Product Comparison: Mackie MR524 vs JBL 305p MKII

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Best Pick

Mackie MR524 Studio Monitor, 5-inch

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JBL 305p MKII Professional 5" 2 Way Powered Studio Reference Monitor

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General Specifications

Brand

Mackie

JBL

Model

MR524

305p MKII

Origin

China

About the Product

MR524 5” Powered Studio Monitors offer professional performance, clarity and superior mix translation so you can listen with confidence knowing your mix will sound great anywhere.

The next-generation JBL 305P MkII powered studio monitor makes legendary JBL performance available to every studio. With the revolutionary JBL Image Control Waveguide and refined transducers, JBL 305P MkII offers stunning detail, precise imaging, a wide sweet spot and impressive dynamic range.

Key Specs

Type

Active

Number Of Speakers

Output Power

50 W

82 W

Driver Configuration

5" woofer, 1" tweeter

What customers say about "Key Specs"

Mackie MR524 Studio Monitor, 5-inch

These Mackie monitors are a tremendous value, and they sound great, even at loud volumes.
If you want computer speakers/monitors that look and sound great, for not a lot of money, these Mackie monitors are a great option.
Tweeter is shrill. Made even more apparent by the gaping hole of lower mid range.
Good sound quality. I’ve only noticed buzzing on certain treble frequencies at higher volumes.
I've owned six speakers and three have failed. The first has a tweeter that stopped working. The second had a loud hum. The third now has a weird electrical sound and goes in and out of working.

JBL 305p MKII Professional 5" 2 Way Powered Studio Reference Monitor

The drivers sound more dynamic, faster, and more accurate. These sound incredible.
These are great speakers that are easy to set up. I am using them as monitors in my home studio.
Detailed sound. More than sufficient bass output when using them as studio monitors.
The only real draw back is the lack of lower end sub-response, which were to be expected from the reviews and nothing too surprising from a 5-inch woofer.
These speakers emit substantial white noise when powered on.

Size & Weight

Height

7.09 in.

13.9 in.

Width

11.1 in.

9.6 in.

Depth

8.7 in.

11.8 in.

Weight

10.14 lbs.

10.43 lbs.

What customers say about "Size & Weight"

Mackie MR524 Studio Monitor, 5-inch

It works great and I love it. It also has a nice weight and size.
Sounds great, runs a little warm, smaller than the JBLs.
They're the perfect size for my bookshelf, very easy to hook up, very very good quality sound and look fantastic.
These fit the size bill perfect. The speakers were really easy to get connected and working with the TV.
These are exactly the right speakers perfect size for my desk sound quality is seriously impressive.

JBL 305p MKII Professional 5" 2 Way Powered Studio Reference Monitor

This speaker is clear sounding and light weight. This speaker gives a new way to listen to music.
These speakers sound amazing with a huge range of music and they never draw attention to themselves. And even more impressive is their compact size.
They're not gorgeous. The rear inputs, knobs and switches aren't top quality.
I was delighted with the size and weight. It was perfect for the studio.
Amazing dynamic range, a lot bigger in size than I expected though. I was disappointed with its bulky size.

Audio

Min. Frequency Response

45 Hz

43 Hz

Max. Frequency Response

20 kHz

Input Impendance

6 kOhm

Sensitivity

102 dB

94 dB

What customers say about "Audio"

Mackie MR524 Studio Monitor, 5-inch

The highs are crisp, the lows are full-sounding, but everything is very well balanced.
These have a very good amount of bass. The high end is very smooth and I never realized just how fatiguing the previous speakers were on my hearing.
Very good bass response and excellent overall sound quality.
The bass response is better than others and I found this my deciding factor.
These sound ridiculously good. You'll hear your music in a whole new way - they are incredibly accurate.

JBL 305p MKII Professional 5" 2 Way Powered Studio Reference Monitor

The mids and highs are excellent, and the bass is surprisingly adequate for the driver size.
The sound is great. They are well balanced. Bass is very responsive.
These things sound good. Bought these to use as a second set of monitors to use in a small space.
These sound fantastic, very crisp and pleasing to the ear. I use them all the time just to listen to music with.
Pleasant mids and highs without the overly harsh components that often accompany a horn-loaded tweeter.

Features

Color

Black

Enclosure Material

Wood

MDF

Cabinet Type

Ported

Interfaces

XLR, Unbalanced RCA, TRS

XLR, TRS

Magnetic Shielding

Controls

Level adjust, High freq filter, Acoustic Space

Volume control, Boundary EQ, HF trim, Input Sensitivity

Extras

Ultra-wide dispersion, Class A/B amplification, Tweeter provides fast transient response, Waveguide design

Patented Image Control Waveguide, Dual Class-D amplifiers, Patented Slip Stream low-frequency port

Cabinet Type
Magnetic Shielding

What customers say about "Features"

Mackie MR524 Studio Monitor, 5-inch

The frequency response is very even, there's no noticeable resonance, their volume is pretty strong, and they have some controls to adjust some of the tweeter/woofer gains.
Great sounding and very versatile with the different setup options.
These are, in my opinion, very great for the price! The bass is very great as well. A lot of studio monitors don’t have great bass response.
This speakers also look very nice on your desk. The design is clean and the cabinets are made from wood, not plastic.
My one complaint is, and you should take note of this if it's an issue for you, the power switch is located on the back in a non-intuitive location.

JBL 305p MKII Professional 5" 2 Way Powered Studio Reference Monitor

The speakers are connected to my Schiit Jotunheim via balanced cable. That works great.
Very powerful, very crisp speakers. I have a minor in Audio and Technology, and JBL was always a great recommendation, and I have no issues.
The build quality really stands out. These feel like they are going to last a very long time.
I use the Mackie Big Knob Passive Monitor Controller to control these monitors. This works with both unbalanced and balanced input, and makes volume control and input selection effortless.
The volume controls are super sensitive and little difficulty to control.

Warranty / Certifications

Manufacturer Warranty

1 year(s)

Certifications

Other Information

Manufacturer

Link

Manual

Download

MSRP

149.00 $