Newbie audio-lover here!

[DrArkapravaSimlai]

if you are up for actives, the Kali LP-UNF has bluetooth built in, so it seems like an easy all-in-one solution for you, especially given budget.

https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/kali-audio-lp-unf.51455/post-1907471

may I ask what other forum you got the other advice from?

If it not against the rule of the forum i can tell that where i got the idea!

 

[ZolaIII]

But some people said to me that if i ended up buying active ones then i have no/very limited chances of future upgradation and also powered monitors are only good for near field listening and professional work.

Speakers are speakers and how far you can use them is mostly determined by how loud they can play as you lose little less than 6 dB every time you double the distance. This is determined primarily by size of the units and their coils and so is how much extension you will get in lows when it comes to woofers. It's safe to say 8" monitors will pass the 83 dB calibration point on far field (4 m) or at least be close to it, which can't be said for smaller speakers either they are pasive or active. Active monitors should follow the rule of narrower dispersion pattern which means you would be able to hear more of the direct sound then refractions from the walls and should be little easier to menage, that also means that they would have less sum from walls + direct sound but not all pasive speakers have wide radiation pattern and those that keep it in highs are either rather expensive (full range woofers that can go very high or berilium tweaters with wide radiation) or employ multiple angled tweeters. It's simple physics really.
It's a bit harder to follow and upgrade when you go balanced connections only and it also costs more. I usually recommend Kali's which have and unbalanced inputs but their are expensive for what they are in India and usually imported abroad so you don't have valid warranty. That's why I recommend JBL's as I know they get price cuts regularly in India and then it's easier to swallow the bitter part with balanced inputs only.

JBL 308P MKII Studio Monitor Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the JBL 308P MKII 8-inch Monitor (powered speaker). I purchased this from a member a few months ago. New, they cost US $249. The 3 series look the same for good or bad: The large plastic waveguide is really in your face. Wish JBL would provide...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Fucoshite Scarlett Solo third generation is not great or bad but adequate anyway you look at it and not expensive especially now when forth generation with a bit better performance is out. Surely you have laptop or PC and if its a older one it will also have a optical drive so a CD player is also there. Math audio room correction is from simple one's that does the job automatically but it's free only for Foobar and Foobar is only audio player. EQ-APO on the other hand use WDM driver (Windows) and puts it self in between anything and output device so works on almost anything including: browser, Spotify, video play and so on. It's also not hard to use as REW directly export it's self generated PEQ correction to it. Any purpose measurement microphone will do for basic up to 5 KHz measuring and correction. Old and new ARC one's, Beringer, Daytona... What you are able to find for cheap just not AVR ones. That's a very satisfying full system with room correction for minimal money and towards economics you live in. You can't have those JBL's for such price even in US not to mention EU or eastern EU in my case. You aren't the first person from India I recommend such path.

Edit: it won't last forever but you should be good for a decade or so and as lot of them are sold in India local repair man's will be repairing them for decades to come (power and amplifier stages). You won't really get more with other brands or types and activities can be reworked to be passives in worst case when they fail and can't be repaired anymore. Possible exception from traditional brands regarding expected life circle that are still alive is Yamaha but they still cost much more so you don't gain there anything anyway.
Best regards and have a nice time.

 

[DrArkapravaSimlai]

Speakers are speakers and how far you can use them is mostly determined by how loud they can play as you lose little less than 6 dB every time you double the distance. This is determined primarily by size of the units and their coils and so is how much extension you will get in lows when it comes to woofers. It's safe to say 8" monitors will pass the 83 dB calibration point on far field (4 m) or at least be close to it, which can't be said for smaller speakers either they are pasive or active. Active monitors should follow the rule of narrower dispersion pattern which means you would be able to hear more of the direct sound then refractions from the walls and should be little easier to menage, that also means that they would have less sum from walls + direct sound but not all pasive speakers have wide radiation pattern and those that keep it in highs are either rather expensive (full range woofers that can go very high or berilium tweaters with wide radiation) or employ multiple angled tweeters. It's simple physics really.
It's a bit harder to follow and upgrade when you go balanced connections only and it also costs more. I usually recommend Kali's which have and unbalanced inputs but their are expensive for what they are in India and usually imported abroad so you don't have valid warranty. That's why I recommend JBL's as I know they get price cuts regularly in India and then it's easier to swallow the bitter part with balanced inputs only.

