JBL LSR305 Powered Speakers, Less Than $300

aevans · « **Reply #40 on:** 3 Jul 2015, 07:32 am »

Finished my modifications and review of the JBL LSR308's - http://noaudiophile.com/JBL_LSR308/

It was a lot to cover, so let me know if you guys have any questions or if I missed anything.

JLM · « **Reply #41 on:** 3 Jul 2015, 11:44 am »

Quote from: aevans on 3 Jul 2015, 07:32 am

Finished my modifications and review of the JBL LSR308's - http://noaudiophile.com/JBL_LSR308/

It was a lot to cover, so let me know if you guys have any questions or if I missed anything.

Thanks for your efforts. I agree that the engineering aesthetics of a thin molded plastic baffle is not acceptable for anything reporting to be audio/studio grade. Seems like you preferred the 305 to the 308. And again I agree, any speaker with an 8 inch driver is too big for desktop use (yet 5 inch woofers seem a bit too small to provide convincing mid-bass "body").

guest61169 · « **Reply #42 on:** 3 Jul 2015, 11:52 am »

Interesting reading. I was trying to decide whether to get those or the Yamaha HS8s for my 12'x17' listening room. I'm glad I got the Yamahas, although I think the HS5s may have been better for such a small room, giving up some bass of course. No issues with HS8 construction quality but in a room that small I just felt that I couldn't relax with the music like I should. I played around for months with positioning and the switches on the back but ultimately preferred my PA speakers from JBL Professional, which I can listen to for hours without fatigue. I moved the HS8s up to my video system where they sound fantastic for movies (and a bit of music) in a room 3x that size. No sub needed.

aevans · « **Reply #43 on:** 3 Jul 2015, 04:37 pm »

Quote

Thanks for your efforts. I agree that the engineering aesthetics of a thin molded plastic baffle is not acceptable for anything reporting to be audio/studio grade. Seems like you preferred the 305 to the 308. And again I agree, any speaker with an 8 inch driver is too big for desktop use (yet 5 inch woofers seem a bit too small to provide convincing mid-bass "body").

I have had no problem with little woofers giving impact, they just can't do both impact and play up past 300Hz.

A perfect example of this is my Micca Voltron project. Seen at the tail end of this review - http://noaudiophile.com/Micca_COVO-S/

It's tiny 3.5 inch woofer puts out bass into the 40Hz range, and sounds good and clean because of the three-way design along with a large helping of DSP. Still my favorite desktop speaker, and anytime I get done with a review I'm always happy to put those speakers back in place.

JLM · « **Reply #44 on:** 3 Jul 2015, 10:10 pm »

aevans,

You mention in the Micca Voltron project comparisons against studio monitors. What "pre-made" studio monitors do you favor? (Sorry for getting a bit off topic here.)

aevans · « **Reply #45 on:** 3 Jul 2015, 10:21 pm »

Quote

You mention in the Micca Voltron project comparisons against studio monitors. What "pre-made" studio monitors do you favor? (Sorry for getting a bit off topic here.)

Honestly I have not heard enough to say. I would say that I prefer a narrower baffle the closer you sit to a speaker, and there are not that many good narrow baffle monitors that play deep. The best out of the box desktop speaker would be the Vanatoo Transparent Ones. They are very impressive and the enjoyment is only limited by output, which is not really an issue on the desktop.

JLM · « **Reply #46 on:** 4 Jul 2015, 11:02 am »

Obviously aevans you're a fan of DSP. I heard the Vanatoo very briefly at the Chicago Axpona in April and it did sound good. Another more mechanical solution that intrigues me is the 6" x 8" x 9.75" Audience ClairAudient 1+1. Much more expensive (and way out of range for this circle), but it uses a small high quality single driver front and back (bi-pole) plus passive radiators on each side to provide coherence that in my mind is critical for nearfield listening.

Another speaker I heard at Axpona was part of very small $600 system from Napa Acoustic. It consisted of a tubed pre/15 wpc solid state power integrated with two tiny non-discript 2-way speakers that were filling a good sized room with perhaps the most pleasant and musical sound I'd heard all day at the show. They also had a larger pair of speakers plus a small subwoofer that I wasn't able to hear. Very impressive!

rjbond3rd · « **Reply #47 on:** 4 Jul 2015, 02:18 pm »

Quote from: aevans on 3 Jul 2015, 07:32 am

Finished my modifications and review of the JBL LSR308's - http://noaudiophile.com/JBL_LSR308/

It was a lot to cover, so let me know if you guys have any questions or if I missed anything.

HI aevans, may I ask which model sounds better in the midrange -- LSR305 vs. (high-passed) LSR308?

aevans · « **Reply #48 on:** 4 Jul 2015, 06:39 pm »

Quote

HI aevans, may I ask which model sounds better in the midrange -- LSR305 vs. (high-passed) LSR308?

High passed anything is going to sound better than a driver trying to do both mids and bass at the same time. Outside of bass response the biggest difference between the speakers is the lower treble, the 308's will keep it off of the side walls, and as such sound darker.

One thing that bothers me is that the stated goal for the JBL M2 waveguide which both of the 3 series speakers are based off is to make a compression driver have the dispersion characteristics of a dome tweeter. Given that the 3 series has a dome tweeter the waveguide design is obviously used for different purposes here. I'm not sure what the point is in using the design other than time alignment and marketing. If you want something that sounds more like a regular dome tweeter speaker the 305's are the way to go.

