I did a quick google search on where to buy audio studio monitors in London and came up with three different locations. I don't know if any are close to you, but I'm guessing you didn't try very hard as I'm also guessing there are a number of smaller stores in a city as big as London that don't have much of a web presence or SEO their content very well. These three locations were on the first page of results BTW. I didn't bother checking any other pages.

And of course you're going to have to play with the distance from the wall. You should have known that going in.

Sorry bro, can't feel too bad for you, but misinforming people on the quality of the speakers because you purchased them sight unseen and didn't bother to do anything about distances from the wall and treatment.

But as others have said, to each their own when it comes to the sound from speakers and headphones. Best wishes with whatever you turn to next.

There is no sonic differences between the seriel model numbers of those nor a problem with the batch, its just some don't accepct that some people have a personal preference which means they don't get on with them and prefer another style of speaker.

Just move on and understand that it's a personal preference init.

What DA converter are you using?

The ones in my soundcard, an M-Audio Audiophile2496.

Anyway, I'm now considering giving the Yamaha HS7s a go, and if that's no good then it's going to be amp and speaker separates. I'll have another search on Google for any London area dealers.

I emailed their American link, not the the European one. I don't think they have European support.


I really wish he could have tried it on a different system, just to rule that out. No biggy now I guess. LOL.

I'm just a music consumer (with a pair of 305's) who's been casually following this out of curiosity, but I just felt I had to chime in...


What I'm reading here is that Ianpb has bought the tool but not set up his workspace, then found he can't get the result he's after. It's like trying to saw wood without clamping it down; however many saws you go through, you're going to have a hard time getting a good, straight cut.

Unlike my analogy there, however, acoustics aren't nearly so obvious if you're coming from a place of ignorance -- if you don't know how all those little soundwave bounce around a room, you're not going to notice that you've got all the wrong surfaces in all the wrong places, and will tend to assume it's something you do see. Point being that it's an easy mistake to make for someone who's new to setting up a studio (home or otherwise).

Now, I can certainly see how the computer speakers apparently sounding better would suggest the monitors are at fault... but my understanding is that the chief difference between [high-end] media systems and studio gear is that the latter assume everything -room, listening position, power, etcetera- is set up optimally, while the former has to be much more flexible in terms of where you can get a good experience. A family isn't going to have much use for a system that makes movies sound awesome... but only if you're sitting in one specific spot.


So what I suggest has happened is that Ianpb has gone from something designed for the sort of space he's got it in to something designed for an entirely different arrangement, and hasn't made the appropriate changes. Some personal preference may also be mixed in, and other hardware (or software) in the chain could be affecting things, too.

My suggestion would be to do some homework about acoustics and room treatment, do what can be done, and then experiment with different speakers. Getting that stuff right will pay off regardless of the monitors one likes.


(But I'll be not the slightest bit offended if people tell me I have no idea of what I'm talking about :P.)

i have and use the JBL lsr305's, and along with some room treatment and IK ARC2 eq'ing, they really sound good in my space.

I just ordered the JBL LSR305's today. I'm hoping to be able to convert an old Samson r8a into a passable sub while I keep working on the home studio set-up.

I have a noob question about the lsr305's: my left speaker sounds dull and has no high freqs, the right one is thin and bright. Is this normal or are my monitors defective?

There are high frequency and low frequency trim controls on the back of the monitors. Are they set differently? Sounds like your left may be set with HF Trim at a high level and the right with the HF Trim set at a low level.

The trim switches are both at 0. I am talking about a very big difference in the sound here. Changing the trim controls results in very minuscule changes in comparison.

Have you tried switching the cables around ?
What about switching left/right speakers ? :-)

Have you put your ear near the waveguide on the dull one to be sure the tweeter is not blown? And the woofer on the thin and bright one to make sure the woofer is not blown?

I had a similar problem with my 305´s too, the problem was solved buying balanced cables and using balanced outputs from another audio interface.

