Atmos Speakers

[Huey645]

Upgraded my Yamaha last summer, have never had a Atmos receiver, so I was excited to try it out. Come to find out, with the model of Yamaha I had, it couldn't do both Atmos and rear back surrounds at the same time, and Amazon was very nice in letting me return and upgrade to the next level Yamaha.

I have SVS speakers all around, although I only a couple of polk bookshelf speakers and a couple of polk bi-pole/dipole speakers to use for Atmos speakers. One of the bookshelf speakers must have had a blown crossover, since only the tweeter was working, so left me with no choice but to use bi-pole/dipole speakers.

These speakers are triangular in shape, meant to give a more diffuse sound for rear surround speakers, but I figured they would work, and do a decent job. On one side is just a tweeter, and the other side has a tweeter and a woofer, and I have them set to di-pole, which they all speakers are supposed to fire at the same time. My question is, currently have them set so that the "point" of the triangle is aimed directly into the room, and the woofer/tweeter side to the inside. Would it be better to to turn them so that the side with the tweeter/woofer is directly facing the room? It's probably a miniscule tweak either way, but looking for opinions.

 

[nathan_h]

No you have them correct if the point of the triangle is facing you.

But you should also switch them to BI pole. That is much better than DI pole.

 

[Huey645]

No you have them correct if the point of the triangle is facing you.

But you should also switch them to BI pole. That is much better than DI pole.

I wondered about that. I know bi-pole gives a more diffuse sound, and flipping the switch is pretty easy, so I'll give it a try.

 

[nathan_h]

DIPOLE is the most diffuse. Too diffuse for modern soundtracks. There was a time when there was a SINGLE surround channel and using DIPOLE helped to make it sound big and enveloping.


BIPOLE is a little more directional. Still wider than a traditional direct radiating speaker but actually a recommended choice when you are sitting close to a surround or overhead speaker.


So when choosing between BIPOLE and DIPOLE, 99% of the time, BIPOLE is better.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Upgraded my Yamaha last summer, have never had a Atmos receiver, so I was excited to try it out. Come to find out, with the model of Yamaha I had, it couldn't do both Atmos and rear back surrounds at the same time, and Amazon was very nice in letting me return and upgrade to the next level Yamaha.

I have SVS speakers all around, although I only a couple of polk bookshelf speakers and a couple of polk bi-pole/dipole speakers to use for Atmos speakers. One of the bookshelf speakers must have had a blown crossover, since only the tweeter was working, so left me with no choice but to use bi-pole/dipole speakers.

These speakers are triangular in shape, meant to give a more diffuse sound for rear surround speakers, but I figured they would work, and do a decent job. On one side is just a tweeter, and the other side has a tweeter and a woofer, and I have them set to di-pole, which they all speakers are supposed to fire at the same time. My question is, currently have them set so that the "point" of the triangle is aimed directly into the room, and the woofer/tweeter side to the inside. Would it be better to to turn them so that the side with the tweeter/woofer is directly facing the room? It's probably a miniscule tweak either way, but looking for opinions.

Something you might wanna do is take the “blown” BS speaker apart and make sure the leads didn’t come off the woofer, or XO. Then you could use those.
If not, I guess you’re left the bipoles. Those can be used as surrounds if the room is really narrow, but imo bipole speakers have no place in modern home theaters. Soundtracks today have very directional audio, and the best Atmos tracks coordinate objects on XYZ axes and are quite immersive.
I couldn’t tell from the OP but my guess is you’re going for front height, on the front wall? In any case, I’d like to point out that you should temper your expectations, since what you’re working with is not the norm for an Atmos setup.

 

[Huey645]

DIPOLE is the most diffuse. Too diffuse for modern soundtracks. There was a time when there was a SINGLE surround channel and using DIPOLE helped to make it sound big and enveloping.


BIPOLE is a little more directional. Still wider than a traditional direct radiating speaker but actually a recommended choice when you are sitting close to a surround or overhead speaker.