JBL 308P MKII Studio Monitor Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the JBL 308P MKII 8-inch Monitor (powered speaker). I purchased this from a member a few months ago. New, they cost US $249. The 3 series look the same for good or bad: The large plastic waveguide is really in your face. Wish JBL would provide...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Fucoshite Scarlett Solo third generation is not great or bad but adequate anyway you look at it and not expensive especially now when forth generation with a bit better performance is out. Surely you have laptop or PC and if its a older one it will also have a optical drive so a CD player is also there. Math audio room correction is from simple one's that does the job automatically but it's free only for Foobar and Foobar is only audio player. EQ-APO on the other hand use WDM driver (Windows) and puts it self in between anything and output device so works on almost anything including: browser, Spotify, video play and so on. It's also not hard to use as REW directly export it's self generated PEQ correction to it. Any purpose measurement microphone will do for basic up to 5 KHz measuring and correction. Old and new ARC one's, Beringer, Daytona... What you are able to find for cheap just not AVR ones. That's a very satisfying full system with room correction for minimal money and towards economics you live in. You can't have those JBL's for such price even in US not to mention EU or eastern EU in my case. You aren't the first person from India I recommend such path.

JBL 308P MKII , i am getting it at 31500 INR (pair) from amazon.in.
And KALI AUDIO LP UNF , i am getting it at 32,999 INR(pair) from amazon.in.

JBL LSR 305 not available

I initially thought of JBL 308P MKII but later drop the idea due to avoiding powered speakers and start searching passive ones with integrated amplifier.

Now what to do?

 

[ZolaIII]

KALI AUDIO LP UNF is a small 4.5" with integrated DAC so really only for a near field (1 m). The comparison model to JBL 308P is Kali LP 8 v2 and if the price whose even close to JBL I would say Kali's for their unbalanced input (performance and calculated score are almost the same) but I am afraid you won't find them for such a price in India.

 

[ZolaIII]

JBL 308P MKII , i am getting it at 31500 INR (pair) from amazon.in.
And KALI AUDIO LP UNF , i am getting it at 32,999 INR(pair) from amazon.in.

JBL LSR 305 not available

I initially thought of JBL 308P MKII but later drop the idea due to avoiding powered speakers and start searching passive ones with integrated amplifier.

Now what to do?

Sleep on it, then read how important is room correction, download REW and play with room simulator to see how good will such really perform in your room, how you can improve it by proper placement and so. No rush!

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

I may have to change my handle to « LSR308-fanboi ».
I have the LSR-308, I believe that these are one the greatest bargains in all audio...
When "helped" by a pair of good subwoofers (my pair of subs cost me $500), in a small room, one of the best investments one could make in audio.
Great result will not be automatic. It requires work, lot, but at the end, in a medium room <25 square meters, you'll have an accurate, full range speaker system.
To me these are that good. I have these corrected by Audyssey and the subwoofers linearized by MSO. It took me a long time, it was worth it.
Good linearity and directivity, they can take EQ very well....
Please read these:

JBL 308P MKII Studio Monitor Review​

and this
No Audiophile.com review of the JBL SLR308


I know of two people here, who have the LSR308, @RayDunzl (actually bought mine because of him ... ) , @Robbo99999, there may be others . You can PM them to have their opinions. The reviews, I posted above are objective, i-e, based (mostly) measurements.


Peace.

 

[JeremyFife]

Agree, take a little time to reflect.
Also, see if you can get a price for the JBL 306P II, might be a good compromise.

You won't go wrong with either setup, passive or active. Be happy with your choice.

 

[DrArkapravaSimlai]

KALI AUDIO LP UNF is a small 4.5" with integrated DAC so really only for a near field (1 m). The comparison model to JBL 308P is Kali LP 8 v2 and if the price whose even close to JBL I would say Kali's for their unbalanced input (performance and calculated score are almost the same) but I am afraid you won't find them for such a price in India.

