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What goes right into a pair of studio displays which you could really belief? We returned to Neumann to seek out out, becoming a member of our good pal Stephan Mauer and the event group for a tour that took us from the historical past of their audio system to driver design, cupboard development, electronics and listening checks.
I’ve been on fairly just a few speaker manufacturing facility excursions, however this was most likely probably the most thorough when it got here to improvement. We might ask why a selected determination had been made, then see the measurements, prototypes and engineering behind it. For anybody recording or mixing music, these choices matter. They affect what we hear and, finally, what we do to a file.
One of the vital revealing moments got here once we switched the monitor alignment off. The change within the low mids was so substantial that I might have blended the music fully in a different way. We’ll come again to that, as a result of it introduced a lot of what we realized into focus.
Our go to started with the historical past of Klein + Hummel, the corporate whose initials dwell on in Neumann’s KH monitor vary. Neumann-branded displays arrived in 2010, however the data behind them goes again a lot additional. Wanting across the historic tools, we noticed broadcast displays, hi-fi tools, PA techniques and the UE 100 and UE 1000 equalisers.
There was a transparent household resemblance between the older horizontal three-way displays and the acquainted KH 310. Extra considerably, a few of the individuals who labored on the sooner designs are nonetheless contributing to the audio system at the moment. That continuity turned notably obvious once we met system architect Markus Wolff and heard how his improvement course of had developed.
Stephan defined that consistency is central to the vary. The intention is that you simply select a speaker in keeping with the bass extension and output you want, the room you’re employed in and your listening distance, whereas retaining a well-recognized tonal stability throughout the household.
The vary we explored stretched from the compact KH 80 and KH 120 MK II via the KH 150 to the bigger three-way KH 420. Seeing them collectively helped put that philosophy into perspective: completely different sizes and capabilities, with a shared method to monitoring.
Their demonstration room additionally acknowledged one thing that may be missed in speaker discussions: most of us work with furnishings and tools in entrance of us. An angled floor stood in for a console, permitting the group to display the displays in a extra real looking setting. It jogged my memory of my pal Mark Endert, who constructed an identical floor after shifting away from an SSL as a result of he was so accustomed to listening to the console’s reflections.
We then moved into the immersive listening room. Visually, it was splendidly sensible, with an office-style ceiling and not one of the glamour you would possibly anticipate from an illustration studio. Acoustically, it was a really completely different story.
The room additionally demonstrated how subwoofers match into the system, with KH 810 models on the entrance and KH 750 models on the rear. Later within the tour, the group defined the engineering behind the multichannel subwoofer vary, together with the KH 870 MK II, and the way bass administration and alignment can assist convey a bigger monitoring system collectively.
The 7.1.4 system gave me that feeling I really like in a well-aligned immersive room: sitting inside the combination. When a vocal or instrument appeared round me, it belonged to the musical house. I wasn’t always being reminded of particular person speaker places.
I’ve visited loads of immersive rooms, and solely a handful have given me that feeling so convincingly. Bob Clearmountain’s room is one in all them. This method had that sense of the whole lot becoming a member of collectively, which led us right into a dialogue about section, arrival occasions and Neumann’s MA 1 alignment system.
For the stereo listening checks, I did what I typically do when evaluating displays: I performed recordings I do know intimately. I used The Fray’s “How you can Save a Life” as a result of, amongst different issues, the ending lets me hear my previous drum room. Having that connection to the recording offers me one thing concrete to hear for.
We switched between the KH 150 and the brand new KH 350. The KH 350 is a vertical three-way, bass-reflex monitor, whereas the brand new KH 310 II retains the compact, horizontal sealed-cabinet method. Each new fashions convey DSP processing and MA 1 compatibility to their respective designs. Neumann formally introduced them on 10 September 2026.
The KH 150s instantly appealed to my rock-and-roll ears. On a few of the materials, the way in which they introduced the low mids felt nearer to how I might have blended it. The guitars related with me, and I might think about engaged on these audio system day by day.
Then we performed one thing extra expansive, and the KH 350s actually got here into their very own. The dimensions and presentation suited that music superbly. My response modified with the programme, which made the comparability way more attention-grabbing than merely selecting a winner.
Stephan additionally identified that we have been listening from roughly three metres away, fairly a distance for the smaller displays, notably on the ranges we have been utilizing. Their directness shocked me. These have been impressions of specific recordings, at that distance, in that room. Additionally they gave us a helpful motive to research how the 2 designs behaved.
Driver engineer Man Layfield confirmed us how the drivers are developed in-house. Utilizing Klippel measurement tools, a laser and a measurement microphone, he might study cone motion alongside {the electrical} and acoustic behaviour of the driving force.
