Dear Ian:

I'm a little bit confused about the theories behind the selection of surround sound speakers. I know a lot of experts favor "Monopole" surrounds for use with the new technologies such as DTS. This camp claims that Monopoles are superior for movies and music and that "bipoles" and "dipoles" are simply bad for multi-channel music?

I assume you are in the other "camp" that favors "dipoles" since these type of surround speakers have a much more "enveloping" sound quality to them? Can you elaborate on your theories on this issue and how you developed your "quadrant" speakers?

Also, is the practice of placing "monopoles" all around acceptable in your opinion, and if so, would you place the same speaker all around (i.e M 50's) or is it okay to mix and match with Axioms such as M60's in the front and M40's in the rear? Ideally, how would you handle a 6.1 channel set-up with Axioms?

Thanks so much for your time!