I have my 305s tilted upwards on isolation foam, I have them pointed slightly outwards as well (towards the back of my head) not because of clarity or anything of the sort, but just to direct away some of the tweeter hiss.

Whatever sounds best for you is the correct setup.

Hello, just recieved my 305s and can tell that i'm happy with them but highs to my ear are too muffled, i was trying to remix my old tracks and after listening on other players and speakers realize that highs are in overkill. Also some of the albums from my collection are completely non listenable because of lacking highs. HF trim on +2db.

interesting. I ended up getting some lsr 308s. I hadn't noticed that, but I haven't really done much mixing since then to check how it was translating. The listening experience for me was much better than what I had before, and I could hear things I couldn't on my old monitors (event tr5). My reaction was more "Wow, love that bass" than "not enough highs." Would be interesting to see if anyone else noticed that. My current interest in this thread is to decide what smaller footprint speaker I should get for a different location. I like my 308s, so I might just go with 305s.

Could be a number of things. Placement. The source (what they're connected to). Personal preference (LOL) Etc.

Highs sound good to me. My previous on-board unit was actually curtailing them though. Bought a good interface and pure bliss. Don't know.

[QUOTE=ervins;10541363]Audio interface Focusrite Saffire 6USB, about placement i can tell that tried many positions, and now listen to them - twters on the ears level, speakers are located in 1meter from wall.

If you could get Adam F5 and LSR305 for the same price, which one to pick?

This has been exactly my experience with these speakers. I have mine currently set to +2db HF on the back. And when I take my mixes to the car there are really bright highs that scream at you (I am talking about maybe 5k and up). I wish there was a +4db option on the back, that would most likely solve this.

I'll have to check out this issue with high frequencies. I just ordered some after listening to them last week. I tested them out at a GC. The Yamaha speakers that were near them (maybe it was hs50?) were almost painfully louder in the high mids and highs to my ear. These sounded good.

I have the LSR 308s, which I like. They had them on the bottom row though, I and I noticed that the highs were not as pronounced as I know they are at home. I think that the comment someone made about the vertical sweat spot being a bit tighter on the JBLs is true

I set a pair up for a friend and my impression was that they were a little brash - sounded like a low Q rise in the 4k region. I presumed that would settle down with break in; we'll see. These reports of very muffled highs makes me wonder if it's a QC problem, where capacitor suppliers are inconsistent, making some production runs of these speakers seriously out of spec. Then I remember that these have digital DSP to perform crossover and EQ functions–or is this not true? Anyone know for sure?

Yes the LSR305 does use digital DSP

I'm looking at a similar thing. Generally a bit lost about which speakers to get. I could stretch up to spending around 500 for a pair, but I'm just not sure what to go for.

Looked at F5s, HS7, Focal alpha 65/50 before these.

Anyone have any direct comparisons? I'm looking for something to monitor for a wide variety of electronic music (sound art through to EDM) and mixing the occasional instrumental bits.

Would you consider the JBLs against competitors in this price range?

Have you considered Yamaha HS8? They can be had for buy 1, get one half off $525 US dollars without tax. They go to 50Hz with no loss then drop off. They have more power than the LSR308. I heard the Alpha 80 at AES and they were impressive on the low end but pricey. The Alpha 65 sounded pretty full on the low end as well. But I would go with 8 inch woofers for what you are mixing.

I've decided to skip the f5 altogether. Might consider the lsr305 in the future for another project with all the praise I hear about it. Will end up holding up for something like a focal cms 50 or Neumann kh120. Might as well get it right the first time.

You might also try to get a listen to the Sonodyne SRP line.

As Russell Dawkins said, the LSR305s are brash. They sounded to me like a PA system with cheap piezo horns and a painfully thudding bass. They lack any sense of fidelity and delicacy, giving me nothing but an earache and a bad mood when I tried playing light commercial releases such as material by The Eagles through them, so I sent them back. They would have seriously screwed up my mixes. Truly awful.

I've been holding back but have decided to go up the cost bracket to try the Yamaha MSP5 with their front-facing bass-ports, which is better suited to smaller rooms than ones that have them at the rear.

So glad to see this topic again...............LOL.

Still loving my LSR305'. Months later. No harshness, booming bass, ear fatigue or a desire to turn them off ( I listen to them for hours a day). Just clarity and detail. That is all.

Thanks. Added the SRPs into the mix.

I bought the LSR308's about year ago and my mixes are translating way better now, my mixing room sucks pretty bad with bass build up so i keep them turned down. I have noticed that my mixes often come out sounding a little dry and bright but this probably has more to do with my room and auralex overkill.

I do notice a tightness in my mixes low end after stepping up to the 8" speakers.

Bought the LSR 305's today. First impression is that they're detailed and have nice depth.

Muffled highs, cheap sounding highs, earache? You gotta be kidding...LOL!

I hear the exact opposite. The highs are detailed and crisp without being harsh.

I will need a few days with these but so far they sound "expensive" to my ears.

Very nice seperation and enough low end as well.

More from me in a few days....

Update on my friend's pair:

He is an orchestra conductor with considerable recording experience and good ears. I just phoned him to find out how he is getting on with his pair - does he find them at all brash, or hear any problems with the sound, now that they have had a chance to break in? He is puzzled by any mention of brashness or harshness and doesn't find this to be the case at all; in fact he is thrilled with them still and finds them to be a revelation compared to the cheap computer speakers he was using before. A very happy camper.

I still remember them being a little coarse, but that is in contrast to my K+H 0300s, compared to which most cheaper speakers sound that way.

