Wesman Home Theater

[Josuah]

Pictures

• Emotiva DMC-1
• Emotiva MPS-1 (7 channel)
• OPPO OPDV971H
• Behringer FBQ2496
• Apple iBook 466SE
• AirPort Express
• Hitachi PJTX100
• Monitor Audio Silver: S8, LCR, Sfx (2 pair)
• Dual SVS 16-46PC+
• Cables: Home Depot, Blue Jeans Cable, Hosa, Monster
• 92" DIY blackout cloth screen
• 8'x4' DIY panel trap
• DIY IS300 acoustic panels
• Velvet curtains, blackout cloth lighting control, ceiling fabric canopy

[GregBe]

As a fellow Monitor Audio owner, I am curious whether you have your surrounds in bipole or dipole. I am going back and forth for different reasons, and was curious how you have yours set.

[Josuah]

I have my surrounds in bipole (both sides in-phase) because my room doesn't really have many walls to reflect sound, and I put acoustical treatments on the walls and ceilings at the first reflection points of my surrounds to make it sound less echoey.

But mostly because I've found that movies will use the surrounds for localized sounds in addition to ambient sounds and thus I want to be able to localize the source. Also, multi-channel audio assumes localizable sound in the surrounds.

If I upgrade my surrounds (not sure if I want to) I would probably get direct firing, like bookshelves. Particularly because tweeters are so directional and I don't want to hear those frequencies due to reflection.

[Sonnie]

I have mine bipole right now too. Supposedly you get better bass response from bipole. It's also my understanding that for dipole use it's better to have the null of the speaker directly to the side. This from Brian Chaney of VMPS... FWIW.

[Josuah]

In dipole mode, isn't the null resulting from dipole operation required to be along the center line of the speaker? According to physics?

[GregBe]

Josuah wrote:

In dipole mode, isn't the null resulting from dipole operation required to be along the center line of the speaker? According to physics?

Dipoles are designed so that they are placed to your sides, with drivers/tweeters firing to the front and back of the room. This is where I have mine placed, so both dipole/bipole would work in my situation. I currently am in agreement with you guys and have mine set to bipole. It has a little more direction to it. In certain situations, I do like dipole's more diffuse sound, as it gives me a more engulfing feeling, but I feel it lacks a little of the detail that bipole has. I think I will leave it in bipole for a week or so, and then try dipole for a while. This switching back and forth is driving me nuts.