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Q I don't have room for a surround setup in my home theater, so I’ve decided to buy a pair of floorstanding tower speakers. My TV has a super-wide viewing angle. Are there any speakers with a super-wide listening angle? I don't want to be the only person in my family sitting in the "sweet spot.” —Edward G. Jones
A A main benefit to surround speaker setups is wide sound dispersion: Having multiple matched speakers located at different points around the room creates a broadly distributed sound field that can eliminate sweet spot issues associated with stereo-only setups.
That said, certain stereo speakers—models from PSB, for example—are designed with special attention paid to off-axis sound quality. Such speakers can have a wider-than-average listening angle: sound at off-center seats isn’t drastically different from what you’d hear when sitting front and center.
Another option you should consider if you’re concerned with getting a super-wide listening angle is bipolar speakers. Such models, which are made by companies like Definitive Technology, have matched sets of drivers located on the speaker’s front and rear that emit sound in-phase with each other. With this arrangement, direct sound emanating from the speaker’s front-facing drivers is augmented by reflected sound from the rear-facing drivers. The resulting sound balance can be lush, immersive and more forgiving of off-center seating than what you typically experience with regular tower speakers. It might just be the solution you’re looking for.
COMMENTS
No mention of constant/controlled directivity, waveguides, or Dr. Earl Geddes?
What models of PSB speakers in particular have excellent off-axis response? Are measurements available - manufacturers generally don't publish off-axis data because it's usually awful. And bipolar speakers may create a wider soundstage because of the reflected sound, but that doesn't mean their off-axis response is more accurate.
Read About these First and search for reviews.
http://www.miragespeakers.com/
Definitive BPs are friggin awesome. Listening to a pair of 8060s right now. We have a large space that is acoustically challenging. A concrete, glass and metal post-industrial loft style space. The BPs fill the space nicely synched with a few of their Wireless collection speakers to fill in the gaps.
What nobody has mentioned here is that it doesn't matter HOW wide the dispersion of the speakers are in a home theater, there is still only going to be one "sweet spot" where the sound is properly balanced from each seat. If you move left of the main seat, the speakers on the left side of the room will be louder than the speakers on the right side of the room so your "image" will be off because the left side will be too loud. If you move to a row behind the main seat, you will be closer to the rear speakers and those will be louder than they should be for those sitting in the row behind the main seat. I've only heard one speaker in my life that could produce a centered phantom image when you were sitting way off-center... MBL Radialstrallers that radiate 360 degrees... you would need a HUGE room (because they can't be placed close to walls) and a HUGE wallet to put 5 or 7 of them in a theater room. There are no conventional speakers I'm aware of that can pull-off the trick the Radialstrallers can pull off. And that's what the original poster was asking about. Wide dispersion alone is not going to produce the effect the original poster is asking about.
Read About these First and search for reviews.
http://www.miragespeakers.com/
@HomerTheater: I suggest reading these:
http://www.avsforum.com/attachments/65007
They go into detail on how the sweet spot can be increased for a 2 channel system if you use the right type of speakers (controlled directivity waveguide speakers). With this type of speaker, the off-axis response falls off somewhat evenly across the spectrum, preserving the fidelity of the audio while only reducing it in volume. By contrast most speakers lose some frequencies more than others as you move off axis, making their off-axis response inaccurate and sound poor. The end result is that you can angle waveguide speakers inward (toe-in) and improve the sweet spot. If you're closer to the left speaker, it would naturally be louder, but because of the toe-in angle, the volume is reduced to make it even with the right speaker which you're farther from, but closer to on-axis with. If that doesn't make sense, read the link; it's explained much clearer there.
Read About these First and search for reviews.
http://www.miragespeakers.com/
Read About these First and search for reviews.
http://www.miragespeakers.com/
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