I was about to buy a pair of Adam F5 but then I saw the new JBL LSR305 monitors and they look intriguing. Has anyone heard the JBLs before? I live in a country where pro audio products are rare and slow so there is no way I could listen to them in the near future. Since the Adams are $100 more, is it safe to assume that the Adams have a slight edge and I can go ahead and buy them without worrying about the JBLs?

I'm about to hit the "buy"-button on this in a webshop...
I need some speakers for my little workshop. So mostly for recreational use

Anyone listened to this yet?

Are there any family traits at all between this and the old JBL's or the really expensive hifi stuff they make today?

Any apparent reasons to go for KRK Rokit's/Yamaha HS instead?

I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in about the JBL LSR305s.
I have been using them for roughly 3 weeks, and I know I will get obliterated on these forums for my assessment, but I am going to go ahead and tell you to save the money, and buy the JBL's.
I have a small home studio, and could not afford to have the desk space taken by getting any 8" monitors that are BEHEMOTHS in my opinion.
With that being said, I just want to let you know that theses speakers are the deal of the year. Although not as loud as some competing monitors (41watt HF, 41Watts LF) they definitely make up for this with their crystal clarity on the high frequencies. In these JBLs their engineers decided to use a wave guide for the tweeter that in my opinion is beyond anything that we have ever seen in a budget monitor. Tonally they are incredible, and well worth twice as much as they are asking. These are the same wave guides as they use in their upper echelon products, and it pays off.
I challenge anyone to go out and listen to these monitors and tell me that any budget monitors come even close to the JBL LSR305.
Bass-wise?? You got me, they cant compete with any 8" woofer, which we all know by now. So what to do? Ill tell you what I did, I went out and purchased the JBL 2310 Studio Subwoofer and all I can say is OMG! I wired from my interface (XLR) to the JBL SUB, then TRS out from the Sub to the JBL LSR305's and set the cutoff frequency to 85db. Immensely flat and accurate sound from a budget set up. No frequency stands out or is colored in any way in my opinion.
Just as a reference, I shopped for over 2 years for NF monitors, and although I found some nice alternatives to these, I was never quite satisfied with some of the brands I was looking at. I looked at the Presonus Eris 5's....Bass was muddy and artificial, and the tweeters were decent, but after about 2 minutes of listening to them my ears started to become fatigued. Well priced, and attractive to the eyes, but couldnt justify owning them,
Next was the Mackie MR5Mk2s. I spent countless hours fighting with myself to pick these up. I love Mackie products, and the MR5s definitely had a nice warm sound to them for the money, but something always stopped me from buying them. The bass was probably the best on this monitor....punchy yet uncolored. Then I read some reviews that they heat up and turn themselves off, which stopped me from buying them.....I saw that the MR5 Mk3 was coming out, but that was before I listened to the JBLs.
Next was the Adam F7 or F5 I believe. The budget monitor from Adam.
I really liked the Adams a lot. The ribbon tweeter in the Adams really set it apart from everyone else in my opinion. I came really close to purchasing these based on the ribbon HFs alone. But it was the bass that was not only lacking, but when you juiced the volume up, it became colored to a point where I thought it was trying to make up for the size of the woofers. Great product, but a little muddy bass left me even more confused.
KRK Rockit 5s
These Monitors by far were the most colored of them all. I cant even begin to get into the over colorization of the woofers. It seems like the Bass thumps away no matter what volume is being offered. I cant imagine how anyone can live with these at any price. Perhaps these are suited to DJs In their studio environment, but CERTAINLY not for mixing.
M Audio BX5's
Good monitors, overall good clarity in the HF's but man they just are SO fatiguing for some reason. They are well made, and definitely sound decent for the price. The only thing I didnt like about these, was when it got into the LFs they were vibrating and buzzing some unnatural tones that I dont think I can ever live with. They struggled, even though these were one of the louder monitors, I dont trust the dependability of these Monitors. I hear some good things, but more bad things, but ultimately was turned off by the Lower frequency troubles that these produced.

THEN! THEN I found these little gems. One listen to these at GC convinced me that these are the best bang for the buck that has ever existed. The sound is SO clear, and so unbiased that is was a no brainer. I couldnt believe the vocal clarity of some of the tracks on my reference CD that I brought with me. Just tremendous!! The percussions....what a delight, crisp high hats, dry drumstick click....so realistic......Please you have to hear all of this for yourself. If there was one weakness to the JBLS, I would have to say its the fact that it is a 5" cone. BUT the fact that it didnt try to be something it wasnt really made my mind up for me. It didnt beat like crazy or try to achieve unattainable frequencies by giving you fake Bass.....It just went about its way with truly uncolored, and representative of the way a 5" woofer should.
But dont take my word for it. Everyone has their preferences.....just go and listen away and be careful to judge by the flat frequency of the monitors you check out. Im glad I found out about the JBLs......They rock!

Thanks for the in-depth review wiseguy.
Ordered a pair and I am looking forward to check them out!

wow that was an epic post onefnwiseguy. Thanks for the input!
glad that I didn't pull the trigger on the F5. I think I will order a pair when they arrive at my country!

