path?


Kinda related, but the Flex HT doesn't drive my headphones (Hifiman Edition XS Stealth) as well as I thought it would even after using gain.
My fault, should have researched more. I'll probably buy a straight forward headphone amp
In hindsight, I'd have kept my old DAC and bought the KH750 DSP with MA1
Seems would have been a simpler/easier solution for room correction
 
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