Can bipole's work for 6.1, 7.1 systems?

[Kenneth Harden]

I know you can use either normal speakers or bipole's for a 5.1 system.

However, can you use bipole's in a 6.1 or 7.1 system on all the surrounds?

Thanks!

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Of course you can. But I find dipoles/bipoles work best if they can be placed 2-3 feet in from the back reflecting surface. If you have room for this in a 7.1 system - go for it.

If you have to mount your side/rear arrays on a wall, monopole speakers tend to be simpler/better.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Of course you can. But I find dipoles/bipoles work best if they can be placed 2-3 feet in from the back reflecting surface. If you have room for this in a 7.1 system - go for it.

If you have to mount your side/rear arrays on a wall, monopole speakers tend to be simpler/better.

 

[Kenneth Harden]

Thanks, that helps.

I know there is no set formula, as each room is different, but I don't have the experience with surround placement to really know what works best.

 

[Kenneth Harden]

Thanks, that helps.

I know there is no set formula, as each room is different, but I don't have the experience with surround placement to really know what works best.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Bipoles will work even against the walls, but to really get the effect you need a reflecting surface 3-5 feet behind the speaker to give the time-delay that will fool your ears into believing that the rear speakers are farther away than they really are.

 

[GregBe]

I use bipoles for my rear surrounds and dipoles for my side surrounds. I agree with Bob, at first I had to position my dipoles with only about 7-8" from the back wall. It was too close. Now they are 2' away from the rear wall, and I love the effect. In my opinion, dipoles and bipoles are a little more placement sensitive in relation to surrounding walls than directs. Also though, in my opinion, once you get them set up, they are much more forgiving in relation to seating positions. I will give you an example.

In my 7.1 setup, initially, I had directs set up and calibrated to my main seating position. The second most used seat in the room is pretty close to the right side surround, and thus pretty far away from the left side surround. When I took measurements from that seat, the closer right side surround was 6 db hotter than even calibration. The left side surround was 4 db quieter than even calibration. Thats a 10 db difference, which makes for a very uneven listening experience for seat #2.

When I set it up using dipoles, the closer right surround read the same 75dB that the main listening position , while the left surround which is farther away actually read 1dB louder than calibration. As you can see, in my room, it was much more even using the diffuse surrounds.

Of course you need to like the diffuse effect which some people don't, but we'll save that for another thread.

Greg