Which speakers have wide dispersion?

Thanks for the mention, Shadorne!

At this point only one of my speakers would qualify as "wide dispersion", and that's my big Dream Makers, which are bipolar (kinda like their designer). But instead of the pattern being very wide primarily in the forward hemisphere, it's 90 degrees wide both front and back.

I chose this configuration because it's desirable to have as long a time delay as practical before the onset of the increased reverberant energy, and in most rooms the geometry works out to give a longer time delay if the extra energy is directed to the rear rather than to the sides.

As a longtime SoundLab owner and dealer, my observations echo those of Twb2. In fact, my bipolars deliberately seek to emulate the radiation pattern geometry that SoundLab designer Roger West used in the big A-1; that is, 90 degrees wide, both front and back. I received a Golden Ear award from Robert E. Greene for my bipolar, so maybe it works.

Duke
dealer/manufacturer

Any Shahinian speakers, but Obelisks come to mind first and followed by Dhalquist Dq-10

Find out whether you like omni type speakers, cheaply. Parts Express has a close out of the xbox Spherex speakers. I have the original xbox spherex system and it is amazing. I think you can get a pair for $50.

Pedrillo - wide dispersion is possible in a conventional speaker and it is also possible in an omni directional speaker (Beolab 5, Ohms, MBL)

However, contrary to popular belief - a large panel tends to have a narrow dispersion and suffer from lobbing - this tends to result in a smaller sweetspot. Of course the back wave from a panel creates an impressive ambience but this quite different from a point source with wide even dispersion. IMHO.

Because Omni's and most panels excite a backwave towards the wall behind the speaker they will be more restricted in terms of placement - however they will have a wide sweetpot.

Panels tend to have a smaller sweetspot beaming/lobbing and are also restricted in placement due to the backwave.

Originally I thought your thread was about wide dispersion - my initial comments refer to that. Wide dispersion gives a natural sound form a wide variety of positions.

Although Pedrillo asked about 'wide dispersion' I think what he was, unknowingly (perhaps), looking for speakers which created a huge soundfield while retaining fidelity to the recording (pin point in the sweetspot/nearfield). Just a guess though. What he may not realize that there is no perfect speaker design, everything has built in compromises dependant on what the speaker designer is trying to accomplish.

Wouldn't it be nice if there was an overview regarding room design and speaker integration which described the design, the type of room set up required, and the probable results?

Some people have taken a good bite out of this issue (Duke, for example) but others, knowlegable though they might be, seem to just reinforce their personal experience/prejudice combined with what they have read which supports their opinions.

I'm too lazy and ignorant to do this, and wouldn't really know how to get it on the forum as a FAQ but IMHO it would be a great reference for many folks.