Many speaker companies include dipole or bipole surround speakers in their systems. What are they? In a conventional surround speaker, the drivers (woofer and tweeter) are mounted on one board, facing one direction. A dipole or bipole speaker mounts speakers so that the sound emanates from the sides of the speakers. In a bipole speaker, both sides of the speaker push air outward at the exact same time. They are in phase with each other. This can work if the speakers are not positioned to the exact sides of a listener. In a dipole speaker when one side pushes the air, the other side is pulling the air. Or, they are out of phase with each other. This results in a dead zone or null point 90 degrees from the wall, which requires the listener to sit in this area in order to take advantage of the effect.
Both dipole and bipole speakers attempt to spread out the sound in order to create a diffuse ambient effect in the rear of your room. Our philosophy is a bit different. We believe in using the same speakers as your front left and right for surround purposes. With our Compression Guide Technology, the imaging is completely focused and wide. For example, in a movie sound track, if a person is supposed to be speaking in the back right corner, we don’t want to hear his voice spread all over the side and back of the room. Just 2 RSL CG4s will create a 3 dimensional surround environment where everything is in its proper place. With CG4s in the back, you will hear elements in sharp focus along the sides of your room and behind even though there are no side speakers. For speakers that do not have this level of performance, the dipole or bipole design may be useful.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
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