Rear Dipole Speakers? Always direct fire or does it depend on placement?

Hello! I have a question regarding dipole speakers. I currently have a 7.1 setup. I have 2 Snell SR7 dipole speakers set as my surround sides in diffuse mode. And I have two more Snell SR7 dipoles for my rear surround speakers. I currently have my rear SR7's set to direct mode.

1) Is this mode preferred for the rear as opposed to diffuse? Or does the placement determine the optimal setting. Specifics of the placement are listed below.

2) The back wall is 18 feet long. Due to closet doors being there I had to adjust their location. Each speaker is about 6 inches way from the side wall makign them rougly 16 feet apart. Should they be moved really close to one another somehow? Moved somehwat closer and changed to diffuse? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Frank Hemmock -
Have more questions? Submit a request

1 Comments

Date Votes
  • 0
    Avatar
    Audyssey Labs

    There is really no standard on what the Back Surrounds should be (dipoles or direct). The idea of dipoles came from Tom Holman who proposed it as a practical way to achieve the same level of diffuse sound at home that is achieved in movie theaters with multiple direct speakers per side. Since 7.1 is not a discrete movie format (despite the misleading claims on Bluray discs) my recommendation would be to run the Back Surrounds in dipole mode as well. The placement of the Back Surrounds is also not standardized. THX recommends that they are close together and Dolby that they are farther apart... Frankly, I don't think it makes that big of a difference as our sensitivity to direction from the back is much less than it is in the front.

Article is closed for comments.