di/monopoles w/ my room size or layout?

[BlazeMaster]

Hi dear fellow members of HTGuide.

I'll be setting up a 5.1 system in a new room soon will be eventually moving to a 7.1 setup in the future. I listen to music in 2 channel and movies in 5.1/7.1 mode, so the surrounds will be strictly used for movies only. The room is a bedroom/theater with a door, so it's not leaky for the sound at all. The room size is 10.5 feet wide, 15 feet long and 9 feet high. With my projector throw distance and resulting image size of 92" diagonal, I'll be sitting about 11 feet from the wall where the image is projected on and about 3 feet from the wall behind me. When I go with a 5.1 setup, I think I'll end up putting the surrounds speakers on the side walls and about 1.5 ft. above my ears and about 1 ft. behind my ears. Or you guys think that I should put them on the back wall and face the speakers at me? Another question, do you guys think dipoles or monopoles will be better for my application? Please share your opinions/experiences with me, thanks.
BTW: the surrounds will have to be on-wall, due to room restrictions. I was looking at either the B&W DS6 or DM600.

[George Bellefontaine]

I have a 7.1 setup and use dipoles on the sidewalls and two direct speakers on the back wall for the back channel. I read elsewhere where someone had used this setup and liked it. I agree, it works great, for my room anyway. I don't use this setup for music listening, only movies.

[David Meek]

Raymond, you are right on target with your basic layout with one possible exception that George raised. Are you using di-pole surrounds, or direct-radiators? If direct, then your placement will work okay. If you are using di-poles, then the surrounds need to be directly to the sides of your listening positions and above ear level by a couople of feet if possible. I would not recommend putting the speakers on the wall behind the listening position unless they are used as the rear-surrounds in a 7.1 setup only.

Di-poles fire forward and backward along the side walls and generate a null around the listeners' position. This causes the perception of a more spacious surround field and is very effective when properly set up. FWIW, I'm using di-poles in our theater room.

[BlazeMaster]

ok thanks for the advice so far guys. I've used diret-radiating speakers in the past (B&WDM601s to be exact) and wasn't sure what do go with for the room that I'll be moving to.
George: you mention that you used mixed combo of surrounds with dipoles on sides and direct for back surrounds. Have you tried using direct radiators for the sides? Does the direct radiators sound too close, instead of giving that spacious effect?

David: It seems like you're really happy with dipoles as well. I think I should look into the DS6 option more. From my past experiences with the DM601s, I could never get them far enough from the seating position due to room layout. I think the dipoles are also easier to setup, because they're meant to be placed closer than the direct radiators?

Thanks again for taking the time out to reply and happy 4th!

[George Bellefontaine]

Raymond, I did try direct radiators on the side wall for awhile but there was too much localization and there seemed to be a gap between the front and rear speakers in my 18 feet long room. The dipoles, as Tex stated, fire forward and back and give what seems like a more spacious soundfield, and this really works well with movie soundtracks.

[ajpoe]

I used to have direct radiating speakers in a 5.1 setup and went with dipoles and they are absolutely amazing. I am very happy with the switch. I have them directly to the side and about 2' higher than ear level. I use the surrounds for movies only... no multichannel music. I have actually been fooled by my surrounds a couple time because they are so good at creating a diffused surround field.

I would audition both, but I think you would be most pleased with dipoles on the surrounds and then if you ever go with a 7.1 arrangement, get direct radiating speakers for the center backs.

[Andrew Pratt]

I've used both direct and bipole side speakers in my 7.1 room and both have their advantages. The dipoles blend very seemlessly into the room and rarely call attention to themselves. This works great for those movies that have a lot of ambient surround effects like rain storms etc. The direct type offers more pin point sound effects which are great for pans and gun fire etc that's meant to me more directional...they are more noticable then dipoles though. Really the point here is that both types have their place and it depends on your taste and the movie in question. I didn't think I'd like the directs as much as I do but having had both I like my current set up better with the four direct in walls as my surrounds.

[ajpoe]

How wide is your room Andrew? If I had a pretty wide room, I think direct radiators would be better b/c you'd get a wide soundstage for ambient affects but also get a directional sound for things like the gun fire, etc. I think in BlazeMasters room that is only 10.5 feet wide, the dipoles would create a better surround field... it did for me. But I'd definately look at direct speakers if I ever get more space down the road. Blade, I'd still suggest that you listen to both and go with your personal preference. Like Andrew said, there are advantages to both!

[BlazeMaster]

I wish I can audition both, but the problem is that the new room is 300 miles away from where I live now. I want to just get whatever you guys think will be the best for the room size and just be done with it, because my priorities aren't the surrounds. Which is more practical and easier to setup with different room layouts and dimensions? I've seen a couple of pair of B&W DS6/DM600 or DM601s on ebay at a reasonable price, should I jump on those?

[David Meek]

Which is more practical and easier to setup with different room layouts and dimensions?

Now that's a bit of a different issue. For ease of setup I'd recommend direct radiators. Just plop them on a stand, shelf, etc, set the delay and press play. Di-poles do require a bit more work to position them properly, but I'd still recommend them over direct radiators unless you're talking about an absolutely huge room (and yours is mid-to-smallish-sized - FYI mine is, too - 11'-4" x 13'-4"), which gives you more positioning options.

I've seen a couple of pair of B&W DS6/DM600 or DM601s on ebay at a reasonable price, should I jump on those?

Financially, you're the only person that can actually answer that. But, if you know what you want and the price is right, why wait? My god man, this is all about gratification!!!

[Andrew Pratt]

My room's 12 feet wide by 25 long.

[aud19]

If multi-channel music is not a high priority and with it being a relatively small room, I vote bi/di-poles. If you look around, there are some brands/models that are switchable as well

[BlazeMaster]

thanks everyone for taking the time out to help me out. It seems like that everyone is favoring the dipoles for a small to mid sized room like mine. I think I'll end up getting a pair of B&W DS6s.

[Snap]

Aud19 :agree: there are a lot of speakers that have that switching ability. I have the Phase Tech Velocity Series that are switchable Bi/Di Pole Speakers and they are AWESOME! :T Blaze I agree with all the rest of the folks bi/di-pole speakers are what you need. Not convinced you need the B&W but hey they are awesome speakers that is for sure. 8)