Watching a woofer transfer via a considerable tour whereas the system analysed it was fascinating. Man might examine the motor, suspension and voice coil to know the place distortion originated. That has a direct sensible consequence for us: if a speaker provides distortion, it may well obscure element or go away us questioning whether or not an issue belongs to the recording.
The scanning measurements have been equally revealing. At decrease frequencies, the cone moved collectively like a piston. Larger up, completely different components started bending and resonating. These observations assist the group refine the geometry and supplies, and hold undesirable resonances sufficiently exterior the driving force’s working vary.
I additionally requested Man about speaker break-in, as a result of it comes up so typically every time we talk about displays. He defined that adjustments in suspension stiffness might be measured, notably in the course of the preliminary interval of use. For the drivers we have been discussing, nonetheless, the ensuing frequency-response change was a fraction of a decibel. His recommendation was that customers shouldn’t fear a couple of extended break-in ritual. The group accounts for the impact as a result of their measurements demand that precision.
With Markus, we obtained into the query of sealed cupboards versus bass-reflex designs. His reply trusted the necessities of the speaker: cupboard measurement, bass extension, output and the behaviour of the drivers all affect the selection.
That was a recurring theme all through the go to. The engineers have been blissful to make use of completely different supplies and development strategies when these decisions improved the outcome. A sealed design and a ported design every convey trade-offs, and the entire speaker must be thought of collectively.
We noticed how Neumann treats undesirable resonances in its ports, utilizing fastidiously positioned openings and damping. Inside the cupboards, reinforcement ribs have been organized to manage panel vibration. Even the heat-sink fins had completely different dimensions so their resonances wouldn’t all reinforce the identical frequency. Small parts, seals and cables obtained consideration too, as a result of any of them might turn out to be a supply of undesirable noise.
The waveguides across the drivers have been one other main a part of the dialogue. As a driver reproduces greater frequencies, its dispersion tends to slender. On the crossover to a smaller driver, that dispersion can widen once more. With out cautious management, the tonal stability of the sound despatched in the direction of the room’s partitions can turn out to be uneven.
Neumann shapes its waveguides to handle these transitions. That helps clarify why the waveguides differ between fashions: they should work with the adjoining driver and the meant listening circumstances. Markus even confirmed us folders of measurements from earlier improvement work, when he formed waveguides by hand utilizing modelling materials. Right now, simulations let the group examine these shapes earlier than producing prototypes.
The electronics obtain equally detailed improvement. Neumann designs its amplification in-house, whereas DSP offers management over driver alignment, crossovers, safety and the ultimate response of every speaker. The group additionally defined how delay and filtering assist align the drivers via the crossover areas.
We then entered the massive anechoic chamber, the place a prototype KH 350 sat on a robotic arm. It allowed the group to rotate the speaker and measure its response from completely different angles. Even this substantial room has limits at very low frequencies, so the engineers mix different measurements and simulations to ascertain model-specific compensation for his or her improvement work.
Reliability testing was simply as concerned. Throughout improvement, audio system bear a 1,000-hour take a look at programme, alternating demanding indicators with relaxation intervals. The group checks whether or not the cupboard, drivers, fixings and electronics survive, then compares measurements earlier than and afterwards.
Markus additionally defined that each particular person manufacturing speaker is examined. The method checks frequency response, distortion, undesirable port noise, rattles and air leaks. DSP fashions are individually aligned, serving to hold manufacturing models in line with the meant reference.
Lastly, we returned to listening and in contrast MA 1 alignment enabled and bypassed. The distinction was instantly obvious. With out the alignment, there was sufficient further low-mid vitality that I might have began eradicating it from the music. On one other system, that call might go away the combination sounding skinny.
Seeing the measurement afterwards confirmed what I had heard. The group defined that the system considers the room and the audio system when establishing its goal response. It additionally treats completely different acoustic issues in a different way, slightly than trying to eradicate each seen dip and peak. The calculated correction is saved in suitable speaker {hardware}, so it may well stay lively and not using a correction plug-in within the session.
That demonstration related your complete go to to the work we do. The motive force measurements, cupboard particulars, crossover design and room alignment all contribute as to whether we will belief a stability sufficient to decide.
I cherished the KH 150s on the rock materials, and the KH 350s have been excellent once we moved to extra expansive recordings. Listening to them alongside such an in depth rationalization of their improvement made this a very satisfying go to. Enormous due to Stephan, Man, Markus and the Neumann group for taking the time to reply our questions and present us their work.
What displays are you utilizing, and have you ever tried measuring or aligning them in your room? Tell us within the feedback, together with any questions you’d like us to place to the group!
Discover the Neumann audio system, subwoofers and calibration system featured in our dialogue:
