Finally move away from direct fire surrounds after years of use. In my experience your setup and room dimensions are key, When I had a 5.1 setup using direct firing surrounds (mounted 8 feet to the rear of setting positions) it gave a real nice immersive feeling. Once I went to 7.2 I could tell I needed to look at bi-polar type as the sides surrounds keep the direct fire ones in the rear. The real Key in this setup is the room, I have the space that allows my setup to breath and not clash into one another making the overall sound seem mashed together. My front Towers are 10 feet from the side surrounds that are mounted 2 feet above the listening position, then the rears are 8 feet behind the listening position, mounted 3 feet above listening position. You can have top of the line gear, but if you don't have the space to properly place it then you will always have a compromised listening experience.
I use Arendal's tri-axial dipole surrounds for my side surrounds as they are placed in between two rows. I think that is the perfect use case for them. Otherwise, direct radiating everywhere else.
i actually use a pair of bi-pole speakers but use them opposite (left on right, right on left). i use them specifically because my couch is very close to my back wall and i can wall mount the bi-poles and face tweeter-mid side of the bi-pole at my listening position. the opposite side of the speaker is a tweeter and port. it's not perfect but just a bit more convenient than stand mounting bookshelf speakers either side of the couch.
I just switched from bipole to monopole for my side surrounds. My living room is small and although the bipoles were great when I had a 5.1 system, they interfered with my 7.2.4 upgrade. My sound system consists of 4 SVS Ultra Bookshelf speakers (2 for the mains and 2 for the side channels), an SVS Ultra Center speaker, 6 SVS Prime Elevation speakers (4 ceiling mounted for Dolby Atmos and 2 mounted on the rear wall for the rear channels) and 2 SVS SB-3000 Subwoofers. The system is powered by a Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A8A 11 channel AVR connected to a Panamax M5400-PM Power Conditioner.
I have owned home theaters for long time it's been my hobby for many years and i have never have tried bipolar speakers but what you say makes a lot of sense and i think im going to stick to my monopole bookspeakers
Good video. I have Definitive Technology bipoles on the sides and bookshelfs on the rear. I didn’t lose any sense of direction in action movies. Music sounds more room filling and this was after much experimentation.
Hello. I'm a carpenter and last year I did a remodel where the homeowner didn't want to use his in-wall Definitive Technology bipoles. He gave them to me and once I looked up the quality and price ($578/each) I knew I wanted to use them. Mainly because my room is only 14 feet wide and bookshelves on the wall just seems too close to the couch (ears). Best Buy currently has the Yamaha RX-A8A for $800 off and I pulled the trigger and got it yesterday. First step is to cut holes in the wall and run wires. Unfortunately I'm only 85% sure I want to do this so I'm here researching the pros and cons. How wide is your room and how far are the bipoles from seating? Can you still tell the sound is coming from behind or do the rears get mixed in with the surrounds (bipoles)? I'm currently going to do a 7.1.4 but might add another sub in the center of the rear wall. I'm so unsure about it I'm frozen with indecisiveness. Lastly, I feel pretty sure that the only other alternative is to keep it 5.1.4 without side surrounds. Which means I don't have to do anything which sounds kind of nice too. Thanks, and please reply within a half hour so I can get started. :)
I'm using monitor Audio Silver's dipole dipole speakers. I can't put my speakers on the side like you should because I have doors either side of me. So I have to put my speakers behind me. And with these speakers going flat to the wall I thought it was the best of the situation. And to me they sound good we have to work around the problem we've got in our room👍
Great video & subject! I'm old school and the early days of surround didn't offer too many options. My first dedicated home theater was truly immersive, due to the use of Martin Logan Ascents and Cinema center electrostatics for the fronts. Those were bipole by design... The belief, at that time, was dipolar for side surrounds. Atlantic Technologies (AT) provided the best solution because they were high-end in-walls that could be switched between modes. Bipole/Dipole/Monopole. I also used a pair of AT basic inwalls for the rears (at that time all rear soundtracks were mono). The dipole surrounds provided the perfect partnership with the Logans which placed you inside the movie or even the music! The first movie to watch on that system was "Saving Private Ryan". I can still hear bullets flying by my head...what a great first experience! Today, in my much smaller office/study, I still use dipole surrounds!!!