Just thought I'd reawaken this thread, as I'm curious about the mixed opinions on the JBL LSR305s; I've seen so many positive reviews/posts, and hardly any negative until I read this thread. I was in my local music store today and was lucky enough to be left alone in the monitor demo room. I auditioned the LSR305s and they were ok, but they weren't amazing. In particular, I expected a good bass response (for their size) as they are rated down to 43Hz. But kick drums had no bass oomph at all. The 305s were set up next to a pair of Presonus E5s and the E5s' bass sounded much more solid.

At that point I started to think about buying the E5s, but, trying them up against other monitors, they sounded identical to the Rokit RP5 G3. And I mean, absolutely identical, I couldn't tell them apart. This scares me, because from what I've read the RP5 G3 is considered to be a bit 'hyped', sounding more like a hi-fi speaker than a reference monitor.

So now, I'm more confused than I was when I went in there :D .

i will also say, just for the record, that the LSR305s sounded nicer than the Yamaha HS5 and 7 - no surprise there, I guess, as the Yamahas are known to be a little harsh/fatiguing.

The most depressing discovery of my little demo session was that the monitors with 8" cones sounded considerably better than the ones with 5". Unfortunately, they were also all out of my budget. :'(

Rear ported (JBLs) monitors IMO depend on their placement in the room to get the best sound and bass. The fact that they were right next to the E5's, which are front ported makes me think that the comparison between the two isn't showing the best of the JBLs in the comparison. I doubt many places do much regarding placement of their monitors to showcase them the best. They just have "a rack" of all the monitors next to each other...if you're able to buy the JBLs from a place where you get a so-many day return policy, that might be your best bet. Try them at home in your room with proper placement from the wall.

Obviously, 8" cones are going to sound better in the bass department because they're going to be rated further down in most situations.

hello , new to the site and to studio monitors , and since there seems to be a debate of some sort i decided to share my experiences with my 305 .
keep in mind i am in no way audiophile , producer or experienced in music equipments and vocabulary . just a normal user who wanted a good system to hear his music , so bare with me :P

my only point of reference is my previous speakers logitech x-530 5.1 . the bass was not that powerful and not that clear , the mids were good and the highs very good . generally the sound was metalic . for the price i bought them really good value and quite happy with them so i kept them .

when i tried the 305 for first time i noticed that their sound is very similarly metalic like 530 . the bass is clear though its even less powerful which is expected since i have no sub , the mids are better and the highs are similar/marginally better but that is because 530 already had awesome highs anyway .

my room is untreated and i have the monitors too close to the wall . i have to say even moving the monitors few cm away from the wall make a noticable difference in the bass clarity .
also even though i dont have the one-monitor-dull-the-other-bright problem , in the volume scale in some steps i have some anomalies between them . the cable is faulty and it affects so i cant be sure if only the cable is the problem or i also need to send back the monitors .

anyway , even close to the wall only 1 song was too fatiguing and i would never call the 305 boomy so my best guess is that Ianpb had faulty units and they didnt bother to change and send the same units back or he did the connections wrong .

i use the onboard sound ALC898 though i think maybe to buying sound blaster Z . any thoughts ?


forgot to mention that i have the ***09 batch

Faulty cable and likely connected to a motherboard with a (more than likely) cheap on-board audio (cheap DAC)? Not to much to see here in regards to a certain sound signature. The on-board that came with my motherboard (due it's crappy equalizer) actually neutered the sound of the JBL's. When I added a cheap Xonar card, things changed substantially. I get this tingling feeling like I'm wearing headphones on occasion.

Not entirely. The woofer on the x-530 is only 5.25 inches. Likely, you're referencing to the exaggerated/colored bass featured on most computer speakers. The sub has to make up for the sub-par quality of the sats, and because they realize most people aren't overly concerned with quality sound or like bass.

Really, outside of Ian's peculiar case, and a few personal preferences, most of the opinions are positive here. I was skeptical myself, initially. Overwhelming praise pushed me towards them, and I don't regret it.

