Dennis,
Speakers are a very subjective area, so please remember these are just my personal opinions.
Dnsmo wrote:... how easy they are on the ears ...
They worked well straight out of the box. There did not seem to be any need to "run them in". I had just upgraded my "soundcard" to an RME UCX and was going to use it with my old amp/speakers and my AKG701s until funds permitted. When I realised how much better the RME sounded than my old E-MU 1212M I decided to dive in and get some speakers. I looked long and hard at the Genelecs and came close to getting some but I seem to recall that, while they were ported like the Neumanns, the port was not at the front which I thought could be an issue with bookshelf positioning. Also, I once saw a review that said they had the "classic Genelec sound" which sounded like a minus, to me.
Now, I can listen to the speakers, then put on the AKGs and, apart from the change in ambient noise, I am hard-pushed to tell the difference.
My previous speakers (Soundcraft Absolute 2) were very hard on the ears when I first got them but they improved over time. The KH120s sounded good straightaway - no harshness at all.
Dnsmo wrote:I plan to have two in front, two in back, with a yet-to-be-determined subwoofer. How do you like this setup so far ...
That is exactly what I have so I am going to say it sounds perfect, aren't I? I wondered about getting more speakers but my room does not justify it. I can blow myself away already. Neumann claim to match the speakers so well that you do not need to buy them in pairs so I decided I could try four and see how it went and still be able to get some more of the "same" speakers later on - but I am happy with just four.
Dnsmo wrote:... how well do the Neumanns integrate with the BK Electronics sub?
I had some trouble getting them match up at first. As many seem to be, I was attracted to the organ at least in part because of the low notes. Consequently, I set the bass level far too high to start with. I realised that only after I had stopped the piano, door knob, radiator and windows vibrating when playing! Another clue was that when playing at the low end of the manuals there was an unnatural booming sound.
However, the Neumanns and the BK XXLS400 all have sufficient filters and level controls to make it work but it does take some time to get it all set up correctly. That will apply to any system with a speakers and subs from different manufacturers, I guess.
The KH120s have sufficient frequency range to cover 8 foot stops and smaller on the manuals and everything bar the fundamental frequency of any 16 foot stops in a part of the bottom octave. They also cover nearly all the pedal harmonics as well. The sub just extracts the last small, but quite important, bit.
I also have come to like something about the KH120s that I thought was a bit of a gimmick at first. I like the lights on the speakers that tell you when they are switched on. My previous, passive, speakers had no need of that, of course.
Whether my set up would actually be any better than a Genelec one is open to question but I am very pleased with it.
Regards,