Best powered studio monitors in the ~$300 range with unbalanced ins? For garage duty.

[Trouble Maker]

B Stock items can be called many names such as: Refurbished, Refurb, Recertified, Returned.

I guess used could be an overly honest way of saying returned, but also returned should not be used as in a second hand. B-stock feels like it should be like new, but not new, but also not used... if that makes sense.

 

[maxxevv]

But also that means the whole 30xP line should be dirt cheap right? Like I said earlier, my current plan is to wait until the 305P goes on sale this holiday season, which like you said about the 308P, it should.

Also as best I can tell the 30xP line is back at MSRP for the time being e.g. 308P is $500/pr.

Me and a few members including @BDWoody got a smashing deal on the JBL 306P late last year for US$176/ PAIR off Adorama.
But that was in October last year, so far that deal hasn't resurfaced.

Harmon / JBL does such sales once or twice a year but usually its about US$99 for the 305P and US$189 for the 308P each. There were occasions when the 305P was offered at US$89/ each and the 308P going as low as US$159/ each.

 

[johnk]

This is probably not what you are after but ...
https://www.jbl.com.au/JBL+CLIP+3.html
or https://www.ultimateears.com/en-au/wireless-speakers/roll-2.html
Clip it to your belt loop and you have passable sound wherever you are working and they are pretty robust. Obviously not in the league of the other options discussed in this thread, but they are surprisingly good for what you pay and the portability is perfect so you can prop them up where you are actually working. I have an original JBL clip and a UE Boom and use them both regularly when working on jobs around the house.

 

[flyzipper]

I bought a pair of Kali LP-6 recently (too soon for measurements or proper setup) and they give a positive first impression.

A comment on B-stock, which was mentioned earlier in the thread.

The PA/commercial music store where I purchased these has a policy which allows in home trial for up to 30 days, and a return for full refund if the product doesn't work out for any reason. The speakers I obtained cost full price, but had obviously been returned (speakers looked perfect, but packaging was clearly opened). That initially felt like a bit of a rip off, however, it's the other side of that beneficial policy.

Perhaps this is a common practice with commercial gear (it looks like Sweetwater also has the same policy)?

 

[infinitesymphony]

Beta test the Mackie CR8-XBT for us! 8" woofers, Bluetooth, balanced and unbalanced inputs, $350. There's also a less expensive 5" version.

(But honestly, JBL LSR is probably the safest way to go.)

 

[Trouble Maker]

This is probably not what you are after but ...
https://www.jbl.com.au/JBL+CLIP+3.html
or https://www.ultimateears.com/en-au/wireless-speakers/roll-2.html
Clip it to your belt loop and you have passable sound wherever you are working and they are pretty robust. Obviously not in the league of the other options discussed in this thread, but they are surprisingly good for what you pay and the portability is perfect so you can prop them up where you are actually working. I have an original JBL clip and a UE Boom and use them both regularly when working on jobs around the house.

I already have a UE Roll, which is very similar in size and form factor to the JBL Clip. I do like it, and it's what I usually use in the garage now. Just looking to upgrade to something (much) better and semi-permanent. I don't see a bigger battery powered portable Bluetooth speaker being right for me either. Something like the JBL 30xPs should kick the teeth in of any similar priced Bluetooth speaker. The battery cost and size/form factor are the priorities for those speakers, so it's easy to see how a 'real' speaker would win on sound quality all other things being equal. The Roll is the perfect size for me for traveling, I like to travel as fast and light as reasonably possible with my packing. But on some types of trips, a speaker is really nice to have. Anything large enough to have a significantly better sound would be... too big for how I like to travel. Anything of similar size would be an incremental change with no purpose in the money spent. As I said earlier, powered studio monitors in this segment seem to have a massive bang for the buck, so it was why I went down this rabbit hole.

