Rear Surround Speakers

[PghDude]

I am new to this forum, but am fishing for some advice regarding the best way to finish off a 5.1 system, with speakers of the same type and model as the fronts or speakers designed to be rear surrounds.

While I have always been somewhat of a stereo enthusiast, my ventures into home theater have been limited to picking up a Yamaha RX-V795 receiver and the Klipsch Quintet system. While the Quintets are fine for what they are, my room is too big for them and I need to upgrade.

I also have a pair of Infinity Overture 1's in storage after getting bitten by a Magnepan bug. I have also recently picked up a new old stock Overture Center Channel. While my first thoughts were to pick up another pair of the Overture 1s for the rears, my internet browsing has taken me to rear surrounds such as Infinity's ES-25, etc. I can't say I've ever heard the difference between a mono/bi-pole/di-pole and I am currious as to whether they would create more of a wall of sound desired for rears. I'm also concerned that these may well be seldom heard by comparison.

Sorry about the length of this. Any thoughts are appreciated.

PghDude

 

[korgoth]

the axiom reps recommend bi/di/quad-poles for the surrounds, and monopoles for the rear surrounds. Its not required but if you were purchasing a whole new set up id probobly go this route.

from everything ive heard the bi/dipole speakers add a lot to the sound.

 

[El Toro]

Yeah the bi/dipoles add a lot of sound to the rear channels. I had monopoles for years, and then had to upgrade my rears so I went with a true surround speaker. It doubled the surround effect. However, they can also detract from the sound if not placed and calibrated with the reciever properly. Klipsch make some exellant surrounds. Altough, I would try and steer clear of the new Synergy line and go for the Referance line if at all possible. Unless, you can get your hands on an older pair of SS-3's from Ebay or something. If you have the budget for it and don't want to mess with mismatching brands you could always look into the Klipsch Cinema 8 or 10 setups.

 

[JerryElbow]

While I have always been somewhat of a stereo enthusiast, my ventures into home theater have been limited to picking up a Yamaha RX-V795 receiver and the Klipsch Quintet system. While the Quintets are fine for what they are, my room is too big for them and I need to upgrade.

Well, if you're a fan of the Klipsch sound and want to move to something more, shall we say, substantial, you could go for a pair of classic Heresy's (same midrange driver and tweeter as the legendary Klipschorns with a 12" acoustic suspension woofer) and a Reference series RC-7 as the center channel all of which I could let you have for about the cost of a new RC-7. I just spent a small fortune upgrading from those speakers and am about to put these ones on eBay (unless you want to PM me first!). I've got a Klipsch surround system for my PC as well and, while it is amazing for a PC setup and definitely has some of the flavor of the big boys, there's a huge step up when going to the big guys!

 

[AVRat]

In general, bi/di-poles are preferred for most situations. I have also heard good 5.1 systems using mono-poles.

Receiver manuals usually give good speaker placement guidelines. 5.1 surrounds can be placed at the side of the listener to where a rear srround would go in a 7.1 system. Check your speaker placement options and think about how each type of speaker will radiate sound, taking into account any possible reflection points. From this you should be able to make a decision as to which will work best in your situation.

 

[AngelusNexx]

A monopole is just liek a regular bookshelf speaker right? Just a regular front projecting speaker?

 

[AngelusNexx]

bump bump bump

 

[jaxvon]

You're shameless

Yes, a monopole is a speaker that radiates sound in one direction, IE a normal speaker. A Bi-Pole is a speaker that radiates sound in two directions, in-phase. This means that when the woofer on one section moves out, the other one is doing the exact same thing. A Di-pole speaker is a speaker that radiates sound in two directions, but the sound is out of phase by 180 degrees (or pi radians). This means that when the woofer is all the way out on one section, the other section is all the way in. A popular di-pole is a Magnepan planar speaker.