I think you have to be careful about taking comments on any dipole speaker without seeing how the responder had them set up. I have seen absolutely rediculous positions with apogee, logans, and mags such as the speakers being 2 feet from the rear wall with an equipment rack (5 feet wide) between the speakers with only a foot between the rack and the edge of the speaker in the same plane.
Dipoles are critical with the rear wave. It's as important as the front wave. You need an 8 milisecond delay for the rear wave in order for it to be perceived as added depth otherwise it detracts from the effect. Sound moves about 1 foot per milisecond so thats a minimum of 4 feet to the rear wall and there can be nothing between the speakers or its interfering with the rear wave. Instructions often say shorter distances to such boundaries are ok but thats to open up the market to people who wouldnt otherwise buy. Couple this with people adding in their own opinion as to what tolerances can be applied to the recommended distances and you get ideas like,"Well it says 2-5 feet to the rear wall is optimum, so 1 1/2 feet is passable". The result is that short distances result in early reflections which actually decrease depth illusion and confuse central images. The speaker also loses the 'blat' in horns and hollows out female voices.
Once prperly set up a true dipole effect will blow away any other direct radiating speaker. If you cant optimize these things then you cant give a true opinion of how they sound. You can only comment on a compromised set-up with a compromised opinion. Dipoles are not for small rooms. 4 feet to the rear wall, 4 feet from the speaker to listener, and 4 feet behind them suggests 12x12 as the smallest rooms. If you dont have this, a high resolution minimonitor with a good servo sub will outperform a poorly set up dipole.
Dipoles are critical with the rear wave. It's as important as the front wave. You need an 8 milisecond delay for the rear wave in order for it to be perceived as added depth otherwise it detracts from the effect. Sound moves about 1 foot per milisecond so thats a minimum of 4 feet to the rear wall and there can be nothing between the speakers or its interfering with the rear wave. Instructions often say shorter distances to such boundaries are ok but thats to open up the market to people who wouldnt otherwise buy. Couple this with people adding in their own opinion as to what tolerances can be applied to the recommended distances and you get ideas like,"Well it says 2-5 feet to the rear wall is optimum, so 1 1/2 feet is passable". The result is that short distances result in early reflections which actually decrease depth illusion and confuse central images. The speaker also loses the 'blat' in horns and hollows out female voices.
Once prperly set up a true dipole effect will blow away any other direct radiating speaker. If you cant optimize these things then you cant give a true opinion of how they sound. You can only comment on a compromised set-up with a compromised opinion. Dipoles are not for small rooms. 4 feet to the rear wall, 4 feet from the speaker to listener, and 4 feet behind them suggests 12x12 as the smallest rooms. If you dont have this, a high resolution minimonitor with a good servo sub will outperform a poorly set up dipole.