Likely the listening environment, as mentioned above, these 305's got some damn good bass from my perspective; I'm still amazed by these speakers.

Not really, as you can equally say the 305 are quite colored in the low end (Which I find them to be when directed compared to more natural monitors, note compare directely to)

And the low end is personal to what one likes, I find the low end on the 305's to not be that good when compared to monitors which offer more true/natural low end down there.

So its no surprise this guy has his findings like they are. Just remember it's personal when it comes to monitors, what you think of the 305, others find something different.

To each his own. I go by the LSR305's own measurements, as presented by both official and individual measurements. I've seen various graphs (I even posted one on the other page) where the LSR305's register near flat; even in sub-par listening rooms.

I also own a pair, and notice nothing in regards to "colored" bass; particularly when compared to what they replaced( Shrugs)

Yes, I said that.

I know you've said the Adam's thrash them. I'm not sure what true/natural low end is (flat?), so I can't comment. I know what sounds preferable though.

Which guy? Those statements are from two different people (I was too lazy). The first guy's opinion actually corroborates my own listening experience. He even stated that he would "never call the 305 boomy."

The 2nd guy said the bass was lacking, not boomy. He actually preferred the bass of speakers like the Rokit, which is known to be exaggerated. He might have a particular preference or, possibly, it was the listening environment. Just some observations.

Yes, I agree and said (have said) that.

Of course - this hadn't crossed my mind. Doh! The shop had a very nice circular rack in their demo room, which of course is nowhere near the wall. Hence the weedy bass from the 305s, I expect.

Yes, exactly. The point I was making was that 5"s sound ok until you hear them up against 8"s - then you realise what you're really missing out on. All the 8"s in the room sounded better than any of the 5"s. Problem is, to make that step I have to double my budget, more or less.

I know, opinions are pretty unanimous in fact - far more so than any other monitor, which is what pushed me towards them. I'm aware that, besides Ian, I'm just about the only person who isn't 100% positive. And I'm not slating the 305s; just reporting what I heard in the shop, which was a bit of a lack of bass. Although, without wanting to repoeat my previous post, this is probably because of unsuitable positioning (for a rear ported design) in the shop.

@hefly

so should i go for the soundblaster Z ? my motherboard sound is ALC898 which is said to be sufficient for casual use though most likely that is not true for studio equipment .

and i never said that i liked x530 bass . i found it bad , but at least it had some oomph . also its 8"
but yes 305 bass is not enough for my taste . so i also need to search for a sub . there is the jbl 310s though i dont know if its good or worth its money . any good suggestions ? (i live in EU)

that being said there is a particular song that make 305 bass strong . i guess it uses low frequencies that 305 is able to catch ? i really dont know why it happens with only that song .

Of course. but really though, if the E5 sounded better, just get it. You likely won't regret it. Or, better yet, save up for one of the 8-inchers. LOL.

Well, I went from on-board to a sound card and the difference was night and day; the equalizer for the on-board made the bass too boomy and cut out some details.

Oh, no, I'm not implying you liked it, just explaining why it seemed the bass on the computer speakers seemed louder and the reasoning behind it. Computer speakers typically hype the bass.

Depending on the environment, 5 inchers can only do so much bass wise. A sub would certainly complement the system.

My 2¢... coming from one who has been a performing (and occasionally recording) musician all my life—but in no way am I a professional engineer or sound tech. Now that I have a DAW to work with, I wanted some suitable speakers to give myself a clearer picture of what's going on inside the tracks. Without much budget to work with, after reading the various comments on these LS305s I thought they seemed like a safe bet and I have not been disappointed. My room's not tuned, and the speakers are probably too close to the wall etc., but these things just sound really sweet. Playing back through my Apogee interface the music comes alive for me. I can just sit back in my chair in the sweet spot and really enjoy just re-listening to all my old favorite stuff again... everything just sounds better on these speakers to me. I'm not in the audio profession and I don't do commercial work for others, so at a higher level one can probably make the case that these are lacking in some respects, but damn they sound great!

