I'm currently testing some Paradigm ADP-370 dipoles against my Monitor 7's(direct firing) for surround duty. I went with the 7's since I always purchase speakers with music demo's only. And music does sound better with directs over dipoles to almost anyone. But, after 10 months now, I've been reevaluating my use and importance of the surrounds. My mulit-channel music collection consists of three whole discs because the selection is horrible and using PLII doesn't bring much material to the rears anyway. So movies are now the source I want the best sound from for the rears, so I thought to demo the dipoles which many feel superior for movie surround reproduction.
First, let me say placement isn't critical with the dipoles IMO if you follow the standard Dolby guidlines of putting the on the sides a foot behind the listener and 2-3 ft. up. Also make sure they're a couple feet from the rear walls. I've tried a foot difference here and there and don't notice much difference. Second, I'm really lovin the dispersion for movies over the direct(monopole) 7's. A small part of that probably has to do with the fact the the ADP's are on the wall and hence a little farther from the seating positions, so it isn't "in your face" as much, but I still give credit to the speaker design. The Paradigms are different from other designs as well I've read because part of the speaker stays "in-phase", while most other dipoles are "out of phase". I really couldn't answer more about that at the moment. Anyway, sounds are still localizable but more dispersed.Music suffers from a little directionality loss and focus in the rears but still maintains the ambience of multi-channel or PLII playback, though not true to the original mix I suppose. But I don't think multi-channel music needs strong rear signals anyway, the stage is still in front of you as far as I'm concerned, so it isn't that bothersome to me. Now at this point, I'm thinking what if I got some direct firing wall mounted speakers to put on the sides? My 7's were 3ft. behind at the edge of a four seat sectional btw, so this would definately change the sound. Unfortunately, there really isn't a Monitor speaker that is small, mountable and of high quality that matches my Monitors so I'm kinda outta luck on that I think. So as of now the 7's are for sale and hopefully will get sold soon so I can actually purchase the ADP dipoles. In conclusion, if you favor movie use you might really like the dipoles better, if you can demo a direct as well that would be best since your placement options for directs might be better than mine and so dipoles might not seem as advantageous. Good luck deciding.
First, let me say placement isn't critical with the dipoles IMO if you follow the standard Dolby guidlines of putting the on the sides a foot behind the listener and 2-3 ft. up. Also make sure they're a couple feet from the rear walls. I've tried a foot difference here and there and don't notice much difference. Second, I'm really lovin the dispersion for movies over the direct(monopole) 7's. A small part of that probably has to do with the fact the the ADP's are on the wall and hence a little farther from the seating positions, so it isn't "in your face" as much, but I still give credit to the speaker design. The Paradigms are different from other designs as well I've read because part of the speaker stays "in-phase", while most other dipoles are "out of phase". I really couldn't answer more about that at the moment. Anyway, sounds are still localizable but more dispersed.Music suffers from a little directionality loss and focus in the rears but still maintains the ambience of multi-channel or PLII playback, though not true to the original mix I suppose. But I don't think multi-channel music needs strong rear signals anyway, the stage is still in front of you as far as I'm concerned, so it isn't that bothersome to me. Now at this point, I'm thinking what if I got some direct firing wall mounted speakers to put on the sides? My 7's were 3ft. behind at the edge of a four seat sectional btw, so this would definately change the sound. Unfortunately, there really isn't a Monitor speaker that is small, mountable and of high quality that matches my Monitors so I'm kinda outta luck on that I think. So as of now the 7's are for sale and hopefully will get sold soon so I can actually purchase the ADP dipoles. In conclusion, if you favor movie use you might really like the dipoles better, if you can demo a direct as well that would be best since your placement options for directs might be better than mine and so dipoles might not seem as advantageous. Good luck deciding.
