JBL lsr308 powered monitors

[tonyk]

I placed an order with Guitar Center for a pair of these today as my minds ear has been telling me I need to hear JBL's patented image control waveguide, they should be here in a couple of days.

I'm trying to downsize my system to match my smaller living room and hopefully these will be the start of what is gonna be an entirely different setup for me, dedicated pre to powered monitors.

Sold off my Interface C's a couple of months ago, and the AR9's sold today and are just awaiting pickup. My livingroom just isn't conducive to having large speakers, and lord knows I've tried. The C's actually didn't sound too bad but I'm hoping for something better image wise.

I'll initially run these with the preout of my Arcam, but the end game hopefully will be a nice dedicated preamp with balanced outputs fed by a nice disc player, probably gonna use my Sony DVP9000es.

I did a search here on AK and only found AK'er Alobar's favorable thread on the smaller LSR305.

If anyone has spent any time listening to the LSR308's I'd love to hear your opinions.

A quick pic from the web.

 

[nedseg]

Alobar also has 308s now, too, perhaps he will respond. Did you get the MkIIs or originals?
I love my 305s (two pairs) and am considering 308mkIIs for another future project.
Compared to the big system, the bass on the 305s is quite a bit less revealing of 'detail & depth', but given the size and price, just amazing. I use one pair of mine, with at Topping D50 DAC, to evaluate FLAC DL'd tracks for whether I'll keep 'em, and/or invest in the CD. About the only thing they 'miss' on is deep and/or acoustic bass.
Enjoy!!

 

[tonyk]

Alobar also has 308s now, too, perhaps he will respond. Did you get the MkIIs or originals?
I love my 305s (two pairs) and am considering 308mkIIs for another future project.
Compared to the big system, the bass on the 305s is quite a bit less revealing of 'detail & depth', but given the size and price, just amazing. I use one pair of mine, with at Topping D50 DAC, to evaluate FLAC DL'd tracks for whether I'll keep 'em, and/or invest in the CD. About the only thing they 'miss' on is deep and/or acoustic bass.
Enjoy!!

I bought the originals, @ $299 a pair I couldn't resist.

I thought about the 305’s as I'd be using a sub with them anyway, and there is a pair at my local EZ pawn for $150, but I wanted to try the larger wave guide.

Just got my email that they've shipped, I'm stoked. I'm getting some stands ready for them right now.

 

[Alobar]

Tonyk, I really like the 308's out in my shop! The space is 12 by 20 feet and I have the 308's on the long wall and since I move about the workspace quite a bit I'm impressed with the wide stage those waveguides are capable of . Plenty of spl for me out there too, but everyone has different needs

The 305's do duty with the TV now but I did briefly compare the two sides by side. The 308's seem to do the lower frequencies a little better, maybe a little more effort for the 305's to keep up.. Tell us what you think!

 

[tonyk]

Nice Alobar!

My room is 13’x11’ but is open on two corners, I'm hoping these can image better than my previous speakers. I spent the day modifying some stands just for the 308's, I'm stoked to hear what these will sound like.

 

[Zonker92]

That looks cool, Alobar! Did you try them upside-down? Seems like the tweeters might play better that way.

 

[Alobar]

That looks cool, Alobar! Did you try them upside-down? Seems like the tweeters might play better that way.

Thanks! These have really met my requirements out there without the need for an amp setup. I did think seriously about if not putting them upside down than to at least tilting them forward a little, but after listening to them as is they seem fine. Could be the waveguides ability to to disperse not only laterally but on the vertical axis too. Also the fact that I am standing and working when out there gets my ears up pretty close to the HF driver. That and being 6'2" helps too..

 

[Rex81]

I haven't heard the 308s, but I've heard both the 305 and the 305 mkII. I've heard from a few people the 308 has better/bigger bass (obviously), but the 305 has a smoother, more coherent presentation. I was extremely impressed with the original 305 and I must say the mkII is even better. I actually heard the 305 mkII next to their MUCH more expensive brothers, the 708p ($4,000/pr) and the owner of the 708s felt a tinge of buyer's remorse after hearing the 305s. There's certainly plenty of family resemblance between the two. The 708s are clearly better in most ways, but not 20+ times better, that's for sure.

