JBL 308P mk2 for $125 ea!

[KEW]

I plan too. I needed a commercial setup to use as point of reference and wanted to keep it around the same cost as my Statements. The JBL setup at it's normal pricing would have been $500 for the monitors and $800 for the subs. So right in line with what I spent on the Statements.

Any conclusions/thoughts?

 

[jinjuku]

Any conclusions/thoughts?

Incredible value. The are linear and the imaging is superb. They are a better critical listening speaker than the Statements, but if I want to play any Orchestral music as intended they simply don't have the output. The Statements are lower distortion for sure in this regard. Plus there is hiss with the JBL's if you are a foot or two away. Not any issue during playback but there none the less.

If you want to get something out of the box that hits way above it's weight these are it. If you have a love for vocalist these are the speakers to get.

 

[lovinthehd]

Hey Arnie had a set of these for his mains....great value for the price. Maybe not the best....but seems many compare them to speakers costing 10x or more....

 

[KEW]

Incredible value. The are linear and the imaging is superb. They are a better critical listening speaker than the Statements, but if I want to play any Orchestral music as intended they simply don't have the output. The Statements are lower distortion for sure in this regard. Plus there is hiss with the JBL's if you are a foot or two away. Not any issue during playback but there none the less.

If you want to get something out of the box that hits way above it's weight these are it. If you have a love for vocalist these are the speakers to get.

I meant the 310 subwoofer (but did not make that as clear as I could/should have).

Also, I just noticed that ASR reviewed these speakers:

JBL 308P MKII Studio Monitor Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the JBL 308P MKII 8-inch Monitor (powered speaker). I purchased this from a member a few months ago. New, they cost US $249. The 3 series look the same for good or bad: The large plastic waveguide is really in your face. Wish JBL would provide...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[VMPS-TIII]

Review says, "they do have a residual hiss in the background, both when driving them from a single-ended & balanced sources. You can hear the hiss most easily when when no audio is delivered from the source -- just get close the speaker & youll hear it. It is not present when the speaker level control is at the minimum & first click positions."

 

[KEW]

Review says, "they do have a residual hiss in the background, both when driving them from a single-ended & balanced sources. You can hear the hiss most easily when when no audio is delivered from the source -- just get close the speaker & youll hear it. It is not present when the speaker level control is at the minimum & first click positions."

What review is that from? Is it in the discussion after the review?
I could not find that quote in the ASR review!
If it is from a different review, a link would be useful...and relevant to me because I just ordered a pair based on the review!
I'm certainly not arguing with you because the speakers do have hiss, if you are close enough, but when I did a search for "hiss" in the review, I could not find your quote, but came up with the following in the closing section of the ASR review. (I included the conclusion as a TL;DR for those who would not follow the link):

And oh, yes, there is hiss from the tweeter. It is very audible with your ear at the tweeter level but is gone at about 2/3 of a meter/2 feet or so. Turning down the gain reduces it a bit but note that this speaker does NOT want to have too much driving it. Setting the gain low and them pumping up the source generates severe distortion. Shame as this would be a good way to reduce the impact.

Conclusions
If you want to get a taste of accurate sound production that manages to delight, the JBL 308P MKii is a wonderful entry into this world. You would quickly learn that what research says about preference and accuracy being two sides of the same kind is very much true.

As with many powered speakers, amplification for the woofer is the limiting factor. This speaker with 100 watts or more to power the woofer would be so darn perfect. As it is, it will get quite loud and present ton of bass. Just don't expect miracles in overall loudness.

I am very happy to recommend the JBL 308P MKii.

So I ordered it on the basis that it produced audible hiss if you are within a couple of feet and may not be able to play loud without distortion.
The measurements certainly look good and these are two compromises which I do not expect to affect me under normal usage (excepting my HT setup in the larger LR where things do get loud on occasion). I'm not worried about the hiss at 2 feet because with 8" mid-woofs these would use up too much of my desktop for nearfield use.

 

[jinjuku]

I meant the 310 subwoofer (but did not make that as clear as I could/should have)

It's output is typical of a ported 200w 10" subwoofer. It's going to be one of the cleaner $299 subs. I wouldn't put it up against my dual opposed Kappa's with my Behringer iNuke 3K DSP....

If someone were budget constrained to say $1500 I would say get these monitors and subs, a Raspberry Pi, $100 refurbed PC for file storage, JRiver, and a $200 balanced DAC and control everything with your phone and call it a day. I don't see how it can be beat.

 

[jinjuku]

So I ordered it on the basis that it produced audible hiss if you are within a couple of feet and may not be able to play loud without distortion.
The measurements certainly look good and these are two compromises which I do not expect to affect me under normal usage (excepting my HT setup in the larger LR where things do get loud on occasion). I'm not worried about the hiss at 2 feet because with 8" mid-woofs these would use up too much of my desktop for nearfield use.

Set up properly they will get loud but they aren't going to peel your carpet up off the floor. My GR Research X-LS Encores will get louder without breaking up but they get manhandled in about every other aspect by my 308's.

These JBL's are my go to for Jazz and Vocals. My Statements are still king for orchestral. Different tools for different workloads.

 

[KEW]

\

Set up properly they will get loud but they aren't going to peel your carpet up off the floor. My GR Research X-LS Encores will get louder without breaking up but they get manhandled in about every other aspect by my 308's.

These JBL's are my go to for Jazz and Vocals. My Statements are still king for orchestral. Different tools for different workloads.

Thanks for your comments!
Sounds like a good fit.
The only reason I would really look at the 310 is the convenience of having the high pass filter for the mains built into the sub!

 

[VMPS-TIII]

Review says, "they do have a residual hiss in the background, both when driving them from a single-ended & balanced sources. You can hear the hiss most easily when when no audio is delivered from the source -- just get close the speaker & youll hear it. It is not present when the speaker level control is at the minimum & first click positions."

@KEW - here is an image of the 3 Star review on B&H. He says he still likes them:

 

[KEW]

@KEW - here is an image of the 3 Star review on B&H. He says he still likes them:

View attachment 41475

Thanks!