The greatest surround speaker I've ever heard is on sale! Anyone thinking about buying new surrounds should take advantage!

Though they've got the price wrong...I think the factory price is usually $423/pair.

I think factory pricing depends either on how many they have, how damaged they are, or how much axiom made this month.

When i got my M80's they were $935

They havent been that low since.

You know, the QS8's are the very first surround speakers that I ever owned or listened to in our own room. I agree that they sound terrific, but too bad I don't have any references as to how much better they sound compared to products from other brands... I feel I am kind of spoiled from the outset.

I have listen to tonnes...and nothing I know disperses and give that surround feeling. I even listened to a Wilson surrounds ...ehem $2000USD plus ... dare I say they sound as good ...actually even better. It disperses but also has detail. I have not demoed any other quad polar like the Axioms so I can't compare apples to apples.
Mind you for surround music...direct firing is definitely better.

Yes, but usually the price in the outlet isn't higher than the normal price...

Just out of curiosity, what other brands make quadpolar surrounds like the QS series?

*Sigh*. I knew somebody would catch on to the higher pricing thing!! Actually, just rushing out for the holiday weekend - thanks for the catch! Fixed now.

Hey sushi;

Actually in my post above I did mention that I could NOT compare apples to apples since Axiom is the only quadpole speaker. Everything else was dipole/bipole. But some that came to mind when I demoed.

http://monitoraudiousa.com/products/silver/index.html - Monitor Audio FXi had somewhat the same tonal characteristics as the QS8. Not as dispersed though.

Another was http://revelspeakers.com/products/overview.asp?ID=11 Revel Performa S30

For dispersion like the QS8 is the Magnepan MGMC1
http://magnepan.com This is effectively a dipole.

Dipoles because the lower frequencies reproduced by the woofers are not particularly directional so it seems to radiate diffusely. A bipole speaker creates a wider soundfield by pushing air out of both sides at the same time. This means that it can be placed pretty much anywhere you wish. (Somebody check this. I might be wring)


Here are other interesting designs:
http://www.mksound.com/ss150.html

Bipoles and dipoles are generally speakers with drivers on two opposite faces of the speaker box.

A bipole is wired internally such that all cones are moving outward and inward in sync with each other. The effect created here is a wide soundfield that retains qualities of directionality (i.e. you can still localize the source of the sounds).

A dipole is wired internally such that cones on one side are moving outward while cones on the other side are moving inward. The effect created here is a wide soundfield that does not really retain the qualities of directionality. Since the speakers on opposing faces are wired out of phase, the sound waves effectively cancel out when they meet in the middle and the only sound left comes from the periphery. Hence the widely dispersed, non-localized sound.

Then, or course, there are speakers that are hybrids, in which the woofers are wired in phase and the tweeters are wired out of phase.

See I told you I was wring....wrong..

Hey Peter;

Maggies are effectively a dipole but the sound that comes out of them is not just periphery, widely dispersed or non localized. They have qualities of directionality. The front is in-phase and the back is out of phase...I think.

Actually, if you turn a Maggie so that you're looking at it edge-on (more like you'd have a dipolar surround mounted), then it will put out a very diffuse sound field. Give it a try.

In the normal orientation, the sound coming off the back-side of a Maggie is reflected off another surface before it gets to your ear, so it is no longer perfectly out-of-phase by the time it reaches your ear.

Interesting....so if one was going to use diffusers or absorbers on the back wall of the Maggies that would not be recommended since your saying that the sound coming from the back of the speaker is supposed to get back to the listener via reflections to give possibly sound re-inforcement?

It's a matter of taste, really -- and probably has a lot to do with the room itself. I've seen all sorts of after-market egg-crate foam modifications to Maggies designed to minimize the backward reflections.

I think they go against the design philosophy of the speaker itself, however. But, as I mentioned above, that design philosophy may not be a good match for some rooms -- hence the mods.

Here is a nice visual depiction of dipole and other radiation patterns. Many other simulations created by the same guy found here.

Okey sushi my eyes are all bugged out now...thanks