Who all makes bipolar/omnipolar speakers? (1 Viewer)

[Kevin C Brown]

I know there's Def Tech and Mirage. Anyone else?

I'm familiar with Def Tech, anyone have Mirage? What do you think of them?

 

[Camp]

Def Tech & Mirage are both very nice.

Other than electrostatic bipolar speakers there are several brands that offer partial bipolar speakers (Revel, NHT and others offer models with rear firing tweaters). I don't think it fair to call these bipolar though.

 

[Guy Usher]

The chemical forms of Lithium (Lithium Citrate or Carbonate) are treatments for bi-polar disorder.
Maybe this will help.

 

[Chu Gai]

omnipolar in the sense of radiating 360? ohm comes to mind.

 

[Larry B]

The best omnipolars in the world are from MBL. Unfortunately, they are phenomenally expensive.

Larry

 

[MikeH1]

Energy made bipolars but I'm not sure if they still do.

 

[Dave Getson]

I enjoy my Mirage OM-7's, but after looking at the MBL website, I would mind if someone gave me any of their products!

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Cool, I didn't know about a lot of those...

 

[BobSle]

I just bought the Mirage OMNI 250's, even after reading about how omnipolar sound "is not for everyone" . . . These took a good break-in period but they sound great now. I find them very transparent and the omnipolar arrangement creates a HUGE soundstage. No matter where you sit in my 18x20' room they sound virtually the same - great !!
Also, Mirage customer service was outstanding, even suggesting speaker placement after faxing my floorplan. They've been around a long time and are part of API (Energy, Paradigm, etc) so you should have no worries.

Good luck!!

 

[BobSle]

Oh, also suggest you do a search in AVS Forum under OMNI and you'll get some good reading on Omnipolar sound!!

 

[Jason Brent]

Yeah, those MBL's look verrrry cool

The new Omni series from Mirage sound like they have potential.

Also, Paradigm Reference used to make two bipolar models, the Esprit and the Eclipse. But they are several years old.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Those Omnipolar's are intriguing. (I like bipolars in general, because they aren't as finicky about being placed close to a wall as direct radiators.)

Oh, I think it's Energy, Mirage, and Athena, not Paradigm, that are part of API.

I haven't had a chance to look yet, but if anyone comes across a review of the Omnis with a freq response plot (impedance curve, off-axis reponse, etc), I'd be interested...

 

[Dave Getson]

Also, Mirage customer service was outstanding

I agree. Almost 2 years after purchasing my speakers, I sent them an email in search of threaded rods so I could use the brass feet that came with them. They wrote back the same day and I recieved the rods less than 2 weeks later (although 1 of them was no usable so I need another one). But they also sent me more carpet spikes and rubber feet too.....all free of charge.

Thank you Mirage!!

Edit: I just checked my email and sure enough, they are going to send me another one. Terrific!!

 

[Jason Brent]

Kevin,

This is just my personal experience, but when I had the Paradigm Reference Esprit's, they were much more difficult to place than direct radiators.

They had to be pulled out so far from the wall, that they didn't look right in the HT. Now, when they were pulled out over 3 ft from the wall, they sounded great, but it looked real funny.

I have since went with the Studio 60's and I can get them back in line with my center channel (on top of the TV) and they sound fine there.

Just my personal experience. Now DefTech claims that their bipolars can be placed closer to the wall than other bipolar offerings, but other than brief auditions in a showroom, I can't confirm this.

 

[Philip-j]

I think Mirage speakers are tremendous. I have had a pair
of M5's for over ten years and have been very satisifed with their quality and sound. I have recently transformed my stereo set up to HT and the M5's have become the surrounds. I now have om7's up front. I was skeptical at first of their "omnipolar" claims believing it was more advertising and rhetoric than reality. I was also aware that Mirage did not or could not register "bipolar" as a trademark so I was doubtful. However, my sekpticism was unfounded as the new omni series do create a wider and more dispersed sounstage than the older bipolar series. My m5's, for example, have a narrow null point directly to the side of the speakers, wherease, the om7's do not.

Mirage have been very helpful and quick to respond to any concerns I have had over the years. The only drawback to their speakers is that they require a lot of space to the back and sides to create the spacious soundstage they are noted for. And they are finicky in placement--and six inches here and there makes a lot of difference in their sound; thus, they required patience and some trial and error for initial placement.

That being said, some people prefer pin point imaging to the spaceiousness of the biplar sound. Personally, I appreciate both, but the Mirages have won me over. Also, I have hear other bipolar designs and I do not believe they compare favourably with the Mirages if your first priority is music. DefTechs, for example, can recreate convincing movie soundtracks, but they are less stellar for pure music. Any, thats my take....

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Yeah, I'm looking at them for surrounds (towers or bookshelves) & rears (bookshelves). I figure (and I've read) that bipolars (and theoretically omnipolars as well) are a nice compromise between the localization (bad) and imaging (good) of monopoles vs dipoles (good & bad, respectively) for this role.

 

[Craig]

I've had Mirage OM10s as my main speakers for over 3 years, I've really enjoyed them. I paid $700 for the pair and thought they were a very good value at that price. I was going to go with a pair of Boston Acoustic floorstanding speakers but when I heard the OM10s I bought them immediately. If you like the sound of bipolar speakers I'd definitely recommned you give Mirage a listen.

 

[John A. Casler]

Hi Kevin,

The Speaker from VMPS "called" the DIPOLE is actually a BIPOLE.

Your intended use is something I have done often myself.

In this atmosphere of 5.1/6.1/7.1 and multichannel music, different "radiation" configurations are needed for different software.

A Bipole, mounted on a movable speaker stand allows you to either face the speaker toward you for localization or have the two faces facing away from you for a more diffuse almost 360 degree radiation pattern (it has no null like a dipole).

I would however take issue that they can effectivley be placed close to the wall if one face is directly facing you. I have found that they must be well away from the wall to sound their best when "facing" that way.

John

 

[BobSle]

Kevin:
I listened to Ray Montford (if you never heard him do yourself a favor and buy a CD!) tonight on the OMNI250's.
These speaks are way cool. Placement is no issue at all and those that say omnipolar sound is lousy due to bad imaging never listened to these Mirages. I closed my eyes and I could place each instrument, yet the soundstage was enormous. Depth is the best way to describe it. I heard the drum beat back and to the right as the electric guitar played to the left. ALOT of detail.
I had a smoke in the bathroom and I"M NOT KIDDING, I lost MAYBE 20% of the sound through the door. Not unusual? The bathroom is AT A 90degree ANGLE TO THE SPEAKERS!! There was depth in soundsatge to be heard through a door and AT A 90 degree ANGLE!! It's hard even for me to believe but I heard it!!
Defintiely try these out!!

 

[Kevin C Brown]

OK, I have to check the omnis out. I've actually had Def Tech for years, but I can imagine that the Omnis might be a small step up just because of the true 360 dispersion pattern.