Surrounds: DefTech vs Polk vs CSW vs Axiom (1 Viewer)

[SidH]

Well nobody answered my previous post (boo hoo) but maybe this one has a better chance.

I am considering the following speakers for side and rear surrounds. They all have bipole configurations or are switchable to bipole:

- Def Tech BP1.2x (bipole only)

- Axiom QS4 (quadpolar)

- Polk F/X300i (bipole/dipole)

- Cambridge Soundworks The Surround 5.1 (bipole/dipole)

- Cambridge SoundWorks Newton S300 (bipole/dipole/direct)

Anyone have experience with some of these?

 

[Kevin_Kr]

I have the Def tech's and think they sound great and do an excellent job.

 

[Alex F.]

Sid:

It is desirable to obtain tonally matching surrounds of the same brand as your front speakers.

If you utilize surrounds from a different manufacturer, it is extremely important that the surrounds not be brighter in the midrange and treble than your front speakers, or the surrounds will call unwanted attention to themselves and not blend adequately with the front mains.

If you list what brand and model of front speakers you currently use or plan to use, some HTFers here might be able to answer your question.

 

[Wayne McRae]

I agree with Kevin.I have 4 BP1.2 and 2 of them sound great.If I ever get my fat ass off of the fence and buy a 6.1 receiver/pre-pro,I'm sure the other 2 will sound great as well

 

[SidH]

Good point Alex, I forgot. I am planning to use Def Tech Procinema Promonitor 100's for the mains, with a Procenter 100.

I know in theory that ideally all speakers should be timbre-matched, but isn't it less critical for fronts vs. surrounds (as opposed to mains vs. center).

Thanks.

 

[SidH]

Well so far there are 2 votes for the Def Tech BP 1.2's. Those would certainly be a guaranteed match for the Promonitor 100's. What fronts are you guys using?

 

[Ricky c]

SID:

I got the procinema 100's all around and have had it for 2 years now and it just gets better.I rececently upgraded the procenter100 to the c2,big difference.C2 out does the procenter tremendously.

 

[Wayne McRae]

BP 10 Mains

CLR 2002 Center

SVS 20-39 Sub

 

[SidH]

Yeah, I would love to go with a bigger center (and mains for that matter), but I am pushing the envelope as far as WAF is concerned :frowning: .
Anybody out there using the Polks or CSW S500s? Or does anybody mix and match?

 

[Alex F.]

Sid:

One can indeed mix front/center speakers from one brand and surrounds from another. But it's always better to maximize performance by going with matched units from the same company when they're available.

Judging from Def-Tech's website specs, the BP1.2X should be perfect for your Pro-100 fronts. I suggest calling the company to confirm. If this is so, it is a no-brainer.

 

[SidH]

it's always better to maximize performance by going with matched units from the same company when they're available.

That makes sense of course. I was just curious about speakers that can be switched between dipole and bipole operation like the Polks or the Cambridge Soundworks. Is that a worthwhile option? (Or maybe that's a topic for another thread).

 

[Alex F.]

Sid:

Now I understand the focus of your original question. I have wall-mounted dipoles in one room and bipoles in another. For all-around use (i.e., movies and music) I slightly prefer the bipoles. The bipoles provide the ambience of dipoles along with a degree of directivity like monopoles. They're the best of both worlds.

But what's more important than anything else is that you obtain timbre-matched surrounds, which is why the Def-Tech units are easily your best choice.

If you can, mount the bipoles on the side walls, about one foot behind your listening position and about 6.5 to 7 feet above the floor. (The rear-facing drivers can be as close as about 9 inches to the rear wall and still perform well.) This general location provides the best performance in most rooms.

Happy listening!

 

[Dave Vaughn]

Sid,

I have the S300's and I like them. I had the 5.1's before but they were a little too "directional" even when on Bi-pole. The S300's seem to blend and disappear better than the 5.1's did. Also, they look better.

Dave

 

[SidH]

If you can, mount the bipoles on the side walls, about one foot behind your listening position and about 6.5 to 7 feet above the floor. (The rear-facing drivers can be as close as about 9 inches to the rear wall and still perform well.) This general location provides the best performance in most rooms.

Ah, there's the rub. I have a somewhat difficult room configuration. The listening position is a couch centered on a 12' wide wall. One of the adjoining side walls is only 15" wide due to a large bay on that side. So a side surround would at most have 6" of space between it and the rear wall. Also, all the surrounds must be mounted at least 8 feet up.

I will probably need to do quite a bit of experimentation. That is one reason I was curious about speakers with switchable polar configurations that might give me some more flexibility with regard to placement.

 

[Frank Zimkas]

I've got Polk RTi800 mains, CS175 center, FX300 Surrounds, RTi25 rears, and a psw350 sub and am very happy with the entire setup, although I'm considering upgrading to a larger center channel, maybe a cs400 (HINT TO WIFE!!!)

 

[SidH]

My question to those of you who have surrounds with switchable polar configurations is, do you leave it on just one setting or do you switch them depending on type of source material?

Thanks everybody for your input.

Sid

 

[Frank Zimkas]

I leave mine in Bipole mode.