JBL 308P MKII Studio Monitor Review

[Rosenbloom]

Amazon UK is selling 308p for £206 per unit. Would you guys say it is a good price? I’m about to pull the trigger …..

 

[Palladium]

Glossy plastic finishes should be bannable.

 

[Rosenbloom]

Glossy plastic finishes should be bannable.

I must say, I agree.

 

[Robbo99999]

Amazon UK is selling 308p for £206 per unit. Would you guys say it is a good price? I’m about to pull the trigger …..

I was lucky enough to get them in a sale for £150 per unit back in 2020. But, looking on camel tracker it looks like prices have been increasing since then. There's been an Amazon listing for the 308p for £196 per unit for the past year, and another listing of the same speaker where £202 would be a good price for the past year. It's up to you, there doesn't seem to have been anything better than £196 per unit in the past year. And as you know inflation is bad, so is the price really going to come down any lower - I don't think so.

 

[Roddy]

I think the hiss is getting worse on mine. I read here that it can get worse over years. I say this because my right ear actually aches and I'm spending more time away from them. I use them in a nearfield setup 2 feet from me, with balanced cables. The hissing comes from the tweeters, and a ground loop isolation cable or power cleaner do not solve it. I have never experienced this fantasy where they only hiss 2 inches from your ears. For me it's more like 3 feet.

Maybe it's because I'm younger than the average audiophile, so my ears are more sensitive. I'm in London and considering letting them go, if I could get some passive speakers with the money raised from them. The problem is they could be useful as hall or large room speakers, but if they're not being used right now, they're just wasting money and space.

 

[Robbo99999]

I think the hiss is getting worse on mine. I read here that it can get worse over years. I say this because my right ear actually aches and I'm spending more time away from them. I use them in a nearfield setup 2 feet from me, with balanced cables. The hissing comes from the tweeters, and a ground loop isolation cable or power cleaner do not solve it. I have never experienced this fantasy where they only hiss 2 inches from your ears. For me it's more like 3 feet.

Maybe it's because I'm younger than the average audiophile, so my ears are more sensitive. I'm in London and considering letting them go, if I could get some passive speakers with the money raised from them. The problem is they could be useful as hall or large room speakers, but if they're not being used right now, they're just wasting money and space.

As far as I'm concerned that's normal for the 308p. No way would I use them as "computer speakers" located within 1m of listening position - the hiss at idle at these kind of distances would be very annoying as when you use your PC a lot of the time you don't have any sound being produced by it, but for TV/music/movies they're ok at any distance because they're in constant use. I don't really think the hiss has gotten any worse with my 308p over time (had them since 2020). It's not related to ground loops as it the hiss is there even when the 308p is not connected to any inputs.

 

[FrantzM]

As far as I'm concerned that's normal for the 308p. No way would I use them as "computer speakers" located within 1m of listening position - the hiss at idle at these kind of distances would be very annoying as when you use your PC a lot of the time you don't have any sound being produced by it, but for TV/music/movies they're ok at any distance because they're in constant use. I don't really think the hiss has gotten any worse with my 308p over time (had them since 2020). It's not related to ground loops as it the hiss is there even when the 308p is not connected to any inputs.

+1
According to Audyssey, mine are at 7.9 feet, I hear no hiss. Background noise even at night doesn't go below 28 dB ... I've had these a little longer... 2018 perhaps.

Peace,

 

[respice finem]

I think the hiss is getting worse on mine. I read here that it can get worse over years. I say this because my right ear actually aches and I'm spending more time away from them. I use them in a nearfield setup 2 feet from me, with balanced cables. The hissing comes from the tweeters, and a ground loop isolation cable or power cleaner do not solve it. I have never experienced this fantasy where they only hiss 2 inches from your ears. For me it's more like 3 feet.

Maybe it's because I'm younger than the average audiophile, so my ears are more sensitive. I'm in London and considering letting them go, if I could get some passive speakers with the money raised from them. The problem is they could be useful as hall or large room speakers, but if they're not being used right now, they're just wasting money and space.

At my age (56) I can still hear their hiss @1,5m distance, in a quiet room, @2m not any more. But, it doesn't get worse with time and IDK why it should, so maybe it's worth checking why your ear is aching? Blocking with ear wax and/or inflammation can occur early, and the latter can damage your hearing if untreated.

