surround setup, dipole and mono?

[STARSCREAM]

I'm wanting to sell my BIC acoustech setup and do some other changes to me theater room. Dadgum upgraditis is nipping at my heels! . I was wondering if most thought that using dipiole's for the side surrounds and regular mono speakers for the rear surrounds is the way to go? I thought about doing all 4 surrounds as dipoles but think I remember reading that thx or dolby suggest mono's as the rears? Right now I'm using 4 towers as my surrounds.

[Big Daddy]

Many believe that dipole speakers belonged to the Dolby Pro Logic era. I would recommend all bipole speakers or bipoles for side surrounds and mopoles for the rear. My preference is for all bipoles. For additional information, Read A Guide to Bipole and Dipole Speakers.

[STARSCREAM]

Great, awesome thread man! In your opinion is it just overkill for me to have towers as surrounds? Also, since the towers are at ear level and the side surrounds are firing directly into ear of listeners (I read it should not be setup like this because of canceling and other things) I think it would be better for me to get smaller surround speakers and hang them on wall so they are above ear level.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by STARSCREAM

Great, awesome thread man! In your opinion is it just overkill for me to have towers as surrounds? Also, since the towers are at ear level and the side surrounds are firing directly into ear of listeners (I read it should not be setup like this because of canceling and other things) I think it would be better for me to get smaller surround speakers and hang them on wall so they are above ear level.

If you were going to listen to multi-channel music only, I would say you could buy towers for surround. For movies, tower speakers are generally not recommended. You have several problems with direct-radiating towers:

• The surround speakers should not distract your attention away from the movie.
• They should help to draw you into the film. This is what surround speakers should do.
• Surround speakers are intended to reproduce ambient effects like explosions, gunfights, the hum of a spaceship, or crickets at night so they sound like they are coming from everywhere in the room — not just where your speakers are located.
• Bipoles/Dipoles have a bigger surround sweet spot than direct radiating surrounds have.
• Bipoles/Dipoles are a closer match to the surround speaker arrays found in movie theaters.

Another problem is that you do not want the bass sound to come from the fixed position of the surround speakers. In order to get good bass sound, you usually need to experiment with the placement of the subwoofer. If you buy direct-radiating tower surround speakers, it is probably best to set them to small and let the subwoofer do its job. That defeats the whole purpose of towers.

[Driver_King]

Originally Posted by STARSCREAM

In your opinion is it just overkill for me to have towers as surrounds?

I do not believe in "overkill". That is just another one of those conspiracy theories.

[Hammie]

The in-wall surrounds I am looking at have a 12V trigger to remotely change them from bi-pole to conventional mode (monopole). So, I will be able to change them for movies or music.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by louhamilton

The in-wall surrounds I am looking at have a 12V trigger to remotely change them from bi-pole to conventional mode (monopole). So, I will be able to change them for movies or music.

+1

[mtbkr]

why cant i just get one massive speaker that takes up my living room and i could just lay on it as i watch rambo. bye the way i am at the same crossroad. i was considering four dipoles.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by mtbkr

why cant i just get one massive speaker that takes up my living room and i could just lay on it as i watch rambo. bye the way i am at the same crossroad. i was considering four dipoles.

I assume you are not married. If I do anything like that, my wife will have me arrested.

[Steve]

I prefer bipoles myself. With dipoles you're supposed to sit in the "null" area, so they are position sensitive. If you're not in the null, dipoles lose a lot of their intended effect as I understand it. 4 bipoles would fill your room with sound nicely.

Something I've wondered about before and discussed some with a couple of other members here is if you're using bipoles, would 6.1 be sufficient? Or would full 7.1 still be desireable, and why? Big Daddy I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

[Yeha-Noha]

+1

A few months ago I upgraded all four surrounds in my 7.1 HT system to bipoles. The difference before and after is astounding. My friends immediately noticed a difference, liking the sound much better whether the source be 5.1 channels or 7.1.

My favorite 7.1 channel movies like 3:10 to Yuma, Forbidden Kingdom, Golden Compass, Hell Boy II and War, or 6.1 channel ones like Top Gun and Stargate are all excellent showpieces now for demoing surround sound.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by fireman325

I prefer bipoles myself. With dipoles you're supposed to sit in the "null" area, so they are position sensitive. If you're not in the null, dipoles lose a lot of their intended effect as I understand it. 4 bipoles would fill your room with sound nicely.

Something I've wondered about before and discussed some with a couple of other members here is if you're using bipoles, would 6.1 be sufficient? Or would full 7.1 still be desireable, and why? Big Daddy I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

The way bipoles fill the room, you may be very happy with 5.1 or 6.1. I will go even one step further. In some cases, a good pair of bipole front speakers alone can be very satisfactory. In two-channel music, two good and large bipole speakers can give you almost the same surround sound effect.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

The way bipoles fill the room, you may be very happy with 5.1 or 6.1. I will go even one step further. In some cases, a good pair of bipole front speakers alone can be very satisfactory. In two-channel music, two good and large bipole speakers can give you almost the same surround sound effect.

Thanks for the reply. I'm currently using bipoles in a 5.1 setup. My room only allows for a 5.1 setup, but I'm very pleased with the results I get with them. The step up they made over the cheap monopoles I had previously is pretty significant.