/topics/speaker-theory/ Recent content in Speaker Theory on Decades of Musings on HiFi Hugo en Wed, 21 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 /articles/why-dipole-speakers/ Wed, 21 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000 /articles/why-dipole-speakers/ <p>25 or 6 to 4? Or zero to 8.</p> <div style="display:flex;gap:1rem;flex-wrap:wrap;align-items:flex-start;margin:1rem 0"> <figure style="margin:0;flex:1 1 280px;max-width:380px"> <div style="position:relative;aspect-ratio:16/9"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7uAUoz7jimg" title="YouTube video player" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> <figcaption style="font-size:0.85em">25 or 6 to 4, Chicago. <a href="https://youtu.be/7uAUoz7jimg">Open on YouTube</a>.</figcaption> </figure> <figure style="margin:0;flex:1 1 280px;max-width:380px"> <img src="zero-to-eight.png" width="640" height="350" style="width:100%;height:auto" alt="Polar plots: a box speaker radiates evenly in all directions, a circle like a zero; a dipole radiates forward and backward with nulls to the sides, a figure of eight"> <figcaption style="font-size:0.85em">Zero to 8: the box speaker (monopole) radiates the same in every direction, the dipole front and back, with nulls to the sides. Idealised, calculated.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <p><strong>Q:</strong> