JBL LSR305 Review

[MrBoat]

Short and sweet version. These speakers have that trademark JBL sound. If you are a JBL fan, once hearing these, that would probably be the most obvious thing. Wonderful sounding little monitors at any rate and they do disappear into the room and with that inescapable center presence when toed in just so.

Surprising amount of nice bass and ambience to that effect up into the mid range, which makes them sound really complete for their size. The highs are perfect by my ear and are a good match.

These are speakers you would have to fight your girlfriend for custody of if you broke up and you'd get the cat instead.

Glad I bought them. Just what I needed, another favorite item to watch over. On the bright side, a friend's wife has been trying to liberate my Continuums from me and now I have a good speaker to refer her to that I know she will be just as happy with.

I have my phone plugged into these which does not have enough volume (gain?) (I need to root my LG phone) and these still sound good with it. I don't have a long enough cable (3.5 to dual xlr) to conveniently hook them up to my pc and I don't feel like rearranging my pc area for the desktop experience. I can tell they would blow you away and would tough to beat in that arrangement, though, and are certainly plenty for an average sized bedroom or small living room.

 

[MrBoat]

If I was going to mod these speakers at all, it would be to move the power switch near the top of the cabinets since it is in the rear in among the other plate amp controls. Being able to just go right to the power switch near the top of the cabinets would be perfect, I think. I'll let them use up some more of their warranty first though.

Another option would be active speaker stands (more I think about this option, the more I like it) with a switch mounted on that and would help hide the cords. I have them on the welded stands I built out of aluminum pipe and it would be easy enough to wire them internally.

Second full evening listening to these little gems with just a darn phone hooked up to them. No external DAC, no hiss, thumps, buzzes, rings. . .nada. Things like this might make one question the $ they spend on audio to achieve certain things.

Plate amps don't even get a little warm to the touch. The cabinets are comparatively inert, even at louder volumes.

I'm seriously tempted to get their bigger (LSR308) brothers in the future and just totally F-up every notion I have about quality sound vs. budget.

 

[Irvrobinson]

When i was shopping for speakers for my desktop computer set-up, I listened to a pair at Guitar Center, and the JBLs sound okay, but operationally they are really inferior to the Audioengine 5+, and they don't sound any better. The Audioengine speakers have a volume control on the front (the JBL's is on the rear panel), RCA and mini-stereo phone plug inputs, and a line output that can be used for a powered sub. Not to mention the 5+ has a one-touch mute on the volume control and a remote control included. You can use the digital volume control on your computer with the JBLs, but they are less precise and more difficult to fine tune.

Yes, the Audioengines 5+ cost more by $150 per pair, but for a desktop computer set-up you get so much more that IMO they are a better value.

 

[MrBoat]

When i was shopping for speakers for my desktop computer set-up, I listened to a pair at Guitar Center, and the JBLs sound okay, but operationally they are really inferior to the Audioengine 5+, and they don't sound any better. The Audioengine speakers have a volume control on the front (the JBL's is on the rear panel), RCA and mini-stereo phone plug inputs, and a line output that can be used for a powered sub. Not to mention the 5+ has a one-touch mute on the volume control and a remote control included. You can use the digital volume control on your computer with the JBLs, but they are less precise and more difficult to fine tune.

Yes, the Audioengines 5+ cost more by $150 per pair, but for a desktop computer set-up you get so much more that IMO they are a better value.

It sounds like you just described $150 (half again what these cost, in perspective) more value within the realm of budget offerings. I was sure there are better when I bought these. In my room, these tiny speakers don't even need a sub and I have the means to run one instantly right along with them. I am two reaches away from hooking these up to the pre-outs of my AVR, or directly to my pc too and I haven't bothered.

I bought these mostly because I have been a JBL fan for 4 decades. Who have done more to improve my audio experience well before the information was as instantaneous as it is now. Also, I bought these for the waveguides, which is a big plus for this room. This is my second go waveguides, and this was kind of an obvious choice considering what I have been able to effortlessly achieve with them compared to other speakers I own.

These are toys and will probably end up at my job (I think the waveguides will be a good choice for there as well) and is at about the limit of what I am willing to spend for that environment.

I own multiple pairs of some pretty nice speakers and these little dudes can contend straight out of the box hooked up to a crappy phone. I had no preference for separate volume controls functionally in regular use and basically considered them as gain settings like one would with any plate amp situ.

I am not very experienced which should be obvious via the lack of proper terminology in my review, but the one thing I do know is, I have never been able to take an in-store audition of speakers accurately. Day and night difference between there and my house. I have to go by what I kind of know works here. All I can find out there really is if they distort and when.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I bought these mostly because I have been a JBL fan for 4 decades.

Got it. That says it all.

 

[speakerman39]

Nice write-up! At one time not too long ago I owned the 305's. Used them for my desktop setup and was utterly impressed. Keep in mind that I only gave $200 shipped for them brand new. They did sound much better when I got them off of my desk and unto some stands. Also added some Mo-Pads which helped as well. They could get a little fatiguing at times if I had a long listening session. Nothing too bad, but slightly noticeable if you will. Certainly not complaining at the price I gave!


Cheers,

Phil

 

[speakerman39]

Short and sweet version. These speakers have that trademark JBL sound. If you are a JBL fan, once hearing these, that would probably be the most obvious thing. Wonderful sounding little monitors at any rate and they do disappear into the room and with that inescapable center presence when toed in just so.

Surprising amount of nice bass and ambience to that effect up into the mid range, which makes them sound really complete for their size. The highs are perfect by my ear and are a good match.

These are speakers you would have to fight your girlfriend for custody of if you broke up and you'd get the cat instead.

Glad I bought them. Just what I needed, another favorite item to watch over. On the bright side, a friend's wife has been trying to liberate my Continuums from me and now I have a good speaker to refer her to that I know she will be just as happy with.

I have my phone plugged into these which does not have enough volume (gain?) (I need to root my LG phone) and these still sound good with it. I don't have a long enough cable (3.5 to dual xlr) to conveniently hook them up to my pc and I don't feel like rearranging my pc area for the desktop experience. I can tell they would blow you away and would tough to beat in that arrangement, though, and are certainly plenty for an average sized bedroom or small living room.

BTW, found this here so I thought that I would mention it:


http://www.pssl.com/Studio-Monitors-Sub-Woofers/PreSonus-Temblor-T8-8-Inch-Powered-Subwoofer

Not sure you want to add to the low end of the 305's, but just in case I wanted to mention this. For $250 shipped having balanced inputs/outputs and both HPF/Variable LPF would mate well w/the 305's. Not to mention, it is on sale. That is the lowest price that I have ever seen on this sub. Anyways, just thought that I would mention it. Thanks for the write-up!


Cheers,

Phil

 

[MrBoat]

BTW, found this here so I thought that I would mention it:


http://www.pssl.com/Studio-Monitors-Sub-Woofers/PreSonus-Temblor-T8-8-Inch-Powered-Subwoofer

Not sure you want to add to the low end of the 305's, but just in case I wanted to mention this. For $250 shipped having balanced inputs/outputs and both HPF/Variable LPF would mate well w/the 305's. Not to mention, it is on sale. That is the lowest price that I have ever seen on this sub. Anyways, just thought that I would mention it. Thanks for the write-up!


Cheers,

Phil

I still have another DIY sub on mothballs for when I run out of projects. Thank you for the suggestion, though. I appreciate it.

 

[MrBoat]

Nice write-up! At one time not too long ago I owned the 305's. Used them for my desktop setup and was utterly impressed. Keep in mind that I only gave $200 shipped for them brand new. They did sound much better when I got them off of my desk and unto some stands. Also added some Mo-Pads which helped as well. They could get a little fatiguing at times if I had a long listening session. Nothing too bad, but slightly noticeable if you will. Certainly not complaining at the price I gave!


Cheers,

Phil

On "fatiguing." I hear this a lot in reviews these days and I understand what that description means and have experienced it to a lesser extent. The only traits a speaker can have that would be fatiguing to me is, distortion, and overly bright tweeters, the latter of which, I can usually manually EQ favorably.

The only other times I can be fatigued in listening is if I have perhaps chosen the wrong music for long listening sessions, and that does happen sometimes, or when I subject myself to too many repeats with the classics, especially considering what mainstream media has done to popular music over the years. Other times is when I played music and I really didn't feel like listening at all as much as I thought I did.

Since October of 2016, with 3 (and now 4) totally different pairs of speakers, I have not had this issue, all of which have pretty much stayed on all night from the time I get home from work until bed time when I have them in place.

My biggest issue now is, which pair do I feel like listening to tonight?

 

[Pogre]

Nice write up boat. I think if I were to go with a different brand of speaker JBL would be getting a lot of my attention. I'm kinda looking for some desktop speakers (won't need them for a while) and the 305's are on my short list along with the 308's. Though the latter might be a bit big.

I am now intrigued and highly interested in Irv's suggestion for the Audioengine 5+. $150 is pretty significant at this price range tho.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I am now intrigued and highly interested in Irv's suggestion for the Audioengine 5+. $150 is pretty significant at this price range tho.

I'll say this, the 5+ and an SVS SB1000 sub make for a compelling computer audio system for <$1K. I use that set-up with a 27" iMac as an HT system in my Bay Area outpost.

 

[speakerman39]

On "fatiguing." I hear this a lot in reviews these days and I understand what that description means and have experienced it to a lesser extent. The only traits a speaker can have that would be fatiguing to me is, distortion, and overly bright tweeters, the latter of which, I can usually manually EQ favorably.

The only other times I can be fatigued in listening is if I have perhaps chosen the wrong music for long listening sessions, and that does happen sometimes, or when I subject myself to too many repeats with the classics, especially considering what mainstream media has done to popular music over the years. Other times is when I played music and I really didn't feel like listening at all as much as I thought I did.

Since October of 2016, with 3 (and now 4) totally different pairs of speakers, I have not had this issue, all of which have pretty much stayed on all night from the time I get home from work until bed time when I have them in place.

My biggest issue now is, which pair do I feel like listening to tonight?

