MARSHALL CHOONG AUDIO audiophile dipole loudspeakers

Our desire is to achieve natural music reproduction: a dynamic, neutral speaker with full bass bandwidth was essential.

After extensive development and listening tests, backed up by sound engineering principles and measurements, we arrived at the open dipole configuration. We found other types of speaker loading lacking or flawed, whatever their supposed virtues.

Arguably, boxes hinder the most natural sound reproduction.

We all listen to hifi in a room: we test our speakers in a room environment. Room effects cause major audible peaks and troughs in the low frequencies.

Room effects are unavoidable. Speaker drivers in boxes, regardless of design or cost, exacerbate the effect. Most listeners become conditioned to bass that is flawed.

The acoustic properties of dipole bass eliminate much of this undesirable room coupling. Almost by definition, dipole bass does not sound boomy or constrained. It may sound ‘quieter’ than usual despite being flat from 20Hz up as in the Segovia Trueno system.

A dipole speaker has neither cabinet resonances nor high pressures to excite panels. Bass drivers are not compromised and there is an absence of port and non-linear compression effects, internal reflected waves and the usual problems caused by enclosing drivers in boxes.

Heavy, braced, non-parallel
walls and other methods of
cabinet construction are
necessary to deal with just
these problems in conventional speaker cabinets.

Dipole speakers are uncommon. Implementation requires exceptional drivers. They have to move much more air for realistic sound levels due to out of phase cancellation. Non-linearity cannot be tolerated and there is little opportunity to damp an unruly response. Such drivers come at a price.

We like true ribbon tweeters as no other type can match their smooth effortless characteristics with a response up to 40kHz.

Where cost precludes ribbons, we use membrane tweeters which have similar virtues.