Dipole Surround Suggestions w/Ascends

[curtis]

My only comment is, aren't you supposed to be able to localize many surround sounds? Not all of it is supposed to be diffused.

Exactly. And by mixing sounds with surround speakers, sound engineers can get the "diffused" sound if they wanted it. You can'd do that with dipoles/bipoles.

[Jonnyozero3]

Since the "Q"s are wired in-phase, they are more or less directional. Di-poles are wired out-of-phase and are not localizable, and you get a null in the response due to this. The in-phase, quad-polar design of the "Q" speaker gives it semi-directional sound when needed, plus the 4-drivers firing in 4 different directions give it exceptional dispersion/envelopment as well. They really need to be auditioned to let your ears judge for themselves. If you were local you could stop by!

Ahh, that makes sense. Kinda nifty. Thanks for the explanation.

As neat as it is, I think I lean towards curtis' opinion that it's best to try to listen as it was mixed. That said, I wish I was closer-by so I could check them out for myself to see what the sound of such a setup is like. Thanks for the offer

(PS: I have to admit, if ascend did offer such a speaker, I'd have a very hard time choosing between it and the standard 170 for surround duty.)

[sharerware]

Exactly. And by mixing sounds with surround speakers, sound engineers can get the "diffused" sound if they wanted it. You can'd do that with dipoles/bipoles.

I think that this is a very compelling point. I have a hesitation though, and that's with my anticipated HT setup. I plan on having 2 rows. I think there might only be a foot between the back wall and back row. Reclining, there might then be 0 distance. Would this create an issue for anyone sitting in the back row? I always intend on sitting in the front row, but I'd like the best possible solution.

I appreciate all the feedback, it's very helpful.

[T-Bone]

I think that this is a very compelling point. I have a hesitation though, and that's with my anticipated HT setup. I plan on having 2 rows. I think there might only be a foot between the back wall and back row. Reclining, there might then be 0 distance. Would this create an issue for anyone sitting in the back row? I always intend on sitting in the front row, but I'd like the best possible solution.

I appreciate all the feedback, it's very helpful.

First, I'll chime in about your first question about dipoles that match ascends... Going back about 18-24 months on AVS, there were several posts whereby listeners compared the 340s to Onix Rocket RS550s. The 340 and 550s have since been upgraded, but many at the listening session thought they sounded nearly identical.

Okay, so there is an Onix Rocket RSS300 Adaptive Dipole... woofers fire in phase, and tweeters fire out of phase. The RSS300 is voiced to match the 550s, so the next logical step: they should be voiced matched to the 340s.

Two rows is always tricky... most folks just pick a row that as the primary row, and then optomize speaker placement for that row.

-T

[curtis]

First, I'll chime in about your first question about dipoles that match ascends... Going back about 18-24 months on AVS, there were several posts whereby listeners compared the 340s to Onix Rocket RS550s. The 340 and 550s have since been upgraded, but many at the listening session thought they sounded nearly identical.

Actually, back then, we were listening to the classic CMT-340 and the (at the time) fairly newly upgraded RS550MK2. Since then, the Ascend SE versions came out.

The RSS300 is voiced to match the 550s....

What about the folks that bought them to use with their RS750s?

[Quinn]

I was at that get together too and can confirm the the Rockets were the 550mkII.

[T-Bone]

Thanks Curtis and Quinn for making corrections.

-T