Presence Speakers & Dipole Speakers?????

[mrjad20]

Greetings . . . thanks to my new friends here at Audioholics, I've progressed to 1/2 notch above a real neophyte about electronic components . . . I'm hoping to continue my education even at my senior age (52) with the help of Audioholics . . . I just purchased a Yamaha V663 AV Receiver and in taking the survey after registering the product, I was exposed to what is called "Presence" speakers and "Dipole Speakers" . . . I Googled the two and learned a bit about them but I'm hoping you can educate me evern further.
Specifically, what are these two things?; what are the pros/cons about them?; is this something I should be doing with my new AVR and complete set of Polk Monitor 5.1/sub woofer speaker system?; etc? . . . thx

 

[fredk]

Dead is too old to learn and 52 is definately not senior.

If your Polk set is complete it will already have two presence speakers aka surrounds. Dipole is just a particular type of surround speaker where the two drivers are pointing in different directions. The idea is that the presence sound should not be directional. It is meant to mimic the difused nature of reflected sound. Good surrounds will do just that.

I had a jaw-dropping WOW moment when I listened to the Dire Straits live on a good surround system. It was like being at a live performance. Sort of like the music went from two dimensional to three dimensional.

Pros? It makes the sound for movies (and music in my opinion) more life-like.
Cons? Adds to the total cost of your system??

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[MDS]

Presence speakers are something that is unique to Yamaha receivers. They are supposed to be placed up front above the main speakers and supposedly add depth or 'presence' to the sound. I would imagine you could use any type of speakers for that purpose but dipoles probably would work well since they create a more diffuse sound field.

 

[TLS Guy]

Presence speakers are something that is unique to Yamaha receivers. They are supposed to be placed up front above the main speakers and supposedly add depth or 'presence' to the sound. I would imagine you could use any type of speakers for that purpose but dipoles probably would work well since they create a more diffuse sound field.

Good speakers will not require that kind of help!

 

[fredk]

Huh, and I always though it referred to the surrounds.

Fred

 

[Exit]

On a Yamaha 7.1 receiver you can choose to use the back wall speaker pair for 7.1 or the up front presence speakers for 5.1. The presence speakers and the side surrounds are used in conjunction with DSP processing modes to generate a more spacious room, club, stadium, etc. atmosphere. Some people don’t care for DSP and if you don’t like the sound, you need not put up front presence channels. I have them put up and I use Klipsch bipoles for the presence channels and side surrounds. I didn’t have a room suited for 7.1 rear speakers so I tried the front presence channels. I like some DSP modes and I think the presence speakers are worthwhile. I think the DSP works better a non-live acoustical room as there may be to much combined echo in a live room.