Dipole patterns


I have noticed two different types of dipoles.One has drivers on opposite sides of a box cabinet.One has drivers on 45 degree angled baffles.Just wondering if there is a pattern difference?
kgveteran
My question is related to the rear surround type dipole.I use paradigm 150's which are the box type that have drives on the front and back.I do understand the theory behind dipole and bipole.My question is related to the rear or side surround speakers that have angled front baffles.Do they achieve dipole patterns with this angled front baffle.While they must, how do they do it?
A speaker with drivers on opposite sides is likely not dipolar, but rather bipolar. Examples include Mirage.

Nor is a speaker with drivers on 45 degree angled baffles, in my opinion. Dweller's explanation is pretty good.

Examples of speakers with dipole radiation characteristics include moving coil speakers such as Audio Artistry and Gradient and many planar/ribbon/electrostatic speakers such as Magnepan and Sound Lab. While cancellation occurs especially in the bass, the recreation of the reverberant sound field by a dipole can add significant realism to the sound and listening enjoyment.

Brian
Sounds like two different animals... If memory serves, a dipole speaker fires both forward (into the room) and backward (to the rear). What makes it a dipole (as opposed to a bipole) is the polarity of the forward firing speaker is the reverse of the backward firing polarity. The result is a cancellation of sound when the front/rear sound waves creep around and meet at the sides of the speaker (a positive cancels a negative and all that jazz). The theory is that a dipole will sound more "focused" since you are hearing (mostly) a clean primary wave without reflections from the walls close to the sides of the speaker. A dipole usually uses a single driver to "do its thing". A bipole, however, uses two drivers to emit front/back waves of equal polarity. The 45 degree speaker you're talking about sounds like a home theater surround. These can be configured several ways as quasi dipole and bipole. Some have a switch that lets you go from one to the other depending on your tastes...