Di-Poles and back wall reflections Stats


I have a pair of Innersound Eros Electrostats that are "Di-Pole" in nature, I have not had them that long and am still trying to get everything right. My room and wife make placement from back wall 32 inches at closest point, 8 inches from sidewall and toed in to my sweet spot. I have noticed some high pitch fatigue at moderate volumes so I thought to place my side wall reflection panels behind the speakers as I no longer have any issue with first reflections on side wall due to the beaming nature of the Innersound speakers.
I first placed the panels wich are about 24 inches square behind each speaker up towards the top of the speaker panel and the high frequency fatigue went away, but also some of the magic, it just seemed like a window got shut a little too far....so I moved the panels lower down the wall and it seems pretty good, the HF beaming fatigue is gone and the window seemed to open back up, but I am now wondering if I am doing the right thing by useing the reflection traps behind the speakers at all. Should I do nothing with the back wall or am I going to have to find a happy medium with some kind of treatment due to how close they are to the back wall? Anyone with similar experience or opinions please let me know what you think, and as always thanks again. Chad
chadnliz
wit dipole best deflect rear wave at angle, to reduce comb filter effect. This is easy, just place small baffle rear of speaker at angle up. Then back wall is untreated and wall behind listen seat absorbing.
Toe-in effect midrange - increase toe for warmer/full mids, decreese toe for thinner/leaner sound wid more apparent details.

Dipoles need time and patient to sound good, with some tweak to sound best
Kal
I just finished downloading,and reading the Genesis model 201 owner's/set up manual,as these speakers interest me,and I'm considering them at a future point(2-3 yrs).I like to do my research well in advance!

Genesis claims that their designs(these are dipolars)should be from 1/5 to 1/3 of the way out into the room,for maximum soundstage.They also claim that the wall behind the speakers is best untreated,with the wall behind the listener diffused.They also mention to damp sidewall reflections,at the point on the sidewall where the listener would see his/her reflection if a mirror were put on that wall(we've heard this one before,but I guess it holds up).Good luck!
Newbee is right. Setting up stats is no walk in the park - it's more like a marathon. The tweaking of my stats included (1) proper toe-in (2) room lenses (3) as much distance from the back wall as possible (4) locating and dampening reflection points around the room (5) buying a powerful high current/ high voltage amplifier (6) countless others.

When my stats were toed-in toward my listening chair, the beaminess was instantly piercing and painful. After much ado (for my room), I have finally settled on my speakers toed-in so that the 'intersection' of the (direct) sound waves meet at about 4 1/2 ft behind my listening chair. The flashight trick is a great way to find this intersection. At 4 1/2 ft. behind your listening chair, aim the flashlight at the center point between the two speakers, then have someone toe-in each speaker so that you can see the light reflecting in the mylar of each of the panels. Then return to your listening chair and evaluate if you like placement. If not, keep playing around until you find a toe-in that works for your room and listening position. This process works better with flat panel stats - easiest when done at night.

I agree that reflection/dampening panels can suck the life out of the music. Room lenses have worked great for me behind the speakers - far better than the heavy dampening material. If you're patient, Argent Room Lenses show up now and then on Audiogon. If not, try building Jon Risch's DIY room lenses. They'll work almost as well and only cost $50 plus your time to build 3 sets. Then, use a material that is not heavily absorptive on the wall behind the room lenses.

Good luck! It's an adventure.
Hey Newbie,
You are right about the back-wave I had to add 1 behind the sweet-spot, but I did believe it or not have a slight reflection along the right wall wich has no furniture on it, the left has a couch, and a quilt rack so perhaps that is why I dont have a problem there, or it could be because my sweet-spot is on the right side of the couch so both speakers are working towards that spot, I have the material to make another panel so I gotta get crackin on that, because now I am 1 shy, so I put a blanket on the wall behind me for a quick fix, I fixed the side panel to the wall because it is easy to just place a blanket on the back wall for critical listening.
P.S. My wife loves the panels I made, they look pretty sharp! Also you are correct, these are magical speakers but you have to earn there respect by placeing and treating their surroundings correctly ( or as good as WAF allows lol) I know it could be better if they were out more in the room, but hopefully we will buy a house sooner or later, and these speakers will surely get better!
I thought that dipolars send out-of-phase sound waves backwards that reflect forwards off the rear wall and help to reduce/cancel in-phase standing waves. Am I way off on this? Somebody please educate me.
Don't know about WAF of putting dispursive (diffusing) materiel on the walls behind your speakers but that is what you need to do. You don't want reflective or absorbing materiel (obviously too bright or too dead.) You can use professional stuff or home brew depending on what your asthetics can stand.

I agree that side wall reflections shouln't be a problem when you speakers are toed in and you're sitting on axis, but you've got to pay attention to the back wave - that is what happens to it when it hits the back/side wall. You need to think about that as well as the back wall.

32" from the wall might be one of the problems with the highs being on the bright side, that is the sound is being reflected but the slightly different arrival time of the reflected sound and the direct sound is enuf to cause subtle distortion which 'sounds like' excessive highs. Thats one of the reasons that having them further out in the room is beneficial (as well as helping to create a greater sense of depth of image, probably for the same reason).

Who said setting up stat's was a walk in the park. :-)
When Western Reserve Audio was a partner building tube amps for Innersound,I heard the EROS.It sounded good,but got a little overbearing,then we installed two pairs of the Walker Audio Ultimate HDLs.More relaxed,no signs of stress on high level transients and more liquid.These are available with return policy and used here on the Gon.Give them a shot.
My personal stats indicate that 32" is a bit too close to the back wall (I know, the powers that be won't otherwise oblige).
{For that matter, so is 8" fm side wall -- at least in my room 177" wide: 40-50" side-wall to centre of woof is more like it}

The idea behind damping the HF back waves with "traps" is to simulate a larger distance. Problem is, yr traps are too small for a UNIFORM effect. Try out both traps behind one speaker and listen. ALternatively, you might suggest a curtain of sorts (dunno if that would go down well...)