I’m looking to replace my ageing Event TR5’s that I’ve had over 20 years and having read a few reviews etc the Neumann KH120 seems to be the pick of the bunch with the Focal Shape 65 being a good alternative. I did a search on here but I couldn’t see anything recently posted and was wondering if there were any other alternatives around the same price point. I’ve seen the KH80’s and they get a good review giving the 120’s a run for their money but I did want a larger driver than the 5” ones I’ve got. That said they offer DSP so could be beneficial in a smaller untreated room. They’re not gonna transform my room with the DSP but they might help?
At the moment I’m in a untreated carpeted room with some furniture so not a bare space but not treated either. It’s a smallish and practically square room (far from ideal I know but I plan on moving to a bigger space soon). I’ve had 20 years out of my Events and I want to use my next pair of monitors for another 20 years ideally so I don’t mind investing in a decent pair if they’ll last so I’ve set my budget around £1200 ish for a pair.
I’ve had nothing but joy from my KH80 monitors. I haven’t added the sub (yet) and I know that would break your declared budget. Still, I could really imagine that combo covering most people’s needs.
I’m no expert here, and haven’t listened to a lot of alternatives to make a good comparison; just wanted to put in a personal vote for the little guys!
Yeah they look a very interesting proposition but I too was wondering about the sub as I see a lot of folks recommended that route but I’ve also seen that they don’t work so well in small spaces? Or does the DSP element take care of that in the setup?
Their models either side do (the 80 and 150) but these are both newer. Whether they’ll release a 120 DSP is anyone’s guess but my gut feeling is they won’t
Yeah maybe they will, there’s deffo a space in their price range and it seems the 80’s get very very close to the 120’s in terms of performance for more or less the same price
I still love my 120’s, they’re really good in small rooms. They’re underwhelming in the sense that they sound very neutral. I listen at very low volumes and they still sound very precise.
…it’s a no brainer…another one of this rare timeless and approoved since their day one, in this case 11 years ago, audio products that are simply truu pro quality and beyond all doubts…
they are simply still the nr. 1 in super prestine and precise near field monitoring…truu reference standards…their stereo stage image is like looking through a magnify glass…at all volumes totally same…no self resonace spots throughout and beyond all audible frequency spectrum with an elegant roll off underneath 50 hz…
What @binaural and @reeloy say. I upgraded from KRK v3 Rokit 5’s with sub, never really thought about adding a sub to the 120s, it also feels to me like their bass rolloff is very well controlled/predictable.
I tried the DSP and stuck with sonarworks, which I think is better - so depending on your needs you might not be missing much opting for a model without.
