Hi Thanks all of yall for your input, i have a question, what is the best speakers, doesnt matter if its used, refurbished or new (floorstanders with a center channel) between $2000 to $3000, i love bowers and wilikins and paradigm brands, i do understand these brands are expensive but maybe used? i do listen to a lot of slow rock, pop, techno, 80s basically all kinds of music and i love to feel the effect of a good sub which brings me to the next question, whats the best sub for the price range of $500 to $1000, so basically i am looking for a center channel, left and right floorstanders and a powerful Sub for the price range between $3000 to $4000, Thanks
Why not scrap the center speaker and get TWO subwoofers with the money saved?
How about 2X KEF Q900 (from Accessories4Less) + 2X HSU VTF-15 (Brand New)
Bipolar uses the room to gain that expanded 3D soundstage, but what if the room acoustics are crap?
Then Take Thors hammer to the walls and make a new room
Oh, and I'm not just talking Def Tech here; this applies to the Mirage's, Phil's, SoundScapes and other non-direct radiators.
If you can live with the placement requirement (distance from wall) then controlled wide directivity dipolar speakers like the Orions and Nao are very forgiving of the room IMO. THe others are a bit tricky because of how wide their dispersion is, especially omnis like the Mirages.
The Philharmonic uses the dipole planar midrange, whereas the Soundscape uses the monopole Accuton midrange?
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That dipole planar midrange is not operating as a dipole (for most of its frequency range at least), because there's a
distance between the forward and rear wave. And lower in frequency where it might become dipole, the crossover takes it out of operation.
The accuton in free air would be a dipole, although less optimal than the planar because it has a bit motor obstructing the rear wave (kind of like the back of the Orions). But as with above, the distance keeps it from being dipole.
Cardioid / semicardioid might be the best classification, although it would only apply over a given frequency range.
What is the purpose of the open back cabinet if the Soundscape is not a dipole speaker?
The purpose of a dipole speaker is to have nulls to the left and right (narrowed directivity), but things get complex with lots of cancelation and peaking, so active electronics are best use.
The purpose of the open back cabinet is to get a similar soundstage from the rear wave but without dipole peaks and nulls, although there might be transmission line standing wave resonances (hence the stuffing). So it's less forgiving of the room than the dipole, but more forgiving on your wallet - only one amplifier necessary and the output potential isn't hampered by the gradient rolloff.
