A Guide to Bipolar, Dipolar, & Direct-Radiating Monopole Surround Speakers (PART I)

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Clueless Joe

Guys, I need some help upgrading my side surrounds in my 5.1 system. I currently am using Polk RM 95's for surrounds. I need a stand mountable surround as my wife wont allow me to attach speakers to the wall of our living room. Any ideas for a reasonably priced replacement speaker. Procinema 800's, Mirage Nanosats?? What do you think?

Buy a pair of speaker stands of appropriate height and then place two bipole speakers on them. For stability, use industrial strength velcro. They are available at Home Depot and Wal-Mart.

http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=509308
http://www.standsandmounts.com/speakerstands.aspx
http://www.speakerstandsonline.com/Q...ds-C40179.html
http://www.racksandstands.com/Speaker-Stands-C7.html

[Clueless Joe]

So you think bipoles are the way to go?? Are my 3 foot stands high enough?Which bipoles do you recommend? Dont want to break the bank.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Clueless Joe

So you think bipoles are the way to go?? Are my 3 foot stands high enough?Which bipoles do you recommend? Dont want to break the bank.

Bipoles are pretty flexible as far as surround applications are concerned. Ideally, for movie applications, surround speakers should be two to three feet above the head when you are sitting down, but we all have to make compromises.

[Clueless Joe]

I am looking for something that sounds good but isnt too large,( Dont want to piss off the wife), I saw soem bipole surrounds made be Aperian that looked good. What about the Mirage Omnipoles, are they any good?

[Clueless Joe]

Bipoles, not Dipoles, right?

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Clueless Joe

Bipoles, not Dipoles, right?

Originally Posted by Clueless Joe

I am looking for something that sounds good but isnt too large,( Dont want to piss off the wife), I saw soem bipole surrounds made be Aperian that looked good. What about the Mirage Omnipoles, are they any good?

Both Aperion and Mirage make good speakers. Bipole surround speakers are more flexible than dipole surround speakers. For dipole speakers to work properly, they need to be placed exactly in the right spot. Another option for you that won't break the bank is Level Two or Level Three bipole speakers from Home Theater Direct (HTD).

http://www.htd.com/Products/level-th...THREE-Surround
http://www.htd.com/Products/level-tw...l-TWO-Surround

[Drakul]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Bipole surround speakers are more flexible than dipole surround speakers. For dipole speakers to work properly, they need to be placed exactly in the right spot.

But then does that mean that only the person sitting in the sweet spot gets the best effect and the one sitting at the edge of the row get a lesser one?

My theater room is kind of weird shaped as the left wall starts slanting at 7' but the right one does so around 9'.

[Clueless Joe]

Big Daddy, With the fact that i cannot wall mount my surrounds & have to use 3 foot stands, am i still better off with a bipole surround? Will they still work well only being slightly above my head? Or am i better off with a monopole or something like the Mirage Prestige Omnipole? The speakers will have to go on the stand & i have seen some that are ported on the bottom, wont work if mounted on a stand.I have stands that are made to hold the Polk RM95's.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Drakul

But then does that mean that only the person sitting in the sweet spot gets the best effect and the one sitting at the edge of the row get a lesser one?

My theater room is kind of weird shaped as the left wall starts slanting at 7' but the right one does so around 9'.

For dipole side surround speakers, it is recommended that you sit in their null spot. That means the people sitting on the main row of seats benefit the most.

Originally Posted by Clueless Joe

Big Daddy, With the fact that i cannot wall mount my surrounds & have to use 3 foot stands, am i still better off with a bipole surround? Will they still work well only being slightly above my head? Or am i better off with a monopole or something like the Mirage Prestige Omnipole? The speakers will have to go on the stand & i have seen some that are ported on the bottom, wont work if mounted on a stand.I have stands that are made to hold the Polk RM95's.

For movies, I recommend bipole surround speakers over monople speakers in almost all situations. Monople surround speakers may be a better option for multi-channel music such as 5.1 SACDs.

[Clueless Joe]

Big Daddy, Thanks for all your help, you seem to know this stuff inside & out. When the time & money come for my upgrade, i will be glad i came here for answers. Have narrowed my options to 3. The Aperion ,Def Tech 8040's, or the HTD surrounds. Any one in particular that you would recommend? I hope this to be my last time bugging you!! HAHA!!
Thanks again in advance,Marty

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Clueless Joe

Big Daddy, Thanks for all your help, you seem to know this stuff inside & out. When the time & money come for my upgrade, i will be glad i came here for answers. Have narrowed my options to 3. The Aperion ,Def Tech 8040's, or the HTD surrounds. Any one in particular that you would recommend? I hope this to be my last time bugging you!! HAHA!!
Thanks again in advance,Marty

All three options are good and will satisfy your needs. If money is important, get the HTD.

[frogmort]

Hello Big Daddy.

I've been looking into upgrading my speakers for a while now, and I would like to stick with one particular brand for the fronts and surrounds. I was going to go with Def Techs, but they discontinued the ones I was looking at literally days after I finally decided on them.

I want to pick a brand that offers bipole surrounds, and from the searches that I've done, I've noticed that you've recommended HTD level three speakers many times. They are really nice looking speakers, and the use of ribbon tweeters is really appealing to me. They are also fairly affordable, which is a big plus for me too.