I’ve used Fluance bipole speakers and thought they were amazing. Used them as side surrounds because a bookshelf would have been way to close for my room.
Like Adam Jannetta, I use the Arendal TriAxial surround speakers. I use them as surround back channels. They distribute the sound evenly across the back row of seats. Mine are the 1723 Surround THX and they sound phenomenal.
I ran bipole for a while for my rear surrounds in 5.1. they did a good job creating immersion, but I then bit the bullet and installed in wall direct radiating. The look is cleaner but I do miss the diffuse sound of ambient effects. to me, ambient effects and music are more noticeable in surround mixes than accurate point location of individual objects.
I just installed bipole speakers as rear surrounds. I’m not so sure that I’m feeling them that much. I like the directionality of bookshelf speakers, I think.
I don't know if you were purposely focusing on direct radiating speakers and bipole speakers, there are also dipole speakers, (looks the same as bipole)which are supposed to produce a more diffuse sound field by wiring the drivers facing front and back out of phase to create a null in the direction of the listener.
dipole is great for older systems if people still use pro-logic and similar but with most everything being point source based now (atmos etc.) it's ideal to use direct radiating speakers. that said i use bi-pole speakers solely for convenience (aka, the wife won! lol)
hello if i may ask: in 5.1 setup, if surrounds are bipole speakers, where is the correct placement for them? on the sides or rear and on ear level or higher? ty
I have bipole for surrounds in a 5.1.4 setup. Because of space, I can't do rears so I think they work for me. I have bookshelf speakers and I switch them out from time to time but I like the bipole better.
With all due respect Kyle you've ignored the concept of bipolar towers altogether. BP TOWERS are not to be relegated to the front L/R only. My 7.1.2 or 5.1.4 set-up utilises the matching BP towers as bed layer all around,... EXCEPT the centre channel. Smaller Bipolar units from '80s and '90s were hung upon a wall to promote a difuse sound vs huge expensive arrays of speakers, as in commercial theatre layout. THEN, BP towers became popular (if you had the space of course) for home theatre. I started with DEF TECH BP10S as my L/Rs... then I rounded out my 5.1 and then 7.1 system out with all matching towers that always pointed towards my MLP, NOT pointed along the wall at all. In essence I have "direct"-radiating driver towers that happen to be from a BP unit. Forward Backwards sound. I get an extremely WIDE and DEEP soundstage that makes the walls melt away. The BPs even made the height sounds more noticable, well before I added Atmos enabled unitss to the mix. I can't recommend to you enough these BP towers for you to try. BUT DO THEM ALL AROUND BED LAYER... not piecemeal, with only a single pair here vs there. 😊👍 Good luck
This video wasn't at all to address Bipole towers as it only focuses on surround sound speakers and only a handfull of consumers use towers in the rears or def tech bipole speakers in general.
That doesn't make sense to me. Why would you buy a speaker that fires back into the screen or front wall. FW should be monopole and aimed at the MLP. FW's are just an extension of the front stage, and bridge the gap to the side surrounds.
I have Def Tech bipole speakers for my surrounds. I have had them for a while, and are working fine in my setup!
Finally move away from direct fire surrounds after years of use. In my experience your setup and room dimensions are key, When I had a 5.1 setup using direct firing surrounds (mounted 8 feet to the rear of setting positions) it gave a real nice immersive feeling. Once I went to 7.2 I could tell I needed to look at bi-polar type as the sides surrounds keep the direct fire ones in the rear. The real Key in this setup is the room, I have the space that allows my setup to breath and not clash into one another making the overall sound seem mashed together. My front Towers are 10 feet from the side surrounds that are mounted 2 feet above the listening position, then the rears are 8 feet behind the listening position, mounted 3 feet above listening position. You can have top of the line gear, but if you don't have the space to properly place it then you will always have a compromised listening experience.
