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[mvc]

Dipoles

Though my limited exposure is only to direct radiators, reading reviews of Sigfried Linkwitz's Orion Speakers (by Peter Aczel and others) I believe Dipoles may be an excellent alternative to direct radiators. I wish somebody here review those Orion speakers someday.

 

[sy527x]

Direct Radiators. More choices, don't have the same deficiencies as bipole/dipole.

 

[gstarr]

In a medium sized room direct radiators probably make more sense. Even more sense wold be direct radiators that are built to be bi-amped or tri-amped (or are already bi and tri-amped). That said, I would also love having a good-sized line array in my living room where I'm sitting back at least 10 feet.

 

[resperc]

I think any well designed speaker topology has value and can perform well in certain situations. In my room direct radiating speakers work the best.

resperc

 

[jsmcwilliams]

I only have experience with direct radiating so naturally that is my choice. Having said the though: 1) I have started demoing DefTechs and my initial impression of the ambiance created by the front/back driver arrangement is positive, but I have not listened long enough to form a firm opinion; 2) Line array sounds wonderful in theory, but in the home market how could they ever be anything but incredibly high-end and expensive. Prior posts seem correct - I would rather go with fewer yet higher quality drivers than a lower quality line-array at the same price point.

 

[jmcmann]

In a perfect world in a perfect room I'd of course have to go with direct radiators. In my imperfect world in my imperfect room however, with dispersed seating areas, challenging acoustics etc., to my ears a dipole/tripole array is better at providing a cohesive soundstage.

 

[bane1202]

direct radiator probably gives the best price/performance ratio... i personally use bipole/dipole for surrounds because i have a challenging HT layout and it gives a more consistent sound field

 

[chriscmore]

I love the large soundstaging of either planar (e.g. Maggies) or my Infinity IRS Epsilons, which are planars that also act as line sources. I love not only the size of the soundstaging, but their lower vertical axis comb filtering, and their sensitivity benefits (-3dB with doubling of distance instead of the direct radiating point source of -6dB per doubling). Throw in some either dipolar, or in my Epsilons case, semi-dipolar radiation pattern and the soundstage grows deeeep.

The only other basic speaker type that I may grow towards are horns. Their transient performance and speed are stunning. A snare drum hits and you flinch. Their efficiencies enable you to reduce your power amp stack. Nothing recreates "live" like horns. Have a musician or several play in your room and go in the other room and note how they sound so dynamic that you know it's real. Only horns could create that illusion with prerecorded music.

I remember a hi-fi show report, where the reporter was walking along many booths that were pumping out their hi-fi. Then someone started playing a saxophone and everyone turned their heads, instantly knowing live from hi-fi. What made that sound so obviously real? Only horns could have come close.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[MARS08]

I voted direct radiating...for the front 3 anyway. I actually have a pair of M&K SS150 Tripole surrounds at my sides which fill that out nicely for movies. But, then I have more direct radiators in the back which I use for 5.1 music...so I'll stick with my direct radiator response. I had some Def Tech Bipolar towers for a month...sound was just all over the place and I couldn't get used to it. Never tried a line array...sounds cool though.

 

[samandnoah]

Planars!

Love my maggies. Having said that, I also have a system with direct radiators and bi/di surrounds. They do quite nicely as well.

 

[JonSilver1]

I like direct radiator for the fronts and bipole/dipole for the surrounds.

 

[dewseto]

I like di-poles in a 5.1 setup to spread the sound around sides and rear of the listening position but if I moved to a 7.1 I would probably look at direct radiators.

I would love to add the 25-31 PCi to my setup!

 

[kmcolli]

Dipole/bipole

Dipole/bipole are best for surrounds

 

[tomd51]

I'm more inclined to chose direct radiating in most cases, however I've fairly recently been enjoying some new multipole speakers for my surrounds that perform quite well for both movie and multichannel music sources (won't specifically state their name, but it begins with an A and ends with and xiom... ).

I've had very little experience with Line Array speakers, so I can't really provide much input from that aspect. From what I have seen, though, they do seem to be a bit cumbersome for most applications and while they may be superior in performance than direct radiators, the cost and limited environments seem to limit these design speakers to specialty applications. -TD

 

[bigpow]

I voted for dipole setup.
I always thought highly of that setup.

 

[rushwj]

I marked other since i prefer direct for fronts and center channel, but bipole/dipole for rears. I only use rears for movies and occasional music, but no dvd-audio or sacd, so bi/di works best for me.
-b

 

[gellor]

I voted direct radiator because I have an oddly shaped room. Moving about as much as I have, you never know what type of room you'll end up plunking the speakers down in...so they tend to be the most adaptable.

 

[Exit]

I voted for direct radiators. They are common and affordable and do the job fine.

 

[fw3308]

I prefer direct radiator fronts and rears, dipoles for side surround

 

[KrisJ]

Although I like speakers with a large sweet spot, I like direct for the main channels, but bi/di for the rears/surrounds