JBL LSR305 Review

Well...the more I had researched this JBL model(after I had decided to return the Tannoys),it was very difficult to find any negative reviews on these.
Just on Sweetwater's website alone,there are 59 reviews and all of them positive.The thing of it is though,the extremely low retail on these,the plasticity of the front baffle and the proclaimed LF response down to 43Hz on a pair of 5" monitors,had me very skeptical.

They are normally $300 per pair,but due to the June sale,they are currently going for $240 a pair and since I bought them at my trusty BHphotovideo.com...so there was no reason not to pull the trigger.

Appearance: The aforementioned front baffle is plastic,but the overall tactile aspect of the cabinet feels quite solid and undoubtedly,what's behind the front baffle is the more important part(even my $1,000 Adam A7's have a plastic front baffle).
The LF driver cone appears to be a laminated paper cone and the tweeter is a damped woven composite Neodymium material.
The tweeter area is the real fascinating part of the front face,as the enormously wide horn-style wave-guide design,is derived from JBL's flagship MR-series monitors,which retail at $20,000 a pair.
Unlike the Tannoy Reveal line,the JBL's have a power indicator light located in the front and has shelving switches for both LF & HF adjustments.
Also unlike the Tannoy's,the JBL's volume knob,is marked with numbers,so you know exactly where your positions are,in terms of decibels.
The online photos of the 305's look cheap somehow,but having them right in front of me,they have a much more regal appearance....but,who designed these monitors....Batman??They are so dark...darker than a black steer's tookus on a moonless prairie night!
Please be careful when mixing in low light conditions,as you may blindly knock them over.

Performance: The first day of my auditioning these,I had the LF switch set on neutral and the LF response was adequate.The following day however,I set the switch to +2 decibel and the low end was very similar to that of my Adam A7's,which is completely unheard from a 5" monitor in this price range!
The LF level was immaculately appropriate for my treated,12' X 13" room,as the bass is deep,well rounded and revealing....even at low volumes,without being overbearing!
JBL's double-flared,Slip-Stream bass port technology is no marketing scam..as it's the real deal,in spades!The rest of the tonal spectrum is equally impressive,thanks to the patented horn-style design of the tweeter wave-guide.
The delivery of the HF sound is not only accurate & detailed,there is also an ocean of stereo imaging,like wearing a pair of headphones.....hands down,the best I've experienced!
In fact,the stereo field and mid range clarity,wins out over my Adam A7's...which is so benficial for me currently,because I just couldn't bare the expense of the Genelec M030 monitors(even though this line of Genelecs are the least inexpensive of all of their products).
In the last 4 days,my 305's have had adequate burn-in time and mixing on these gems are so effortless and my tunes translate very well to other systems.

Conclusion: The amount of quality of these monitors are almost absurd at this price point and honestly,I think one would have to spend at least $500,to do better than the 305's...but I think even then,that may prove to be a challenging task.The only logic I can drum up,as to why these monitors perform as they do at their price,is that the technology has improved exponentially in recent years and that JBL has come up with the perfect formula for taking advantage of this.

-Thom