B&W DS3 / DS6 Dipole Speakers - A Pragmatic Opinion

B&W DS dipole speakers - The Practical Merits of Dipole Surrounds

The internet is always filled with rage around topics that have strong views.
A lot of extremism exists around Dipoles for Surround use.
The pro-THX clan argue it is 'not Hifi' & the Home Theatre guys argue that HT is all about Dynamics, not just 'Hifi'.

I am hoping to bring a rational opinion here for the common consumer...

My view on Dipole in general:

Yes the DS is not 'HIfi'.
But putting a hifi speaker the best way you can still doesn't guarantee THX class perfection in an HT setup, simply because most living rooms are not THX class listening areas.

Ladies & Gentlemen, once you realise that Dipole speakers were designed as an 'imperfect solution' for our 'imperfect listening areas', you realise that there really isnt much to debate about.

Most people cant leave an empty 1.5 metre gap between their couch & the back wall in a typical 25-30sqm lounge that houses their TV & Sound system.
Many people with young kids or pets prefer to wall mount things for safety.

These constraints require us to adapt the 'hifi' technology to create as capable an experience as possible that resembles what should have been 'hifi'.

So we are creating a hifi quality experience, to the best degree possible, by creating imperfect speakers for our imperfect situation. Two wrongs can sometimes make a right I guess.. ;)

Part of the problem is that dipole speakers are defined as speakers that 'diffuse sound' & make it appear from no particular place.
This textbook definition may seem correct, but it is practically speaking too hollow.

A dipole speaker diffuses sound to remove the overpowering effects of angled tweeters, & not to diffuse the point source location.
Its not that a dipole speaker goes off & you cant tell where its coming from.
It is obvious there is a speaker on the top left/right - it just doesnt distract you or overpower the fronts, & when you realise their duties, you appreciate what they can do.

The B&W DS6 - a well designed speaker:

The DS3 & DS6 are actually very similar sounding for their dipole purposes.

They marry beautifully with any 6 series B&W speaker around.

They go low enough to render all the directionally audible bass clean & clear.

The DS3 goes lower than the DS6 by a fair margin, but for surrounds this is less important once we achieve a good timbre match in the 300Hz-3KHz range.

Their midrange sounds very clean & the vocals very clear even in dipole setups.

The DS3 has a tweeter there to satisfy you if you insist that you were missing out on crucial surround information between 8-16KHz before (come on, really?) & want to use it in monopole mode.

You mean to tell me you were watching a movie & the first thing you notice is that one of the dipole surrounds cant render higher than about 8KHz too well - doubt it..

Most people cant even hear past 12KHz clear enough, & sound engineers don't put in such high treble content in the back channels because they know shrill sounds are very directional & would distract the audience.

High pitch sounds are fronts, medium treble is the centre, & the 1-6Khz range is the predominant one used in surrounds for special effects.

So when a DS6 'diffuses' - no scratch that word, its deceptive in this context - when a DS6 reduces the 'directional overpowering characteristics' of the sound, its allowing you to be less distracted by individual pieces of sound & more immersed in the audio image, like the audio recording would have wanted you to.

And I like to stress this - By using dipoles you are getting a listening experience that the audio engineer possibly wanted you to have.

That experience may not have been as good on your standard hifi bookshelf which you have directional tweeters pointed at you in your average living room & create a audio image far different to what the artists intended.

If you think about it this way, you realise that dipoles do have a place in the hifi world.

If you are in an imperfect listening environment where you cant place full range speakers correctly, or are in a room too small to allow creating an envelope using hifi speakers, then I definitely recommend the B&W Ds6 & DS3 dipole surround sound speakers as satellites.

Even if your room has the space, get he DS as they are easier to get right, they will not disappoint.