Kali audio lp8 v2 costs about 24,950INR(SINGLE UNIT) so it is out of my budget .

So now if i make it to JBL 308P MKII...what else accessories should i have to buy?
My OnePlus 12 didnt have aux output and wife's iphone 14 pro max also didnt have aux output . I have a laptop ( ACER NITRO 5) in good condition. I prefer to play audio from spotify/youtube music/apple music via bluetooth, mi box 4 and google Chromecast is of any use here? I have also a good wifi connection in my home(80mbps, unlimited data)

 

[DrArkapravaSimlai]

Hi

I may have to change my handle to « LSR308-fanboi ».
I have the LSR-308 and I believe that these are one the greatest bargains in all audio...
When "helped" by a pair of good subwoofers (my pair cost me $500), in a small room they represent one of the best investments one could make in audio.
This is not automatic. it requires work. Lot of it, but at the end, you have in a medium room <25 square meters, an accurate, full range system.
To me these are that good. I have these corrected by Audyssey and the subwoofers linearized by MSO and it took me a long it me but it was well worth it.
These speakers have good linearity and good directivity, they can take EQ very well....
Please read these:

JBL 308P MKII Studio Monitor Review​

and this

No Audiophile.com review of the JBL SLR308


I know of two people here that have the LSR308, @RayDunzl (actually bought mine because of his use of him ... ) , @Robbo99999 . You can PM them to have an opinion. The reviews, I posted above are objective, i-e, based (mostly) measurements.


Peace.

JBL LSR varients not available or out of stock in most of the stores in india

 

[DrArkapravaSimlai]

Agree, take a little time to reflect.
Also, see if you can get a price for the JBL 306P II, might be a good compromise.

You won't go wrong with either setup, passive or active. Be happy with your choice.

JBL 306P MKII(pair) costs around 29,000 INR(amazon.in) but i can manage lower than than by bargaining with local dealers.

 

[DrArkapravaSimlai]

Agree, take a little time to reflect.
Also, see if you can get a price for the JBL 306P II, might be a good compromise.

You won't go wrong with either setup, passive or active. Be happy with your choice.

Choice is the main factor here. What will be perfect choice for my genre of music?
Active or passive?

 

[kemmler3D]

i have no/very limited chances of future upgradation and also powered monitors are only good for near field listening and professional work.

This is half true. The amp and speaker are built into one unit. So you can't just change one unit. But you can always upgrade to a different system.

If you like your speakers and your amp is adequate, the importance of upgrading the amp is very overrated. The sound quality will generally remain the same for any adequate amp.

In the case of the Fosi BT20, it's a lower-end "decent amp" so you may be able to hear an upgrade, with certain speakers. But if you go much beyond this, the upgrades in amps will rarely if ever be audible.

The difference between "professional" speakers and "home listening" speakers is also something of a myth. The biggest difference is often just in how they look. The characteristics of a good speaker are mostly in common for both categories, with some differences in max SPL and width of dispersion.

If you just want good sound right off the bat I would tend to agree that the JBL actives are a good bet.

Also, if there is a good secondhand market (in the US, craigslist or facebook marketplace, not sure what you would use in your location), you can usually get a good deal on decent speakers. I have bought a lot of audio equipment used, and almost always had a good experience.

Choice is the main factor here. What will be perfect choice for my genre of music?
Active or passive?

A good speaker is a good speaker, for the most part. If you listen to lots of electronic or hip-hop you might want to prioritize bass extension more. If you only listen to Jazz you can prioritize flat frequency response less. Other than that, there is not much genre "synergy" to speak of.


FWIW I have the Fosi BT20 in my house running some used B&W speakers with a WiiM Mini. It works well and goes louder than I need it to.

