Dipole speakers, subwoofers and that rear wall


I own modern quad dipole speakers (2912s). I’ve heard many stories about speaker position, but never something that rang as fully logical to me. I can imagine 3 choices:

 

1/ dipole pretty much against the wall, maybe slight toe-in. The reflecting sound will come quickly after the straight sound and might cancel out the direct wave

2/ dipole far from corner (I hear quad recommends 1.5m). Reflections will amplify the sound?

Both statements feel like they’re incomplete. Surely the frequency, or frequencieS being played matter a lot if the reflected sound is in phase (amplifies) or in antiphase (attenuates) the direct sound. I can imagine perfecting positioning for one frequency and its modes, but not for 20-20,000 hz full spectrum.

 

3/ Close the rear of the dipole or have sound-absorbing material behind the speaker

The third one seems somewhat more logical, since I can’t imagine a sinewave that’s being attenuated by a reflected wave being accurately-sine-y unless the reflection is exactly in counterphase with the frequency played.

But on the other hand, if I have an actual instrument that is somewhat reminiscent of an actual dipole (e.g. a snare drum pointing upward) will have similar reflections on the rear wall.

 

I guess it "feels" true that you don’t want to stuff a musician in a corner too much but I’m not sure if this will negatively impact his sound?

 

As for the second part, a proper subwoofer moves quite a bit of air, can that air damage a dipole eletrostatic speaker?

puntloos

Showing 4 responses by cleeds

helmholtzsoul

> What is a "tuned chamber?" <

Instead of dipole, use both front and rear baffles and both are enclosed within the cabinet design. RM50 VMPS. There are a few more now. The old QLS Infinity ...

Oh, you mean "cabinet." That’s what most people call the box that holds speaker drivers.

 "Embrace it" in a tuned chamber ...

What is a "tuned chamber?" I've never heard of this room treatment.

It can sound wonderful, but NEVER accurate ... I had IRS Betas for 20 years. Wonderful speakers for the money. I did everything to those speakers. ... I really liked the servo bass columns.

Yup, the IRS bass columns can be terrific. I'm still using my IRS Beta system. I sometimes makes my own recordings, so I know that they can be reasonably accurate.

If Infinity made a mistake with the IRS Betas, it was the degree of flexibility in the adjustments. That's a double-edged sword: Used properly, the system can sound fantastic. Used improperly and you get that "hi-fi" sound that quickly wears on the listener.

 

Exactly! A dipole’s radiation pattern is part of what creates that open, spacious sound that box speakers struggle to produce.