[Thomas W. Bethe]

I guess it all boils down to "whatever works" If you can produce what you are being paid to do and use a pair of NS-10 or a pair of Auratone speakers and the clients are happy and you are being paid then why change.

I use a pair of ALON IVs mounted on top of granite blocks driven by a Bryston 4B and my mastering desk is completely open with two LCD monitors on it. My mastering equipment rack is to the left of the desk and is sloped for the best view of the equipment. It works well for me. Someone else could find it problematic or unlistenable or unworkable but I like the way it sounds and works.

I guess it is what you are hearing and how it translates that are the important parts of any monitoring setup. Also the acoustics are VERY important and if you have good acoustics then you are more than half way to a good monitoring setup.

There are a lot of mastering studios that I have been in that have what I would consider inadequate monitoring setups but the person who owns the studio is making money and pleasing clients so he is happy and his clients are happy. There are also studios around who offer mastering as part of the "CD package" and they do their mastering in the same control room with the same monitor speakers as they did the recording and the mix-down.

I guess the bottom line here is "what ever works"