Author Topic: JBL LSR Series  (Read 11860 times)

Offline richidoo

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JBL LSR Series
« on: March 26, 2015, 11:47:58 AM »


A new line of professional monitors from JBL. LSR means Linear Spatial Reference. It uses a constant directivity horn design based on their expensive Master Reference Monitors.  This allows sota imaging and depth illusion, very large sweet spot and excellent power response. But these LSR monitors are definitely not expensive. They are active crossover with 2 class D amps built in. Balanced input.

LSR305 with 5" woofer $130 each
LSR308 with 8" woofer $208 each

They make an LSR sub too, but no special technology, and maybe not as good value as the main speakers, or other brand subs.

I heard the LSR305s briefly at the NC headphone meet over the weekend. Incredible imaging and depth, colorless tone quality makes this horn special and unique. There are a lot of reviews out there, mostly from pro audio perspective.
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb14/articles/jbl-3-series.htm

Offline rollo

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Re: JBL LSR Series
« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2015, 07:36:02 AM »
  JBL the forgotten speaker line. Good find good stuff.


charles
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Offline richidoo

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Re: JBL LSR Series
« Reply #2 on: March 27, 2015, 07:53:58 AM »
I started reading about these little gems, but every review mentioned their big brothers, the JBL M2 Master Reference Monitors. Then I made the mistake of researching those. Bad move.  :duh

While M2 is very expensive by pro audio standards, they fall within the realm of the best high end audiophile speakers at 20k, and that's including the active amps. There is some very serious innovation in the M2, especially the horn design and the compression driver.

Offline richidoo

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Re: JBL LSR Series
« Reply #3 on: March 27, 2015, 05:16:32 PM »
Uh-Oh! There is a 7 series too, in the middle. 705 and 708. They are passive speakers.

Offline sleepyguy24

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Re: JBL LSR Series
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2015, 07:23:33 AM »
My curiosity about these speakers was piqued but I can't find any good reviews about the passive versions of these speakers. There was some chatter on AVSForum about them but there are little to no sellers of these Passive LSR705i or LSR708i. I found one online seller who had the LSR708I speakers for $1500 a pair.

I wonder how high off the ground would the LSR708Is need to be for optimal sound? Also would these only need to be used in a nearfield setting? I daydream about these speakers in my other system but I'd be sitting about 10ft away from them.

Offline rollo

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Re: JBL LSR Series
« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2015, 07:44:02 AM »
The nervosa begins. Started with JBL 100's and Crown. For rock music unforgettable.
    JBL lost the loving feeling for the audiophile crowd. Servicing the pro community for years and those in the know.
     Will the professor jump in ?


charles
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Offline richidoo

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Re: JBL LSR Series
« Reply #6 on: April 07, 2015, 09:16:09 AM »
there are little to no sellers of these Passive LSR705i or LSR708i

If they are not selling or garnishing reviews because of lack of interest, then I would guess that they will be discontinued or replaced with active versions. Maybe the hype about the smaller versions has sucked up all the oxygen. The 7 series price compares with other mid level professional mixing monitors, but the reviews of 3 series say they are better than many much more expensive monitors. So why buy a 7 series? Especially since same size woofer, so no LF dynamic advantage. The bigger horn of 7 series lowers xo freq, allowing louder playing at same low distortion level, but indoor playing at 85dB for audiophile use this is not a concern.

I wonder how high off the ground would the LSR708Is need to be for optimal sound?


Wherever you get the best image illusion. I personally like the tweeters 6-12" above my ears.


Quote
Also would these only need to be used in a nearfield setting?

They will work in far field. The horn will reduce reflections to reduce room distortion especially from ceiling reflections, but also sidewall reflections if you toe them in.

Quote
I daydream about these speakers in my other system but I'd be sitting about 10ft away from them.

Listening distance will change the sound, as it does with any type of speaker. The farther away, the more room sound is mixed in and the higher the distortion you hear. You can sit closer, or treat the reflecting surfaces with diffusion or absorption. The controlled dispersion horn limits the width angle of the sound so you have less room noise compared to direct radiation speakers which have uncontrolled dispersion. Some freqs are wide, some are narrow, making a uneven power response which affects your perception of FR.

Have you watched the youtubes about the power response demo of these 305s? The mic moves across the horizontal but the tone barely changes, unlike the competitor's direct rad. speakers whose tone changes noticeably. This is why you can toe them inward to cross in front of you to reduce sidewall reflections, without screwing up the tone quality. More than any other horn, they sound the same on axis as off. 

The "Image Control Waveguide" horn is the big innovation here, allowing the efficiency and directivity control of a horn, with minimal high order modes to color the tone quality as is common in traditional horns. A new horn shape from JBL is rare and big news. They benefit tone quality even further in the 3 series by using a standard tweeter in lieu of compression driver.  Idk if the 7 series uses dome or CD tweeter.

