JBLProfessional 305PMkII 5-Inch 2-Way Powered, Active Monitor Speaker for Near Field Music Production, Studio Monitor, Desktop Computer, Hi-Fi Audio. Sold Individually, Black

Blown away with the sound for the $$$. Totally good for average and even professional monitor use. More than enough bass. I just switched from m audio 8 and these sound a little better.

Firstly I'm no audiophile so I cant really say anything technical but thats abundant in the internet if youre looking for one. These replaced a more than 10 years old 2.1 edifier speakers. Obviously the jump in quality was great. Sound was crisp and clear and like you can tell from which area different instruments play. Despite without a sub I feel Im not missing much from the old 2.1 edifiers I had although an order for a 10e sub is on the way.I was originally just gonna get mr4s but seeing as speakers dont really change much over the years it makes sense to just spend a little more for better quality gear which youll be using for years to come without missing out on new technology.Cons:Size. Good sound does not come pocket size. I had to have a desk built just so it can accomodate my pc with these speakersBuzz/hiss. Although I was already aware of this before buying from browsing reddit I didnt know it was that bad while playing games. It was quite audible.The solution is to use 3 prong to 2 prong adapters. That elimated the buzzing entirely even without using an audio interface. I have these connected to pc directly via 1/4 trs to 3.5mm jack.

At normal listening levels -- below pain/OSHA hearing damage threshold -- this speaker is fantastic.On-axis performance measured from six feet away in a room with a hard floor followed a Harman target small room curve. Individual near field measurements of the tweeter and woofer were flat along the Harman down sloping curve. I didn't check off-axis because off-axis performance will follow the design engineering conducted by JBL. In this case, the primary purpose of testing the on-axis performance is to see if I received a product with a manufacturing defect. For example, one of the components in the speaker could have been damaged during manufacturing or transport.Like all stereo channel speakers, you'd need to add a separate low frequency system if you want complete hi-fi sound but that's a limitation imposed by listening to music inside a room not the speaker. If you don't want to mess with that complexity this speaker will play down to 50Hz to give the impression of full sound for casual listening.I'm tempted to say this speaker is as good as it gets for residential living space sized rooms. I won't go as far as that because speakers can be designed to produce different sound fields for different applications. But for a regular speaker this speaker is really (really) good. Or maybe I can say it this way: if you listen to this speaker and don't like it you can be sure the problem is not the speaker. Maybe the speaker is sitting in the wrong part of the room (e.g. jammed into a corner or up against a wall), maybe your signal source is bad, maybe you want an entirely different type of speaker, or maybe one of the speaker components has a manufacturing defect or got damaged during transport. Which brings up a point, you could use this speaker as a reference to trouble shoot your system. That's a big deal because speakers are normally the weakest link in a home system.If you had an expensive stereo system set up by someone else and you wanted to find out if it was actually good you could buy these speakers to compare. There are a lot of very expensive stereo speakers out there that aren't as good as these speakers. Which brings up another point, if you practice listening to these speakers you will be better equipped to identify snake oil. You can use these speakers to teach yourself how to not get sent down rabbit holes by well-meaning audiophiles who don't know what they're talking about. There are some well-meaning audiophiles out there who are unwittingly influenced by aspects of the speaker that have nothing to do with the sound of the speaker. They sell you snake oil without knowing they're selling you snake oil, they're innocent dupes. In the context of audio performance, you would need to have a really good reason to buy speakers more expensive than these and you would need to be sure you knew exactly -- through personal listening experience -- why you were spending that extra money. On the other hand, if you want a pretty speaker that looks beautiful in your room then absolutely spend the extra money. Just make sure the pretty speaker sounds as good as these JBLs. These JBLs can be your reference.

I don't usually review many products, but these speakers are so exceptional I had to take a moment. I am not an audio professional, or audiophile, and don't pretend to be. I bought these for computer use. I had Klipsch 2.1, the old ones, but subwoofer appears blown, and new ones cut corners on quality (imagine a corporation doing that, color me shocked, LOL). I bought used Logitech 623 2.1s, they have good bass, and are fine for most pop music and rap, with robust thumping bass, but their upper and mid is brutal on any remotely sophisticated music where you want to hear something besides bass or a synthesizer. Klipsch had 2 speakers, one for highs, one for mids, in each satellite speaker, M623 only had one speaker.I ordered these after serious research, and am blown away. The clarity of sound is astounding. I feel like the piano or violin or guitar is being played right next to me. I keep them permanently on 7 volume, adjust with computer, madcapped volume totally sufficient for my computer, and obviously much bigger and more powerful than most smaller 2.1 sets. Without a sub, that thump for some rap gone, but this is not a product deficiency, I'm going to pony up for sub now that know these are awesome.I noticed a significant, massively, improvement in sound quality placing them on stands. I bought the IsoAcoustics ISO-L8R155. Insanely overpriced, the stands, but didn't see any other options I liked. Don't even think of buying these without stands. The difference is astounding.I was really on the fence about shelling out about $275 for two speakers, by the time you pay tax and shipping. I got the Logitech $40 used on Craigslist. These were worth every penny, and would be even if they cost $100 more. The clarity and purity of the sound is almost impossible to overstate, versus even really good computer speakers. These speakers actually made me go back and listen to tons of music hadn't heard in awhile just to appreciate the richness of voices and instruments.One final note, I had a buddy in college decades ago who had JBLs blow on him, and they replaced them. That stuck out in my mind all these years later, when Klipsch unfortunately began cutting corners and selling inferior products. The tech guy at JBL Pro was super knowledgeable, and I feel like that factored into the decision a bit.Do not hesitate to buy these for computer use. They are worth every freaking penny and you will not regret the decision. You'll find room on even a small desk, and be happy you did, LOL. I might have gotten the 6" speakers, as they don't cost much more, If I had it to do over again, and will probably get the 8" for my home.Just to beat it to death, the clarity of the sound, the purity, the truth of it, is almost impossible to overstate. I am listening to John Denver, after Bruno Marrs, after Mariah Carey, after Benzino and NWA, and simply can't ever go back to cr$ppy 2.1 sets after just a few days of these.