To Dipole or to not Dipole?

[Kclman]

Hello,

Just about to purchase my first 5.1 setup.

I have a few question regarding dipoles I'm hoping somone would be kind enough to help me with. I am purchasing the system to apreciate films (80%) and music (20%).

I have heard that fx speakers real help to create a more immersive enviroment. Is this correct?

The room they will be going into is a large rectangle that has been split into a dining area and a sitting room, the screen will be on one end and I was wondering if it is ok to mount these speakers on stands, or perhaps build some sort of mount on the side walls?

What happens when you play an audio dvd through this sort of setup?


Thanks for all your help.

KC.

 

[Knyght_byte]

if you only want 5.1, then to be honest most times you actually want them configured as bipoles, not dipoles.......dipoles are more useful in a 7.1 system as the side speakers...

for DVD-A/SACD multichannel music i'd be inclined to suggest using normal speakers as rears tho.......however for DVD Video music DVD's.....tbh it wont make a lot of difference, most of the rear information in those tends to be crowd noise.....sometimes the music, depends on the genre usually....


i use both in my setup, when i listen to movies i have a 7.1 setup with 2 pairs of SFX speakers, 1 pair as sides set to dipole, another pair as rears set to bipole......but when i put on multichannel music, both these pairs get turned off and a third pair of rears, normal monopole stereo speakers get switched in......my amp allows connecting 9 speakers in total, altho it can only power 7 at once (well, technically it can power all 9, but only if the side dipoles and monopole rears for music speakers are both rated around 12ohms.....otherwise it would say noooooooo and blow up or something...lol)

 

[NonPayingMember]

If you can get away with putting the two rears all the way over in the dining room (and so long as the room isn't too narrow) I would then use direct radiating speakers (monopoles) mounted on the far rear wall.

However I do like to create a more diffuse soundfield (i.e. using dipoles or tripoles) where speaker placement at the rear is going to be less than ideal. With speakers too close to you (sofa on back wall), or not at the right kind of angle behind you, using monopoles in this situation makes the rear sound too directional/identifiable and can become a distraction hence the use of dipoles and a diffuse field.

The THX standard actually encourages dipoles for a diffuse surround field all the time, I don't really agree with this. I find it only really promotes a system that is trying to sound like it is in a bigger room/theatre rather than concentrating on it sounding like what the thing making the noise on the screen should sound like.

I have this discussion with all kinds of people in the industry, and we all tend to disagree one way or another!! I reckon all in all it's gotta be what sounds best for you (and what annoys the wife the least!).

 

[Steve.EX]

I have this discussion with all kinds of people in the industry, and we all tend to disagree one way or another!! I reckon all in all it's gotta be what sounds best for you (and what annoys the wife the least!).

Too true.
I have been a dipole fan for many years now (and am the proud owner of Kef 206ds).
If correctly setup the are totally invisible in the soundscape and offer a depth of soundstage and immersion into the effects channel that mono/bipoles cannot match.
My personal opinion only of course.

 

[Rob Sinden]

You really must try and get a listen to the M&K SS150THX's surround speakers. They combine the benefits of a direct radiating speakers (detail and localisation) and a diffused soundfield.
IMO they give the best detail and panning available, plus of course they are what most major film makers use to make their films on....oh and they are small!

 

[NonPayingMember]

You really must try and get a listen to the M&K SS150THX's surround speakers. They combine the benefits of a direct radiating speakers (detail and localisation) and a diffused soundfield.
IMO they give the best detail and panning available, plus of course they are what most major film makers use to make their films on....oh and they are small!

Agreed.

Although I think you'll find in the studios they use 6 equidistant direct radiators around the studio and not the tripoles for rears.

 

[Reel To Reel]

Too true.
I have been a dipole fan for many years now (and am the proud owner of Kef 206ds).
If correctly setup the are totally invisible in the soundscape and offer a depth of soundstage and immersion into the effects channel that mono/bipoles cannot match.
My personal opinion only of course.

Hi Steve

do you use rear's in addition?

how do you find the 206ds's for music