Neumann KH 120 A

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Active Studio Nearfield Monitor

Consists of: 5,25" Woofer, 1" Tweeter
Frequency range: 52 Hz - 21 kHz (+/- 3 dB)
Peak SPL: 112.2 dB
Power: 50 W Woofer and 50 W Tweeter
4-Position bass, low-mid and treble acoustical controls
Separate woofer and tweeter electronic peak limiters and thermal-protection circuitry
Input gain and output level controls
Input: Balanced XLR
Magnetically shielded
Dimensions: 277 x 182 x 220 mm
Weight: 6,2 kg

30 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

3 3-Year Thomann Warranty

Available since February 2011

Item number 255902

Sales Unit 1 piece(s)

Speaker size 1x 5,25"

Amplifier power per unit (RMS) 100 W

Magnetic Shielding Yes

Analogue XLR Input Yes

Analogue Input (Jack) No

Analogue Input (Mini Jack) No

Analogue Input (RCA) No

Digital input No

Manual frequency correction Yes

Frequency range min. 52 Hz

Frequency range max. 21000 Hz

Dimensions 277 x 182 x 220

Weight 6,2 kg

Speaker Hous8ing - Woofer System Bassreflex

$579

The shipping costs are calculated on the checkout page.

Sales Rank

in Active Nearfield Monitors

Bundles & offers

Neumann KH 120 A Iso Pad Bundle

$1,166

Neumann KH 120 A Iso Riser Bundle

$1,184

Create your own bundle

starting from $1,325

Up to 5% discount

Neumann KH 120 A Bundle

$1,190

Neumann KH 120 A Stand Bundle

$1,255

Neumann KH 120 A Table Stand Bundle

$1,435

The nearfield reference

The Neumann KH 120 A is a compact, active two-way bass reflex studio monitor designed for nearfield listening, i.e. for a listening distance of about one metre. Like most high-quality two-way monitors, the 130mm woofer and 25mm tweeter work in a bi-amplified fashion: Each speaker has its own power amplifier and is powered by an active crossover. The MMD™ (Mathematically Modelled Dispersion) waveguide cleverly guides the sound, enlarging the sweet spot without altering the sound. In addition, reflections from tables or mixing console surfaces are minimised by the directional dispersion of the sound, making the KH 120 A ideal for cramped listening situations. The highlight of the Neumann KH 120 A, however, is its sound: The monitor reproduces signals without distortion, transients are reproduced precisely, and the spatial imaging is excellent.

Neutral centrepiece in the studio

Monitors are the heart of any home or recording studio. The biggest audio interface, the most expensive large-diaphragm microphone, and the most powerful plug-in are of no use if the monitors cannot reproduce intricate sound details. With the Neumann KH 120 A, you get an extremely neutral monitoring tool with which nothing is glossed over. One could also say that the KH 120 A is merciless: Good things sound good and bad things sound bad. To adapt the Neumann KH 120 A to the room acoustics, the bass and treble can be attenuated. When placed on a table or the meter bridge of a mixing console, a low-mid filter reduces the negative effect of surface reflections. The front logo lights up white in normal operation, while a red light indicates the activation of the speaker's internal protection system. The LED illumination of the logo can also be dimmed and even switched off completely, which is practical when the KH 120 A is placed as a centre speaker behind the projector screen of a home cinema setup.

For demanding listeners

The KH 120 A is often found in a professional production environment because of its absolutely faithful sound reproduction. To take full advantage of this monitor, a studio should be equipped with basic acoustic adjustments such as corner and side absorbers. Discerning listeners will then be rewarded with a fundamentally honest monitor that enables users to make intricate sound judgements. It is not for nothing that the Neumann KH 120 A is repeatedly described as the reference monitor in its price class - not by the manufacturers themselves, mind you, but by the actual users. However, it is not only studio professionals or experienced home recorders who benefit from the advantages of the KH 120 A, but in principle everyone who desires an unadulterated reproduction of programme material. The KH 120 A is also available in white.

About Neumann

Georg Neumann GmbH was founded in Berlin in 1928 - and is certainly one of the most famous brands of microphones in the world. However, this is not the firm’s only sphere on activity. For many years the versatile inventor and pioneer Georg Neumann was also involved with vinyl record cutting machines and the development of rechargeable batteries. The technology he developed is still the basis for this now crucial and rapidly expanding market. What is more, for many years the company built highly personalised sound control systems for broadcast studios/theatres and concert halls, and for several years also studio monitors. In 1991, Neumann became part of the Sennheiser group of companies, and in 1999 received (the first German company to do so) the Technical Grammy for their overall technical achievements.

Big sound for small rooms

Since the Neumann KH 120 A is not very susceptible to side wall reflections, the compact monitor is ideal for use in small rooms. It is therefore often found in the post-production rooms of television studios or in radio stations' OB vans - and for the same reason in smaller studio rooms and home studios. While the Neumann KH 120 A is the go-to tool for sound professionals, there are also applications for this nearfield monitor outside of music and TV production: In combination with the Neumann KH 750 DSP subwoofer, the KH 120 A can be used to create a very high-quality 5.1 system for home cinema. And there are certainly dedicated music lovers who place this loudspeaker in their music room for a very simple reason: They want to enjoy music as intended by the artist, without the loudspeaker interfering with the sound.

