Anyone know the Mirage Bilpolar Speakers? (590i)

rnp614
rnp614 Posts: 598
edited May 2005 in Speakers
I'm just wondering if anyone has an opinion on these speakers. There are some in Chicago I was considering getting, but their high dependency on placement has me worried. That and I've heard Bipolars in general arent as good at music imaging.
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  • Tour2ma
    Tour2ma Posts: 10,177
    edited May 2005
    Been maybe 15 years since I auditioned one of their floorstanding dipoles (looking at their web-site they may have been the 990's). I wasn't floored, but best I can recall it was not their imaging that left me unaffected.

    Any bi-/ di-pole is going to be more demanding placement-wise. Nature of designs that depend in part upon reflected sound.
    More later,
    Tour...
    Vox Copuli
    Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb

    "Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
    "It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,815
    edited May 2005
    :D

    I love bipolar speakers, dicking around with placement is worth it. Dipole speakers are -alot- different than Bipole speakers, particularly in the bass response.

    I have no experience with Mirage though, my experiences come from another company.

    And completely ignore that whole music thing you hear about...they rock...
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,221
    edited May 2005
    Mirage is a great company. Excellent design and top notch quality. My brother has a pair of Mirage OM-7's wich are Omni-polar speakers and a different animal than Di-Pole speakers. I will say that while his OM-7's sound great, very smooth and open they just don't image like conventional line-array type speakers. They are an aquired taste, IMO. I just can't seem to get used to them.

    They are very dynamic, but I'm so used to that center image and soundstage depth/width etc. Omnipolars don't always give you the solid center image and soundstage cues.

    That being said they are phenominal speakers. Top notch quality. Just a different approach to reproducing sound.
    Much like SDA's were in their day, not sound wise, but thinking outside the box....so to speak.

    If you can demo them to see if you like them and can position them properly that's what I'd recommend

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited May 2005
    Mirage is a solid company but I like Heiney9 have never really loved them in any way. I think most Omnipolar and Bi/Di designs take getting used to because it's non-traditional IMO. The sound is sometimes too diffuse with little imaging. Diffuse may be somewhat the objective, but when it doesn't bring along the larger soundstage....it's lame.

    It's not something I will be buying, even for fun, based on the demos of Mirage and DT I've heard so far.

    As a side note, I have a work associate that owns some DT BP100X Supercubes or whatever the marketing name is...and he likes them alot.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,815
    edited May 2005
    I'd love to hear some of these setups with bad center imaging, and the difused soundstage ;)

    Sounds like your friend has the BP700x series. Not a fan of powered towers myself...

    Anyways, its a sound you either like or hate, but don't expect to put them in a spot and that be the end all. They are very fun to own and tinker with, with plenty of surprises along the way...
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,221
    edited May 2005
    To follow up on my previous post I should add the my bro's OM-7's sound pretty much the same in any listening position. Doro's description of diffused sound is pretty much right on. This diffusion is subtle, but it takes getting used to and I never have completely bought into it. They would however be great in a difficult room or maybe for a room where speakers would need to be postioned akwardly.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited May 2005
    Yea, that's what it is....thanks DT Guru ;)

    My listening comments were about the Mirage directly...as for the DefTech I simply didn't get into them and won't make any comments for now. I will drop by and get some better demos soon just to make sure I'm not crazy.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,815
    edited May 2005
    Originally posted by dorokusai
    Yea, that's what it is....thanks DT Guru ;)

    My listening comments were about the Mirage directly...as for the DefTech I simply didn't get into them but won't make any comments for now. I will drop by and get some better demos soon just to make sure I'm not crazy.

    If your going by store demos - my thoughts completely echo yours. DT, any bipolar speaker sounds absolutely freakin horrid in a store...

    Its a completely different story in home, with adequate gear... and placement...

    As for the difused soundstage, I havn't noticed it. I think the soundstage is alot more focused than my RT speakers EVER were. Same goes for the center image, by a long shot...

    I just don't see it...

    to each their own though
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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