As mentioned, the listening fatigue is not that bad with the 305's. However, on say a very long extended listening session they can be a little fatiguing. Most of the time I do not listen to my music that long anyways. So, it really posed very little problem for my needs. BTW, I have some JBL Everest headphones and absolutely love them! Sure come in handy and sound fantastic!


Cheers,

Phil

 

[Pogre]

As mentioned, the listening fatigue is not that bad with the 305's. However, on say a very long extended listening session they can be a little fatiguing. Most of the time I do not listen to my music that long anyways. So, it really posed very little problem for my needs. BTW, I have some JBL Everest headphones and absolutely love them! Sure come in handy and sound fantastic!


Cheers,

Phil

Suuuurrre. The way I read that, you hate JBL! Naysayer!

J/k

 

[KEW]

@MrBoat, I've been just leaving mine on, but for a desktop setup, a power strip may be the easiest solution.
I'm not one to normally leave things on, but they seem not to draw much current when not in use (based on temperature). As you noted, they barely get warm when being played. When not being played, I didn't notice any heat from them.

I like their sound better than the Audioengine 5, but the 5+ is supposed to be improved. Also have the sense that the 305's would go much louder (which is often a moot point for a desktop). However, the AE5's definitely are designed for consumer use with the USB port, volume up front, etc.

Probably the most impressive thing about the 305's is the dispersion of the waveguide. While TheWarrior and ATLAudio were seated in the LP, I picked up one of the 305's off of it's stand and tilted it every which way up to about 30 degrees off axis. They did not hear any variation in the sound character! But, again, that is not of great benefit in a traditional desktop setup.

Lastly, one benefit of a well designed studio monitor is that the amps are designed exclusively for each driver. This allows the manufacturer to make it pretty bullet-proof just like the better designed subwoofers...the amp can limit before going into clipping.

Also, crossover resistance happens at low-level before the amps due to the active design. I don't know if this really matters, but intuitively, it seems like it is better than giving the signal extra juice then running it into the crossover. If nothing else it seems it would be more efficient since the resistance is being applied to much smaller power load.

 

[MrBoat]

I'll say this, the 5+ and an SVS SB1000 sub make for a compelling computer audio system for <$1K. I use that set-up with a 27" iMac as an HT system in my Bay Area outpost.

That's good to know. Just so you know, I wasn't being dismissive of your suggestion. I also see where the speakers you mentioned are down around $400, which is only $100 more than the JBLs currently.

On the other hand, when I start getting up to $400+, other kits start drawing my attention, such as, only being a couple hundred dollars away from the Statement monitors.

Anyway, I appreciate your suggestion.

 

[MrBoat]

As mentioned, the listening fatigue is not that bad with the 305's. However, on say a very long extended listening session they can be a little fatiguing. Most of the time I do not listen to my music that long anyways. So, it really posed very little problem for my needs. BTW, I have some JBL Everest headphones and absolutely love them! Sure come in handy and sound fantastic!


Cheers,

Phil

Now see? I had not thought about JBL headphones. . . .

 

[Irvrobinson]

That's good to know. Just so you know, I wasn't being dismissive of your suggestion. I also see where the speakers you mentioned are down around $400, which is only $100 more than the JBLs currently.

On the other hand, when I start getting up to $400+, other kits start drawing my attention, such as, only being a couple hundred dollars away from the Statement monitors.

Anyway, I appreciate your suggestion.

I didn't think you were being dismissive. Though I'm not brand-loyal myself, I understand it.

The Audioengine speakers are not value products. They use relatively premium finishes, and have some fancier flourishes (like the remote). I think the 5+ sounds very good, but I can easily see where someone might not want to spend that much.

 

[MrBoat]

Nice write up boat. I think if I were to go with a different brand of speaker JBL would be getting a lot of my attention. I'm kinda looking for some desktop speakers (won't need them for a while) and the 305's are on my short list along with the 308's. Though the latter might be a bit big.

I am now intrigued and highly interested in Irv's suggestion for the Audioengine 5+. $150 is pretty significant at this price range tho.

I think you would be surprised at the bass from the smaller 305s and they actually can play pretty loud. Last night, I headed off to the shower and Pandora decided it wanted to be louder and I could hear these things thumping pretty good from there and I could not believe how loud it had gotten.

 

[speakerman39]

Suuuurrre. The way I read that, you hate JBL! Naysayer!

J/k

Hey, you know what really is funny? Being in the car audio/video business for many years I always hated JBL..........LOL!!!! No real reason really. Just made up my mind back then that I hated them.......LOL!!! Boy, was I ever so wrong, eh?


Cheers,

Phil

 

[speakerman39]

Now see? I had not thought about JBL headphones. . . .

I am kind of all new to headphones. But, had someone recommend the JBL S500's to me and I was totally blown away. Needless to say, I bought a 2nd set that I love even more! I have the Everest 700's. Highly recommend!


http://www.harmanaudio.com/V700BTBLK-Z.html#prefn1=brand&prefn2=isRefurbished&prefv3=false&prefv1=JBL&prefv2=true&prefn3=isSupport&start=1


Cheers,

Phil