 

[DrArkapravaSimlai]

Hi

I may have to change my handle to « LSR308-fanboi ».
I have the LSR-308 and I believe that these are one the greatest bargains in all audio...
When "helped" by a pair of good subwoofers (my pair cost me $500), in a small room they represent one of the best investments one could make in audio.
This is not automatic. it requires work. Lot of it, but at the end, you have in a medium room <25 square meters, an accurate, full range system.
To me these are that good. I have these corrected by Audyssey and the subwoofers linearized by MSO and it took me a long it me but it was well worth it.
These speakers have good linearity and good directivity, they can take EQ very well....
Please read these:

JBL 308P MKII Studio Monitor Review​

and this

No Audiophile.com review of the JBL SLR308


I know of two people here that have the LSR308, @RayDunzl (actually bought mine because of his use of him ... ) , @Robbo99999 . You can PM them to have an opinion. The reviews, I posted above are objective, i-e, based (mostly) measurements.


Peace.

Anyone you know who got jbl 308p mk2?

 

[DrArkapravaSimlai]

This is half true. The amp and speaker are built into one unit. So you can't just change one unit. But you can always upgrade to a different system.

If you like your speakers and your amp is adequate, the importance of upgrading the amp is very overrated. The sound quality will generally remain the same for any adequate amp.

In the case of the Fosi BT20, it's a lower-end "decent amp" so you may be able to hear an upgrade, with certain speakers. But if you go much beyond this, the upgrades in amps will rarely if ever be audible.

The difference between "professional" speakers and "home listening" speakers is also something of a myth. The biggest difference is often just in how they look. The characteristics of a good speaker are mostly in common for both categories, with some differences in max SPL and width of dispersion.

If you just want good sound right off the bat I would tend to agree that the JBL actives are a good bet.

Also, if there is a good secondhand market (in the US, craigslist or facebook marketplace, not sure what you would use in your location), you can usually get a good deal on decent speakers. I have bought a lot of audio equipment used, and almost always had a good experience.



A good speaker is a good speaker, for the most part. If you listen to lots of electronic or hip-hop you might want to prioritize bass extension more. If you only listen to Jazz you can prioritize flat frequency response less. Other than that, there is not much genre "synergy" to speak of.


FWIW I have the Fosi BT20 in my house running some used B&W speakers with a WiiM Mini. It works well and goes louder than I need it to.

I usually listen to 60s/70s/80s american and british rock, psychedelic rock, metal, blues, few selective jazz and country music and our regional(bengali) old classic ones- My Genre Of Music

Facebook market place and other sites are there to get used product but they have many negative reviews too. And i want a fresh product as it is my first "quality" purchase.

 

[kemmler3D]

I usually listen to 60s/70s/80s american and british rock, psychedelic rock, metal, blues, few selective jazz and country music and our regional(bengali) old classic ones- My Genre Of Music

Sounds like you will mostly be OK without a subwoofer, but it's somewhat of a myth that certain music doesn't need a subwoofer.

All music that includes drums or strong transient sounds includes low frequencies down to 20hz unless it was filtered out in the studio. So, perhaps something to think about upgrading in the future, but I would say it's not urgent for you.

Either way, a good speaker should be good for all genres.

Facebook market place and other sites are there to get used product but they have many negative reviews too. And i want a fresh product as it is my first "quality" purchase.

Fair enough, but let me share my POV on buying used things... if my budget is $X I can get the 8/10 quality item new. Or I can get the 10/10 quality item used. For example, in the US Genelec 8030 tends to be $1600 new per pair. But if you are patient you can find them for about $1000 per pair used. At new prices I can only get the 8020 which are much smaller and less powerful. I am being patient and waiting for my pair of 8030s to appear.

But there is nothing wrong with wanting new. I just prioritize performance enough that I don't care about new or used that much.

 

[ZolaIII]

Kali audio lp8 v2 costs about 24,950INR(SINGLE UNIT) so it is out of my budget .

