[JLM]

Well, that scares me about the JBL's which I'm considering. How do they sound in a good environment?

Had them here (Cardas Golden Cuboid shaped, medium sized room with six GIK 244 panels at first reflection points and front corners, no windows) for a week (in my mind a near ideal room).  Also heard them in a brighter medium sized room (wooden floors in front of very large picture window).  They do no wrong, unless you're after audiophile levels of 'entertainment' (exaggerations, colorations, etc.). 

Not the final answer for deep bass (but does remarkably good for price/size), lacks absolute levels of detail (but image well enough to add what I term 'natural' detail), voiced to provide a frequency balanced presentation (bass is full/not constipated like so many passive monitors, not 'thin'/lacking mid-bass, highs not over emphasized).

[maty]

If you source is a computer and you do not have an amplifier, active monitors. Better with front bass-reflex if you can not get them away from the walls. With cheap monitors, better the tweeter without class-D amp.

https://www.sweetwater.com/c405--Active_Monitors/reviews

Select: Customer Rating.

Maybe the ugly but front bass-reflex and two class AB amps by monitor. There are a Limited Edition: white + black.

Focal Alpha 50  $299 x2

=> https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Alpha50

[charmerci]

JLM - I've read your praise of these and is one reason I'm seriously considering them, however, I'm interested in Danny's take since he didn't at first care for them.

I just want to be fairly certain that they won't irritate me before committing. Yes, I know ultimately I won't know until I listen to them myself.

Maty, I'm on a budget - 600 is way too much for me to consider.

[maty]

If you listen only "modern" commercial music you do not need to spend much money. Besides, you run the risk that these badly recorded music sounds bad in good boxes.

JBL LSR305 have other problem: you can hear hiss from tweeter in nearfield (worse with the big LSR308). To listen commercial music in midfield OK. But do not try to enjoy them if it sounds well recorded music with acoustic instruments.

Electronic music OK. Jazz, vocals, classical... 

With these Focal, on top of an insulator that separates them from the table (and if you raise them a little better still, that the bass-reflex is down), you have boxes for many years, regardless of the style of music.

But remember: better equipment (speakers, dac...) =>  more unbearable the current bad recordings are.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/active_nearfield_monitors.html?oa=rat

PS: most of those who review do not listen to jazz or ...

[maty]

You can go with this old Genelec clone made by Behringer and that they have a quality of construction above the average of said brand so criticized in the pro world but these 2030 / 2031 (Active or Passive) are OK.

6.75" woofer, maybe too BIG speakers for your table and room.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/B2030A $150 x2

In the future you can improve them inside with little money. Google.

http://noaudiophile.com/Behringer_Truth_B2031A/

[maty]

I listen to a lot of music (used to be mostly CDs, then mostly mp3s, and now like so many, mostly streaming) but I want to invest in my speakers to make the experience better.

Alesis active monitors

https://www.sweetwater.com/c405--Active_Monitors?params=eyJmYWNldCI6eyJCcmFuZCI6WyJBbGVzaXMiXX19


Alesis M1 Active MK3

https://www.amazon.com/Alesis-M1-ACTIVE-MK3-Premium/dp/B01J66C15K

https://ask.audio/articles/review-alesis-m1-active-mk3


Alesis Elevate 5 MKII

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alesis-Elevate-MKII-Speakers-Video-Editing/product-reviews/B01MUY2470/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewopt_srt?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&sortBy=recent&pageNumber=1

https://www.amazon.com/Alesis-ELEVATE-MKII-Speakers-Video-Editing/dp/B01MUY2470

https://www.thomann.de/gb/alesis_elevate_5_mkii.htm

[maty]

7 Mistakes To Avoid When Setting Up Studio Monitors

https://ask.audio/articles/7-mistakes-to-avoid-when-setting-up-studio-monitors

[maty]

For these or other active monitors to get the best sound you need something like this:

You can try first with some books below the monitors. And so you estimate the optimal height of the supports

[IMG] http://maty.galeon.com/WP-imagenes/hum/AV-Marantz-SR4500-ifi-iCAN-KEF-Q100-ATL-Hi-Fi-DC-Ripple-Blocker-x4-ME.jpg

I bought some second hand stands and cut them to the required height. I filled them with sand and something like polyurethane putty/sealant to eliminate vibrations and improve the insulation.

Better star quad (geometry) cables to attenuate the RF/EMI interferences. XLR/jack <---> RCA or XLR/jack <--> minijack.

PS: all my hard (first and second system) were cheap tweaked by me and the sound is much better than the original.

PS2: polyurethane putty/sealant -> sticks very hard all kinds of material and ... add mass and elasticity what is necessary to cushion.

[JLM]

To give perspective my main audio system is in the $5000 ballpark, in a near ideal listening environment, and I listen near-field (5 - 6 feet away) to ripped Redbook.  That's how I listened to them (on cheap freestanding stands).  My Dynaudio BM5 MkIII's came with Isostands that I've never taken out of their boxes as I've never setup them up on a desktop.