I would expect that the K+H 0300s at $3500? to be better. The JBL LSR series to be outstanding value and quite workable monitor for mastering and mixing. After all, not all musicians are using TOTL equipment.

I agree; I was just trying to put my comment into perspective (and they cost me $4500!).

I wonder, could the waveguide technology in these make them more prone to treble troubles in an untreated room?

Maybe this is why opinions on their highs could be a bit inconsistent and contrasting?

Unless I'm missing something, it essentially enables the tweeter to send out consistent sound in a much wider angle, whereas a regular monitor would sound more muffled and center-lacking off axis.
Which I would assume can result in more/stronger possible reflections from untreated surfaces?

Plausible? I'm fairly inexperienced in the grand scheme of things, so...yea.

I'm not knocking the amazing waveguide technology, for the record. It achieves its intended effect superbly.
But I too have noticed that my JBLs sound a bit harsh at high volumes (untreated room; need to fix that), whereas if kept quiet they're some of the most balanced speakers I've ever heard.

....oooooooor It's just my untreated room in which any speaker would sound harsh because the room... is untreated.

Sounding really good here. For highs the foam tiles I have keep things easily in control. The highs are pleasant and the speakers themselves have a balanced sound. Kicks are tight and the stereo field is fantastic sounding to me. The seperation from mono vs. stereo signals is impressive. Vocals are nicely focused in the middle. I enjoy these guys more every day and have listened to lots of music since 4 days + have worked on actual mixes and GREATLY improved them.

Aye, don't want to come off as critical of them. They blow me away every time I turn them on. The "phantom center" freaks me out every time. Can't figure out how sound can come from something that's not there, haha.

Hi just to say that i do not understand why waveguides should be so "complex" in their design.
I listened to these speakers here ...



much simpler waveguide and they sound fabolous
I do not like the waveguide in the JBLs
I prefer also the ones in variuos Genelec monitors

I think they control dispersion, increase efficiency and help to align tweeter with the woofer ... all nice things. So Waveguides are good.
It is just that i do not understand why sometimes they come so "weirdly looking"

Thanks and regards, gino

Hi, everyone first post.

I had a lead on a first edition open box Adam A7 for $330, catch being that it was a single speaker. I was at guitar center and was referencing the current series of Adam speakers to see how close tonally they would match up. After listening to the 305 my mind was made up for me. This wasn't even on my radar but after listening to it and contrasting it with the competition I had to have them. The price is right, the sound stage is beautiful, and the bass extension relative to the speaker size is brilliant. I am new to production sound for film and for my purposes I felt that these fit my needs perfectly. They will be a very nice contrast to my Beyerdynamic DT770 headphones.

Sorry for bringing this thread back from the dead, but, SonicSense, thanks for doing this shootout. The DPA 4006 seems to be a well suited mic for the experiment.
May I ask what DAC was feeding the monitors? Also, to anyone who has had the LSR305 for a year or more now, how have you found them to be?

For my purposes, I'm listening to this shootout through Genelec 8030As in a well treated and built from scratch mixing/mastering room, in mono (seems like there are a lot of phase anomalies between recordings, and I doubt we'd get a true idea of stereo depth capabilities of these monitors from an omni mic recording), with bass rolled off as I use a sub. I also level matched the recordings that I was comparing.
I'm happy with my 8030As. I know them. I trust them. They've never let me down, and they don't fatigue me personally like others have reported. I'm not getting rid of them any time soon. But the LSR305 intrigue me because of their reported quality in the mids and highs for the price point. They seem to be a good buy for a 2nd reference monitor. I mean, $285 a pair?! And after listening, it's a no brainer.

I'm somewhat surprised at how much high end detail is lost in the Adam F5s and how mid-forward they are. A3X sounds a bit strained. A7X sounds solid.
I'm most impressed with how close to the source recording the LSR308 sound. LSR305 are not far behind, either.
Listening to various monitors in your own room will always be the best, however this experiment has been very helpful in pointing me in a certain direction.

Good to see this thread back actually, I guess I've owned my LSR305 / LSR310s for about a year now. Still amazes me, still incredible sound quality, still wincing at that phantom wasp buzzing when I walk past those dustbins in cs_office. What can I say? The mind makes it real, and I keep fooling for it!

Scrolled up to read a few puzzling words about muffled cheap highs, PA-esque bass? That couldn't be further from what I'm experiencing with my LSR305 - I'm dumbfounded anybody could say that actually.

I can only vouch that is a completely opposite assessment of the SQ; therefore one must have either defective source; defective audio interface, or the LSR305 is defective needing RMA.

The Adam F5 is a much darker sound than the LSR305; if I were to come up with a constructive comment about the Adam F5 I would say the highs are more laid back / smoother ...but I could just as easily flip that to say; the highs are muffled compared to the LSR305. The Adam A3X is a more serious contender to the LSR305. But overall SQ for the price? The LSR305 would still win that.

I'm looking for my first pair of monitors and the JBL 305s and 308s are on my short list. I've read some recommending that the 308s may be better for larger rooms, but I haven't seen any square footage recommendations as to what makes a room large.

My room is 24' x 16' x 7.5' (384 sq ft) and mix position is about 9' from the front 16' wall. Treatment is only 4 (4' x 2') panels in the mix position so far, but the plan is to add more panels very shortly.

I'm not really interested in the 310s subwoofer. I guess that's just personal preference. If I had to choose between A) 305s and the sub OR B) 308s, I would just get the 308s. But, if the 305s are good enough for my square footage, I will just get those and be very happy with that. I'm looking for a flat response with ENOUGH bass, not lots of bass.

Thanks guys.