So when choosing between BIPOLE and DIPOLE, 99% of the time, BIPOLE is better.

Thanks for the info. I will switch them when I get home. I thought I read when I first bought the speakers many years ago, that bi-pole was the most diffuse, but it's been long ago enough I may not be remembering correctly.

 

[Huey645]

Something you might wanna do is take the “blown” BS speaker apart and make sure the leads didn’t come off the woofer, or XO. Then you could use those.
If not, I guess you’re left the bipoles. Those can be used as surrounds if the room is really narrow, but imo bipole speakers have no place in modern home theaters. Soundtracks today have very directional audio, and the best Atmos tracks coordinate objects on XYZ axes and are quite immersive.
I couldn’t tell from the OP but my guess is you’re going for front height, on the front wall? In any case, I’d like to point out that you should temper your expectations, since what you’re working with is not the norm for an Atmos setup.

I'll have to take the one in question apart and see if I can see anything wrong with them. They were bought before DD was the norm, but I probably also bought into a marketing gimmick way back then.

No, they aren't placed on the front wall, but on top of an entertainment stand that I've had forever and looks nothing like it did when new. It was originally for 4/3 tv with two towers and a bridge, although the bridge is gone after upgrading to bigger tv's over the years. The left and right front speakers sit to just outside the towers, while the speakers being used for atmos sit on top of the towers, about a foot and half to the inside of the towers.

And that brings up another question, not sure these speakers should be toed in toward the sweet spot, but if they were bookshelf speakers, would you toe them in like you do the mains?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I'll have to take the one in question apart and see if I can see anything wrong with them. They were bought before DD was the norm, but I probably also bought into a marketing gimmick way back then.

No, they aren't placed on the front wall, but on top of an entertainment stand that I've had forever and looks nothing like it did when new. It was originally for 4/3 tv with two towers and a bridge, although the bridge is gone after upgrading to bigger tv's over the years. The left and right front speakers sit to just outside the towers, while the speakers being used for atmos sit on top of the towers, about a foot and half to the inside of the towers.

And that brings up another question, not sure these speakers should be toed in toward the sweet spot, but if they were bookshelf speakers, would you toe them in like you do the mains?

Well a couple things. First is placement.(maybe could drop a pic). Sounds like they’re far too low to be very effective. They should be somewhere in the range of, just in front of the LP on the ceiling, or as high as you can get on the front wall(8-10 feet-ish), or high on the sides (like where the wall meets the ceiling, and slightly in front of the LP).
Yes in this case I would aim them towards the LP.
As far as bi/dipole. They were marketed a bunch back before DD and even pro logic1, back in the original Dolby surround days. They were effective at creating more ambiance and envelopment when soundtracks had mostly ambient surround content. Nowadays, there’s a lot of pinpoint sounds that just get lost with BI/dipole speakers. But if it’s what you have, then it’s worth trying. But I would consider finding some monopoles. If budget is super tight, pawn shops or Craigslist or even Fbook marketplace can yield affordable used options.

 

[Huey645]

Well a couple things. First is placement.(maybe could drop a pic). Sounds like they’re far too low to be very effective. They should be somewhere in the range of, just in front of the LP on the ceiling, or as high as you can get on the front wall(8-10 feet-ish), or high on the sides (like where the wall meets the ceiling, and slightly in front of the LP).
Yes in this case I would aim them towards the LP.
As far as bi/dipole. They were marketed a bunch back before DD and even pro logic1, back in the original Dolby surround days. They were effective at creating more ambiance and envelopment when soundtracks had mostly ambient surround content. Nowadays, there’s a lot of pinpoint sounds that just get lost with BI/dipole speakers. But if it’s what you have, then it’s worth trying. But I would consider finding some monopoles. If budget is super tight, pawn shops or Craigslist or even Fbook marketplace can yield affordable used options.

The towers of the entertainment center are roughly 7 feet tall themselves, so pretty close to the 8 feet you mention. And I misspoke, I must of have gotten things bass ackwards in my thinking as they were already set to bi-pole when I checked them.