I use Arendal's tri-axial dipole surrounds for my side surrounds as they are placed in between two rows. I think that is the perfect use case for them. Otherwise, direct radiating everywhere else.
Good, well thought-out and well explained video. Nice job!
@@danlong6162 I appreciate it
i actually use a pair of bi-pole speakers but use them opposite (left on right, right on left). i use them specifically because my couch is very close to my back wall and i can wall mount the bi-poles and face tweeter-mid side of the bi-pole at my listening position. the opposite side of the speaker is a tweeter and port. it's not perfect but just a bit more convenient than stand mounting bookshelf speakers either side of the couch.
I just switched from bipole to monopole for my side surrounds. My living room is small and although the bipoles were great when I had a 5.1 system, they interfered with my 7.2.4 upgrade. My sound system consists of 4 SVS Ultra Bookshelf speakers (2 for the mains and 2 for the side channels), an SVS Ultra Center speaker, 6 SVS Prime Elevation speakers (4 ceiling mounted for Dolby Atmos and 2 mounted on the rear wall for the rear channels) and 2 SVS SB-3000 Subwoofers. The system is powered by a Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A8A 11 channel AVR connected to a Panamax M5400-PM Power Conditioner.
I have used dipoles for surrounds and they done well.
I have owned home theaters for long time it's been my hobby for many years and i have never have tried bipolar speakers but what you say makes a lot of sense and i think im going to stick to my monopole bookspeakers
Good video. I have Definitive Technology bipoles on the sides and bookshelfs on the rear. I didn’t lose any sense of direction in action movies. Music sounds more room filling and this was after much experimentation.
Hello. I'm a carpenter and last year I did a remodel where the homeowner didn't want to use his in-wall Definitive Technology bipoles. He gave them to me and once I looked up the quality and price ($578/each) I knew I wanted to use them. Mainly because my room is only 14 feet wide and bookshelves on the wall just seems too close to the couch (ears). Best Buy currently has the Yamaha RX-A8A for $800 off and I pulled the trigger and got it yesterday. First step is to cut holes in the wall and run wires. Unfortunately I'm only 85% sure I want to do this so I'm here researching the pros and cons. How wide is your room and how far are the bipoles from seating? Can you still tell the sound is coming from behind or do the rears get mixed in with the surrounds (bipoles)? I'm currently going to do a 7.1.4 but might add another sub in the center of the rear wall. I'm so unsure about it I'm frozen with indecisiveness. Lastly, I feel pretty sure that the only other alternative is to keep it 5.1.4 without side surrounds. Which means I don't have to do anything which sounds kind of nice too. Thanks, and please reply within a half hour so I can get started. :)
Very well explained
I'm using monitor Audio Silver's dipole dipole speakers. I can't put my speakers on the side like you should because I have doors either side of me. So I have to put my speakers behind me. And with these speakers going flat to the wall I thought it was the best of the situation. And to me they sound good we have to work around the problem we've got in our room👍
Great video & subject! I'm old school and the early days of surround didn't offer too many options. My first dedicated home theater was truly immersive, due to the use of Martin Logan Ascents and Cinema center electrostatics for the fronts. Those were bipole by design... The belief, at that time, was dipolar for side surrounds. Atlantic Technologies (AT) provided the best solution because they were high-end in-walls that could be switched between modes. Bipole/Dipole/Monopole. I also used a pair of AT basic inwalls for the rears (at that time all rear soundtracks were mono). The dipole surrounds provided the perfect partnership with the Logans which placed you inside the movie or even the music! The first movie to watch on that system was "Saving Private Ryan". I can still hear bullets flying by my head...what a great first experience!
Today, in my much smaller office/study, I still use dipole surrounds!!!
I’ve used Fluance bipole speakers and thought they were amazing. Used them as side surrounds because a bookshelf would have been way to close for my room.
