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List price (MSRP): $650.00 (each)
SS-150 Tripole™ Surround Speaker
| "a true world-class surround speaker. . ."one of the most versatile products in the history of home theater" —AudioVideo Shopper |
A groundbreaking new concept in surround channel speaker design, the SS-150THX Tripole is M&K's answer to those asking what type of speaker is best for the surround channels in 5.1 multichannel discrete digital playback systems. It can operate as a THX dipole speaker, but users can also operate it as a Tripole. By radiating sound simultaneously as a dipole (from its left and right baffles), and a direct radiator, (from its front baffle), the Tripole mode combines the diffused, spacious sound of a dipole speaker with the immediacy and imaging capability of the best direct radiators.
IDEAL FOR AC-3 PLAYBACK
While primarily designed for playing 5.1 channel discrete digital recordings (e.g., Dolby AC-3), the SS-150THX's ability to perform well in a variety of room conditions, along with its very high level of performance make it superb for playback of Pro-Logic and enhanced music mode sources. Each Tripole operates as if it is two speakers: first a near-ideal point source direct radiator (on its front baffle), with an M&K Phase-Focused crossover feeding its 5 ¼" woofer and 1" soft-dome tweeter. The second is a dipole speaker using two unique high performance 3 ¼" poly cone mid-tweeters (with ferrofluid). These drivers achieve a very smooth and transparent sound from 300 Hz through the critical midrange and above, due in part to the fact they operate without any midrange crossover (meaning optimum phase and sonic coherency).
As you walk around a room where SS-150THXs are operating, you'll find the quality of the surround channels remains remarkably consistent, with good imaging and spaciality in virtually any room location. Here's why: when your ears move off of the direct axis of sound produced by the closest speaker baffle, they move into the direct sound field of one of the other baffles. When the directional and timbre characteristics of the speaker are not significantly different in various room locations, this means excellent coverage for listeners who are located virtually anywhere in that room.
OPERATES IN TWO MODES: TRIPOLE & DIPOLE (THX)
The Tripole operates in either of two modes: THX dipole and Tripole. These modes are user-selectable through the insertion or removal of a jumper. By using an external amplifier switchbox (not available from M&K), you can easily switch from one mode to the other for playback or for demonstration purposes, as some users may prefer the dipole mode for some material (film) and the Tripole mode for other material (music).
PHASE-FOCUSED CROSSOVER
Like M&K's other Satellite speakers (S-150THX, S-125, S-85), the SS-150THX uses M&K's latest Phase-Focused crossover technology. This crossover is computer-designed to give an extremely coherent response over a wide and controlled listening window (including in the vertical plane, which is critical when surround speakers are located above listeners heads). This very complex and unique crossover was critically tuned through both psychoacoustic analysis and complex computer time-domain analysis to achieve a uniform timbre balance throughout the listening room.
The Tripole's imaging coherency is optimized for placement ranging up to two feet above or two feet below the listener's ears with the front tweeter always closer to the listener than the front woofer. Therefore, if the speaker is placed above the listeners, the front tweeter should be at the bottom of the front baffle. If the speaker is below the listeners, the tweeter should be at the top. Whichever way the speakers are positioned, the arrow on the back of the speaker should still point towards the screen. This will assure the correct polarity/phase relationship necessary for dipole operation.
The SS-150THX cabinet is 10 ½" tall, 8" wide, and 6 ½" deep. It weighs 11 lbs.
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