Neumann KH420 Review (Studio Monitor)

[kipman725]

I still think it needs a sub. Even 2*15" JBL studio monitors sound better when high pass filtered and run with an appropriate sub bass system and this only have a 10" driver where the air velocity at the ports was sufficent to be felt at the listening position.

 

[dfuller]

Wow, that is stunningly good performance. What distortion? Of course the FR and off axis response are great too.

I still think it needs a sub. Even 2*15" JBL studio monitors sound better when high pass filtered and run with an appropriate sub bass system and this only have a 10" driver where the air velocity at the ports was sufficent to be felt at the listening position.

Yeah, I'd still run 'em with a sub or 2 (probably 2). But, like the KH310s, only for the bottom octave and change.

 

[F1308]

It is also announced as having a self-generated noise at 10 cm (with input gain set to 100 dB SPL for 0 dBu) lower than 20 dB(A) SPL.

 

[Laserjock]

Now, how about a teardown?

 

[Zvu]

@Laserjock Here you go...

Neumann KH 420 - FIDELITY online

Neumann KH 420 – Graue Eminenzen Was tut der Highender‚ wenn ein Lautsprecher klanglich extrem nah am Optimum rangiert? – Er meckert‚ was denn sonst. Der heiße Brei? – Ich will gar nicht lang drumherum reden: Dieser Lautsprecher ist einer der verdammt besten Schallwandler, die ich jemals gehört...

www.fidelity-online.de

 

[DJBonoBobo]

I still think it needs a sub. Even 2*15" JBL studio monitors sound better when high pass filtered and run with an appropriate sub bass system and this only have a 10" driver where the air velocity at the ports was sufficent to be felt at the listening position.

You can find some pictures of studios where they are combined with the matching KH870 subwoofer:
For example:

(Source: https://www.mothergrid.de/news/neumann-monitore-fuer-immersive-audio-im-axis-audio-studio/)

Or here:

 

[MZKM]

View attachment 203661​

My graphs normally only go down to 30Hz (Google Sheets formatting looks weird going down to 20Hz in my normal size; and for most speakers they don’t have enough bass to make it noteworthy).

 

[FrantzM]

Such performance can only elicit slang:

DANG YOOOOOOO!

 

[F1308]

Look, ma, no grills.

 

[staticV3]

Google Sheets formatting looks weird going down to 20Hz in my normal size

Try setting Horizontal axis -> Max and Min to 20 and 20000 (or 0.02 - 20) and Grid lines and ticks like this:

That should at least give you all the horizontal divisions

 

[DJBonoBobo]

Look, ma, no grills.

They cost € 319 a piece:

 

[MZKM]

Try setting Horizontal axis -> Max and Min to 20 and 20000 (or 0.02 - 20) and Grid lines and ticks like this:
View attachment 203671
That should at least give you all the horizontal divisions

I know how to do that, it’s just that the values along the horizontal axes don’t get properly displayed in the size I output (keeping the dimension & file sizes small enough). Google Sheets is also a pain with image downloads, the image in the sheet and the image it downloads aren’t always the same, it reformats it once the dimension size reaches a certain threshold.

 

[Keened]

View attachment 203669

...I want the HiFi robot twins in my living room playing electronica.

Brütal

But while this is all very interesting, when do you think we will see such performance at $3K a pair? Because while it is "relatively" affordable to past pro-studio offerings it's still well out of mainstream market. Also while the look is certainly stylish, it's not $6K per stylish. The 8361 raw has it beat.

 

[CtheArgie]

This is fascinating! In my office I have two 310s running with two 750s. Yes, the bass makes your private parts shake. And now we get these incredible speakers for $11k. That include amplification.

So, this makes me wonder again why those who call themselves "audiophiles" avoid speakers like this. Maybe they are more interested in the visual appeal than the sound itself. If they were truly interested in sound, they shouldn't ignore these. Just think about it, the passive FR-30 for $30k or these for $11k! Bewildering.

It is another example of why I have eternal gratitude to ASR, most posters and especially @amirm that they guided me away of stupid and expensive mythology.

 

[staticV3]

@MZKM Understood. I know your pain, graphs in sheets can be frustrating af

 

[jam]

Thanks for the review Amir on this excellent Neumann speakers. Not the cheapest speaker for a pair at over 10k for your average buyer out there even when taking into consideration that it's active although the performance is remarkable.

 

[MZKM]

This is fascinating! In my office I have two 310s running with two 750s. Yes, the bass makes your private parts shake. And now we get these incredible speakers for $11k. That include amplification.

So, this makes me wonder again why those who call themselves "audiophiles" avoid speakers like this. Maybe they are more interested in the visual appeal than the sound itself. If they were truly interested in sound, they shouldn't ignore these. Just think about it, the passive FR-30 for $30k or these for $11k! Bewildering.

It is another example of why I have eternal gratitude to ASR, most posters and especially @amirm that they guided me away of stupid and expensive mythology.

I personally would not want these in my living room, I want nice looking speakers, and for me that includes towers speakers with either a piano black or a red or brown tone wood finish. And the amount that also make 3-way speakers is a small pool. Salk does, would love measurements on any of their upper end products (the speaker reviewed was one Jim Salk defended by saying he would only recommend it for customers needing that super small form factor).

 

[F1308]

They cost € 319 a piece:

View attachment 203672

I know, I know, I meant "none included"

 

[PeteL]

Wow, hard to argue that this is where SOTA stands right now. Let's just think for a second try to get that level of performance in separates. To me, I look at this and the amps are basically free. It is priced competitively for even passive speakers that can reproduce the full spectrum like that with such authority, no fuss for trying to integrate subwoofers, some PEQ functionalities, balanced connections... The works.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Choosing between the 8361 and KH420 is the audiophile version of Sophie's choice