Upgrade for JBL 305P mkII

[MrOtto]

I have a pair of JBL 305P mkII with one LSR310S and considering upgrading the monitors. The listening distance is about 3 meters.

I am looking at JBL 308P (https://www.spinorama.org/speakers/JBL 308P Mark ii/ASR/index_asr.html)
Or maybe the Kali IN-8v2, the coaxial 3-way design looks interesting (https://www.spinorama.org/speakers/Kali IN-8v2/ErinsAudioCorner/index_eac.html)

I'm also considering getting another LSR310S subwoofer to have them in stereo, and placing the monitors on top of the subs. I'm sticking with LSR310S because of the 100dB+ SINAD high pass filter.

Anyone upgraded their JBL 305P mkII to something else and have a recommendation?

 

[MrOtto]

Skip 306P mkII and go for 308P mkII or Kali Audio IN-8v2?

 

[dominikz]

and placing the monitors on top of the subs

Personally I'd advise against this, because ideal monitor position is usually not ideal for subwoofer placement - you might get significant SBIR cancellation dips (suckout) in bass this way.
Genelec has nice placement recommendation documents, and you can also use various online SBIR calculators to estimate the SBIR peaks and dips in your situation.
For me subwoofer corner placement worked well to avoid dips, but then DSP was needed to tame peaks.

 

[Biblob]

Personally, if you can accomodate the space for the bigger Kali In-8v2, you should. It has a few benefits. Mostly it's 3-way, coaxial and more quiet amplifier.

 

[MrOtto]

I guess running IN-8v2 from the XLR outputs on the JBL LSR310S would not be a problem.

I have one LSR310S positioned just next to the right speaker, to the inside of both left/right speakers, as suggested by the JBL manual, placing monitors on top would be ideal for space saving when using two subs.

 

[mcdn]

What problems are you trying to address? The 305p has great tonality but doesn’t get very loud before it distorts. You already have one subwoofer, are you trying to get better bass?

Do you have any room correction such as Dirac, Audyssey, or MiniDSP manually configured? If not then start with that unless your issue is absolute SPL.

 

[MrOtto]

The room is 26x16', 8x5m, so maybe a speaker with less distorton and limiter at higher SPL. 306/308P mkII has 36% more powerfull amplifiers. Indead the 305P mkII and LS310S gives a nice live room feeling and pleasant tonality, but could 306,308 or IN-8 do this better (with the LSR310S)?
Genelec 8030C would be the next step up, if I could find a good deal on these.

 

[mcdn]

The room is 26x16', 8x5m, so maybe a speaker with less distorton and limiter at higher SPL. 306/308P mkII has 36% more powerfull amplifiers. Indead the 305P mkII and LS310S gives a nice live room feeling and pleasant tonality, but could 306,308 or IN-8 do this better (with the LSR310S)?
Genelec 8030C would be the next step up, if I could find a good deal on these.

If you like the sound of the 305p but want more volume, then the 308p is a good bet. If you want a reduction in distortion at moderate levels (85dBSPL/1m) then the 308p doesn't really get you much of that, especially as you are using a subwoofer, but it will go louder without the distortion growing. You could go for the 708p if you want less distortion in the same product family, but it is a lot more expensive. All are reviewed by Amir here so you can check the precise numbers.

 

[MrOtto]

JBL 308P mkII or Kali Audio IN-8v2 have the smoothest frequency response, with no particular peaks, dips or resonances, compared to 306P mkii or 305P mkii.

 

[Joeyd33]

Did you end up getting anything? I’m in a similar situation trying to figure out what to upgrade from the 305’s.

 

[MrOtto]

I took a change on a pair of used 308P MKII to test them. I set them up just after playing the same track, on the same preamp with the same volume and with the same gain settings on the LS310S and 305P MKII. A bigger cabinet, woofer and waveguide (or just the visual size of the speaker) may have contributed to a bigger live soundstage from the same listening position, 2 meters. Tonality seemed to be the same.

Next I might want to try Kali Audio IN8 v2, or the more expensive Genelec 8030C (but the even more expensive 8040B would be perfect)

If you don't use a sub, 308P MKII would be a nice upgrade to the low frequency extension compared to 305P MKII