Longtime music engineer, looking to set up surround system

[philper]

Back a ways there was a question about using a "critical" stereo pair (barefoot, I think) for some work and then mixing on a "lesser" (308) surround system for the 5.1. I did this for awhile, then quit. Too confusing--a project that is going to live in 5.1 for its major life should be monitored in 5.1 from the get-go, and swapping monitors between (I guess) editing/EQ and mixing is kind of crazy. Checking a mix on multi monitors after you have it bolted together is fine, but I would not recommend doing this before that point: time-consuming and confusing, all the worse if you have clients sitting on your shoulders. The 308s are kind of the NS10s of 5.1, with a similar sort of function: if you can make the mix sound good on these it will probably be at least as good or better on a "better" system, at least that's my experience.

[Wizzoboy]

I have to agree with philper. If you have a bad mix you will certainly hear it on the 308s. I have the same system as Drew. The system is calibrated to 80db with all the bass drivers set to -2db. I do not use bass management as the tracks that I do are played on full range systems. DVD and Blueray players do their own bass management to cope with smaller speakers.
Drew, you may have imaging problems with the centre speaker on its' side.
Here's my front setup.

[EGS]

Originally Posted by Drew Mazurek

...had a bunch of music surround mixes that I was able to listen to. The Doors (quad mix actually) Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, and a few others. I think these JBLs sound really good when playing back “finished mixes”. All of the aforementioned mixes sounded really good through these speakers...

Excellent. I think the JBL 308's sound great. My mixes have improved since I've been using them.

[Drew Mazurek]

Sorry for my absence from the thread, been slammed.

A few things now and I will follow up more later.

I continue to be impressed by these speakers. I agree wholeheartedly with them being "NS10-like" but in a different range. To me NS10s really show you the muddiness of a mix in the 4-500 range whereas the 308s do a similar thing in the 800 range. When something is really dialed in, it translates to the Barefoots, NS10s, and 308s. I've actually enjoyed having them as a 3rd check for my stereo work.

Still trying to hunt down some surround content to mess with. If anyone has PT sessions they can share, let me know. TV, film, whatever. Please contact me via PM.