My vote goes for the JBL LSR305 Mk2, a solid step up from the original 305 in terms of musicality. The original way out performed the Elac B6. Both JBL's have a MSRP of $300/pair and are active, so no power amps or speaker cable needed, they are just plain stupid good.
I have both the LSR305 Mk 1, and ELAC B6 (version 1). The LSR305 is better at imaging, staging and microdetails. The B6 is fun sounding, has a nice ripe bass response, and my daughter loves it. I think ELACs forte is in their coincident designs quite honestly.
Both measure well, with the 305 edging out the B6 particularly in the
constancy of the off axis response. The waveguide on the B6 is very small with a high crossover point which I see they improved upon in the 6.2 version. They also shortened the center to center distance between the 2 drivers, and redesigned the crossover. I expect the 6.2 to sound even better.
Tough market but both companies give tremendously more for the dollar and are more accountable with regards to measurements than many other manufacturers. They spend more money and research on what acoustically matters and less talk about how much elbow grease they spent on the cabinet veneer or coat of paint. They also have superior resources to make better engineered products with custom drivers, anechoic chambers, etc...it’s hard to beat a fella who trained at KEF who are THE authority on coincident speaker design, and hard to beat a company with a multimillion $ budget, and numerous qualified engineers who routinely pluck competitor loudspeakers for testing/researching with a measurement technique (Spinorama) that has revolutionized the industry, ie JBL and is now followed by others (most notably KEF!).
Best,
Anand.