Anyway, that's my paper napkin arithmetic on the subject and how I came to where I'm at. I'm always happy to have alternative out of the box suggestions. A single JBL EON610 someone mentioned earlier is really intriguing. It's about the cost, volume and weight of other 2 8" studio monitors mentioned in this thread. I just think the size with it being a single speaker at 22" tall is going to be restricting for placement in my space. And also has less portability if I decided to temporarily use these in another space.

 

[Trouble Maker]

Ordered the 305Ps this morning per the Deal thread at $99/each, but it seems like the deal is gone already. I got in just in time!

Thanks for the help everyone, I'm excited for them to come!

 

[johnk]

Ordered the 305Ps this morning per the Deal thread at $99/each, but it seems like the deal is gone already. I got in just in time!

Thanks for the help everyone, I'm excited for them to come!

Great price. They are $250AUD each over here, and I am still tempted to get them for the kids play room.

 

[richard12511]

Ordered the 305Ps this morning per the Deal thread at $99/each, but it seems like the deal is gone already. I got in just in time!

Thanks for the help everyone, I'm excited for them to come!

Take a look at @Maiky76 s PEQ when you get a chance. The 305p has some sorta serious frequency response problems, but because its dispersion is so excellent and uniform, it makes for a wonderful PEQ candidate. For example, the 305p w/EQ actually rates higher than the Revel M105 or M106 w/EQ. That waveguide is really something special!

 

[YSC]

FYI for me in a tiny living room here in HK I used a pair of Fostex PM 0.4D for TV speakers and worked quite well for casual music or movie, they are using class D amping and works like charm also, just using a 3.5mm-> RCA input from sony TV

 

[Trouble Maker]

Take a look at @Maiky76 s PEQ when you get a chance. The 305p has some sorta serious frequency response problems, but because its dispersion is so excellent and uniform, it makes for a wonderful PEQ candidate. For example, the 305p w/EQ actually rates higher than the Revel M105 or M106 w/EQ. That waveguide is really something special!

Thanks, I took a look at them over in the review thread. Seems to make a huge improvement in the data with those who tried it also saying their subjective impression was good.
Any cheap and easy to implement ways to implement the PEQ's? App or cheap external hardware?
I'm going from Phone with only USB-C out to apple dongle directly the the speakers. Mostly streaming via Spotify, so something that can work 'behind' that.
I vaguely remember Amirm doing a DAC dongle review with DSP capability, but I can't seem to find it.

I don't have any issues spending money on this stuff, but it feels silly to spend a bunch on some solution here for a $220 pair of garage speakers. My target here was good but simple and relatively cheap, which is why I went with powered speakers which are self contained and a high value if properly engineered from a systems engineering perspective. So a "complex" solution like another box with RCA ins/outs and a $100 price tag like the miniDSP 2x4 for example are unlikely to make the cut. The reality is also that it's in a garage with bad acoustics and I'll likely be under a car or running a saw part of the time, so these should be good enough as is. If I had a way to measure this could also mean that EQ could have the biggest effect here due to the bad acoustics of the garage. But, I don't have a way to measure yet. That will come if/when I do the big living room home theater upgrade.

Your comment does make me wonder why JBL didn't implement a little more or any DSP. I would guess they implement the crossover with a DSP chip, so it would feel simple to make a few corrections to get the FR most of the way there. Probably simply a cost target issue with a high(er) power DSP costing too much or they already meet the project targets without it.

 

[Trouble Maker]

FYI for me in a tiny living room here in HK I used a pair of Fostex PM 0.4D for TV speakers and worked quite well for casual music or movie, they are using class D amping and works like charm also, just using a 3.5mm-> RCA input from sony TV

I've been suggesting a few options in this arena to people as alternatives to sound bars to upgrade their TV sound. I think that sound bars are great honestly, we are using a Vizio 5.1 setup right now. But it's up to the person to decide their want of form factor, looks and features of the soundbar VS (probably) higher performance with these types of speakers.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Your comment does make me wonder why JBL didn't implement a little more or any DSP. I would guess they implement the crossover with a DSP chip, so it would feel simple to make a few corrections to get the FR most of the way there. Probably simply a cost target issue with a high(er) power DSP costing too much or they already meet the project targets without it.

