|   I'm sick of "head in a vice" speaker designs.... | wseaton
Nov 28, 2001 12:01 AM | | I'm setting up another room in my house with an open floor plan and looking for speaker designs that present a wide open sound-stage yet exellent, reasonably accurate sound reproduction. About 95% of the speaker designs I've listened to (I have many wealthy friends with various high-end set-ups) require you to sit in one spot to enjoy the music presentation and get the right sound-stage placement. I can't stand that.
One of the few speaker designs I've heard that does a good job breaking with this norm was Definitive Technologies older BP-20 line. Obviously bi-polar speakers would fit my needs nicely, but they seem to be not as popular as they were and the designs being offered would hardly fit my criteria as "clinical", or I just don't like them.
Please don't recommend newer Definitive Technology speakers since I've heard them all and find them inferior to the older BP-20's. I also can't stand Mirage (dull and murky in my opinion). I'm tempted to find a pair of used BP-20's and simply re-mount them with better drivers to suit my needs.
Are there ANY bi-polar speaker designs wich use exellent, audiophile drivers to produce high quality music, or am I resigned to simply building my own??? |
| re: I'm sick of "head in a vice" speaker designs.... | Marbles
Nov 28, 2001 6:40 AM | | DecWare Radials
Donmorrison speakers
Shahinian
All three use an omnidirectional tweeter dispersion. The last two are based on a Stewart Hageman design.
I use a nOrh 9.0 speaker that has a very wide sweet spot.
The nOrh 4.0 has an even greater off axis response. With a musical subwoofer it is a great speaker for not much $$ |
| re: I'm sick of "head in a vice" speaker designs.... | DueN
Nov 28, 2001 7:25 AM | | I was going to say "go bi-polar"... but you're already on to it. :-) |
| re: I'm sick of "head in a vice" speaker designs.... | Azuth
Nov 28, 2001 7:41 AM | | You could try some omni-directional Ohm Walsh speakers.
There is a review of some Ohm's at the linked site. Click on Hardware Reviews and its about the 5th down on the right.
http://www.smr-home-theatre.org/Interface.html |
| No speaker rec, but | skippy
Nov 28, 2001 8:15 AM | | Wide dispersion capabilities and excellent imaging capabilities are inversly proportional in speaker design.
I submit that the systems you've heard don't sound bad off-axis. It's just that they sound much better in the sweet spot and the difference is obvious.
You're fighting against physics here. I hope you find acceptable speakers, but don't expect them to sound as good as your friends' do in the sweet spot. |
| re: I'm sick of "head in a vice" speaker designs.... | sam9
Nov 28, 2001 8:51 AM | | Check www.ohmspeakers.com. The Walsh type speakers have a reputation for creating a stable soundstage without needing to be in the "sweet spot". I haven't listen to them for many years, but from comments and reviews it looks like they have continued to evolve the basic design so that a very good speaker in the past is even better now. You do have to buy factory direct so I suggest you check out reviews extensively. However, they have a policy of accepting the speakers back after 90 days if you don't like them. |
| Have you ever heard a planar speaker? | Daigoro
Nov 28, 2001 9:09 AM | | Check out Magnepan. They have their drawbacks, but they have an incredibly open sound that you would probably enjoy. |
| re: I'm sick of "head in a vice" speaker designs.... | Robert Hamel
Nov 28, 2001 10:30 AM | | Well I just changed my mains to standard large format monitor configuration of a 15" woofer with a horn loaded compression driver. The modern biradial horns image very well and has a larger sweet spot than my previous all cone speakers. I have them toed in a bit but the sound stage is pretty wide and I can easily move my head around with no problems. Around the room they aren't bad either. May not be your cup of tea but just something to consider. Horns that is you might like them? |
| re: I'm sick of "head in a vice" speaker designs.... | RGA
Nov 28, 2001 1:13 PM | | Martin Logan has no problem in this department...though they might in your bank account. http://www.martinlogan.com/ |
| re: I'm sick of "head in a vice" speaker designs.... | Markw*
Nov 28, 2001 3:31 PM | | I've found that the larger Magnapans do a pretty good job of creating a spacious image and casting a realistic image throughout the room. They do this more so than any other speakers I've listend to. Only MArtin Logan can compete with them in my book.
Although, if you are looking for the separation, pinpoint imaging and feel of the "sweet spot" from anywhere in the room, I think you may have to wait for a technological breakthrough. |
| re: I'm sick of "head in a vice" speaker designs.... | Jammer
Nov 28, 2001 6:20 PM | | I'd second RGA's recommendation concerning Martin-Logan. Not cheap - but well worth their price.
For what it's worth, I know what you mean about the recent Def Tech's - they're great for home theater, but distinctly lacking for music.
Hope you find something that makes you smile for years to come. |
| Bose 901 are tri-polar, get 4 old pairs and stack them up!! | bOb>
Nov 28, 2001 7:31 PM | | that way they just might measure up to one real speaker. 72 speakers---WOW. 8 speakers facing u and 64 bouncing sound off the rear and side walls. Go for it dude. A nice pair of stands could be made out of the worse pair and it will still look higher and better. |
| I would highly recomend Mirage's OM line... | Joe B
Nov 28, 2001 7:40 PM | | http://www.miragespeakers.com/ |
| I would highly recomend Mirage's OM line... | rickc
Nov 29, 2001 5:23 AM | | check the Mirage OM5 or even OM7.surprised you think thier murky.What Mirage did you hear? |
| I would highly recomend Mirage's OM line... | Pat D
Nov 30, 2001 3:14 AM | | Just a word of advice. If you wish to reply to the original poster, you have to use the blue "Reply" button under his post (I have occasionally, very occasionally, made the same mistake). As it is, your reply went under Joe B.'s post, who like the Mirage OM series. I do, too, for that matter, but tastes vary. |
| re: I'm sick of "head in a vice" speaker designs.... | Pat D
Nov 30, 2001 3:10 AM | | In some situations, listening window speakers are appropriate, and I have liked a number of them.
However, speakers with wide and even dispersion, which many today are, tend to sound better off axis than listening window speakers. This is where good technical reviews come in, as they will indicate the dispersion patterns. Paradigm and PSB explicitly follow this philosophy, based on Dr. Floyd Toole's research when he was at the National Research Council.
One forward facing speaker that does remarkably well in this respect is the Ethera Vitae. They maintain a stereo image way off axis, partly due to the low-diffraction cabinet, I expect. While fairly pricy, if you appreciate their special qualities, they are worth the money. They are, in any case, speakers I could live with very easily, and I say this as a Quad man.
http://www.ethera.com/
I am not at all certain that bipolar or dipolar designs necessarily meet your requirement, although some of them may. I really think it is the wide and even dispersion, even well off axis, that does the trick, and the Mirages bipoles (or even omnipolar) or the Ohm Walsh omnipolars may do it, although they may be a little more difficult to place. |
| Mirage OM series my friend. Solve your problem | spacedeckman
Nov 30, 2001 8:27 PM | | make Def Techs sound like they are broken. |
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