My room speakers, the PreSonus Eris E4.5, finally gave out — so I ended up getting new ones after three years. Getting the same size again felt boring, so I went with the JBL 305P MkII with its 5-inch woofer instead.

Here’s how I’ve got it all set up.

%%{init: {
  "theme": "base",
  "themeVariables": {
    "primaryColor": "#ffffff",
    "primaryBorderColor": "#444",
    "lineColor": "#666",
    "clusterBkg": "#fafafa",
    "clusterBorder": "#bbb",
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  }
}}%%

flowchart TB

HDMI2AUDIO("HDMI to Audio")
DAC("FX-AUDIO- DAC-X3")
SPEAKERS("fas:fa-volume-up JBL 305P MkII")

subgraph LAN[LAN]
  IPHONE("fab:fa-apple iPhone")
  ANDROID("fab:fa-android Android")
  PC("fa:fa-desktop Desktop")
  CHROMECAST("fab:fa-chromecast Chromecast")
end

IPHONE -.-> CHROMECAST
ANDROID -.-> CHROMECAST
PC -.-> CHROMECAST

CHROMECAST --HDMI--> HDMI2AUDIO
HDMI2AUDIO --Digital Coaxial--> DAC
DAC --TS†--> SPEAKERS

style SPEAKERS stroke-width:3px

† The DAC output is unbalanced, so I went with TS instead of TRS.

I measured the frequency response and was honestly surprised — they’re actually flatter than the old ones, even though they’re physically bigger and extend further into the low end.

I’ve been listening to all kinds of music on them, and the reputation definitely checks out. They’re great speakers — highly recommended.

That said, they’re not exactly the kind of thing you casually drop on a shelf or desk. My room didn’t really leave me a choice — they ended up on a bookshelf, so the placement is far from ideal. I’d at least like to pull them further from the wall and angle them properly. I used the built-in EQ to roll off the right channel’s low end by -1.5 dB — that got it to a pretty good spot.

One more thing — apparently the Japanese domestic model (no CE mark) doesn’t have the AUTO STANDBY feature. I tried the manual steps over and over, but it didn’t work. Ha.