My mind went there, too -- if they're already using DSP to shape FR (which they likely are), why not get it closer? Maybe sample variation, or they compromised somewhere to prevent the headroom from being reduced too far.

Spotify has a built-in EQ (Settings gear, Playback, Equalizer). It's nothing fantastic, but if you find that you've got certain peaks and valleys in your FR you might be able to eyeball in some correction using RTA on a computer, or another phone or tablet. Otherwise you're probably looking at classic choices like a physical GEQ or PEQ, a box with DSP which is probably outside of your budget for this system, or a computer.

 

[Trouble Maker]

I got them on Friday, set them up and have had just a bit of time to listen to them, just to check them out and while doing a few small things around the garage.

These things are way better than anything should be for $200. I can imagine most people, maybe not most people on here, but your average person, being very happy with something like these as their main speakers if you ignore looks. I really hope for the average consumer something like WiSA takes off. Powered speakers with DSP like these in a little nicer box, with wireless from the TV either built in or by add on dongle would be a huge step up in quality and convenience from the current situation.

For me they sound a bit bright, which between the spins and being in a garage with nothing but hard surfaces makes sense to me. I like them in that space better with the HF shelf turned down. I don't have a mic yet, so no measurements. So take this as just an off-the-cuff feeling from untrained very non-golden ears; just a quick first impresion.

The Apple dongle seems to not have enough voltage to drive them very loud, but the Google one and some junk one I got in the airport when I forgot one on a trip does. I would guess these need around 2 volts when set to -10dbV to reach full volume?
What am I missing in the specs & test results, is it this?

Any thing reasonably cheap that would be better than the Google Dongle I already have? Probably it's good enough for this application.
Also I've no idea if I have a V1 or V2, but it must be a V1 if it's driving the JBLs significantly louder right?
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...pple-vs-google-usb-c-headphone-adapters.5541/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...attle-of-google-pixel-headphone-dongles.4863/

 

[infinitesymphony]

All good data, @Trouble Maker. @Robbo99999 posted in the LSR308P MkII thread that he found the -2 dB HF shelf to affect 3K+, and if the 305s have a similar starting frequency it should tame the high end by an appropriate amount to give you a neutral to downward slope in-room.

Topping D10s ($99) or E30 ($130) are probably your next upgrade. E30 would give you a remote control. Otherwise, there's not a whole lot between $9-100. I'm trying to think of a way to boost your 1V signal without affecting performance.

 

[Trouble Maker]

All good data, @Trouble Maker. @Robbo99999 posted in the LSR308P MkII thread that he found the -2 dB HF shelf to affect 3K+, and if the 305s have a similar starting frequency it should tame the high end by an appropriate amount to give you a neutral to downward slope in-room.

Topping D10s ($99) or E30 ($130) are probably your next upgrade. E30 would give you a remote control. Otherwise, there's not a whole lot between $9-100. I'm trying to think of a way to boost your 1V signal without affecting performance.

I'm good with using the google dongle, it's loud enough now and I don't think the SINAD is going to cause an actual problem here. I ordered the Apple dongle with the speakers thinking it was the ticket, but it was too quite. So I was trying to understand by spec and test results what happened. I had the other two laying around (with other headphones) and tried them. I had the same impression as you, nothing that's an actual upgrade until you hit ~$100 full external DACs or at least nearly that much for any dongles. But to me that seems both unnecessary and too expensive for a $200 pair of garage speakers.

I do have a Schiit Modi and Vali I used to have at work for headphone duty. They moved into storage last year due to an overseas assignment but are back in the basement now, I haven't moved back to work since I'm mostly work from home now. The Modi doesn't get me volume control or a remote which would be nice, and the Vali seems like the wrong application here. I didn't have the right cables on hand to try them out anyway or I would have.

