JBL 305P MkII Studio Monitors Drop to $99 Each

The JBL 305P MkII is down to $99 per speaker, 41% off its $169 list price, and it's the studio monitor I ended up recommending as the best speaker for the money after testing six of them on my desk.

Earlier this year I put the JBLs up against the Yamaha HS5, Focal Alpha 65 Evo, Neumann KH 120 II, Genelec 8331, and the cheap Polk bookshelf speakers I've used for years. They finished third in my first round of listening, and when we moved everything downstairs for a blind test, it was almost impossible to tell the JBL, the Focal, and the Neumann apart. Those other two cost several times as much. You can watch the whole comparison here:

For photographers and videographers, the big win is that these are active speakers. The amplifier is built in, so you don't need to buy a separate amp the way you do with passive bookshelf speakers, and they take balanced XLR or 1/4" TRS straight from an audio interface. There's also a boundary EQ switch for when they're sitting on a desk close to a wall, which is exactly where most editing setups put them. If you're cutting video, it helps to hear what your audio really sounds like instead of what a flattering speaker wants you to hear. The one thing to know is that the 5-inch woofer won't give you deep sub-bass, so if that matters to you, JBL makes a matching subwoofer.

Keep in mind this price is for one speaker, so you'll need two. When I tested them, a pair cost me around $350. At $198 for the pair, I think this is about as good as studio monitors get for the money.