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?