So now if i make it to JBL 308P MKII...what else accessories should i have to buy?
My OnePlus 12 didnt have aux output and wife's iphone 14 pro max also didnt have aux output . I have a laptop ( ACER NITRO 5) in good condition. I prefer to play audio from spotify/youtube music/apple music via bluetooth, mi box 4 and google Chromecast is of any use here? I have also a good wifi connection in my home(80mbps, unlimited data)

You play all of that on laptop and some like Spotify you can even control from a smartphone. You need an balanced USB DAC or interface as interface should be cheaper recommendation is Fucoshite Scarlett Solo 3rd gen (it's a DAC, ADC and microphone preamp).

https://www.amazon.in/Focusrite-Scarlett-Audio-Interface-Tools/dp/B07QR6Z1JB/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=2L8DR7WTF1VZP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.B93MIcUQEcM_2LpD90uWYe5zQmX75TN8nh3txRH3PMltZNEDeCZoeQZ9S_RjcEJuT2ygBTBpQ-G0cOLnectdT5Vmt27Hsz3kFLfv5mm4VmeowwHX5cPLBytJYFx4u-6VYbtZ4DuoC2hn1POUB6WNLhpp4T1ea9f6a7g8JMH3afLV4sPoFj7Drz0ZNmb4snjuDoaVGyzCjUGxOvL_zuke9Q._S76sCiRLZcgZHMyVWziGJY5fZa9i60HzmVDmH8pZd4&dib_tag=se&keywords=focusrite+scarlett&qid=1710940518&sprefix=fucoshite+scarlett+%2Caps%2C338&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1

Try to find better price (sorry for long url everyone). Other than that you will need ¼ TRS balanced to TRS balanced ot XLR cables (or pair of them as obviously they are mono) with length you will need to connect it to to each speaker. It also has ¼ TRS balanced inputs for future expansion. All do there are unbalanced to balanced convertor cables I would say that's the last resort and if you really, really have to as you lose lot of gain that way (4 V balanced, 2 V proper DAC unbalanced, 1 V PC motherboard, 0.7 phone output and each V*2=6 dB and other way around).
I am not a JBL fan boy, quite opposite actually but you get what life gives you.
Edit: of course you might try to find some other budget balanced DAC with more inputs (like Toslink to connect TV or streamer, or unbalanced analog inputs to connect other stuff or with BT) I don't know market in India regarding those so I can't recommend you anything directly.

 

[DrArkapravaSimlai]

Understood.

A less expensive solution would be an SMSL M300se for BT/CD input and subwoofer output via 3.5mm, combined with an active studio monitor from JBL, Adam, Kali, Swissonic:

Ranking table of speaker's measurements

www.spinorama.org

SMSL M300se not available in Indian sites... available in aliexpress but i cannot order it from AliExpress to India...any other option? Mi Box 4 will be of any help here?

 

[JeremyFife]

Choice is the main factor here. What will be perfect choice for my genre of music?
Active or passive?

Honestly, whether it's active or passive doesn't make any difference.
Look at the features. How you play music on your new system is also important.

 

[ZolaIII]

Main reason to use PC (laptop) is software scalability so with EQ-APO and REW you get a room correction DSP on pretty much any source (from PC or analog input) and equal loudness compensation also. That cost a lot of money when you go with stand alone box for it and still lacks in some aspects (loudness, plugins, floating point precision processing...).

 

[DrArkapravaSimlai]

Sounds like you will mostly be OK without a subwoofer, but it's somewhat of a myth that certain music doesn't need a subwoofer.

All music that includes drums or strong transient sounds includes low frequencies down to 20hz unless it was filtered out in the studio. So, perhaps something to think about upgrading in the future, but I would say it's not urgent for you.

Either way, a good speaker should be good for all genres.



Fair enough, but let me share my POV on buying used things... if my budget is $X I can get the 8/10 quality item new. Or I can get the 10/10 quality item used. For example, in the US Genelec 8030 tends to be $1600 new per pair. But if you are patient you can find them for about $1000 per pair used. At new prices I can only get the 8020 which are much smaller and less powerful. I am being patient and waiting for my pair of 8030s to appear.

But there is nothing wrong with wanting new. I just prioritize performance enough that I don't care about new or used that much.

I am considering JBL 306P MKII OR JBL 308P MKII. In future will upgrade with a subwoofer.