 

[Roddy]

At my age (56) I can still hear their hiss @1,5m distance, in a quiet room, @2m not any more. But, it doesn't get worse with time and IDK why it should, so maybe it's worth checking why your ear is aching? Blocking with ear wax and/or inflammation can occur early, and the latter can damage your hearing if untreated.

For me I hear it from that distance when in line with the tweeter. But I have looked into ear issues. Used a cotton bud, which I was warned against years ago, and it only made the ears tender. The way our health system is it'll take ages to see a GP for something as minor as an earache, but their site recommends an earwax cleanse with medical grade almond or olive oil, so I'm trying that.

Still, isn't 1m from your head on either side normal for studio monitors?

 

[respice finem]

Still, isn't 1m from your head on either side normal for studio monitors?

It is, but, not all monitors are equal. With Neumann, you probably wouldn't hear hiss >30cm from the tweeter, but pretty expensive... You might want to try the Adam T8V https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/adam-t8v-studio-monitor-review.17118/ , they are less noisy, at a still relatively low price.

 

[d_a_n1979]

Amazon UK is selling 308p for £206 per unit. Would you guys say it is a good price? I’m about to pull the trigger …..

FYI I'm selling my immaculate set on Pinkfishmedia and eBay if they're of interest to you. Come fully boxed with cables too

I've absolutely loved these speakers; but I'm itching to get back to audiophile separates again, so they need to move on to their next home

 

[DSJR]

Audiophile separates?

Active is always better ultimately, but audiophile makers if they use this technique charge an effin' fortune for it. Passive speakers all seem to have a slight fog in comparison irrespective of their price, no matter how capable the amp and especially at these sort of prices... Anyway, I'm an old crinkly and evangelising for active speakers like a reformed ex-smoker so apologies here

 

[d_a_n1979]

Audiophile separates?

Active is always better ultimately, but audiophile makers if they use this technique charge an effin' fortune for it. Passive speakers all seem to have a slight fog in comparison irrespective of their price, no matter how capable the amp and especially at these sort of prices... Anyway, I'm an old crinkly and evengelising for active speakers like a reformed ex-smoker so apologies here

Nope; fully get that.. But I also like to swap boxes and I've had the JBLs a while, so want to try something different

 

[DSJR]

Good luck with the sale

 

[computer-audiophile]

WOW! Way better than I was expecting, and way better than the 305p.

It depends on what I value more. A deeper bass or a clearer midrange. I prefer the 305p II in the direct near field above my desktop for better midrange according to my ears.

But at a greater listening distance or in a smaller living room I would find the 308p II more appropriate. This one is powerful enough to fill a small room with rich sound.

Anyway, the small JBL monitors are very good and inexpensive speakers in my opinion. I 'downgraded' from more expensive Neumann KH-120 to these and I am happy with this change.

 

[d_a_n1979]

Will it be a proper use case and loud enough as a Hi-Fi speaker in a 12' x 15' room with a listening distance of about 7-8' ?

I've had them in our living room, about 15ft by 22ft and they sounded superb with the listening position in the middle of the, slightly toed in and about 7ft from them

They're in my office now, smaller room, but very similar layout albeit half the size and again, my listening position is dead centre with them toed in etc

They sound fantastic and when on song; they're very hard to beat under £1k UK Sterling IMO

I've only ever used them for stereo music via my Mac and whichever DAC I've had going (Focusrite, Presonus and currently an SMSL DAC/pre-amp etc)

I'm wondering whether my wanting to box-swap is a good idea currently, I like them that much!

 

[Robbo99999]

Will it be a proper use case and loud enough as a Hi-Fi speaker in a 12' x 15' room with a listening distance of about 7-8' ?