 

[Robbo99999]

I got them on Friday, set them up and have had just a bit of time to listen to them, just to check them out and while doing a few small things around the garage.

These things are way better than anything should be for $200. I can imagine most people, maybe not most people on here, but your average person, being very happy with something like these as their main speakers if you ignore looks. I really hope for the average consumer something like WiSA takes off. Powered speakers with DSP like these in a little nicer box, with wireless from the TV either built in or by add on dongle would be a huge step up in quality and convenience from the current situation.

For me they sound a bit bright, which between the spins and being in a garage with nothing but hard surfaces makes sense to me. I like them in that space better with the HF shelf turned down. I don't have a mic yet, so no measurements. So take this as just an off-the-cuff feeling from untrained very non-golden ears; just a quick first impresion.

The Apple dongle seems to not have enough voltage to drive them very loud, but the Google one and some junk one I got in the airport when I forgot one on a trip does. I would guess these need around 2 volts when set to -10dbV to reach full volume?
What am I missing in the specs & test results, is it this?
View attachment 93923
Any thing reasonably cheap that would be better than the Google Dongle I already have? Probably it's good enough for this application.
Also I've no idea if I have a V1 or V2, but it must be a V1 if it's driving the JBLs significantly louder right?
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...pple-vs-google-usb-c-headphone-adapters.5541/
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...attle-of-google-pixel-headphone-dongles.4863/

All good data, @Trouble Maker. @Robbo99999 posted in the LSR308P MkII thread that he found the -2 dB HF shelf to affect 3K+, and if the 305s have a similar starting frequency it should tame the high end by an appropriate amount to give you a neutral to downward slope in-room.

Topping D10s ($99) or E30 ($130) are probably your next upgrade. E30 would give you a remote control. Otherwise, there's not a whole lot between $9-100. I'm trying to think of a way to boost your 1V signal without affecting performance.

Hi Infinitesymphony, you mentioned me there....yep, I did indeed work out the exact effect of the -2dB Trim Switch on the 308p Mkii but I don't know if it's directly translatable to the 305p Mkii in terms of the exact same effect, but for any interested persons and Trouble_Maker this is the post where I worked out the exact effect of that -2dB Trim Switch: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...udio-monitor-review.17338/page-15#post-570282
To be more accurate the -2dB Trim Switch has effects from 1kHz upwards even though the filter is labelled to start at 3kHz, which can be seen at my graphs in that linked post. Basically (& exactly) it's a 6dB per octave High Shelf Filter at 3000Hz for -2.0dB gain.

 

[Koloth]

The Kali LP-6 (and rest of the series) have been getting rave reviews. Those have unbalanced cinch inputs at least.

Maybe something like the Edifier 2000 MK3 would be another option - not easily wall-mountable but easy to use thanks to the integrated bluetooth decoder.

 

[Trouble Maker]

@Robbo99999 Really interesting, thanks!

I went back and did a quick and dirty visual on the 305P PIR, red line was what Amirm drew. The green and blue are 1db/octave offset about 3dB.

That's not too far off from the effect of the 308P HF shelf, assuming that the one in the 305P is the same.

 

[Robbo99999]

@Robbo99999 Really interesting, thanks!

I went back and did a quick and dirty visual on the 305P PIR, red line was what Amirm drew. The green and blue are 1db/octave offset about 3dB.

View attachment 93988

That's not too far off from the effect of the 308P HF shelf, assuming that the one in the 305P is the same.

Judging by that I think you'd be well placed to activate that -2dB Trim Switch. If I had to place a bet, I would wager that the Trim Switch on the 305p works in exactly the same way as the 308p, mainly because I think it's such a beautiful design they created for the 308p Trim Switch - a tone control that gently starts exerting it's influence from 1kHz onwards with gradually increasing effect, fantastic design choice from the JBL engineers in my opinion.....so I think that's no chance happening, therefore very likely to be exactly the same effect on the 305p.

You might wanna do additional EQ on top of just activating the -2dB HF Trim switch, but it's a significant step in the right direction!