Offline richidoo

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Re: JBL LSR Series
« Reply #7 on: April 07, 2015, 09:23:05 AM »
Reading about the 7 series, it seems that they DO use the new technology anular ring compression drivers similar to the M2, and  much higher power woofers than the 3 series. So these are intended for higher SPL use.

Both 7 and 3s are ported. The 8" woofer in a small room should be adequate for popular music genres. Bigger music would benefit from sub, which then requires sealing the mains, which is more demanding on the sub. I don't know if the JBL sub can play up that high to allow sealing the mains.

Offline richidoo

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Re: JBL LSR Series
« Reply #8 on: April 07, 2015, 09:38:38 AM »
I deleted previous post about crossovers.

Reading the Datasheet for 7 series,
http://www.jblpro.com/ProductAttachments/7Series_Datasheet_120414.pdf
it implies there is a dividing network in each speaker, and it shows a stereo amp powering two speaker.

But the features list says the dividing network can be bypassed to do bi amplification.

They also recommend using their various DSP amplifiers and active crossover components to make a active crossover.

So I don't really know whether there is passive crossover components inside 7 series speakers, or not.

The good thiing about 7 series is the horn and CD from the M2, stronger woofer, louder SPL.

They also suggest that this is the first of the 7 series, implying their may be more 7 series models later, which might be active amps built in.


Offline miniminim

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Re: JBL LSR Series
« Reply #9 on: November 16, 2015, 11:15:36 PM »
Informal review of the LSR 708 here. See post #561:
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/showthread2.php?p=38986122#post38986122

Get your checkbook ready!

Offline rollo

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Re: JBL LSR Series
« Reply #10 on: November 17, 2015, 07:42:44 AM »
   Buy em Rich.


charles
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Offline richidoo

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Re: JBL LSR Series
« Reply #11 on: November 17, 2015, 10:24:14 AM »
Thanks for the link miniminim!

Offline sleepyguy24

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Re: JBL LSR Series
« Reply #12 on: December 09, 2015, 07:36:26 AM »
Morning everyone

Based on this thread and some black friday deals I purchased a pair of the JBL LSR305 powered monitors as I couldn't find the passive ones mentioned above at a price point I could afford. I wanted to try something different with these speakers as the tweeter concept seems really cool to me.

The details and imaging on these monitors were very good vs. the Ohm Walsh MicroTall SEs I have BUT in my system with a EE MiniMax DAC Plus as a source and the Bottlehead BeePre preamp the highs and mids were punishing. My ears hurt after an hour of initial listening and after 100+ hours of break in my ears just hurt slightly but still hurt after listening to the same tracks. An audio buddy of mine described what I was going through was etching. I think for these monitors to work in my system I have to go to less detailed/warmer sources or maybe my ears are just used to years of listening with soft dome tweeters.

I had them up on 27 inch stands with slight toe in. The tweeters were 6-8 inches below my ears. I asked the seller about optimal tweeter placement for them and he said even if I put them up higher it would not help me.

If the passive version of these speakers becomes available in the used market I'll give them a shot. Maybe a tube amp where I can make tweaks with the tubes can help get the sound to where I'm comfy.

Thanks for putting this out there though. I was happy to get some different experience with a speaker I would never have even known about.

Offline rollo

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Re: JBL LSR Series
« Reply #13 on: December 09, 2015, 08:27:13 AM »
  Do you now if it is a class "D" amp inside ? JBL speakers mate very well with tubed amps IMO.
  The tweeter horns can be difficult to set up. Side wall reflections can be nasty with horns. Play with the toe in after you have serious time on the internal amp. I have yet to meet a class "D" amp that took less than 500 hours to sound its best. They are a beast to brea in. But when they do it is night and day difference.
  Do not give up yet mi amigo.

charles
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Offline richidoo

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Re: JBL LSR Series
« Reply #14 on: December 09, 2015, 09:29:26 AM »
Wow, that's cool Dean. Thanks for the review! Sorry the sound is not to your liking. Horn tweeter is very different to direct radiator. They are intended for sound engineers, so it is gonna be in your face. The low price I guess should be an indicator of some lack of refinement. idk. They sounded OK when I heard them but I'm not bothered by strong treble.

According to minimim's link above, the mid level 708 or whatever it's called are not going to be sold separately, you have to buy them with the full amps and EQ package. I'm sure there will be a sonic resemblance to the 305 because uses same shape horn, although the 305 has standard tweeter in a deep waveguide, while the 7 series has a true compression driver tweeter so it will sound different, but still horn loaded treble so probably even more intense. Maybe horn loaded tweeter ain't your thing. I prefer direct radiator tweeters myself, although I have shallow waveguide on my tweeters now.

It probably does have class D internal amplifiers, but I don't think that's the source of your irritation. Fortunately you should have no problem selling them since they are very popular now. Maybe list it on Amazon marketplace so the used price appears on the new speaker page?