Anyway, my question is, have you had any first hand experience with these speakers? If so, how good would you say that they are? I still have my entry level Polks, which are okay, but I really want to make a very significant step up in quality. Basically, I want to get some "high-end" speakers for entry/mid-level prices, and so far, these seem like the best quality/price ratio that I've found.

I have a very limited budget, and this will be a big move for me, and I just want to make the most informed decision that I can. I don't want to make a slight step up, I want something that I can be very happy with for many years to come.

You are the most trusted/informed source of this kind of information that I know of, and I really appreciate all of your help.

Thanks again!

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by frogmort

Hello Big Daddy.

I've been looking into upgrading my speakers for a while now, and I would like to stick with one particular brand for the fronts and surrounds. I was going to go with Def Techs, but they discontinued the ones I was looking at literally days after I finally decided on them.

I want to pick a brand that offers bipole surrounds, and from the searches that I've done, I've noticed that you've recommended HTD level three speakers many times. They are really nice looking speakers, and the use of ribbon tweeters is really appealing to me. They are also fairly affordable, which is a big plus for me too.

Anyway, my question is, have you had any first hand experience with these speakers? If so, how good would you say that they are? I still have my entry level Polks, which are okay, but I really want to make a very significant step up in quality. Basically, I want to get some "high-end" speakers for entry/mid-level prices, and so far, these seem like the best quality/price ratio that I've found.

I have a very limited budget, and this will be a big move for me, and I just want to make the most informed decision that I can. I don't want to make a slight step up, I want something that I can be very happy with for many years to come.

You are the most trusted/informed source of this kind of information that I know of, and I really appreciate all of your help.

Thanks again!

My only experience is that I briefly heard the HTD front speakers at a friend's house several years ago. They sounded pretty good for the money. They are a factory-direct company and get good reviews. Another factory-direct company with good speakers and reasonable prices is EMP Tek.

[frogmort]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

My only experience is that I briefly heard the HTD front speakers at a friend's house several years ago. They sounded pretty good for the money. They are a factory-direct company and get good reviews. Another factory-direct company with good speakers and reasonable prices is EMP Tek.

Thanks again, Big Daddy!

[frogmort]

I just ordered the Home Theater Direct Level Three center channel speaker!

I plan to eventually get the bipoles for my side and rear surrounds, and either the towers or bookshelves for my fronts. I'm not sure if the bookshelves single 6.5" driver would have the depth and power to compete with the center channels dual 6.5" drivers, or the surrounds dual 5.25" drivers. The towers have dual 7" and a 2" mid. The bookshelves are $500 less than the towers.

I really don't want to sell myself short on the main front speakers, but if the bookshelves could do the job, that would be much more affordable. I do have an Acoustic Audio HD-SUB12 and a Boston Acoustics HPS-12HO, both 12" subs, if that makes a difference.

What do you think?

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by frogmort

I just ordered the Home Theater Direct Level Three center channel speaker!

I plan to eventually get the bipoles for my side and rear surrounds, and either the towers or bookshelves for my fronts. I'm not sure if the bookshelves single 6.5" driver would have the depth and power to compete with the center channels dual 6.5" drivers, or the surrounds dual 5.25" drivers. The towers have dual 7" and a 2" mid. The bookshelves are $500 less than the towers.

I really don't want to sell myself short on the main front speakers, but if the bookshelves could do the job, that would be much more affordable. I do have an Acoustic Audio HD-SUB12 and a Boston Acoustics HPS-12HO, both 12" subs, if that makes a difference.

What do you think?

Congratulations on your new purchase.

In most cases, bookshelf speakers can work well if you blend and and calibrate them properly with the subwoofers. Of course, the placement of the subwoofers are also very important.

[cyde]

First off great thread, BD. Informative as ever. So I'm looking to pick up a pair of bi-pole speakers for surrounds. Thumbed through this thread and these looked good for the price (budget is $300).

PA-6S ($220 or less - not sure how low they'll go with their make an offer option)
HTD Level 2 ($260)
Polk LSiFX surrounds ($280 used, local deal)

What would you guys go with? I'm leaning towards the Polks since they have pretty good reviews, and I haven't read much about the either two.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by cyde

First off great thread, BD. Informative as ever. So I'm looking to pick up a pair of bi-pole speakers for surrounds. Thumbed through this thread and these looked good for the price (budget is $300).

PA-6S ($220 or less - not sure how low they'll go with their make an offer option)
HTD Level 2 ($260)
Polk LSiFX surrounds ($280 used, local deal)

What would you guys go with? I'm leaning towards the Polks since they have pretty good reviews, and I haven't read much about the either two.

The Polk bipole speakers are pretty good. There are advantages when you buy from local dealers. If anything is wrong with the speakers, you can easily exchange them.

[cyde]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

The Polk bipole speakers are pretty good. There are advantages when you buy from local dealers. If anything is wrong with the speakers, you can easily exchange them.

Returns would not be possible since it's a CL deal. One thing that concerns me is that the LSiFX speakers are 4 ohm, and my Denon AVR-1911 is rated 6-16 ohm. But they're surrounds, so my receiver wouldn't be working too hard to drive them (right)?

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by cyde

Returns would not be possible since it's a CL deal. One thing that concerns me is that the LSiFX speakers are 4 ohm, and my Denon AVR-1911 is rated 6-16 ohm. But they're surrounds, so my receiver wouldn't be working too hard to drive them (right)?

You will probably be ok with 4-ohm surround speakers, but why take the risk. Buy another brand with 8-ohm impedance.