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JBL have a reputation for very detailed-sounding speakers that have, on occasion, been a hint bright, but the 306P MkIIs sound less 'toppy' than many JBLs I've reviewed, most of which have metal-domed tweeters. The use of a soft-dome tweeter here keeps the highs from sounding aggressive, then, but I was still impressed by the clarity and detail, as well as the excellent stereo imaging and usefully wide sweet spot. That slightly unusual horn flare, which I'm pretty sure is a spin-off from JBL's high-end studio monitors, seems to do the job. The use of a soft-dome tweeter keeps the highs from sounding aggressive, but I was still impressed by the clarity and detail delivered by these speakers. Engineered to JBL Linear Spatial Reference design criteria for outstanding accuracy in any acoustical environment is right in the middle of the female vocal range so it is not like the deep bass region where we want enough power to shake the foundations of the house. The speakers were placed on stands in a typical near-field listening setup — an equilateral triangle about four feet apart and four feet each from the listening position — with the tweeters positioned at ear level. Because of their placement and the room treatment, we didn’t need to employ EQ or high frequency trim adjustments. We set the volume to the halfway position on each speaker for the majority of listening, though we did raise it and lower it evenly on either side at various points during testing. Performance Engineered to JBL Linear Spatial Reference design criteria for outstanding accuracy in any working space
JBL 306P MK2 (PAIR) - SingaporeProAudio JBL 306P MK2 (PAIR) - SingaporeProAudio
It's a bit like short term maximum power amplifier Po 'tests'. They tell you nothing about how the amplifier will actually perform long term. As expected, the predicted in-room response and the farfield response (3.5 meter, blue) line up quite well above approximately 500Hz. Soundstage is surprisingly deep (at least, with experience typically only lending itself to the concentric drivers like Kef in this regard).Dual integrated, custom Class-D amplifiers provide 82 watts of power for high output and dynamic range
JBL 306P MkII 6.5 inch Powered Studio Monitor | Sweetwater JBL 306P MkII 6.5 inch Powered Studio Monitor | Sweetwater
The purpose of this test is to illustrate how much (if at all) the output changes as a speaker’s components temperature increases (i.e., voice coils, crossover components). Wrapped Around Your Finger - Glaring sound from what I assume is the synth (@ 0:26 & 0:30, for example) lights up badly. Again, I believe this is enclosure resonance. Output is limited by the internal DSP. From my testing, this occurs somewhere between 96dB and 102dB at 1 meter and results in significant limiting of the output signal. If one assumes 3dB of in-room gain and 6dB from adding a second speaker, this works out to be approximately a maximum volume of 105dB at 1 meter and 93dB at 4 meters, in-room for a pair. It is therefore reasonable to assume that these are not ideal for farfield, long-term high output listening and are best relegated to nearfield or midfield use for higher output levels. If listening at moderate volumes, these make a reasonable solution in terms of output levels. Scan-Speak does 28 minutes total of 1 minute on, 2 minutes off. Weighted pink noise with a crest factor of 2dB (my CF is 12dB). Link. JBL offers an excellent 5-year warranty on professional loudspeaker products (except enclosures). Amplifiers are warrantied for three years, and enclosures for two. The warranty covers materials and workmanship. Our TakeThe below graphics indicate how much SPL is lost or gained in the long-term as a speaker plays at the same output level for 2 minutes, in intervals. Each graphic represents a different SPL: 86dB and 96dB both at 1 meter. Keep in mind that Amir measured this distortion at 86dB which is fairly loud - into danger territory, even. Hopefully nobody is listening at an average near 86dB. Though we would indeed like to have plenty of headroom to push higher than 86dB for those brief dynamic peaks. The other notable issue is the distortion present at higher volume levels. This is a monitor that doesn’t like to be pushed hard. Once you creep up beyond 85dB, you can hear the monitor struggle, especially with lower frequencies. The midbass does some things I do not like at all and generally sounds quite resonant. Let me give some specific examples: Integrated custom Class D amplifiers deliver 112 watts (LF: 56 watts; HF: 56 watts) of power for high output and dynamic range
JBL 306P MkII - MusicTech Review: JBL 306P MkII - MusicTech
As we'd expect, it's a whole other story when you high pass them so they're not trying to play deep bass. It's rather narrow. If you're distorting at 5% across the entire frequency range that's one thing, this is another - perceptibility of narrowband stuff like that tends to be much lower than we'd think when we see those sharp peaks on a graph. Playing familiar material, the rich, expansive character of the monitors is quite seductive. Detail is there in spades, but it isn’t presented forcefully; rather, the subtle nuances of complex mixes are revealed from within a deep and solid soundstage. Some monitors of this size can sound ruthless, aggressive and forward in the treble region to accentuate detail, yet the 306Ps offer a more forgiving presentation without coming across as overly warm. While the two EQ options (low and high-frequency shelf) are nice, I do wish there were additional options for fine-tailoring the sound to a particular location a la the Kali IN-5 I recently reviewed. Though, that would also factor into the cost.This is most troubling when listening to bass guitars that have notes that span the 100-300Hz region where the data also correlates to showing a downward slope in response >200Hz. Really hard for me to ignore these issues as I hear them. If you tend to listen to music with synth or isolated guitar notes then you’ll likely notice this right away; especially in the nearfield as it is less likely to get swamped out by the room effects. Flexible connectivity with balanced XLR and 1/4" TRS inputs, +4dBu/–10dBV input-sensitivity switch, and volume control
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