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bdleslie
19
Feb 1, 2018
As a long-time owner of both JBL LSR305's and LSR308's, I answered several questions in other threads. I purchased another pair on this drop, and couple of comments: A) The gloss black looks better than I would have expected; if it's in normal office lighting rather than lighting that shouts "look how GLOSSY these are," it's pretty subdued and nice. It definitely looks better than the spartan pebbly matte black on the originals. B) My pair was matched to +/- 0.2 dB. That's pretty incredible.
They sound as fantastic as I would have expected, exactly the same as the LSR305's. For the record, except below 200 Hz, I prefer the LSR305's to the LSR308's. They image better, have a wider listening sweetspot, and seem a bit clearer in the upper mids. They're both great for the price, and I'm not sure which I would take if they were exactly the same price (the 308's also play louder, not just deeper), but of course this Massdrop price is lower than either the 305's or 308's have ever been. The 305's with subwoofer would be better than the 308's plus subwoofer, if that makes sense.
If you get these and are willing to experiment, play around with extremely close near-field listening, like 12" to 24". It's an interesting way to listen that minimizes the effect of room reflections, and these are great candidates with the drivers 5" apart and pretty close to phase aligned (i.e., the tweeter is recessed).
bdleslie
19
Feb 3, 2018
bdleslieInteresting thing about the LSR305's vs. the LSR30x -- I rapped the top of cabinet on the top of both, and the 30x is pitched exactly a full musical step higher. Why this would be, I have no idea -- maybe the gloss wrap is doing something to tune the cabinet top higher like a tighter drumhead? The cabinet sides are also a little different sounding, although not as noticeably different.
I did have a further thought on the LSR308. I think the tweeter is crossed over lower to meet the woofer are more like 1.8 kHz instead of 2.2 kHz, and this makes it the upper-mid/lower-high-end portion sound a little more congested. Also, the big Achilles heel of these speakers is that the cabinets are pretty thin and resonant, and this has got to be a lot worse and more audible with the much bigger LSR308.
Typhoon859
141
Feb 6, 2018
bdleslieWait a second... How is that even possible? That's completely messed up. You're saying if somebody is singing or playing a C5, it would actuall sound like a D5? And if you played the speakers together, they would competely clash? What, is this thing running through autotune? >.<
bdleslie
19
Feb 11, 2018
Typhoon859Haha, no, I'm saying that if you wrap the top of the cabinet with your knuckle, the "thok" sound comes out as one note higher on a harmonic scale on the LSR30x. Think of it as hitting the cabinet like a tom-tom drum. The sound coming from the drivers is electromagnetically controlled and pitched the same. Generally better braced speaker cabinets have a higher resonance frequency, which is then more effectively damped by the lossy box material (typically MDF). However, these look like the same cabinets as the LSR305, so it's a bit of a mystery. Like I said, it's probably the glossy vinyl being shrink-wrapped which tightens things up.
Typhoon859
141
Feb 11, 2018
bdleslieSo that's a good thing in this case then. Basically you were saying the resonant frequency is higher in terms of how these are balanced, right?
bdleslie
19
Feb 11, 2018
Typhoon859Yes, it's likely a good thing. After a number of hours listening to the LSR30x, I think they sound subtly better than the LSR305 that they are based on. The imaging is better for sure. It could be slightly better cabinets, or it could be the pair matching, or it could be that JBL improved production quality after I got my LSR305's in 2013 or 2014. These are a RIDICULOUS bargain.
Typhoon859
141
Feb 11, 2018
bdleslieAbsolutely. Glad I got them. Thanks for the response!
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