Bi/Di-polar speakers for rears (1 Viewer)

[John Tuttle]

Right now I am running a set of Bipole rears from Energery (RVSS I think). I am not extremely pleased with these for rears. The sound from them is not full and does not sound complete when panning from front to rear. Is this a common problem with this type of speaker, do I have it setup improperly? Should I just go with the same rears as fronts?
My room is not to big (25'x18'x8'), so I believe the speaker should be capable. I am running a Marantz MM-9000 amp to drive these with a Marantz 7200 for processing.
Anyone run this setup and have this problem early on and then fix it?
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Jay
My Ricemobile and Home Theater

 

[Dan Driscoll]

I have Paradigm ADP-370 dipoles for my rear speakers and am very happy with them. The sound filed from them is excellent, with a lot of depth and clarity. They are especially good with non-DD/DTS sources.
What I don't get with these rears is specific localization. Due to their design, that is impossible with dipoles. This may be a drawback if most of your use is with DD5.1 and/or DTS source material. In my experience, most people seem to prefer direct radiators for DD5.1 and DTS encoded material.
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Dan

 

[Bob McElfresh]

The first and obvious question is: have you used a SPL meter to level-adjust the rears to match the fronts? (You should buy the Radio Shack SPL meter and use test-tones to level-adjust).
The next question is: do you have them oriented so one of the drivers is facing the listener and the others fireing back to reflect off of a wall? Or are you doing a psudo-dipole and fireing sound along the wall hoping it will reflect into the room? (You should have one driver focused on the listening position).
Third question: do you have the rears at ear-height or are you following the old ProLogic guidelines and have them mounted up several feet? This works for movies that only put diffuese/ambient sounds to the rears, not for movies that have locatable sounds that pan front/back. (I prefer ear-height placement, but this is not universally agreed to).

 

[Kevin C Brown]

What Bob said...
I currently have Def Tech bipolars in front and in back. I used to have dipoles in back. I prefer the sound with bipolars back there. I do get a little bit more localization (which I personally like), but the soundfield seems more cohesive around the room. I have the speakers in the rear set up like my fronts: about 18 inches out from the wall, *half way* toed in to the prime listening spot.
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[John Tuttle]

The speakers have been level adjusted and they are mounted about 24" above ear level. If I stand up to watch certain scenes I can still hear the difference. Yes, I plan to move the speakers down, but I want to try and get this problem resolved first and hopefullly it is a speaker placement problem and both problems can be solved all at once.
I do have one driver facing the side wall and the other driver facing the main seating position.
Maybe I will dismount the speakers and have someone hold them up in different positions for me to find a better position for them.
Thank you.
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Jay
My Ricemobile and Home Theater