JDUBS · « **Reply #49 on:** 5 Jul 2015, 01:39 am »

Quote from: aevans on 3 Jul 2015, 07:32 am

Finished my modifications and review of the JBL LSR308's - http://noaudiophile.com/JBL_LSR308/

It was a lot to cover, so let me know if you guys have any questions or if I missed anything.

I don't understand this, " The exceptions are the audiophile fare of music where its one or two instruments playing. If the music is not busy they excel like nothing in this price range should."

vs.

this: "Does EDM like nobody's business - Simian, Orbital, etc. These can definitely be party speakers.'

Which is it?

-Jim

aevans · « **Reply #50 on:** 5 Jul 2015, 04:27 am »

Quote

Which is it?

There are problem situations where the speaker takes a shit on the sound. These are two situations where the speakers do what is asked of them.

One stand up bass with one female vocalist works great for critical listening.

EDM deep, loud, no vocal track, ignore the details and blast your face off works as well, for parties. If I was hunting for details on that EDM track I may have been disappointed, but without vocals it's not hard to make EDM sound good.

OzarkTom · « **Reply #51 on:** 7 Jul 2015, 12:09 am »

Massdrop just relisted the 305's today.

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/jbl-lsr305?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Transactional%3A%20Drop%20Request%20Launched&mode=guest_open

JDUBS · « **Reply #52 on:** 7 Jul 2015, 12:11 am »

Quote from: aevans on 5 Jul 2015, 04:27 am

There are problem situations where the speaker takes a shit on the sound. These are two situations where the speakers do what is asked of them.

One stand up bass with one female vocalist works great for critical listening.

EDM deep, loud, no vocal track, ignore the details and blast your face off works as well, for parties. If I was hunting for details on that EDM track I may have been disappointed, but without vocals it's not hard to make EDM sound good.

Thanks. I guess that sort of makes sense.

-Jim

genesound · « **Reply #53 on:** 25 Aug 2016, 09:07 pm »

Quote from: aevans on 4 Jul 2015, 06:39 pm

High passed anything is going to sound better than a driver trying to do both mids and bass at the same time. Outside of bass response the biggest difference between the speakers is the lower treble, the 308's will keep it off of the side walls, and as such sound darker.

One thing that bothers me is that the stated goal for the JBL M2 waveguide which both of the 3 series speakers are based off is to make a compression driver have the dispersion characteristics of a dome tweeter. Given that the 3 series has a dome tweeter the waveguide design is obviously used for different purposes here. I'm not sure what the point is in using the design other than time alignment and marketing. If you want something that sounds more like a regular dome tweeter speaker the 305's are the way to go.

Pretty sure that is the deal. A horn without compression is more like a diffracter. I can't help but wonder if a softer surface like undercoating or maybe light flocking on the "waveguide" might take the edge off the hi-mid harshness?

cujobob · « **Reply #54 on:** 21 Sep 2016, 11:28 pm »

Musician's Friend has the white version on sale for $119 each. Look cool, too. Can be had on eBay from them without shipping costs

JLM · « **Reply #55 on:** 21 Sep 2016, 11:47 pm »

I've got a pair of red 305's on extended loan and really can't find anything to fault them on for the price. Heck they match up well against passives for the same price (an informal comparison of 7 pairs of speakers at an audio meet at my place last April demonstrated that).

On the extended loan I've been comparing against Dynaudio BM5 Mk III's ($1,400/pair USD MSRP) which are also 2-way monitors. The Dyn's win on bass fullness and especially treble detail, making the 305's seem boring in comparison, but what do you expect for 4+ times the price? This would make the Dyn's better recording/mixing studio monitors, but either are quite enjoyable for home use.

The 305's waveguide provides a remarkably wide sweet spot.

vlad335 · « **Reply #56 on:** 23 Sep 2016, 04:21 pm »

I bought the LSR305's last week to use with my computer setup after reading multiple reviews. ( The Noaudiophile review sealed the deal. Love your site! Wish you updated more frequently)

These are the real deal. These are the best monitors I ever had on my desk. Clear, powerful, with a magic soundstage. I am using one of the cheap Dayton 10" subs and going out of my Asus Xonar soundcard and I have been listening to my complete music collection all over again.

Bought the matching JBL sub this week. In my experience I would have to recommend anyone to not bother. Although it is probably a little cleaner and a tad more accurate it is significantly weaker. Maybe the one I received was defective but the Dayton SUB-1000 has double the output and sounds much more musical and compliments the 305's well. And it is much smaller! The XLF setting on the JBL ups the output but makes it a boomy mess. The value just isnt there with the JBL 310S IMO.

I may just pickup one of the Dayton 12 or 15 subs now.

pinkfloyd4ever · « **Reply #57 on:** 27 Sep 2017, 05:19 pm »

$280 a pair for 5 more hours on Massdrop!

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-jbl-lsr30x-powered-speakers

srb · « **Reply #58 on:** 27 Sep 2017, 05:30 pm »

If you have a penchant for white, you can get a pair of LSR305-WH Limited Edition White for $260 shipped from Musicians Friend.

JBL LSR305 White at Musician's Friend

wushuliu · « **Reply #59 on:** 27 Sep 2017, 10:21 pm »

Hm, You can get DefTech SM45s for less on Amazon these days. Be curious how jbl holds up against those. Very competitive price range these days.

JBL LSR305 Powered Speakers, Less Than $300

guest61169