Great explanation 🤝🏾
Great video. As you said always experiment with your system, every situation, system and room is different.
Like Adam Jannetta, I use the Arendal TriAxial surround speakers. I use them as surround back channels. They distribute the sound evenly across the back row of seats. Mine are the 1723 Surround THX and they sound phenomenal.
I ran bipole for a while for my rear surrounds in 5.1. they did a good job creating immersion, but I then bit the bullet and installed in wall direct radiating. The look is cleaner but I do miss the diffuse sound of ambient effects. to me, ambient effects and music are more noticeable in surround mixes than accurate point location of individual objects.
Standmount Speakers are Better for Music in Surround Sound Music Concerts
I just installed bipole speakers as rear surrounds. I’m not so sure that I’m feeling them that much. I like the directionality of bookshelf speakers, I think.
I use bi-pole for my side speakers. I think they sound good.
Hi...how it is with bipol....it is the same like bookshelp
No
I don't know if you were purposely focusing on direct radiating speakers and bipole speakers, there are also dipole speakers, (looks the same as bipole)which are supposed to produce a more diffuse sound field by wiring the drivers facing front and back out of phase to create a null in the direction of the listener.
Yeah was purposely leaving it dipole since they have a middle driver
dipole is great for older systems if people still use pro-logic and similar but with most everything being point source based now (atmos etc.) it's ideal to use direct radiating speakers. that said i use bi-pole speakers solely for convenience (aka, the wife won! lol)
I use bipolar speakers for the surrounds exclusively. Much more immersive type of sound.
hello if i may ask: in 5.1 setup, if surrounds are bipole speakers, where is the correct placement for them? on the sides or rear and on ear level or higher? ty
The side is best. Ear level
I have bipole for surrounds in a 5.1.4 setup. Because of space, I can't do rears so I think they work for me. I have bookshelf speakers and I switch them out from time to time but I like the bipole better.
hello sir may i ask the placement of the bipole speakers ? are they on ear level or higher?
I have mine on a stand,ear level.
Good video!
Thank you!
With all due respect Kyle you've ignored the concept of bipolar towers altogether.
BP TOWERS are not to be relegated to the front L/R only.
My 7.1.2 or 5.1.4 set-up utilises the matching BP towers as bed layer all around,... EXCEPT the centre channel.
Smaller Bipolar units from '80s and '90s were hung upon a wall to promote a difuse sound vs huge expensive arrays of speakers, as in commercial theatre layout.
THEN, BP towers became popular (if you had the space of course) for home theatre.
I started with DEF TECH BP10S as my L/Rs... then I rounded out my 5.1 and then 7.1 system out with all matching towers that always pointed towards my MLP, NOT pointed along the wall at all.
In essence I have "direct"-radiating driver towers that happen to be from a BP unit. Forward Backwards sound.
I get an extremely WIDE and DEEP soundstage that makes the walls melt away. The BPs even made the height sounds more noticable, well before I added Atmos enabled unitss to the mix.
I can't recommend to you enough these BP towers for you to try. BUT DO THEM ALL AROUND BED LAYER... not piecemeal, with only a single pair here vs there.
😊👍
Good luck
This video wasn't at all to address Bipole towers as it only focuses on surround sound speakers and only a handfull of consumers use towers in the rears or def tech bipole speakers in general.
Great video and information! I to have a Def Tech 7-channel bed layer setup (LCR-9080s, Surr-9080s, and 8060-Surr Back.)
You're the third person I've heard say to go with monopole speakers, which sounds good to me... I don't have to buy bipoles.
Btw nice car it’s fire
I appreciate it
Bipole speakers would be amazing for front wides since they are designed differently
That doesn't make sense to me. Why would you buy a speaker that fires back into the screen or front wall. FW should be monopole and aimed at the MLP. FW's are just an extension of the front stage, and bridge the gap to the side surrounds.
K pace guy I literally live around the corner from you
Oh yeah?