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Speakers with a 360 degree sound. Read


I was at the Stereophile show in 1996. HSU found a way to get a 360 degree sound without losing midrange. As you know, Mirage and Definitive Technology make these bipolar speakers. Where drivers are on the front and back of the speakers. I always felt this design was flawed, because bipolar speakers didn't sound good in the midrange. What HSU did was, he used 4 PSB Alpa speakers as the main speakers. 2 mini monitors were facing foward and the other 2 mini monitors were right behind the 2 mini monitors facing foward, but these 2 mini monitors were facing the wall. HSU was using a Denon 5 channel receiver and a 2 channel amp for the surround speakers. The 5 channel receiver powered the 4 PSB Alpha speakers and the PSB Center channel and the 2 channel Amp powered the surround sound speakers. There was a 600 dollar HSU Sub being played on these speakers. Let me tell you, this system sounded great. It sounded so 3 dimentional and airy. I think HSU thought of a great idea, to place the speakers facing foward and then to use another pair of speakers facing the wall. This design will give you a 360 degree sound, where you get a great midrange.
twilo
sean
6,231 posts
 
Three questions:

1) What makes you think that this is different than Mirage / Def Tech or other similar designs where they use "back to back" drivers inside the same cabinet firing in opposite directions ?

2) What " 360* " speakers are you basing your "lost midrange" comment ? How were these speakers situated in the room ?

3) There is a BIG difference in something that offers 360* of radiation and a bi-polar design. Are you familiar with the differences in design ? Sean
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sndsel
98 posts
 
To really appreciate a 360 degree speaker you have to sit cross-legged and say "Ohm".
sedond
1,387 posts
 
mbl & german physiks also make 360 degree speakers, besides ohm acoustics.

re: bipolar sound, (which *is* a lot different than 360 degree sound), i always thought the comments of jim thiel were interesting when he said why he stopped prowiding bi-amping capabilities on his speakers. he said better results wood be obtained by having a second pair of his speakers situated directly behind the 1st pair, as hsu has done in their show displays. (i also heard the hsu room at the '96 s'phile show, but i was not too favorably impressed). personally, i don't much care for bipolar designs - too difuse a soundstage for me... but, done correctly, they can help eliminate sidewall reflections, as they tend to create a null at the sides. but, yure still faced w/dealing w/the rear-wall reflections.

i tink it's audio artistry that makes bi-polar speakers, but only for midrange & below, as they feel the hi-frequencies are directional enuff not to need this help, and this also helps eliminate the difuse-ness of full-range bi-polars. i've never heard 'em, but have always been intrigued by the idea...

doug s.

audiokinesis
2,737 posts
 
What a bipolar or omni speaker does is create a more powerful, diffuse reverberant field that also more closely approximates the tonal balance of the direct sound. The result is more realistic timbre, a less fatiguing sound (as the brain isn't working to integrate the direct sound with a wrong-sounding reverberant field), and often less precise imaging. At a given price point, the bipolar or omni speaker is competing with conventional speakers that have less of their budget devoted to multiple drivers and so can use better quality individual drivers.

The Audio Artistry speakers were dipoles, not bipoles, up to the tweeter. Maggies and electrostats are also dipoles. A dipole has, in my building and listening experience, a couple of advantages over biopoles and monopoles - namely, less boxiness and less room-induced coloration in the bass (except of course in the case of hybrids that use a conventional woofer).

Wolcott Audio makes an ingenius omnidirectional speaker that uses a single dome tweeter.
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