Looking to buy powered speakers for laptop ~$200 USD. JBL any good?

[Jwalling]

I'm looking to spend about $200 and I've been looking at this one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/263433686404?

Anyone have any opinions on this setup, or perhaps a better one for about the same price?
Needs to be on Ebay - I got $425 in Ebucks to burn. 

This is to connect to my laptop to have some nice quality sound out on the front porch. Mostly rock music...
I'm currently using an Altec Lansing VS2421, and the sound is underwhelming to say the least. Bought it for $10 at a yard sale a few years ago, and wasn't expecting much.

I haven't bought speakers in a long time - when the good brands were Infinity, Ohm, etc. Maybe Altec Lansing is crap these days...

JBL brochure http://www.jblpro.com/www/products/recording-broadcast/control-2p#.Wz46_8Inbiw

[thm_w]

Do they have to be that small of a size? If not you are sacrificing on bass.
Can either get a sub or something with 6-8" drivers.

Some reviews and similar related products: https://www.amazon.com/JBL-C2PS-Control-Compact-Powered/dp/B001EDVB14

[rdl]

JBL LSR305 are $200 each, but there's some for $122 on ebay right now.

[Jwalling]

Do they have to be that small of a size? If not you are sacrificing on bass.
Can either get a sub or something with 6-8" drivers.

Some reviews and similar related products: https://www.amazon.com/JBL-C2PS-Control-Compact-Powered/dp/B001EDVB14

A little bigger would be OK, but not too much more.

[Jwalling]

JBL LSR305 are $200 each, but there's some for $122 on ebay right now.

Those are balanced inputs though, can a laptop drive them OK? I know nothing about audio...

[Jwalling]

This bugs me though.
http://www.jblpro.com/www/products/recording-broadcast/control-2p#
In the manual:

Amplifier Power: 35 Watts continuous per-channel
Power Requirements: 19 VDC / 3.42 A - use only supplied power supply

The slave doesn't have an amp. This is just about 100% efficiency.

[thm_w]

Those are balanced inputs though, can a laptop drive them OK? I know nothing about audio...

I believe this type of adapter is the right one: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CMP159--hosa-cmp-159-10-foot-3.5mm-trs-to-dual-1-4-inch-ts-cable
Although you lose the benefit of it being balanced. Optical/coax is the best but usually not available on a laptop.

This bugs me though.
http://www.jblpro.com/www/products/recording-broadcast/control-2p#
In the manual:

Amplifier Power: 35 Watts continuous per-channel
Power Requirements: 19 VDC / 3.42 A - use only supplied power supply

The slave doesn't have an amp. This is just about 100% efficiency.

Its "music" power, which is always overstated. I wouldn't be concerned about the power limit, power at 0.1% THD might be useful. Even then I'm using a 12W supply to my amp and its more than enough for PC use.

[EEVblog]

JBL LSR305 are $200 each, but there's some for $122 on ebay right now.

Those are quite highly rated monitor speakers. Great for video and music mixing, but probably not the best choice for music playback (subjective of course).
Aren't Bluetooth speaker all the rage for laptops and phones?

[LeonR]

There are some cool audio monitors from Microlab and Edifier too. I'd suggest you to take a look at them. I'm prolly going to pick a B77 (note that are two versions, one with 2 physical inputs and lower power and one with one cabled input and bluetooth at slightly higher power), seems quite the deal for the price.

[tekmunki]

I picked up a pair of https://www.ebay.com/itm/Presonus-Ceres-C4-5BT-2-Way-Powered-Bluetooth-Speaker-Pair-Brand-New-Sealed-/273168692338? a few years ago and love the sound out of them.  I don't think I've ever turned them passed 50% volume at about 4ft distance and they have a balanced sub out and bluetooth all for ~$200.

[frozenfrogz]

For 425€ you could also get a pair of Adam Audio T5V or KRK VXT6.
I would go for active studio monitors any day compared to active hifi or let alone "gaming" speakers, so the LSR305 that were already mentioned should be a decent pick (reviews seem to fancy them).

There are some nice options in the price range of $200 - $400 a pair.

I am using the KRK Rokit5 gen.1 on my home desk setup and I really like them - never had an issue with them, though Dave does not seem to be a big fan of KRK after the teardown / repair xD.

These are all near-field monitors though!

[Jwalling]

In the end, and after looking at the reviews here and there, I decided on the JBL LSR305 speakers. I got a good price at $244USD with free shipping for the pair. The cable that thm_w mentioned I got for about $8.

Many thanks to everyone who contributed! 

Jay

[frozenfrogz]

Congrats! I think you'll enjoy them!

[Jwalling]

JBL LSR305 are $200 each, but there's some for $122 on ebay right now.

Those are quite highly rated monitor speakers. Great for video and music mixing, but probably not the best choice for music playback (subjective of course).

I'm curious why you say that. Why great for mixing, but not for listening?

Aren't Bluetooth speaker all the rage for laptops and phones?

I'm old school. I like wires. No compatibility or other issues and easy to troubleshoot if it's not working. 

[frozenfrogz]

Why great for mixing, but not for listening?

Monitor speakers are designed to have a flat frequency response over the full spectrum and good phase alignment at the optimal listening position (works only in a well treated room though). Hifi speakers are usually a bit more biased with pronounced bass and high frequencies. This makes music more "pleasant" and "crisp" to the casual listening preferences of a lot of people. Listening to loud "hifi" music feels less aggressive than with "ideal" speakers, because of the less pronounced mid-range.
Also, near-field monitors project the sound a little differently than hifi speakers.

On the other hand, you will be amazed about the detail of things you can hear on studio monitors that gets swept under the rug otherwise. This has to do with the fact, that the mid-frequency spectrum is what the human ear is trained to focus on most (speech, animal noises,...).

I would go for studio monitors any day. You will be fine. 

[Jwalling]

Why great for mixing, but not for listening?

Monitor speakers are designed to have a flat frequency response over the full spectrum and good phase alignment at the optimal listening position (works only in a well treated room though). Hifi speakers are usually a bit more biased with pronounced bass and high frequencies. This makes music more "pleasant" and "crisp" to the casual listening preferences of a lot of people. Listening to loud "hifi" music feels less aggressive than with "ideal" speakers, because of the less pronounced mid-range.
Also, near-field monitors project the sound a little differently than hifi speakers.

On the other hand, you will be amazed about the detail of things you can hear on studio monitors that gets swept under the rug otherwise. This has to do with the fact, that the mid-frequency spectrum is what the human ear is trained to focus on most (speech, animal noises,...).

I would go for studio monitors any day. You will be fine. 

Great answer - thanks for that. I'm looking forward to getting them!

[frozenfrogz]

One more thing: I saw, that the JBLs do not have RCA input jacks, so to connect them to your laptop soundcard you need a Y-cable with TRS 3.5mm stereo plug to two TS 6.3mm mono plugs (or XLR). But I guess you already know that. 

[Jwalling]

One more thing: I saw, that the JBLs do not have RCA input jacks, so to connect them to your laptop soundcard you need a Y-cable with TRS 3.5mm stereo plug to two TS 6.3mm mono plugs (or XLR). But I guess you already know that. 

Yep, I knew that, thanks to thm_w.
Speakers arrived today. Cable still shows no tracking #. What a cruel joke.