Bi-Pole Centre Speaker?

[niceshoes]

I have a spare Bi-Pole speaker (energy c-R100) and was wondering whether there might be any issues with using it for my centre channel? The tweeters are in phase, they just face in opposite directions.


Also, does anyone know whether this is likely to be a decent timbre match with my main speakers, the Energy RC-10?

 

[chadnliz]

One issue I can think of right off bat is how far is it from wall behind speaker or from cabinet? Folks can give you any number of theory as to why it would or would not be ideal but wont your ears tell you everything you really need to know? Try it and report what you think. I am not sure if that Energy model was intended to be used with your others but it should be fine, having the same brand is a big plus and you would be surprised how many speakers will work well with others from totally different brands.

 

[niceshoes]

The centre speaker would be a fair distance from any walls or cabinets.

I haven't actually bought the speaker yet but I can get it really cheap when I buy my other rear speakers, so I was looking for some advice on whether it would sound alright.

Does anyone have a bipole speaker they can hook up to a centre channel and let me know whether it sounds like rubbish?

 

[TLS Guy]

The centre speaker would be a fair distance from any walls or cabinets.

I haven't actually bought the speaker yet but I can get it really cheap when I buy my other rear speakers, so I was looking for some advice on whether it would sound alright.

Does anyone have a bipole speaker they can hook up to a centre channel and let me know whether it sounds like rubbish?

If you haven't bought it, don't buy it! I can think of few things worse than trying to use a di-pole as a center channel speaker.

 

[chadnliz]

Well I have used Magnepan which will be similar in some aspects to what you want to try and I loved it, if you have room for it then try it....you may love it too!

 

[TLS Guy]

Well I have used Magnepan which will be similar in some aspects to what you want to try and I loved it, if you have room for it then try it....you may love it too!

a Magnepan is a very different animal from a moving coil bi-pole. The Magnepan is a di-pole, with a rock solid center image. A bi-pole has a null if you listen straight ahead. That would be the last thing you would want in a center speaker. That would be far worse than no center speaker!

 

[chadnliz]

Instead of listening to opinions listen to the speaker, if it sounds good keep it and if it doesnt try something else............not everything that works great is gonna be ideal in theory but we are listening to sound not theory right?

 

[TLS Guy]

Instead of listening to opinions listen to the speaker, if it sounds good keep it and if it doesnt try something else............not everything that works great is gonna be ideal in theory but we are listening to sound not theory right?

When you listen to a really fine system, you are listening to a well thought out system, that is proper;y engineered. This is not theory, but design according to the laws of physics.

Good systems are not produced, but someone ignorant of physics pulling a crackpot notion out of the back of his neck.

Soon you will like those vowing coloring the back of your CD's green or polishing them with Armor All makes them sound better.

It's that kind of woolly thinking and aimless activities, that has dumbed down audio, and devoted time a resources away from real issues, and still is!

If you understood what actually happens between the drivers if a bi-pole speaker on axis to the plane of the front of the speaker, and why it is designed that way, you would not be leading members astray. That's not theory, its fact based on the laws of physics that will not change for you, no matter how many theories based on ignorance you promulgate.

 

[niceshoes]

a Magnepan is a very different animal from a moving coil bi-pole. The Magnepan is a di-pole, with a rock solid center image. A bi-pole has a null if you listen straight ahead. That would be the last thing you would want in a center speaker. That would be far worse than no center speaker!

I was under the impression that a Magnepan di-pole has drivers which are out of phase with one another, and would therefore create an even less rock solid image than a standard bi-pole.

Surely a bi-pole like the one I am looking at (energy C-R100) would have sharper definition as a centre channel than the Magnepan di-pole?

Are you getting your di-poles and bi-poles mixed up?

 

[TLS Guy]

I was under the impression that a Magnepan di-pole has drivers which are out of phase with one another, and would therefore create an even less rock solid image than a standard bi-pole.

Surely a bi-pole like the one I am looking at (energy C-R100) would have sharper definition as a centre channel than the Magnepan di-pole?

Are you getting your di-poles and bi-poles mixed up?

Planar loudspeakers like Magnepan have a large membrane, that has a figure of 8 radiation pattern. The null is at the sides. Straight ahead you are on the end of the figure of eight, in phase with the rest of the system. The rear wave is out of phase, and this wave has to be absorbed or properly reflected. Large membrane speakers are beam on axis, not a bad trait for a center speaker.

Now a surround bi-pole has two drivers facing in opposite directions, They are in phase, in that both speakers move in and out together, however their axes are in opposite directions. This adds up to a null when you listen to the speaker dead ahead perpendicular to the front baffle. The off axis radiation of the drivers cancels. Because the surround speakers are at the sides of the listening position, the idea is to make a null on axis, so listeners don't localize to the surround speakers, and a more diffuse sound filed is created by the surround speakers.

I personally use mono polar speakers for my surrounds, however a lot of movie buffs prefer the non localizing diffuse field that these type of surround bi-poles are designed to create.