About the same time as a frugalphile friend bought the JBL LSR305's (1.5 years ago for $200/pair in red) I also scored Dynaudio BM5 MkIII's (on close out for $850/pair).  They were very comparable in size, F3, even sound quality wasn't very far off.  I still own the Dyns and use them for an occasional change of pace.  Frankly if not for audio nervosa I should have sent the Dyns back and bought his 305s (I liked the red).  Now don't get me wrong, the BM5 MkIII's are good speakers, in fact a step up (sans the wood veneer) from the $2000/pair Dynaudio Excite 14A that audiostream.com ranks as their favorite speaker.  Which makes the 305's a killer deal, but at the end of the day the 305's didn't quite ring my bell. 

As I"ve said they do not nothing wrong, which for their price says a lot.  Lets be realistic, the quality you can expect for 4 mono-amps, 4 drivers, and 2 cabinets in this price range will leave nearly all studio professionals and audiophiles wanting in terms of building and sound quality.  The common complaints of studio monitors having a dry, fatiguing, overly analytical sound comes through all too well at this price point, but the 305's avoid all that.  When I say that they didn't quite satisfy me, it was the last ounce of finesse and musicality I'm speaking of, which is ridiculous to expect for the price.  On another point, I tried pushing them against the wall and it wasn't until they were 10 inches away that I started to hear excessive gain, quite remarkable for a F3=41Hz speaker.

The Adam F7 street prices are 3 times as high, so hopefully they sound better than the 305's, but several of the $700/pair active monitors I've heard don't.  Taste will always be a consideration.  In this case the ribbon tweeter is probably the biggest difference.  Most of the speakers with ribbon tweeters that I've heard tend to show off (exaggerate) those expensive tweeters as you might expect.  So to know for sure find a shop that has both (doubt they'll be properly setup) or much better yet home audition both.  By the way the Adam F5 is the more size/cost comparable model to the 305 and a friendlier size for desktop use.  While I'm mentioning that, it's difficult to find reviews of studio monitors being used in-room (nearly all use them in a desktop/studio setting), so the question of 'room filling' is rarely answered online, although I did find a review of the Adam 3X that mentioned that it was surprisingly good at doing just that (way smaller woofer, but also cost $700/pair on the street).

[maty]

If I had JBL LSR305 I would try to improve them inside to limit their weaknesses without spending a lot of money.

Changing the output ferrites of the speakers by other Würth 150 kHz ferrites and, first of all, improving inside, especially the front, adding viscoelastic material and thus add mass and elasticity.

In Spain I use Tecsound SY 70. Cheap and very effective.

http://www.texsa.com/en/pl39/productos/id63/tecsound-sy.htm

Go to Google images.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Tecsound+SY+70+maty

First I tried with a very cheap speakers and so be able to experience without fear.

[Spanish] https://nauscopio.wordpress.com/tag/tecsound-sy-70/

[maty]

[IMG] http://maty.galeon.com/WP-imagenes/hard/JBL-lsr-305-amp-board.jpg

After improving the internal walls, I would isolate the cheap SMPS and very probably RF/EMI noisy by putting some 1mm steel plates.

Finnallly, the Würth 150 kHz ferrites.

Step by step.

If I have not bought them, Focal Alpha 50 is better choice I think. Well, if you listen (very) good records and ALL types of music.

* JBL LSR 305: 4,6 Kg

* Focal Alpha 50: 7,3 Kg.

Material + time = money too.

********** ********** ********** ************

By the way, now I listen in my second system, with the cheap tweaked KEF Q100 with little 5.25" coaxial:

Frank Bungarten - Heitor Villa-Lobos Complete Works for Guitar (2010) (SACD)

https://www.allmusic.com/album/heitor-villa-lobos-complete-works-for-guitar-mw0002060234

and the guitar sounds great.

Guitar, piano and organ have many harmonics and are demanding with the speakers.

[maty]

[French] https://www.lesnumeriques.com/enceintes-home-cinema/comparatif-enceintes-monitoring-actives-a1583.html

-> [French] https://www.lesnumeriques.com/enceintes-home-cinema/focal-alpha-50-p24381/test.html

[French] https://fr.audiofanzine.com/enceinte-active/focal/alpha-50/editorial/tests/focalpha.html

Focal Alpha 50 en jaune et Dynaudio BM5 mkIII en bleu

[IMG] https://medias.audiofanzine.com/images/normal/948527.png

[maty]

@JLM

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/dynaudio-lyd-5-8

Alternatives

There’s obviously no shortage of active nearfield monitoring options around the price of the Lyd 8 and Lyd 5. Some of the strongest competitors are probably the Pioneer RM-05 and RM-07, the Focal Alpha 50 and Alpha 80, the Genelec M030 and M040, and the Adam A7X and A8X.

There are in all black.

[Tyson]

* Focal Alpha 50: 7,3 Kg.

Agreed, Focal makes really great speakers!

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Audioengine speakers, which are really great sounding:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017E10MPU/ref=psdc_3236451011_t2_B01MFD7N5T

[Thirsty]

https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=115&cp_id=11504&cs_id=1150401&p_id=605800&seq=1&format=2

These are crazy good studio monitors for the money, I use a pair in my computer based Pro Tools set up.
There is also the 5" model for even less money.

[charmerci]

https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=115&cp_id=11504&cs_id=1150401&p_id=605800&seq=1&format=2

These are crazy good studio monitors for the money, I use a pair in my computer based Pro Tools set up.
There is also the 5" model for even less money.

Grrr - I'm in the middle of a full-blown audiophilia nervosa attack!!!