FXi3's in 5.1 on rear wall config ???

J_Kennedy

Because of the layout of the room, it was suggested to put the surrounds on the rear wall instead of the sides in an awkward position.

Being bipole/dipole it made sense and what is usually recommended is to keep them in their respective right/left position, firing outward, in bipole mode.

To add this before the question, in a 7.1 set-up and using bipole/dipole speakers it's recommended to flip the rear surrounds so left is on the right and right is on the left so they are firing to the center while the side surrounds are firing forward so the rears and sides are not firing toward each other. Rears still in bipole mode while sides would be in dipole.

So, on one side of the room, the speaker is firing towards an opening, the other side hits a wall. It's about a 16' wall and they're spaced about 7' apart.

Now the question, would it make sense to flip them in this case, wide wall and spacing, and fire them to the center?

Yes, I can switch them easy enough and try it, but I just got everything done last night and the last thing I want to do it re-connect and hang the speakers again. And, I think it may be an easy question based on the logistics. I may still test it, but not right now.

J_Kennedy

FYI, when I say "fire" in a direction, I mean the primary side of the speaker.

danger boy

there is never a good reason to flip speakers like that.. if it says left on the back of it.. use it on the left only.. and vice versa.. For rear surrounds and side surrounds. I don't think placement has to be spot on. you have lots of room to vary the placement of them. proper height is more important in my opinion than getting them placed in the exactly side wall or rear wall placement.

i could be wrong, but I doubt it.

cantzme78

I am getting the FXi A4's on Monday to setup as my rears in a 5.1 set-up and am also interested in the proper placement of the speakers? Which is best, maybe someone else that already has them set-up can let us know?.... THANKS...

J_Kennedy

Bump.

jakelm

It would make sense to fire them towards the center in a 6.1 channel system. In which in a 6.1, if you had them as surround back channels , you would only use one (preferably neither since you would probably want a direct speaker). But, since a 7.1 system has descrete rear right and rear left channels, I would put them in their propper place.

Do this, Put them left and right. Play a 7 channel stereo music, song , whatever. Them flip them. You determin which sounds better.

Ther are instaces when using dipole/bipole speakers, in a large distance apart to have them in bipole mode pointing towards each other.

Try the 7 channel stereo test. Go from there. Switch them between bi and di also.

J_Kennedy

jakelm wrote: »

It would make sense to fire them towards the center in a 6.1 channel system. In which in a 6.1, if you had them as surround back channels , you would only use one (preferably neither since you would probably want a direct speaker). But, since a 7.1 system has descrete rear right and rear left channels, I would put them in their propper place.

Do this, Put them left and right. Play a 7 channel stereo music, song , whatever. Them flip them. You determin which sounds better.

Ther are instaces when using dipole/bipole speakers, in a large distance apart to have them in bipole mode pointing towards each other.

Try the 7 channel stereo test. Go from there. Switch them between bi and di also.

I'm not saying to change the left and right channels around, just the speakers so that the left and right channels, in their proper place, will fire in and not out.

In a 7.1 with bipile/dipole, that's recommended so the rears aren't firing towards the side surrounds.

I might flip them around today and test. As wide as they are, height and the open wall on one side, it might be OK.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Any others please jump in.

cantzme78

J_Kennedy wrote: »

I'm not saying to change the left and right channels around, just the speakers so that the left and right channels, in their proper place, will fire in and not out.

In a 7.1 with bipile/dipole, that's recommended so the rears aren't firing towards the side surrounds.

I might flip them around today and test. As wide as they are, height and the open wall on one side, it might be OK.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Any others please jump in.

Let me know how this works out, I am finally setting my stuff up this weekend and would like to know.

J_Kennedy

I tried and tested. It did make for a stronger rear, but then I switched them back and tried the same scenes and found that it also made for a narrower sound field.

So in my situation anyway, I like them L=L and R=R and I just bump the level up a couple of db's. The sound field is wider making a better listening experience.

It also made me realize how much I'd like to be able to separate the fronts more.

