7.1 setop...dipole or bipole selection?

[jaxtrader]

I have a 7.1 speaker setup. The side surrounds are dipole-bipole switchable as well as the surround backs (Polk Audio FXi5). The side surrounds are positioned slightly behind my listening position and the rears are on back wall approx 8 feet apart. My room is 20x12. My questions is should I select the dipole or bipole setting on the speakers. I have tried both and cannot tell a huge difference between the two.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[MDS]

If you can't tell any difference then it doesn't really matter.

If you want a rule of thumb, the general approach would be to set the side surrounds as dipole and the back surrounds as bipole. The theory behind that is that the side surrounds are mounted to your sides with the null directly at the ear and would fire front and back; the back surrounds are mounted directly behind you with the null pointed at the back of your head and would fire left and right. The whole room would be filled with diffuse sound that way but you have to experiment to see what you actually prefer.

 

[jaxtrader]

Thanks for the reply. I guess I shouldn't have said I can't tell a difference, rather not sure what I should be listening for. Regardless, thanks again and I will experiment tonight with settings.