And this shows once again what really matters in an audio chain. SINAD ± etc. is all great - and reasonably important - but in the end it all depends on mechanical [drivers'] movements/interactions and room acoustics.
You're might be right, I heard the Grahams (again) a week ago on a Denon AVC-A110. And they sounded great, however the volume was at 0dB, when listening and that wasn't loud loud.
I know the feel. I also considered the Genelecs (can't remember the model) but had forgotten them again ... thanks ;-)
yeah Grimm, pretty high price too
And a bit "weird", as off-axis frequency response is a lot better [= flat], if I recall correctly.
I understand.
The remaining main differences would be that the M1 has the electronics outsourced, which might be beneficial in some installations and depending on your room acoustics, the cardioid radiation pattern [via selectable mode] above ~250 Hz might come in handy, as well; especially for close-to-rear-wall placements.
Furthermore, the M1 has a HF compression driver which performs exceptionally good - as expected (see distortion measurements here and here).
The rest is pretty comparable to the KH 310_s, including the closed cabinet design philosophy. But yes, the KH 310 would save some bucks. Anyways, both are great choices - and really not comparable to the LS5/9_s...
Yeah Its a bit more expensive
I didn't have a chance to audition the M1 so far, as it has been released just recently and the COVID-19 pandemic makes things more difficult, unfortunately.
Genelec is much brighter than Neumann in my experience, but it's a different kind of bright than Focal's Beryllium.
They are great loudspeakers, without any doubt!
Harbeth loudspeakers are a different case, as their relatively thin enclosures manifest resonances. Furthermore, the "nice" midrange you are referring to might be due to a loss of energy, which will not be the case in high-quality studio monitors (and alike). See the linked measurements of the model 30.2 and model 30.
Is >brightness< not an increased SPL in the (especially) HF region? How can two loudspeakers that anechoically measure flat, Genelec and Neumann, sound differently in terms of brightness? If so, it would be due to reflections which are a room's phenomenon - and not the loudspeakers' fault.
I think proper is too strong a word, if you don't mind me saying so.
While I agree, no one in the world will convince me that Neumann and Genelec tweeters sound the same even if they'll measure the same.They are great loudspeakers, without any doubt!
It was not a "fault" but an intentional design achievement, I think... a long time has passed... I guess it was some 2010 measurements with reference to their in-room response. Obviously, enhanced models have been released in the meantime.
I could find one hint in their manual, though - chapter "Positioning", pages 10 and 11:
"The LS1 cabinet is wider than usual, so the effect of turning the loudspeaker around its
vertical axis is larger than you would expect. The off-axis response on the front side of
the LS1 is extremely even (the LS1 sounds just as good slightly off-axis as on-axis), but
it becomes gradually softer when the angle is larger. We can use this to our advantage. In
the classic arrangement the loudspeakers face the listener. The angle of the loudspeakers
relative to the wall behind them is 30 degrees. The superb off-axis performance of the LS1
offers an alternative setup where both loudspeakers are turned slightly further inward, or
’toe in‘. We advice an angle to the wall of 45 degrees. The listener then sits at 15 degrees
off-axis of the loudspeakers. This ’toe in‘ setup has two advantages:
[...]
In about 20% of the rooms, the classic setup where the LS1's face the listener still sounds
better. This is usually the case in fairly large rooms or in rooms with acoustics where
left and right reflections are very well balanced. Please accept this as an invitation to
experiment and listen in your own environment."
Harbeth loudspeakers are a different case, as their relatively thin enclosures manifest resonances. Furthermore, the "nice" midrange you are referring to might be due to a loss of energy, which will not be the case in high-quality studio monitors (and alike). See the linked measurements of the model 30.2 and model 30.
You most probably would require some "burn-in" time for your ears/brain, to get used to the sound of accurate loudspeakers.
Is >brightness< not an increased SPL in the (especially) HF region? How can two loudspeakers that anechoically measure flat, Genelec and Neumann, sound differently in terms of brightness? If so, it would be due to reflections which are a room's phenomenon - and not the loudspeakers' fault.
You might have listened to Genelec's GLM "house target curve", which gives a flat in-room response and this certainly would sound too bright. Again, that's not the loudspeakers' fault but an at least questionable application of room EQ. A proper in-room target frequency response curve is what HARMAN refers to as down-sloping towards the HF region.
Unfortunately the Stereoplay/Audio frequency response measurements don't seem to correspond well to verified ones like from ASR, see as a recent example the JBL HDI 3600 measurements from ASR and from Stereoplay (unfortunately no free download).