Neumann KH150 or KH120ii with Sub

[pazmag]

Hi All

I am a professional mix engineer and I'm currently using Neumann KH120ii's and Kali IN8V2's

I had Event Opals which I loved but couldn't get them fixed when one developed a problem...so I had to buy something quick, hence the Kali's

I then purchased the Neumann's which I love but they don't go very low....so....I'm now pondering on replacing them both with one set of either KH150's, or keeping the KH120ii's and adding a sub

I've never used a sub and I'm a little cautious as I know that it can be problematic but I thought I'd put it out there

I've tried to like th KH310's but there's something in the lows which I find vague and lacking a bit of "trouser flap"

Just wanted to ask if anyone had any thoughts on this and in particular whether the extra low frequency reach of the 150's is enough to be useful as a sole mixing speaker

 

[Ellebob]

I would go with the sub. Pros are it can go lower and allows for you to place it where bass will be best. Cons are it takes a little more time to set up correctly, takes up more space and the area where you want to place the sub might not give the best bass.

 

[ZolaIII]

Keap what you already have and get a pair of KH750. Do you have rest of the kit for KH120 II or what's the source? Also how big (especially long) is the room? Is DAW primary how it's going to be used? Even 15~18" ain't enough, depends what you hope to achieve. KH310 also excels properly put to sub's. Kali's are fine as long it's not exactly a close field. There is what you get on cone and from port and ported ones you chop even higher when you make crossover. From what's available regarding Spinorama KH120 II is still best ranked small and relatively affordable monitor. Tho I found even smaller and cheaper pasive speaker that's equally good when crossed to the sub's cuple days back.

 

[pazmag]

thanks guys, very helpful. It's solely for studio mixing. I do have the MA-1 mic so I can use the DSP on the sub to good use. I'd probably go for the one sub as 2 would be both very expensive and not ideal space wise

 

[dasherzx]

definitely the sub first. even with 150 id go with a sub...but its easy to impress people with the 150 subless

 

[simonmac]

I have the KH150’s and tbh think they go plenty low enough, but it depends on your use case. They’ll reach down into the low 30hz range at about F10 so you can definitely hear what’s going on, but if you really need that last half octave to move a substantial mass of air then you’ll need a sub.

I’m super nearfield at 1M and. I have an extremely problematic space where bass sub 60hz is really hard to control even with moderate treatment present.

I previously had 8040’s, for about 3 years, first with a 7040 sub with ARC correction, but that was unmanageable, so then tried without the sub, but just found the port smearing in the time domain with the Genelecs made everything woolly and hard to judge in the low end. This, added to the mid-forward leanings of the 8040’s, meant the midrange was also hard for me to judge accurately and I was relying more on cans than my monitors.

I briefly tried the Kali SM 5’s and loved the forensically detailed midrange and the almost magical imaging and depth, truly remarkable. But for me in my space they lacked the clarity and depth in the bass, even with correction.

With the KH150’s calibrated with MA1 I’m super happy and am experiencing rock solid imaging and midrange detail, controlled bass with no noticeable or audible smearing and great transient response. Which tbh I thought I’d never actually get to experience in my current space, so yeah, super happy with them.