I use them in a slightly larger room than that and at nearly twice the listening distance (for one of my listening positions) and they're good so, and getting loud enough - so you'd be ok from that point of view. If I remember rightly I measured the mid 80's as my max normal listening SPL (using a UMIK-1 mic) at that listening distance (about 3.9m), and that's with the volume dials on the back of the speakers only at notch #13, so 3 clicks above half way point (I think there's 20 clicks from zero to max volume), so they can go louder still. That's also only with a max of 0.9V being inputted into the speakers when they're supposed to be OK up to 2V for input. Amir did say he noticed the 308p clipping and sounding horrible if you put too many volts into it, but he wasn't able to say at which voltage level he started noticing the clipping/distortion (he didn't make a note of it). In the past I've used nearly 2V as the max theoretical input voltage and didn't notice any problems, but it would have been super useful if Amir had worked out the voltage input at which the clipping problems occur with the 308p.

 

[d_a_n1979]

I use them in a slightly larger room than that and at nearly twice the listening distance (for one of my listening positions) and they're good so, and getting loud enough - so you'd be ok from that point of view. If I remember rightly I measured the mid 80's as my max normal listening SPL (using a UMIK-1 mic) at that listening distance (about 3.9m), and that's with the volume dials on the back of the speakers only at notch #13, so 3 clicks above half way point (I think there's 20 clicks from zero to max volume), so they can go louder still. That's also only with a max of 0.9V being inputted into the speakers when they're supposed to be OK up to 2V for input. Amir did say he noticed the 308p clipping and sounding horrible if you put too many volts into it, but he wasn't able to say at which voltage level he started noticing the clipping/distortion (he didn't make a note of it). In the past I've used nearly 2V as the max theoretical input voltage and didn't notice any problems, but it would have been super useful if Amir had worked out the voltage input at which the clipping problems occur with the 308p.

That’s all too complicated for me haha

I’m not into the measuring / details stuff, just the listening etc

I’ve got mine on very heavy Atacama SLX600 speaker stands mass filled with atabites & they really helped with the overall soundstage, depth & tautness of bass etc and I’d highly recommend doing the same…

Most AV / studio monitor stands, IMO, aren’t good enough or heavy enough, more so for the sheer size of the 308P MkII speakers

 

[Robbo99999]

That’s all too complicated for me haha

I’m not into the measuring / details stuff, just the listening etc

I’ve got mine on very heavy Atacama SLX600 speaker stands mass filled with atabites & they really helped with the overall soundstage, depth & tautness of bass etc and I’d highly recommend doing the same…

Most AV / studio monitor stands, IMO, aren’t good enough or heavy enough, more so for the sheer size of the 308P MkII speakers

Well, I was answering WilliamW's question, so you didn't have to understand it, ha! So you reckon your mass-filled speaker stands have brought out soundstage and taut bass to your 308p's? I have to say that this is a bit of a nonsense, assuming nothing else has changed and you have your speakers in the same position. The JBL 308p already has the ability by itself (from the measurements) to have a large sweetspot and good soundstage due to the good & wide horizontal directivity combined with a pretty good frequency response. I wanted to point that out, as we shouldn't have nonsense being perpetuated in the forum as it misinforms newbies and people end up buying stuff they don't need whilst having unrealistic expectations - snake oil. It's also useful if you yourself "understand the details & measuring stuff" that you mentioned at the start of your post - because you'd end up saving yourself money & time too, you don't need special speaker stands to bring out the best in a speaker - as long as they're in the right position & at the right height and you're not allowing lots of vibration to pass through from the speaker to the stand then you're alright, you don't have to spend money on fancy speaker stands that you incorrectly think are "[helping] with the overall soundstage, depth & tautness of bass" that you mentioned. You've chosen a good budget speaker though!

(If you're concerned about vibration through the speaker stands you can always put your speakers on foam pads inbetween the speaker stands.)

 

[computer-audiophile]

That’s all too complicated for me haha

I’m not into the measuring / details stuff, just the listening etc

I’ve got mine on very heavy Atacama SLX600 speaker stands mass filled with atabites & they really helped with the overall soundstage, depth & tautness of bass etc and I’d highly recommend doing the same…

Most AV / studio monitor stands, IMO, aren’t good enough or heavy enough, more so for the sheer size of the 308P MkII speakers

@d_a_n1979

Beautiful and solid stand! In the end, it's all about listening, what else? Good measurement readings of an audio device are a prerequisite for good sound, but nothing more than that.

I also think it's good to show photos of the situation, as you have done, so people know what's going on straight away.