That's one of the things I love about reading GS is learning from the discussions and the way some praise and some pick things apart. To me it's just splitting hairs on this otherwise really fine piece of gear. For my modest needs, in my little home studio, they're perfectly satisfying. I don't need thousands-of-dollar monitors for what I do, couldn't justify it. But these 305s gotta be the best bang for the buck for what I needed & for what they cost, I certainly can't complain.

Hi all, I am the owner of a LSR305 & LSR310s setup.

I know at the time of purchasing 3 months ago, I had loads of difficultly choosing a pair of studio monitors and even greater difficulty finding out which sub I wanted at the same time too.

There's lots of opinions on the LSR305's already; Not much for me to add to what others have said either, other than I won't be exchanging them for anything else since they are pretty much perfect for a general music listener and VST Drummer like me, who was just looking for a good value "better then PC speakers" audio solution.

My only gripe is the tweeter hiss that all high quality monitors have. My music associate has an even more expensive pair of Adam A7X’s - even they hiss. However the waveguide on the LSR305 means it's harder to turn the hiss away because you’re always sitting in that wide sweet spot. So I'm looking to make a thin felt cover for them at some point just to muffle the hiss so I can have total silence - I wouldn't mind losing some clarity doing that either, they are that good.

Bass on the LSR305 hits low but hits light. EQing solves this nicely however I knew I was getting a sub before I even bought them. I have them on isolation foam tilting upwards and very close to the wall, but I have no negligible effects on sound.

I would say the stereo image on the CM-220's satellites was a little better to me because the phantom-center came from a point just in front of my nose, whereas on the LSR305's; the phantom-center comes from behind my LCD screen, which I have gotten used too but it still feels uneasy on certain music / sound.

I also would have liked front ported and more mid-bass but still, everything has a compromise, other monitors would have probably sacrificed something else to give me what I want, and would have been more expensive. I'm more than happy with the LSR305's, the CM-220's satellites was hiss-tastic and all mids, I was only happy with a max U profile on the EQ, till I sent them back.

Now then... what does somebody who’s been through 3 studio subwoofers have to say about the LSR310s?

I have owned (at home) the Roland CM-220, the Temblor T10 and the LSR310s.

Here are the biggest things I have learnt from my experience;
Cabinet size, build and design matter the most, followed by amplifier, control and volume.

Out of all the 10” subs, the T10 was the loudest, followed by the LSR310s and the CM-220. Exactly following the specified power rating.

The LSR310s goes the lowest, down to 27Hz, the T10 stops at 32hz, as does the CM-220.

Wood is better than plastic, boxes have better bass then thin cabs, for tone and warmth. All of the subs I had were made of wood I believe, except the T10 which has a metal grill. – This grill resonated “buzzed” when doing bass sweeps – I wasn’t happy with that. The CM-220 didn’t exhibit this problem, because the front cone is protected by wooden lattice behind that layer of felt probably for that very reason, to stop any extra cabinet noises. The LSR310's is free from any issues like that as well.

On the subject of functionality and features; variable crossover and footswitches are overrated. The fact that you can bypass the crossover on the T10 didn’t work as I thought it would. I ended up running the sub separate like I do now for the LSR310s, supplying an uninterrupted signal to my LSR305s, for the control over bass from my interface, no footswitch needed. I run directly from my UA1010 because I don’t want the sub to cut out anything from my LSR305’s, and I don’t want the crossover affecting my LSR305s.

Lack of mid-bass makes me nauseous lol, plus I don’t always have the sub on.

The LSR310s has 3 clear settings for the crossover; 80hz, 120hz XLF and external. The external setting disables the pass thru for some reason but it does put out a proper full signal, which is good, allows you to check you are feeding the sub both L and R signals through 1 TRS to TS cable, as I am.
It essentially becomes a 3rd speaker on external, also becoming directional sound, so it needs to be in line with other speakers to sound right, or, as you’re supposed too anyway, apply your own HF cut / channel EQ which I can’t do on my interface unfortunately.

