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07/14/09
I'm not sure how these purport to work, but for truly omnidirectional sound at higher frequencies, you'd need to cover the space with multiple drivers, spraying listeners with sound waves the way those fancy showers spray water on every crevice and curve of your body from multiple faucets. Yamaha created an experimental audio lab that achieved this by peppering the walls and ceilings with recessed drivers. It mimicked the omnidirectional way sound arrives in real life, from all directions.
07/14/09
While its true that most Omnis cannot image quite as precisely as a forward radiator, they do just about everything else better, and they are much closer to live music in an acoustic space. Most of the energy from live instruments arrives after bouncing off the walls, and this is what Omnis recreate. Try an MBL 101E, and see if you can go back to a direct radiator after that.
07/14/09
To be fair, I'd have to audition these to see what they really do (and also would have to keep in mind their relatively low-cost purposes). Still, this sounds (sorry) like total marketing BS.
07/14/09
I don't believe omnidrectional speakers are intended for the accurate reporoduction of positioning; they're for providing even quality audio throughout an area.
It's like if Spiderman and Venom wanted to give people music. Spiderman would be fair and give the same amount of music to everybody because he's a swell guy. Venom, on the other hand, would give it all to one person in incredible detail. The only difference is, Venom would probably kill the listener whereas a 7.1 setup wouldn't.
Hopefully these truly provide the same sound effect as other more expensive omnidirectional speakers.
07/15/09
02/23/09
02/22/09
True surround sound is when you can wallpaper your room with thousands of tiny membranes that literally surround you with direct sound from all directions, and can replicate virtual acoustic reflections of any room.
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