|   When Are Bi/Dipolar speakers beneficial? | maxximtl
Apr 17, 2003 2:04 PM | | I need to upgrade the rear surrounds in my home theater system. Due to some space problems, my surrounds are on either side of the listening area (couch.) This has created some problems on positioning my surrounds. My only options are to have the surrounds fire towards eachother (towards the middle of the couch,) or at a 45 degree angle from the back corner of the couch. Right now they are only about 3 feet away from each ear. The back wall is about 6 feet away from the surrounds.
Looking from a few illustrations on hometheater speaker placement, it seemed like a Dipolar speaker might be beneficial to create a better sense of spaciousness given the tight confines of my speaker placement possibilities.
Right now, my system consists of an Onkyo TS-XR600 receiver, JBL S-310 II mains and a JBL S-Center center channel. I am using some crappy "left over" speakers for the rear surrounds currently. It is really dragging down the rest of the system.
Would a Dipolar speaker enhance my listening experience, or should I stick with a traditional speaker for the surrounds?
Any recommendations would definetly be appreciated. I need to stick in the $300-ish range for the pair. |
| How does $150 a pair sound ?? | Mash
Apr 17, 2003 5:48 PM | | Radio Shack sells some speakers with Linaeum tweeters, and those Linaeum tweeters are dipoles. Those tweeters are pretty darned good.
On sale, you can get these Radio Shack speakers for $150/pair. The lower limit of their 5 inch cones is 'maybe' 100 Hz. The enclosures are internally-damped, black aluminum. Not bad looking.
If you want to splurge to $550, get the Magnepan factory-direct MMG speakers. |
| It depends | RobotCzar
Apr 18, 2003 8:56 AM | | My understanding is that bi/dipolar speakers are not optimal for descrete multichannel. The older Dolby Pro Logic type surround sound (where the rear information is derived from information encoded on the two base channels) did prefer a non-direct radiating design.
The issue is complex. I would not simply take the word of salesmen or even speaker manufacturers. |
| re: When Are Bi/Dipolar speakers beneficial? | aq11
Apr 18, 2003 11:59 AM | | You may want to consider BI-pole.You will get direct and diffused. |
| You are not going to like this. | skeptic
Apr 18, 2003 6:55 PM | | Bipolar speakers have a special purpose that has nothing to do with your problem. Most are panel type and usually but not always hybrid. What does that mean? Most are electrostatic panels or magneto-planar panels such as those manufactured by Mangeplanar company. They have large panels that radiate over a wide area to compensate for the fact that the moving diaphrams can't vibrate very far. By radiating in both forward and backward directions, they produce more sound. One of their big weaknesses is that they do not produce a lot of sound, they usually can't play very loud. While the magnetoplanar speakers are more like conventional dyanmic drivers from your amplifier's point of view, the electrostatic types usually require expensive high powered amplfiers with excellent power supplies-read expensive. Some don't have very good treble and so are enhanced with ribbon tweeters. Few have really deep bass and are enhanced with subwoofers. They need a lot of space, usually 3 to 6 feet from a wall behind them. They are large often 2-3 feet wide and 5 to 6 feet tall. Therefore they are generally installed in very large rooms where decor is not a primary concern. Then why do people use them? The answer is that for fans of this type of speaker, they produce a very clear undistorted and accurate sound often lacking any of the annoying resonances typical of many "box" speakers. They are therefore used in very high accuracy systems where great loudness is not required. They are not suitable for home theater systems, even for the front channels although that doesn't mean that someone hasn't tried using them that way.
Another type using dynamic drivers is made by Mirage. I haven't seen them in many years but I think they are still around.
Your best bet is to buy additional JBL speakers, the S38 II being a very good choice and a good match for your front speakers. You can buy them many places including J&R for the budget you have in mind. If they must go in the middle of the room near you as you stated, I'd face them pointing away from me towards the back and side walls if possible,but that's just a suggestion. |
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