The XLF function is a lovely toy, knowing it’s there, yet I hardly use it. I’m just interested in EQing a 27hz spike, while on the flat setting, so all my music has a wonderful feeling of deep bass. It’s funny how you begin to hunt for those music tracks that have nice varying bass lines that hit you in your chest. Although saying that, all subs can generally do that chest pounding thing with ease because you just turn the volume up. However, I think only tight studio subs have that ability to transfer that effect at low volumes as well. Lower volumes allow you to keep track of fast double bass, that often merges together at higher volumes if you don’t have the room dampened properly.

Studio subs are not touring instruments but they can be used for small gigs providing you protect them inside bags and cases, they don’t have handles. But if you want to support a PA setup (like I’m planning to do) the LSR310s would be the best to take along just because it’s the lightest and has the XLF +10db boost setting, that can scale back to a quality music listening mode when you take it home.

The class D amp in the LSR310s had a bigger perceived effect on the overall quality feel of the subwoofer than I thought it would. The reason for this is unlike the T10 (class AB) the volume pot raises in notches (exactly the same as on the LSR305’s) The James May in me is very happy having distinct levels of loudness, and the switch on and warm up feels nicer in a way, than it did on the T10.

Lastly, the LSR310s is down firing, which makes no difference to the forward firing CM-220 and T10 as far as I can tell, but the port is higher on the LSR310s and “augmented” lol. Again, something placebo but feels better. Besides, I want that port firing air directly at my ears, rather than bouncing off the floor.

Hope I gave something useful to the discussion here.

@kabonfaiba really helpful indeed . so from your experience you believe that 310s is worth the money or there are better subs at that price range ? also i am interested in xonar essence stx and has only rca unbalanced output for speakers , while 310s has trs and xlr both balanced . which is the best way to connect them and what equipment do i need ?

So what kind of distance between 305s and wall should suffice? In this thread one person mentions that 1 meter wasn't enough. For 5" speakers that sounds a bit strange.. And for 8" does it grow considerably?

The LSR310s is over priced - on it's own. You actually get a better value buying a Roland CM-220. However that's not an option if you want different satellites since the Roland CM-220 has powered TS outs.

I got the Temblor T10 because I deemed that to be better value than the LSR310s. The first arrived DOA, and when I finally got a working sub the bass was difficult to tame. It's loud, too loud to control above minimal sensitivity, almost like it was being feed a boosted signal. I returned it, paid up the extra for the LSR310s and tried to look happy.

No doubt you can get away with cheaper subs than the T10. M-audio and KRK have good value subs. But I see that metal grill on them and shudder. What I would say is; you don't pay more to get better bass. The LSR310s costs more because of it's better build quality. Apparently the best bass comes from non-ported subs - but they are really in another league, rare, and lack the thump I want.

My LSR310s is actually connected to an unbalanced TS at the moment because I haven't got round to buying another set of cables for it yet. Unbalanced doesn't matter as much for subs because the interference has been cut by the High-pass. I can only make my LSR310s emit self noise if it's turned all the way up, otherwise it's dead silent, even with unbalanced connection.

Okay so:

1. Big thank you to this thread for helping me make the fantastic decision of getting a pair of 305s.

2. Has anyone noticed the ultimate sweetspot for these speakers to be a bit "closer" than on most others?

I mean, the typical listener-speakers relationship should create an equilateral speaker, right? AFAIK you shouldn't typically see the inner sides of your speakers. (Be gentle, this is my first pair of good speakers; I might be wrong?)
But I've found that moving a bit forward in between them [not much, a few centimeters] (basically having the speakers point towards the back of your head), gives more definition and clarity. Anyone else?

P.S. The overall sweetspot for the speakers is really wide, as marketed and as many others have pointed out. I'm talking about the exact very best point, by a small margin.