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Bipolar Users?

Have you ever tried bipolar speakers?

  • Total voters
    22
Raynald said:
Having sold Mirage and Def Tech when they first came out with Bi-Polar designs I can tell you what the average customer's reaction was. As soon as you make a Bi-Polar speaker you have just lost the vast majority of your potential customer base. Companies, understandably, want to sell product and making a design choice that dramatically limits your potential sales will not be supported for long. A small company aiming at a niche market that is willing to make accommodations for better sound can make Bi/Di-polar speakers. A larger company that wants market will have a much harder time of it.
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Are you saying that the average customer didn't like the sound of a bi-polar design and that would turn them off from the brand altogether? Def Tech's certainly seemed to sell well. I remember the first time I heard a set of BP-20s properly set up at Goodwin's audio back in the mid-90's. I was just getting into audio, but I was really impressed.
 
I have owned and/or refurbed a number of pairs of Maggies--true dipoles. I still keep a pair of 3.6r's around just for fun, but they are so dominating (6' X 2' panels) that have to be about 4' from the backing wall to sound good--and they do, but I am single and live alone, so if I want to play with them, it is no big deal. Dipoles of any type are not good for the family room or a cramped space--unless you live alone with a decent sized room, or have a very forgiving S/O, they are not for you. They can be amazing when set up properly, but they are basically way too intrusive for the average person (in terms of placement). But when set up properly, they can blow you away, but have a very small "sweet spot" for sure.
 
i heard the BP10s and 20s when they were first exhibited at CES. DefTech had a big room and they had them set up optimally. the soundstage was very nice and the bass was slightly boomy but had good extension. the thing that turned me off was a slight graniness to the sound of all the different genres of music they played.

now it might of been the HT receivers and frontend they used to demo but i also heard this effect several years later with much better electronics.

now whether this might have been a result of the bipolar instead of dipolar like my Carvers, i cannot say but my wife also noticed it and she has sharper ears than i do.

still i wish i had been able to live with a pair for awhile driven by my big Parasound amp.
 
No graininess from mine, and the bass is deep. Surprisingly so. I have my Sony AVR driving them too.
 
esprits4s said:
Are you saying that the average customer didn't like the sound of a bi-polar design and that would turn them off from the brand altogether? Def Tech's certainly seemed to sell well. I remember the first time I heard a set of BP-20s properly set up at Goodwin's audio back in the mid-90's. I was just getting into audio, but I was really impressed.
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The average customer, not the average audio hobbyist, will not even consider something that takes up the kind of room a Bi-polar speaker needs to perform optimally. I am not making judgments, people buy things for their reasons to get the results they want and they are 100% entitled to do so. Having spoken to thousands of customers a year for many years, and these were already a non random sample of people who would take the time to look into a store that was known for good quality gear, I got a certain feeling for what was popular and what was not.

Most people who heard a good demo of a M or BP were blown away, they simply would never consider having something like that at home. Among Bi-polars, the Def Techs sold well. Compared to our competitors who were pitching Bose Acoustimass at the time, they did abysmally.
 
I have both Snell E/IIIs with a rear tweeter and Avid 101s with side tweeters and really like them. If they count.
 
Raynald said:
The average customer, not the average audio hobbyist, will not even consider something that takes up the kind of room a Bi-polar speaker needs to perform optimally. I am not making judgments, people buy things for their reasons to get the results they want and they are 100% entitled to do so. Having spoken to thousands of customers a year for many years, and these were already a non random sample of people who would take the time to look into a store that was known for good quality gear, I got a certain feeling for what was popular and what was not.

Most people who heard a good demo of a M or BP were blown away, they simply would never consider having something like that at home. Among Bi-polars, the Def Techs sold well. Compared to our competitors who were pitching Bose Acoustimass at the time, they did abysmally.
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Ah, yes, I understand. makes sense
 
ericj said:
when i think dipole i think planar.

But I'm weird that way.
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The thread title says bipolar. There is a major difference between bipolar and dipolar. With dipolar the rear wave is 180 degrees out of phase with the front wave. With bipolar the rear wave is in phase with the front.
 
I mentioned dipoles in the op, but mainly was asking about bipolar. Dipole discussion is welcome though. :)
 
i mentioned dipoles as maybe the bipole BPs were a source of the graininess? i should also mentioned this effect was VERY slight on the DefTechs and would probably go unnoticed in some genres of music but once you hear and notice it you always hear it.

after all these years i wonder if it might not have been the fine Vifa soft dome tweeter being crossed over too low? i have never heard the later models with the aluminum dome tweeters.
 
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