bipolar speakers

[Mark1983]

Mirage use to make Bipolar speakers - Not enough sales.
They were not easy to position, and did not sound balanced.
And, they were distracting due to the lack of a precise central
image, in stereo mode.

How long did you own the Mirage bipolars you are referring to?

I've owned a pair of Mirage M5si's for over 20 years and they are amazing speakers. The imaging is not mini-monitor great but it is very good, the soundstage is huge, and I've not noticed them being hard to position or set up. All of the negatives you hear are generally from people who have never owned them. There have been plenty of bad examples of bipolar speakers over the years but the Mirage M series have been among, if not "the," best. Just have a look at some pro reviews.

Why aren't they popular? Because you can get more bang for the buck without the added design complexity and expense of the rear facing drivers. Like most high end product design it's a niche. Some people like the sound and some don't. I'm a professional musician, 25 years, and to me they sound more like what I hear live. Traditional directional speakers sound like what I hear in the control room, not the tracking room.

 

[HexOmega]

How long did you own the Mirage bipolars you are referring to?

I've owned a pair of Mirage M5si's for over 20 years and they are amazing speakers. The imaging is not mini-monitor great but it is very good, the soundstage is huge, and I've not noticed them being hard to position or set up. All of the negatives you hear are generally from people who have never owned them. There have been plenty of bad examples of bipolar speakers over the years but the Mirage M series have been among, if not "the," best. Just have a look at some pro reviews.

Why aren't they popular? Because you can get more bang for the buck without the added design complexity and expense of the rear facing drivers. Like most high end product design it's a niche. Some people like the sound and some don't. I'm a professional musician, 25 years, and to me they sound more like what I hear live. Traditional directional speakers sound like what I hear in the control room, not the tracking room.

I couldn't agree more. The pair of OM-9s I picked up a while ago have the unique ability to "blend in" because of how spacious and natural they sound. That my wife is agreeable to 45" tall tower speakers in a small apartment living room is a testament to how they seem to disappear during playback.

That I paid 1/5 of their original price makes them sound even better

Your comparison of front-radiating speakers to control room monitors is spot-on IMHO.

 

[TLS Guy]

I couldn't agree more. The pair of OM-9s I picked up a while ago have the unique ability to "blend in" because of how spacious and natural they sound. That my wife is agreeable to 45" tall tower speakers in a small apartment living room is a testament to how they seem to disappear during playback.

That I paid 1/5 of their original price makes them sound even better

Your comparison of front-radiating speakers to control room monitors is spot-on IMHO.

I have evaluated Mirage speakers, and I can see how at first glance they can seem attractive.

I agree they can throw a big sound stage. The trouble is they always do even when they should not. For instance the acoustic space given to solo piano recordings was unnatural, with the piano stretched the whole width of the room.

In choral music choirs have a big sound stage, but the soloists lack focus and the space around the voices not correct.

I experimented with this approach back in the seventies and rejected it.

Good monopole speakers will throw a sound stage just as large, but also keep the sound stage and space around instruments correct.

There is absolutely no need for this approach.

 

[GranteedEV]

I agree they can throw a big sound stage. The trouble is they always do even when they should not.

I think this has mostly to do with the (impractical?) optimal placement for an omni speaker. Linkwitz discusses it here WRT his Pluto:

If you plan to sit further away than the classic stereo sweet spot, which is as far away from each tweeter as the two tweeters are apart from each other, i.e. the apex of the equilateral triangle formed by the the listener's head and the two speakers, then you will loose quickly in soundstage imaging specificity.