FYI, the rears and fronts are about 18' apart. Sometimes I think there's a slight void in the overall sound field making me think going 7.1 and getting a set of surrounds in the middle will really complete it. Sometimes I think I feel/hear a break in transition sounds. But I'm anal and picky. It may be a better application for directs vs. bipole/dipole?

I'll wait until my sub gets here and see how that enhances the overall sound field.

Right now though, the sound is incredible and the room really moves!

Kirkz28

J_Kennedy wrote: »

I tried and tested. It did make for a stronger rear, but then I switched them back and tried the same scenes and found that it also made for a narrower sound field.

So in my situation anyway, I like them L=L and R=R and I just bump the level up a couple of db's. The sound field is wider making a better listening experience.

Just so I'm clear, you've got the rears firing outwards (away from each other) in bipole mode, right?

I recently purchased 4 FXi3's to use as mid-room surrounds and rear surrounds, so I'm interested in the outcome. I was planning to put the mid-room surrounds in dipole mode, but not sure whether to put the rear surrounds in bipole or dipole mode. Other info I've come across suggests what you originally stated - rears in bipole with their positions reversed so they fire towards each other (to reduce phase issues with the mid-room surrounds). I'm interested in experimenting with the different options, unless someone else has already done so and can fill me in? Now I just have to wait for the speakers to arrive!

And yes, this is my first post. I've been lurking for a while as I did my tire kicking. Seems like a good place to be! Now that I've purchased the FXi3's I figured it was time to formally join. I must admit, I almost went with the Axiom QS4, but I found a pretty good deal on the FXi3's.

J_Kennedy

Correct, now, and originally I had them firing out, in their correct Left and Right positions in bipole mode.

I can't find where I saw the layout, but what you said about 7.1 is correct, according to that. That the side surrounds will be in their correct L/R positions in dipole mode and the rear surrounds (in the THX setup they should be next to each other but I'm not sure bipole/dipole speakers are ideal for that??? ) would get switched L on the right side and Right on the left side firing inwards and in bipole mode.

I watched parts of Pearl Harbor again today with them back in the correct L/R positions in bipole mode and liked it better. We watched Transformers tonight and I'm sold, it's a better, more complete sound stage (or sound field, whatever is the right terminology ) with them like this.

The more feedback I get, the more I'm not worried about going 7.1 any time soon. If I come across another set of properly match speakers for a deal, I'll pull more cable and mount'm up though!

iskandam

I'm also using a pair of FXi3s as surrounds on the back wall. They're set up in the recommended L-R orientation. At first I had them set up as bipole as per Polk's recommendation in this kind of room set up but found the rear soundstage lacking. After a month or so I switched it to dipole and heard the soundstage opening up more. So far I like it in this set up but I'm gonna try flipping the Left to the Right and experiment with both bipole/dipole setting again to see if the sound will improve even more.

J_Kennedy

Updating this oldy.......

All 4 surrounds are in. FXi3's as both surround and back surrounds. The surrounds are the newly installed speakers. Having them on the sides alone, makes a difference. I like it better. Had I known that, I might have only done a 5.1 with them on the sides although they aren't in ideal position. What the he||, now I have a full 7.1 which is well worth it.

Right now the sides are in the correct L/R position and in Dipole and the rears are also in their proper L/R position and in Bipole. I may try flipping them to Dipole for grins and to see how it sounds now. They are about 7' apart.

The sides being on opposite sides of the room are about 16' apart and not directly across from each other. I may also try Bipole for them to see.

Adding the rears so I now have side surrounds completes the sound field. Sometimes it felt like there was a dead spot from front to rear with some effects. Now it's much smoother and complete. If something comes over head, or from one side to the other, it goes all the way and doesn't have that weak spot in the middle.

Oh, and since I first posted this I added an HSU sub which is the single most humongus change. Absolutely awesome! Surprisingly Audyssey sets the fronts to full range, sides to 70hz and rears to 80 hz using double bass. The feel is incredible, although I've found myself needing to crank the sub down a bit.

Anyone else experimented with position or bipole/dipole?