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470 Customer ratings

5 438 Customers 4 19 Customers 3 7 Customers 2 3 Customers 1 3 Customers

4.9 / 5

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284 Reviews

Best Nearfield Monitors I ever heard and used. Buyers tip for smaller Studios.

Shitapple 02.09.2019

I owned and tested a few Monitors before I ended up with the Neumanns.

In comparsion to the following (which I have tested in the studio and at Thomann direct comparision with dBA Meter), the Neumanns has the best linear sound, best stereo width and best depth.

I compared to:

- Yamaha HS80: Way to much muddy lowend for small rooms, due to the 8 inch woofer. Muddy not so present mids and highs.
- Adam A7X: Very imposant for listening but not that useable for long sessions because of the harsh and over time to loud and anoying highs. Also the bass is not so defined and a bit too less for me.
- Eve Audio SC7: Its basically the A7X with better encoders and andjustments. Best thing here is the highs are not so agressive like the A7X once. But the bass is very strong and room filling. Too much for a small room to mix correctly. No Sub needed in bigger rooms.

And the end I spend a bit more money and picked the Neumann KH120A.

The only downcase is that you need to use it with a subwoofer if you want to mix freq. under 55-60Hz.
I not went with the sub I will mix the sub freq. with my Beyerdynamics DT770. Which is much cheaper than the Neumann sub and will not cause trouble with my neighbours.

The only sub which in my opinion is working well with the KH 120As is the Neumann KH800 or 750. I tested this for over 2 hours in house by Thomann and the even the Sub10 is not accurate enough with the KH120 A together. If you have the money spend it for the Neumann sub in addition ;) Only afterwards I would go for a Moog synth or other expensive hardware.

But don't get me wrong the bass is excellent, well balanced and very accurate but only until 50 Hz or so.

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Excellent project, craftmanship, sound performance

AriT 07.02.2017

Extremely flat and revealing monitors, with a great spatial rendition, free from any trace of harshness in the high frequencies and no bloated low-mids like other compact speakers that try to sound bigger than their size.

Coming from Adam (A5X and A7X), which to my ears resulted a little too sizzling in the highs and also somewhat muddy in the bass, the definition offered by the Neumanns at all frequency ranges is a great step-up.

Like many other users have reported, the reproduction of the mids is very precise and balanced. What is even more impressive is the low end: although the KH120 have a smaller woofer and cabinet than the A7X, they go deeper down and provide a tight and well controlled bass with no boominess: that's a surprise indeed. Just to make clear, the Neumanns could surely benefit from a subwoofer if weight in the lowest octave is needed, but even without a sub, kick drums and basses are beautifully rendered with satisfying punch and articulation, more so than on other 7" and even 8" monitors that I've tried.

The craftmanship is very fine (made in Ireland), they are extremely well-built and everything oozes quality and great care (even the scotch tape used to seal the plastic bags protecting the speakers inside the box looks to be of superior quality!)

All in all, an excellent product. The price might seem on the high side among 5" woofer monitors, but considering that sound-wise they compete with bigger ones, and also keeping in mind the quality level and the EU manufacturing, these compact Neumanns have a great cost/performance ratio.

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Built like a tank, absolute clarity

Sanju 07.02.2021

I'm an acoustician and I use this product for room acoustic testing. Especially in cases where we have to measure accurate room response. The response of this speaker is very flat which makes it perfect for this purpose. The response we measure with this speaker as the source and using measurement microphones (we use earthworks mics) reflect only the response of the room and does not require us to correct for the speaker's response.
Clarity - We run exponential sine sweeps from 80Hz all the way to 18kHz usually to get as much info as we can for reverberation times. Also there is very little to no distortion for the SPL ranges we use (~90dBA) which makes it even more reliable. While we use a "dodecahedron" speaker most of the time for larger halls, this speaker is my go-to for small rooms and offices.
In terms of clarity and definition, for me as an acoustician I'd only recommend Neumann KH120A speakers for critical listening, as this speaker is not kind to ill treated rooms and bad mixes. Which makes it the perfect tool for us. It brings out all the artefacts in the room, which helps us design the room even better.
Pros - absolutely heavy duty, extremely flat response, very reliable for long working hours.
Cons - Only XLR input, would love it if there was a balance TRS input as well.

We are going to make our studio in the near future and we will only buy these monitors - any day.

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Anonymous 03.11.2016

I purchased these speakers after an intensive reading and listening few models at the local studio equipment store. However, this model was not available for testing so the purchase was, to put it this way, "blind". I currently use them for music production straight from my macbook's jack output.

I'm delighted to say that it was a very good choice they look amazing and sound clear and transparent. They translate really good to other sound systems, the highs are clear and the lows as far as these speakers can go are accurate in my opinion. It's very easy to hear flawed mixes with them.

Two cons: I would liked them to have RCA connector (I knew that this was lacking before the purchase so I had the proper cables prepared). The second issue is rather cosmetic: the front lights are not in the same nuance, one is slightly darker (at least on my pair) so my OCD kicked in and I disabled the front lights alltogether.

I do recommend them together with Neumann's table stand, should you use them on a regular table: it's very easy to adjust the height of the speakers and they isolate the subsonics good enough.

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Neumann KH 120 A

Active Studio Nearfield Monitor