Your welcome. I always depend on peoples input on Gearslutz. I just figured if I can help everyone save 2 years of their lives researching monitors like I did, that it may help. At least it can point you in the right direction on what to look at when you walk in the store!

I decided to order the JBL LSR305 to see if it can beat the Equator D5 that I have for mixing and I need a wider sweet spot for watching movies on the Internet with a friend. I need greater clarity for the vocal track as well. The Adam are good and having the ribbon tweeter is a great thing to have but I already have the Emotiva Airmotiv 6 which has the larger folded AMT tweeter and it is fantastic! Much better that the Adam F series and maybe more compatible with the X series. I am not excepting the JBL LSR305 to be better than the Emotiva Airmotiv 6 but wanted something with more clarity than I was getting from the D5. I also had the Tannoy,s as well but was a bit harsh in the highs. Never like the KRK Rockit. If the JBL works out it would be a great value for my needs.

John,
Let me know what you think of them right away. I honestly always have reservations about recommending products, because you never know how they will turn out. But I was so impressed with the quality of these monitors, I felt compelled to let everyone know how great they really are. If you can possibly afford the JBL 2310 sub, then you will catch some serious WOOD. It sounds nothing short of amazing for the price paid. Obviously the 2310 is a little pricey, but not as far as studio subwoofers go. I think I paid 300 for mine.

I am thinking of getting this same setup with the sub too, did you have the opportunity to see how these stack up to higher priced monitors? I am considering spending a bit more to get the Mackie HR624mk2 and buy a sub later. Also, I am wondering, do the monitors receive full range signal when the sub is powered down on the JBLs? I can't find this info anywhere. Thanks for the informative review!

No, these do not play if the sub is powered down. The Sub has to be on. And I think that JBL was really on to something with the new wave guide. They compare VERY favorably when u add the sub into the mix.

now that you've brought up the sub, I started wondering how the newer Yamaha HS8S and Adam SubF would stack up against the 2310sp

I already own two subwoofers, one is a Outlaw and the other is a Yamaha subwoofer which I like since it is front firing. However that is something I would check on further down the road.

Im sure both the Subs and the Yammies would sound great. The 2310 is rather low in cost compared to those two however. I think the retail on the 2310 is 400. Not bad considering there is no filler in its response. Very little to NO flab, all excellent low frequency responses. But thats the great thing about Gear Slutz........Is that people can come together and hash out hard decisions such as this, and come up with a way to get what they want based on other peoples experiences. Cheers & Happy Friday!!!

Just received the lsr305 today. The Proacs that usually use were mistreated the other day. So the lsr305 fill in until i get new woofers from proac.

Very impressed with the 305s so far! Not in the same league as the proacs of course. But I think jbl is right about the sweet spot feels very wide.

I dont think you really need a sub with them unless you want to all the way. They definitely play two octaves further down than the ns10s next to them.

My Proacs has a lot smoother top end than the 305s, but at this price I ain't complaining.

Wait until they are broken in for a few weeks. Then you will really be impressed!

Thanks, forgot about burn-in time! Maybe I'll leave some pink-noise on overnight to speed up the process

I just received my JBL LSR305 from Sweetwater using FedEx Home which operates from Tuesday to Saturday. Already I am in agreement with Zeppelin that the LSR305 plays much deeper than the Equator D5 can. The orchestral bass drum sounds far deeper and has much more impact than the D5. The cabinet size of the LSR 305 is a slightly bigger than the D5. The Equator D5 is coaxial design with a front port. I am finding out that front ports on monitors have more disadvantages than advantages for my needs. The front port of my D5 seems to get in way of the coherent sound of the coaxial driver and makes it more “boxy” sounding to my ears than it needs to be. Both of My JBL LSR305 and the Emotiva Airmotiv 6 than I am using are rear ported and sits fairly close to the rear wall but with just minor issues with rear ports. The bright glossy woofer ring on the LSR305takes a bit away from the matt finish of the monitor ergonomics. I am adjusting toe in and monitor trimmers for my needs. I do not believe in a long break-in period. More to come.

P.S. Those Proacs woofer replacements can not be cheap!

Yeah, could have bought 4 lsr305's for the price of two proac woofers!

