JBL LSR305 Powered Monitors

I have an HA-1 in my bedroom/tv system and was considering adding these as well.

 

I have been using them as a near field monitors and treated my room for near fear sound. I duno if they would work as a possible home theatre type set up.

 

I'm assuming it's faulty no? Out of warranty? I ask because I'm eyeing a Lyr 2 and would definitely need working pre outs, my Asgard 2's have been fine...


Is there any advantage to going with RCA/XLR cables for the LSR305 vs (cheaper?) RCA/TS cables? Assuming I'm using the (working) pre-outs of a Schiit amp.

I've been meaning to grab these JBL for my desk for a while, I've got a pair of Infinity Primus on stands right now (with an Emotiva mini amp) but I'm moving and putting those in another room than my desk. I figured I'd go with powered speakers this time around (based largely on how well recommended these JBL are) and save myself some desk space.

 

RCA cables will be cheaper than the XLR cables. You really only need XLR cables if you are using long distances or you are in a noisy Electro Magnetic environment. Do a google search on XLR VS RCA and you will get an idea of what you can use.

I use XLR because I like overkill and compensate for my many inadequacies in other areas in my life.

 

Can't tell you about the difference between the 2 inputs as I was planning to use both with different sources (taurus or nad m 51 xlr and lyr 2 rca). The hiss from the speakers doesn't get any benefit choosing one or the other.

 

Freehand measurements from different different positions:
- Middle is smack bang in the typical triangle 'sweet spot'
- Left is about 600mm off axis
- Right is the same but to the right

Not the most accurate measurement method by any means but is it just me or are they pretty consistent? Gotta figure out where that 100Hz null is coming from. (EDIT: Looks like it's solely the left speaker exhibiting this, port is facing close to the architrave of my door, could have something to do with that.)

 

Hmm, I bought a couple TS/RCA adapters from Monoprice to temporarily hook up my LSR305 at my old place until I move and order some BJC cables of the exact length I'll need at my new desk... Both adapters arrived bent, one is slightly bent (have to lay it in something flat and roll it to notice) but the other is pretty seriously bent.

Is it common for these things to arrive like that? Seemed like all the adapters on Amazon had similar complaints within the reviews. I'm sure Monoprice will replace it, just wondering if there's a better alternative... (outside of not using an adapter at all which is my ultimate intent)

This is the all metal one too, dunno if they're any hardier than the plastic/metal ones or if it's just for show. I started bending it back until it made a sharp creaky sound, 70¢ doo dad isn't worth the effort.

 

About hiss coming from your monitors, it's normal since the amps are always at full blast. I had a pair of Focal Solo 6 Be's and they had the same issue but it's only really noticeable if you're either too close or the music is too low volume. So it's not like only the cheap ones hiss. Your room might also be increasing the perceived volume of the hiss.

 

There is an advantage in going balanced to balanced, whether the connectors are XLR or TS. The whole thing works at higher levels. If you use active or powered speakers with a balanced source, and then change to single-ended, then for starters, you'll wonder where the volume went.

I like balanced, regardless of connector, because it is a properly engineered system, not an accident left over from history. This makes me feel good, and better able to handle the other inadequacies of my life. However, apart from as noted in the first part of the post, I do not live next to a transmitting station, or keep any of my hifi components near to a microwave oven, so there is little practical advantage, over two or three feet, in the superior noise exclusion of a fully balanced system.

 

I have the LSR305s and LSR310 sub for use at work. I think the sub adds a lot of beef, but isn't worth adding if your room is anything less than perfect. Also not a particularly exceptional sub, but whatever. Good bang for buck.

Little more fuzzy in the midrange than my higher end studio monitors.

But they sound nice.

 

Have this speakers in my bedroom, placed on stands separated 1,35m or so...
Little bit more than 1m away from both front and lateral walls. Toed in.
Few acoustic panels here and there, carpet, curtains, ...
Fed by FiiO E10K's Line Out.

Great little speakers. Big stage, great depth and focus. Very neutral response with an extra hint of smoothness in the midrange.
Bass goes really low and tight for such a small speaker, my room can't make their bass justice.
The built in amp produce a very subtle noise that's audible if you put your ear close to the high frequency driver, but it's not a problem at all when listening to music.

These sound like real speakers. Not as microdetailed as the bigger Focal 706 (with a matching amplifier), but still offer a big and quite realistic presentation.
It took me some time to find good placement for them. Put these far away from the walls if you want them to shine, and I mean FAR (especially in relatively small rooms)

 

Thinking of picking these up. I want to grab some speakers without blowing my wallet. I am in no position to build a dedicated room for audio. Anyone have any further comments other than what's already been said?

 

From a link on another thread, I discovered noaudiophile.com. Browsing around, I read his LSR305 review.

The review is good. Browsing further, I came across his LSR308 review, and was left wondering if the modification he describes there would be good for the 305s.

I keep saying it: if I lived in USA, and could pick up the 305s at bargain-store pricing I wouldn't think twice. It would seem to be a pretty-low-risk, affordable hifi experimental buy.

 

In the same product range / money, you could look at Equator D8. Seems to be a little sturdier and with a a lot of thought behind its design. I have the baby brother D5 and I am very happy with it.
Edit: grammar

 

I have almost the same setup except with 1st gen Gung/Mjo. It's awesome and I'm not even mad paying $250 for a pair.

 

I have heard the D8 in not very ideal conditions, but it was quite beamy and the sweet spot was rather small.

 

Good to know! I felt somewhat sorry I did not get the D8, but for now I don't have any itch to change from the D5: footprint is much friendlier to my desktop .

In terms of the D5 sweet spot: while the sweetest spot may be smallish compared to a good home theater - maybe a rectangle of 3m x 2m about 1.5-2 m in front of the speakers, to me it sounds good from almost anywhere in the room for casual listening. I will look for a place that carries the D8 and give it my ear whenever I will feel ready to graduate to deeper lower end!

 

Quite a while back, I heard a pair of D5s filling a room! Very impressive for its size. They were indeed on my want list for a while.

But, in the end, I went passive with a pair of local-guy-hand-made single-driver transmission-line boxes (only one driver but... lots of hyphens!) and a Cyrus integrated that was sitting in the cupboard. I even run the HD600s from the Cyrus headphone socket! The speakers... well, I do miss bass!

 

Please do. The shop I was in didn't have a very low noise floor and had them on a shelf. At that price range and size you can also look at used LS50s, which are discussed in another thread.

 

I looked for a while in awe at the LS 50s classy and sharp design but in the end felt it was not worth its greens. I doubt the LS 50S with a 5 inch woofer would be able to pump out much more low end than any other 5incher though...

Another thing in terms of design that may be advantageous for a desktop speaker is choosing designs with front bass ports to give more freedom for positioning close to the wall behind and not getting nasty distortions.

One way or another, I don't want to hijack the thread- the JBL 305s are probably the uncontested champions of bare bone, decent sound desktop speaker arena, although a little hike in the budget can bring significant improvements.