5.1 Setup

[xb2003]

I'm wanting to make a 5.1 setup for the sake of playing games, mixing in surround, and watching movies on my computer. I do not do anything professional, I just enjoy this type of thing and surround sound intrigues me. I have 2 JBL LSR 2328p's that are my main monitors now, and I also have a JBL LSR12p sub that will be the LFE channel. I'm using a venue series center channel that I would like to replace with a powered reference monitor, and I need to come up with a couple of speakers to use as rears. I am trying to decide how I want to do this, and I have come up with a few ideas and I would like to get some input. I have a terrible issue with striving for uniformity, but that may not necessarily good in this case. Here is what I am thinking:

How does the LSR 2 series compare to the new LSR 3 series? I think the 3 series is ugly, and they are slightly less expensive than the 2 series was. How do they compare to the 2 series sound wise, has anybody done a comparison? I am thrilled with how my 2328p's sound, but I have only compared them to a couple other monitors.

So...
I am torn between whether I want all 8's, or just 8s for the rears and a 5 in the center. or all 5s (with my 2 8s as the L and R channels).

I am torn between whether I want to stick with the JBLs for uniformity or whether it would be best to get a pair that were different speakers, like KRKs or something, so that I can get an idea of what a mix sounds like on different sets of monitors should I ever want to.

I also kind of like the idea of getting the new PreSounus Iris as the center channel, just for the sake of it would be easier to position than others above my computer monitors.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Jesse

 

[mjbphotos]

I have yet to read any good praise of the KRKs here. Not sure why you think the JBL 3 series is 'ugly' - the only difference to the 2s is the tweeter-surround.

 

[BroKen_H]

Do you have an audio interface capable of 5.1? Apogee Quartet, MBox Pro, MOTU 828 mkII, etc. Otherwise, how will you get 5.1 output?
I think any 6+ output audio interface COULD be used, never tried (i only have 4 outs). Note, the MOTU can do 7.1...might be something of interest if you're going to do cinema soundtracks or whatever.

 

[xb2003]

I have yet to read any good praise of the KRKs here. Not sure why you think the JBL 3 series is 'ugly' - the only difference to the 2s is the tweeter-surround.

Really? My buddy has a set of Rokkit 5's that I think sound pretty decent. But they may not be nearly as flat of a response, I don't know. I have never compared my JBLs to his KRKs in the same room.

The 2s had a more slot-like port while the 3s have a circular port. This makes a huge difference in sub boxs, and I have always liked slot ported boxes better. As far as looks, the 3s have a polished ring around the woofer and the horn design is completely different. In my opinion, the 3s do not look nearly as good as the 2s.

Do you have an audio interface capable of 5.1? Apogee Quartet, MBox Pro, MOTU 828 mkII, etc. Otherwise, how will you get 5.1 output?
I think any 6+ output audio interface COULD be used, never tried (i only have 4 outs). Note, the MOTU can do 7.1...might be something of interest if you're going to do cinema soundtracks or whatever.

I do! My Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 has 10 TRS outputs. So with a DAW I can assign those as whatever I want. Of course, getting surround sound when playing games or watching movies is more challenging, as my motherboard does not support ADAT over optical and obviously the interface is not a Dolby decoder. I probably need to see if there is a sound card that supports ADAT over optical, because it would make this much easier.

For now, I just use the 1/8" TRS outs on my motherboard to the inputs on my 18i20 and route those directly to the corresponding outputs in MixControl, and it works well. I pick up little noise in the process. I used to use a home stereo receiver and do the preouts to my studio monitors and sub via RCA and then just use it to amplify my center and surrounds, but this picked up an incredible amount of noise due to grounding issues and unbalanced connections, I assume.


Has anyone used PreSonus monitors? I still really like the idea of grabbing one of these for the center channel..
PreSonus Eris E44 | Sweetwater.com

And then seeing what I can get inexpensively for the surrounds, be it LSR 2 or 3s off of Guitar Center used or Craigslist. Or maybe Black Friday will have something interesting.

Jesse