BMR dispersion

[Doobrey]

Noob question, bmr is known for its wide 180 degree dispersion but is that only horizontal?

If I were to say use a Cambridge minx 22 on its side for a center channel would it matter?

Is the dispersion equally vertical and horizontal?

 

[rynberg]

There is no way that speaker is adequate to use as a center channel...I seriously doubt it's even equal to the speakers in any decent TV. Cambridge doesn't provide any actual specs but it appears to be a 2-way speaker, so no it will not perform well laid on its side.

 

[staticV3]

I think no matter how wide the radiation pattern of each BMR driver is, if you place two of them in a row, you'll inevitably get cancellation leading to a very narrow sweet spot:

 

[Doobrey]

There is no way that speaker is adequate to use as a center channel...I seriously doubt it's even equal to the speakers in any decent TV. Cambridge doesn't provide any actual specs but it appears to be a 2-way speaker, so no it will not perform well laid on its side.

It’s actually far better than speakers I’ve heard in any modern tvs. Minx 22 is a 1.5 way design with the lower unit being a custom bmr woofer to reinforce the low mids/high bass. Not two of the same driver put In parallel, they work really well in my set up for a surround system where my other options would be a sound bar only due to space.

Anyway with that aside my question still stands on wether dispersion characteristics are determined by the orientation of a speaker like a BMR?

 

[Gwreck]

It’s actually far better than speakers I’ve heard in any modern tvs. Minx 22 is a 1.5 way design with the lower unit being a custom bmr woofer to reinforce the low mids/high bass. Not two of the same driver put In parallel, they work really well in my set up for a surround system where my other options would be a sound bar only due to space.

Anyway with that aside my question still stands on wether dispersion characteristics are determined by the orientation of a speaker like a BMR?

The in ceiling minx seem like they’d be decent atmos speakers if they are crossed over appropriately.

 

[rynberg]

It’s actually far better than speakers I’ve heard in any modern tvs. Minx 22 is a 1.5 way design with the lower unit being a custom bmr woofer to reinforce the low mids/high bass. Not two of the same driver put In parallel, they work really well in my set up for a surround system where my other options would be a sound bar only due to space.

Anyway with that aside my question still stands on wether dispersion characteristics are determined by the orientation of a speaker like a BMR?

A 2-inch driver is not a woofer...just saying.

Wait, you are saying the Minx 22 is better so you already have one? I mean, just play content and move off axis in both orientations. But yes, vertically the radiation is going to be messy and much more limited than horizontally -- just look at any 2-way speaker review here and realize it will be worse as only a 1.5-way. A driver type doesn't magically change physics.

 

[Doobrey]

The in ceiling minx seem like they’d be decent atmos speakers if they are crossed over appropriately.

Absolutely and the small minx12 are supposedly excellent for height channels, philharmonic towers use little $20 bmr drivers in their $4000 tower speaker because they perform so well.

 

[Doobrey]

A 2-inch driver is not a woofer...just saying.

Wait, you are saying the Minx 22 is better so you already have one? I mean, just play content and move off axis in both orientations. But yes, vertically the radiation is going to be messy and much more limited than horizontally -- just look at any 2-way speaker review here and realize it will be worse as only a 1.5-way. A driver type doesn't magically change physics.

They don’t project sound like a conventional cone driver, you can move all around the room and the sound barely changes, like OLEDs viewing angles.

 

[sweetchaos]

Is the dispersion equally vertical and horizontal?

No.

Source:

Measurements for speaker Philharmonic BMR

www.spinorama.org

• Horizontal directivity is (-80.0°, 80.0°) between 1kHz and 10kHz. Angle computed for +/-6dB.
• Vertical directivity is (-20.0°, 20.0°) between 1kHz and 10kHz. Angle computed for +/-6dB.

 

[cavedriver]

No.

Source:

Measurements for speaker Philharmonic BMR

www.spinorama.org

• Horizontal directivity is (-80.0°, 80.0°) between 1kHz and 10kHz. Angle computed for +/-6dB.
• Vertical directivity is (-20.0°, 20.0°) between 1kHz and 10kHz. Angle computed for +/-6dB.

I think the OP means the BMR driver by itself, not the Philharmonic "BMR"s. I almost thought the same thing at first until I saw the other responses and re-read the OP's post.

If the 2 BMR's are set up as a 1.5 way then I would expect some loss in performance if laid on its side. Look at the polars for any small 2-way bookshelf speaker for an idea, although the Mini22 might be worse than most of them if the drivers mostly overlap.

 

[Doobrey]

Could you combat this by rotating the drivers?

 

[Beave]

We need to distinguish between the dispersion of the driver and the dispersion of the driver in a speaker that has other drivers (especially one with two BMR drivers).

The dispersion of a BMR driver is symmetric around any and all axes. Just look at the driver - it's symmetric. Rotating it will have no effect.

A speaker that has two BMR drivers next to each other will no longer have symmetric dispersion.

If they are stacked vertically: At some vertical angles and frequencies, the output of the two drivers will be out of phase and thus will cancel in the vertical plane, while horizontally, they will add.

If they are stacked horizontally: At some horizontal angles and frequencies, the output of the two drivers will be out of phase and thus will cancel in the horizontal plane, while vertically, they will add.

 

[Vladimir Filevski]

Noob question, bmr is known for its wide 180 degree dispersion but is that only horizontal?

If I were to say use a Cambridge minx 22 on its side for a center channel would it matter?

Is the dispersion equally vertical and horizontal?

Horizontal and vertical dispersion are the same for a single BMR driver. No BMR driver has 180 degrees dispersion, but it is very wide.
If it is 1.5 way design, you can put it horizontally without any comb-filter effect (cancelation on specific frequencies).

 

[Penelinfi]

Minx 22 is likely good either vertical or horizontal. I assume they roll off that midbass BMR to compensate more for baffle step.
If they are anything like the Mission cubes of old, they will have a shaping filter network potentially as well.

Dispersion will be "180⁰" in either orientation.

You can test the output of lower driver by putting a hand gently over the top one; if lower driver sounds like there's no treble, then all good to use horizontally.

BMR is a circle driver; a single one will not change dispersion in any direction significantly (cabinet would affect a small portion)