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Of the three I originally thought to audition, the Neumann's were kinda least ugly. However, they reminded me way too much of really old and small computer speakers and in some way I mentally couldn't get past that.
ADAMs... somehow too "sharp", they felt odd. They may actually be the closest to perfect reproduction but I'm not sure ribbon tweeters are a thing I could get used to. The looks are also an acquired taste.
Genelecs... sounded great, very balanced at all volumes, clean and transparent for the pieces of music I know really well (was in the studio and have listened to it constantly for 20+ years). So I loved how these sounded, but they also had the look of late 1990s computer speakers, and the larger sibling were pretty large (and heavy, and I was factoring in weight considerations as they're on a sit/stand desk).
Neumann's I thought were pretty damn great, but the Genelecs pipped it for me personally. I didn't quite think the Neumann's remained balanced for very low volumes, the mids didn't remain as present. But they sounded almost on par with the Genelecs when they would get to just shy of softly spoken word at 1m distance volume. I also thought they reminded me too much of computer speakers.
When we bumped up the price, the Genelecs were huge! Wouldn't fit on the desk any longer and would weigh too much... still looked liked PC speakers but much biggerer. The Neumann's sounded great but that niggle from the smaller sibling made me believe I really needed to push volume to get the best out of them and I'm going for the lower volume end. I didn't listen to larger ADAMs.
The smaller PSIs kicked in at this price point though, and they hit every criteria except price. They sound great at the volumes I work at (below spoken word at 1m distance) with a strong but balanced and present mid-range, yet very full and balanced across all ranges.
My use is very mixed, I'm not working in audio but audio features so much in my life. I'm on video conferences most of the day and my mic and speaker set up helps me connect best to the people I meet... I sound present to them, they sound present to me (and yes my peers also have similar mic setups), we tend to all use Zoom with the high-fidelity audio mode enabled. Then I will sometimes record webinars, talks, etc. And when I'm not doing that stuff I listen to music... when I listen it's all FLACs held locally. So my usage is very mixed between broadcast conditions, video editing conditions and just enjoying music.
Oh, and this is the setup: https://www.lfgss.com/comments/16140109/incontext/
Velocio-
When we bumped up the price, the Genelecs were huge!
Genelec do have 8331 in their three-way point source series, but those are 2k€ a piece. Personally I can't agree on the PC speaker look, I see them as pleasantly tool-like with a strong "form follows function" vibe, but I guess it's not surprising that everyone won't like them.
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Hey Velocio, saw the photos - that's a really nice set up and those speakers look great too! I am very keen to hear them now. My context is in art and have fortunately received some financial support for projects, otherwise all this equipment would not be possible for me. I love the Genelecs, must say. There is something about speakers - all their different sizes, ages and characteristics that I find fascinating. Even the small Genelec 8010s blew me away. I simply didn't expect that kind of sound from such a tiny box. For what I needed them for (voice), they did the job extremely well.
I see we both have a penchant for going into lengthy detail with our writing ; ) It brought on a smile seeing your post, kind of reminiscent of myself. All the best with your new speakers!
paradroid
Hornsweep
I get what you are saying about speakers out there being ugly (I mean seriously - why yellow and white cones?? Or silver 'plaques' like Eves? It's quite tacky.
When I want to sit in the studio or location, I don't want to be reminded or even have my work to compete with some speaker designer. I want my work to stand sovereign - and the best way to do that is to have non-entity speakers, black boxes essentially...but really good ones.
The Neumanns don't actually look that different to the A14s from the front, except that instead of a (potentially irritating) yellow light, it has a soft golden and white hazy Neumann logo that is almost alive it's so gentle. It's lovely. Like looking at a bicycle and thinking that it doesnt stand out and is probably nothing special, but then discovering very beautiful and rare lugs. That's what I love about some French bikes - totally minimal, until you come up close or just look at the shape from afar. I'm not saying the Neumanns are the most beautiful examples of audio equipment, just that I like things to be subdued sometimes.
I use the Genelecs a lot because I can use different sizes and that allows me to keep a sense of uniformity. I like them as long as they don't stand out. But they still have that 'designery' look I'm not that convinced about. The sound is great though.
Oh, and another thing I like about the Neumanns - that 'KH' comes from Klein + Hummel or K+H. Legendary studio speakers such as the O 300Ds. Neumann took the company over and that's where much of that knowledge and look comes from. Neumann being of course known for microphones. There's a bit of (silly) aura going there for me, haha.
Recently I found a forum where high-end hifi geeks were selling their absurdly expensive passive speakers to get K+Hs.
Ps. Still prefer wooden-looking speakers for home though.