Both 305s are fantastic values in a small speaker system. They're my no-brainer recommendation for people looking for a great middle of the road setup, or a 2nd system. I just wish they came with consumer RCA connections, but that's nothing a cheap adapter can't fix.

 

[tonyk]

While I'm waiting for that brown delivery truck to drop of my JBL's, I thought I'd share this neat little video with you guys and gals. It's a comparison video of the LSR308s, the Yamaha HS8 and the KRK Rokit.
I spent some time yesterday at my local Guitar Center listening to all three speakers in this video and I gotta say the Yamaha's were equally as impressive as the JBLs (and we're on sale for the same price I paid for the JBLs), I came away thinking I could totally live the Yamaha's and not be disappointed.
The KRK Rokits I didn't care for, congested and muted sounding to my ears, and I think it comes across in the video.

 

[manu et deo]

I used my 308s as my main HT speakers for about a year. Took everything that was thrown at them and are now in the shop where they play Spotify thru BT now.

 

[tonyk]

They finally arrived and I’m just starting my listening session. A first quick impression is that it doesn’t seem to matter whether I’m sitting on the couch or standing up, they sound the same. Kudos to JBL’s waveguide, it seems to work as advertised.

I currently have the attenuation flat and they sound nice and balanced, I like it.

I like their sound right out of the box enough that I haven’t turned my sub on yet, that'll happen later for sure, but I want to hear these on their own for a bit.

Currently playing one of my favorite demo cd’s called “Picking On Creed”, an instrumental tribute to the band Creed. A lot of good solid guitar.

Not much more to say at the moment other than typical of JBL speakers, these are capable of rockin’ the house for sure.

 

[Alobar]

Love those stands! Looks like a great setup you have there. . Yes the waveguides somehow manage to keep a center stage going on no matter where in my shop I am in.. as much as I am liking my L200's now, that is one thing they can't do that well. Need to stay in the formed equilateral triangle for them to work..

 

[tonyk]

Thanks Alobar!

I built the stands myself originally for some Polk SDA Compacts (long gone), but trimmed the top plate down to fit these speakers. They seem to be the perfect height for these.

I gotta say these speakers are everything I'd hoped for, they deliver the imaging, depth and spaciousness that I never could get with all the other speakers I've tried in this living room. The wave guide is the real deal imho.

This is turning out to be some of the best money I've spent on audio in a while.

I had to stop and make a beer run as this gonna be long night I think. Lol

 

[Alobar]

 

[JP]

I had to get them at least 18” off the back wall or stuff the port. Low end was pretty far off otherwise.

 

[tonyk]

I had to get them at least 18” off the back wall or stuff the port. Low end was pretty far off otherwise.

Hmmm, I just measured mine, they're 12" off the wall. I'll try them a bit farther out.

 

[HTWillie]

I've got a single LSR308 and a pair of 305 that I mainly use for playing around on my synthesizers. I can't wait to find a good deal on a LSR310 sub for the ease of integration, as my other available subwoofers all have RCA or speaker level connections.

I had a chance on an LSR4312P which would have been awesome, but I didn't move quick enough.

 

[tonyk]

I've got a single LSR308 and a pair of 305 that I mainly use for playing around on my synthesizers. I can't wait to find a good deal on a LSR310 sub for the ease of integration, as my other available subwoofers all have RCA or speaker level connections.

I had a chance on an LSR4312P which would have been awesome, but I didn't move quick enough.

I did eventually throw my sub into the mix. I set it to roughly 50hz, then turned it up until I heard it and then back down until I couldn't, and that seemed to play nicely with these monitors.

I played around with toe-in a bit and moving them in and out from the wall, I think I have them dialed in pretty good right now

I was up until almost 2 a.m. spinning tunes last night, Time to make some coffee.