5.1 vs 7.1 - worth the upgrade? opinions needed!

hornetstinger · 19 Sep 2017 at 11:25

Uncle Petey said:
Not done it with bipoles, but I did stick a spare pair of Mordaunt Short Genies behind me for some 7.1 action.
No regrets at all and it works well with films that support it, even with my less than ideal placement behind the sofa that puts them a bit too close to my head + they shouldn't match with my Tannoy MX2/MX1/MXC, yet seem to blend in well enough.

Long story short, you should be pretty happy with those.

You don't have to match side or rears with the fronts.

If you're very close to the rear/side speakers I would still recommend bipoles, as I find direct speaker very close to you too distracting.

I use two pairs of these

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-EFYrOpN4KsJ/p_735BP2X/Definitive-Technology-BP2X.html

Uncle Petey · 19 Sep 2017 at 11:30

Yeah, I've considered bipoles on more than a few occasions over the last couple of years. No doubt they'd be an improvement, it's just that I can't really be bothered

hornetstinger · 19 Sep 2017 at 11:33

There's a pair of BP-1X going for £50, I'd give them a try.

Uncle Petey · 19 Sep 2017 at 11:46

Tempting... I did scope them out when you posted a link to them in another thread actually.
Not sure I want to wall mount anything right now, and they'd need a bit of spit and polish... I'll have a think

Richdog · 19 Sep 2017 at 11:59

Uncle Petey said:
Not done it with bipoles, but I did stick a spare pair of Mordaunt Short Genies behind me for some 7.1 action.
No regrets at all and it works well with films that support it, even with my less than ideal placement behind the sofa that puts them a bit too close to my head + they shouldn't match with my Tannoy MX2/MX1/MXC, yet seem to blend in well enough.

Long story short, you should be pretty happy with those.

Ok thanks for the feedback.

hornetstinger said:
You don't have to match side or rears with the fronts.

If you're very close to the rear/side speakers I would still recommend bipoles, as I find direct speaker very close to you too distracting.

I use two pairs of these

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-EFYrOpN4KsJ/p_735BP2X/Definitive-Technology-BP2X.html

Hmm they look cool. How would they compare to these, any advantages or disadvantages you could think of? https://www.crutchfield.com/S-BTdTTsW8pgx/p_735XTR20BP/Definitive-Technology-XTR-20BP.html

hornetstinger said:
There's a pair of BP-1X going for £50, I'd give them a try.

Going where? In the forum FS section?

hornetstinger · 19 Sep 2017 at 12:04

The BP-1X and BP-2X are the typical bipole speaker- 2 treble, 2 midrange/woofer, with both sides in phase
That Mythos looks like a MTM center speaker, but with angled woofers.

I would go for the regular bipole speakers

There are also dipole speakers which look like the 1X/2X but one side is out of phase. I've used both and still own a pair of dipoles. I think they work well with Pro-Logic material but with modern tracks bipoles (or tripoles) function better.