Suggestions? I need help...

[Name]

Is that helpful?

 

[GrimSurfer]

I might have to be satisfied with less... I don't want to spend more than $500/speaker

There's likely (provided you shop well) to be a big difference between a $150 speaker and one that costs two to three times as much.

The 308p is classed as a studio monitor. This is a clue that is intended to operate quite close to the listener, such as on a computer desk or near a mixing console, and operated at moderate volume. A speaker that excels at this might not do as well in your intended application.

So the issue isn't having to be satisfied with less. It's about choosing a tool for the job. A budget of NMT $500/speaker is tight but gives plenty of scope for something to meet your particular needs.

I'm not a speaker guy but maybe there's a member who can recommend something for your application. My sense is that the 308p might be a bit "light".

 

[GrimSurfer]

Is that helpful?

It's better but not ideal.

The x-axis (frequency) is a bit weird. It's not linear, nor is it logarithmic. More like a combination of the two, where the intent is to provide the best resolution at the crossover frequencies. Useful if that is what you're using it for... less useful if the intent is to obtain an objective view of response throughout an operating range.

By my reading of the graph, the response is consistently down by 1-2 dB from 100-500Hz (this more or less covers the human vocal range) and 1-3 dB down from 1000-8000 Hz.

The review contain some corporate-inspired inaccuracies. What JBL calls a wave guide is actually a horn to shape dispersion and amplify the very modest tweeter. I know this because I'm quite familiar with wave guides in microwave applications (Navy) and transmission line cabinets (speakers) and these aren't wave guides in way, shape, or form.

The reliefs moulded into the horns are probably intended to increase vertical dispersion, which is useful in near field applications but, to be honest, utterly useless in mid field/open applications where the audience will be in a fixed orientation (i.e. sitting down) at some distance from the cabinet.

The cabinet is shockingly (and I do mean shockingly) bereft of damping material from the photos provided. This would encourage all kinds of cabinet resonance that would be most apparent with distance. "The 1/8 inch thick plastic front baffle and 1/16 inch thick unbraced metal back plate makes this the worst cabinet I've ever seen from a material selection stand point. The back panel flexes quite a bit when inserting the power plug or 1/4 inch jack.... It's got a port on the rear of the speaker, which is comically mounted to the sheet metal back".

I don't wish to come off as an audio snob here but I'm not seeing anything particularly impressive about the 308p. It's a budget speaker from a company that can, and has, done much better. The limits of this speaker will most likely show when pressed into HT service... and that's something you may wish to consider before purchasing three more.

The thing I keep getting back to in my mind is the difference between a cheap and cheerful near field monitor and something better suited to HT. A good example of the former doesn't make it useful in the latter.

You can buy-and-try, I suppose... but this isn't something I'd do with my money.