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|   MonoPole, BiPole, or DiPole - Which is Best for Surround? | gladtrix
Jul 24, 2001 1:20 PM | | First,
I think I know the diference between MonoPole (Direct) and BiPole/DiPole (Diffused) speakers. But, could you explain the diference between BiPole and DiPole.
Second,
Which type of speaker is best suited for surround (rear) speakers? I have thought up six different scenerios that may affect the responses. They are as followed:
1. HT with a 5.1 speaker setup
2. HT with a 6.1 speaker setup
3. HT with a 7.1 speaker setup
4. Music with a 5 speaker setup
5. Music with a 6 speaker setup
6. Music with a 7 speaker setup
The answer may be the same of each situation, but my layman's guess is that for 5.1 HT a diffused sound is better. For 6.1 or 7.1 a direct sound is better, since there are more speakers. And for music (in any situation) a direct sound is best.
Please either confirm my assumptions or guide me to what is correct.
Cheers |
| re: MonoPole, BiPole, or DiPole - Which is Best for Surround? | KLM
Jul 24, 2001 2:57 PM | | Read this paper from the man who helped develop the standards for THX and coined the term "5.1." It should give you some pretty good insight into this topic.
http://www.paradigm.ca/Support/TechFAQ/DipolarConfusion.pdf
Best of luck,
Ken |
| re: And just to confuse you further ... here's a counterpoint! | Woochifer
Jul 24, 2001 3:44 PM | | Personally, I'm not a big fan of dipole surrounds. While I think they sound great with 2.0 surround formats, they start to sound less than convincing with 5.1 formats and are outright unlistenable with music. Tomlinson Holman created the original THX specs and gets quite a bit of press, but he also has more than his fair share of detractors. I give him credit where it's due, but on this point I think he's off base. I find him totally biased towards home theatre sound and less than credible when it comes to music reproduction.
The author of this article contributes to Widescreen Review and I find his opinions to be mostly credible. It basically states that movie theatres are not the best sound environments to begin with, so why bring that kind of mediocrity to your living room? This article also has some good tips on how to treat your room. So, the synopsis?
"Don't use THX-style dipole surround speakers if you want the best possible sound. It's just that simple."
Anyway, read it and Holman's article and judge for yourself.
http://www.audioperfectionist.com/NewFiles/PDF%20files/journal1a.pdf |
| re: MonoPole, BiPole, or DiPole - Which is Best for Surround? | venkatbo
Jul 24, 2001 4:06 PM | | IMHO, anything other than 3.1, be it music/movie, is 'un-natural'...
Think about it, is it natural for an audience to be a part
of the:
. band (music) ?
. cast (movie) ?
I think not... :-)
So, this begs the question, what 'sonic image' would you like ?
The answer to this question, will help you decide what you want.
There is no right or wrong approach - you need to try both and
pick what you like... |
| I WOULD SUGGEST USING MYPOLE. NT | Dali Lama
Jul 24, 2001 5:19 PM | | |
| re: MonoPole, BiPole, or DiPole - Which is Best for Surround? | MaxC
Jul 25, 2001 6:20 AM | | Bipole are in phase, Dipoles are out of phase, so they will appear more diffuse. Paradigm has ADP (adaptive dipoles). There tweeters are out of phase but the base is in phase. Sorry to add to the confusion. There are also some speakers that can be switched from bipole to dipole.
1. HT with a 5.1 speaker setup-dipole
2. HT with a 6.1 speaker setup-dipole side, center channel rear (direct)
3. HT with a 7.1 speaker setup-dipole side, monopole rears
4. Music with a 5 speaker setup-monopole side
5. Music with a 6 speaker setup-monopoles and/or bipoles
6. Music with a 7 speaker setup-monopoles and/or bipoles
These are just my preferences (1-4), for 5 and 6 I am just guessing. For music it would also depend on if you are listening to 5 channel stereo vs DTS CD, DVD audio, and SACD. For 5 channel stereo you could probably get away with dipoles. For the discrete ones, I would go with directs because you want to know exactly where that instrument or singer is. |
| re: MonoPole, BiPole, or DiPole - Which is Best for Surround? | Robot Czar
Jul 25, 2001 9:48 AM | | I previously wrote a note about this in the speaker forum.
A monopole speaker is definitely the speaker type of choice for the lastest (post Dolby Pro Logic) surround systems.
A dipole projects sound out of the front and back via a single driver. Bipoles use two drivers to accomplish the same task. |
| I disagree | BigBoy
Jul 25, 2001 12:08 PM | | Dipoles were the only speaker of choice for most DD/DTS and THX Home Theater setups. THX used to only certify home theaters that were using dipoles until recently.
Dipoles also use seperate drivers for front and back firing, they just do it out of phase. Most are 2 way, 4 driver speakers. |
| I disagree | awmurray
Jul 25, 2001 1:10 PM | | I also prefer the more "open" sound produced by bi/dipoles.
Remember also that not all bi/dipoles are created equally. Consider:
Martin Logan (dipole)
Definitive Tech (bipole)
Bose 901 (bipole)
And we *know* that they don't all produce the same effect. I have
a lot of experience using the Logans and the sound field retains
superb clarity and pinpoint imaging and yet *all* speakers (front/
center/rear) are dipolar. |
| monopoles for multichannel | Robot Czar
Jul 25, 2001 10:24 PM | | Matrix sound from older systems like Dolby Pro was designed to use indirect speakers as the rear channel. More recent descrete channel systems are designed for direct projection monopoles (narrow dispersion patterns are preferred). Rear channels should provide the ambient and reflected sound of the recording space being simulated. To have these rears provide a lot of reflected sound off the walls of the actual listening space can only muddle the desired effect.
I like the sound of my dipole speakers. "Open" is a good discription of the effect of projecting a large portion of the sound off room boundries. I find this effect similar to what I hear with multichannel. But, it makes no sense to have the surround speakers be di/bipoles. |
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