Are Dipoles really better than direct firing speakers for rears in HT? (1 Viewer)

[Alex_Santos]

Ive done a lot of searching and its a very mixed reaction. Some say it is, some say it isnt. Any opinions?

 

[BryanZ]

More personal preference rather than one is better than the other.

 

[Max Leung]

Definitely a personal preference thing...you will have to find a dealer who can demo both types, and listen for yourself!

 

[EricHaas]

I think it is especially critical to listen to dipoles in your home. Because the sound will bounce off many surfaces before it reaches your ears, dipoles, more than directs, will vary in sonic property according to room conditions. I personally have preferred dipoles where I have heard them so far.

 

[felix_suwarno]

why not tripoles?

 

[Howard_S]

Eric. I think dipoles actually like that in a way. The thing with dipoles is that it seems it's easier to place than monopoles. It is preference. I love dipoles for their diffused sound. Nothing beats it when you're in a forest with animals running all around.

 

[Alex_Santos]

The reason that Im leaning toward dipoles is because of the diffused sound. Ive been told that with this type of speaker, mounting position becomes less important. This is extremely critical in the room I have right now because space is at a premium and the mounting location for the rears would probably not be in line with the heads of the listeners. Anyone know if this is correct? I was told it by my paradigm salesman, though he was probably bsing me to get me to buy adp 170 (but I sure fell for it didnt i).

 

[Alex_Santos]

I know this is a preference issue but any opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Howard_S]

In another post where I asked about proper placement someone made the point of dipoles supposedly needing to be parallel to the coach.

I think it will still work well if the dipoles (null part) are in front or behind the ears of the listeners especially if they're a bit aways from the listener. The problem with most people is that they don't have space and thus need to put it on the wall or near the ear. In this case Dipoles will work better than monopoles. But if you like diffused sound go for dipoles.

It really depends on how much it's not inline. If it's far back are far forward it won't work well but then again neither would monopoles. But I do believe dipoles are more versatile in terms of placement.

 

[Scott_Sylke]

Another thing to consider is whether or not you have (or plan to upgrade to in the future) a multi-channel music source such as SACD or DVD-Audio. If so......you might want to lean toward monopoles.

 

[Alex F.]

Unless your surround music preferences lean toward the reproduction of hall reverberation and ambience (such as in classical music), in which case dipoles or bipoles work best.

A monopole is optimum for surround music where the instruments are placed all around you, as opposed to when you are seated in the audience facing the stage of performers. When the listener is in the audience, ambience is what's heard through the surround speakers.

 

[Alex_Santos]

These would be used for 85% movies and the rest music, if that much. My problem is that my rear speaker placement would possibly be behind the listner's ears and I was told that monopoles would produce sound that wasnt correct at this position. I was told the dipoles would solve that problem and positioning wasnt an issue.

 

[Shad R]

Personally, I like monopoles. It is just a preference, but I like hearing things behind and to the right! or behind and to the left! I can see how dipoles would be better for ambience, but to me, I like the "over there" feeling of it. Sounds cool to me.

 

[Alex_Santos]

See, I think thats cool but Im afraid it will be too far behind or above the listeners head to be effective.

 

[Howard_S]

Shad has his preference of course and I respect that. For for the sake of what's better, you don't want everything to come from behind left and behind right. Yes some things are from there but not everything. The thing with dipoles is that you get the sense that it's coming from behind left and behind right but since the effect that you want is to have things basically wizz through you, you can't locate it and you don't want it to be localized. Take lightsaber action for example. With dipoles you hear/feel them whipping past you. It's not a behind left or behind right effect.

 

[Alex_Santos]

now will I get that effect no matter where I place the dipole or does placement still come into play?

 

[DougO]

Good debate here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...ting+surrounds

 

[Alex_Santos]

so if I use direct's will I have a placement problem with the setup that I listed?

 

[Paul Gere]

My leaning is toward dipoles, but agree this is a personal preference matter. I concur with all of the benefits listed about dipoles thus far and have two "best of both worlds" suggestions to add in support of the dipole camp.

[1] You can get a bit of the monopole-type directional cue by mounting dipoles back slightly so that the "null" is slightly behind the listening position vs. right at it. This is a bit unorthodox, but I'm doing it in my theater and prefer it to sitting in the null.

[2] By going with dipoles and side mounting them today, you're in good shape to add two monopole surrounds at the rear of the room once 7.1 becomes more prevalent in the not too distant future.

Just my two pesos. Your mileage will vary.

Good luck!

-Paul

 

[Neil Joseph]

I think for a 5.1 system, dipoles sound better to me. I prefer them and advise getting them if you use your system for hom theatre. If you listen to a lot of multichannel music then the directs are probably better in that case.