I am quite pleased by the JBL LSR305 monitors. The mids and the highs have great clarity. It is much easier to hear and understand the vocals in the mix. Even male bass vocals are very clear. The LSR305 has more of the “dynamic brightness” or in other words more of the “aliveness” of an actual concert. Many recordings I own sound a bit compressed and a bit muffled as compared going to a live performance with other monitors. Very good dynamic range between soft and loud. Good crisp transit response, drums sounded punchy, clear and realistic within the monitor range. Detail at low volume is very good. Orchestra Brass instruments are outstanding with quite a bit of a “bite” showing off some the harshness or shrillness that some in the brass group actual has. Cymbals have more of a full spacious sound. I used to be in the group that hated horn drivers but JBL seems to be able to developed good horn design without the drawbacks. Quite light for its size using class D amps. Excellent sound quality for the price.
The JBL LSR305 has no unbalanced RCA inputs. It is either XLR or TRS balanced connections that can be made. By using adapters you can use sources that have only unbalanced outs to connect to the LSR305. Aesthetics wise I am not sure about the bright woofer ring which seems to be a bit out of place in this fine monitor. Not the smoothness sounding monitor and my Emotiva Airmotiv 6 with the AMT folded tweeter is smoother. However not all concert halls have flat response and any peaks are more broadly spread instead of the sharp peaks in some monitors. The point being is that the “house” sound is quite natural on the LSR305. There is some sibilant in the voices depending on what microphones are used for the recordings but it is more broadly smoother instead of the edginess that I find in other monitors.
I will be selling my Equator D5 since the JBL LSR305 captures more of the dynamic “aliveness” of a good concert hall with good definition. The JBL manages to be less boxy sounding as compare to my pervious monitor. The LSR305 has one of the best bang for the “buck” on the market. I strongly encourage would be buyers to stick with the LSR305 model instead of the larger LSR308 since 8 inch drivers are more of a midfield monitor placement instead of the nearfield of the 5 incher. I also like the "tightness" of sound of the 5 incher.

Comparison with yamaha hs5 and krk rp5 g3?

Wow, that is quite a claim....

Do you use them for listening or producing?

I never felt that the Equator D5 was the ‘king of clarity” as a few reviews stated. Here is some of the evidence from others that stated the same general feeling I have on the D5
https://gearspace.com/board/8717175-post28.html

I DO have a different problem and I'm wondering if I have faulty monitors, I've read many reviews, and everybody talks about the definition, clarity, etc., being able to hear things that you weren't, but with mine that's not the case, there are things that disappear or almost disappear when I switch between the D5s and my krk v6 mkII, yamaha msp5 or digidesign RM1. This is particularly evident in the high mids and highs, things just disappear.
I am aware of the price differencd, but given what has been said of the D5s, I'm wondering if my pair is faulty.
Do any of you find them VERY subdued in the mid-high/high frequencies? Cymbals sound like cymbals on the other monitors, but with the D5s they sometimes disappear or sound strange, artifficial.
Regards,
Johnny I do also find that on my D5 the treble is subdued as compared to the JBL LSR305.
The graphs from one user match what my ears are telling me, too mellow on the D5.

Here is the graphs:

You can find this thread here:

https://gearspace.com/board/8732189-post32.html

I just found this weird thing while tracking some hard panned guitars. My newly replaced right speaker seems to have a lot better frequency response than my old left speaker.. Take a look at these graphs.
I recorded these using pink noise and condenser mic on axis at a distance of 15cm.

Both of my old monitors seemed to have this weird resonant peak on 7-8kHz (clearly visible in my unreplaced D5, the graph on the left). The newly replaced monitor is a lot more balanced tonally and actually sounds quite pleasant.
Makes you wonder what caused this disrepancy. Is it the calibration process or something else? Are all new Equators more like the one on the left or on the right? Anyways I think I need to send mine back again to get a balanced pair. Should've remembered to "try before yo

Both of my D5 had that bit of a peak at 7kHz that I can clearly hear. I rest my case. Only your ears knows the truth.

Both, I put my JBL LSR305 in the same place as the D5, the boxy sound is gone.

I have only listen to the krk rp5 g2 some time ago not the g3 newer model. Did not have the detail I like, the bass was not flat. If I was going to look at krk again I would check with the VXT models much better cleaner sound..

Nobody owns or has heard the yamaha hs serie? I ask that because I' m here on gearslutz because I have to buy my first pair of monitor soon and yamahas look grear to me like this jbl lsr 305 monitor

Hey ddz. I have the HS5's. I really like them but they are harsh monitors in that they really let you know where you messed things up in the mix (which is a good thing) but they sound different then the JBL LSR305. The 305's are a little more flattering to the overall sound IMO.

I was at Dale Pro Audio and got to check out the 305's. I was very impressed as we put them up against the new Genelec's and a pair of K&H (ahem, Neumann) O310's, (that just happened to be up in their demo rom) I didn't like the new Genny's at all, kind of muffled and peaky sounding, but man the JBL's held their own against the 3-way Neumanns... No, they'll never get as loud as the Neumanns, and JBL's did feel smaller overall, but they matched up well tonally

I've got BM6a's at home and Adam a8x's at my office, and These these things would fit right in with the mix..

Seriously, check these things out. even if JBL isn't really a sexy brand name.

Just ordered a pair of LSR305's. Will report back after break-in and many hours listening.

I am interested on these monitors too, have you compared them to Adam or Yamaha HS ?

Hello all!

We just got our hands on the LSR305 and like those of you who already have them, are very excited at their sound. I hope i'm not jumping the gun when I say this but a this price point, I think the LSR305s are a game changer. The imaging is spectacular, and bass response is surprisingly good for a 5 in. monitor.

We are recording them for a comparison as I type and should have audio samples and a video up sometime next week. We also have samples from KRK, Adam, Yamaha, and more so you can get an idea for the different characteristics each possess. I'll let you guys know when we get the 3 series up.