Neumann Kh150 or Kh310

[DNCAgain]

I've been looking at the KH150 and KH310 recently. Their prices are very close— the KH310 seems to have better bass extension, while the KH150 features newer technology and DSP functions.

How should I choose?

 

[respice finem]

As always - it depends, mainly on the use case. For anything larger than nearfield, both would require at least one subwoofer IMHO.
I got the 310, in a nearfield desktop setup, and while they do the job very well, there are some practical restrictions. A screen larger than 27" would be too large, for instance, because the 310 must not be placed vertically. OTOH, the 310 seem to be more reliable.
If I were to buy new active speakers today in this price range, and for a desktop setup, I would also look at alternatives, like the KH 120 + KH 750 "sub-sat" combination. Or at some Genelec monitors.

 

[DNCAgain]

As always - it depends, mainly on the use case. For anything larger than nearfield, both would require at least one subwoofer IMHO.
I got the 310, in a nearfield desktop setup, and while they do the job very well, there are some practical restrictions. A screen larger than 27" would be too large, for instance, because the 310 must not be placed vertically. OTOH, the 310 seem to be more reliable.
If I were to buy new active speakers today in this price range, and for a desktop setup, I would also look at alternatives, like the KH 120 + KH 750 "sub-sat" combination. Or at some Genelec monitors.

Does the KH310 also need a subwoofer? From the data, its bass seems to already be very good.

 

[Geert]

Does the KH310 also need a subwoofer? From the data, its bass seems to already be very good.

If you want to play bass heavy music at an increased level with low distortion, yes. The KH310 has pretty limited loudness capacity in the low end, that’s its main weakness. So it all depends on the use case.

 

[DNCAgain]

If you want to play bass heavy music at an increased level with low distortion, yes. The KH310 has pretty limited loudness capacity in the low end, that’s its main weakness. So it all depends on the use case.

Thanks!but I have expected to use it in near field circumstances

 

[Geert]

Thanks!but I have expected to use it in near field circumstances

Even then. I’ve been using them for years in a studio for mixing EDM, and every time we want to check a track at a level where the fun begins, just to get some feeling of what it will do for people who want to party, we run into its limitations. And that's still far from true party level. But it's not dramatically bad, otherwise we would have sold them. It’s impossible to give you an accurate impression of this potential issue on a forum.

 

[respice finem]

Does the KH310 also need a subwoofer? From the data, its bass seems to already be very good.

You might not need a subwoofer in a scenario like mine (desktop setup, nearfield). With anything bigger, you probably will need a subwoofer - the 310 is a closed box, without the "boost" of bassreflex.