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.