Enough Room For Dipoles? (1 Viewer)

[Chris Lehner]

I'm planning on adding a pair of ADP-170s to my system. I've read a little about the placement of dipoles, but I'm wondering if my room will be a problem. I can only mount them slightly behind the listening position, but what really concerns me is the distance to the rear wall. I only have a section 26" wide. If the width of the 170 is 10", as reported, and I mount them in the center, that only leaves 8" to the rear wall. I know it's not ideal, but is that just way too close? If I move the speaker to the furthest edge of that section, if gives me 16"...better? Of course then the first surface by the speaker would be the sliding-glass door, which is what limits that mounting space to begin with. I think I would really prefer the sound of dipoles, but given my situation should I just go with forward-radiating surrounds?

Thanks,
CDL

 

[Neil Joseph]

Is a ceiling placement an option for you? If it is, and you mount them with the nulls adjacent to the listening position, how far from the back wall would they be? 2ft is a specified minimum although I personally don't think it would be a show-stopper.

 

[Ned]

I have the Paradigm ADP-150's and I've had them in at least 20 locations in various rooms of my house.

They *need* at least 2' behind for good dispersion. As you cram them nearer to the rear wall they sound more like monopoles and the great diffuse sound is lost. 16" would be ok, just not fully realizing their potential.

 

[Chris Lehner]

Neil, I'm not sure what you mean by the "nulls". If that is, the center of the dipole, between the 2 firing sides, then, given my seating position is about 2 ft from the back wall and half the ADP-170s 10", I would have about 1'7" to the back wall. When you talk about a ceiling position, do you mean to the top of the ceiling? Never thought of that.

I may have another solution though. In going to Paradigm's site to look for a possible alternate front-firing speaker, I noticed the Cinema ADP. It's got a much smaller footprint than the 170; 4 3/4" vs. 9 3/4". If I mount it dead center in my potential 26" space, I'd have approx. 10 1/2" to the rear wall and 10 1/2" in front. If I pulled it as far forward as I could, that would give me 21" to the rear wall, but then basically a glass door right in front of the front firing side (make sense).

So I have 2 follow-up questions: 1) any opinions on the Cinema ADP and it's timbre matching with the Monitor series (I have 11s and a 370 in the center) and 2) is there any kind of problem with bringing the speaker as far forward from the rear wall, but then having it against the dreaded sliding glass door in the front?

Thanks,
CDL

 

[Chris Lehner]

Anyone?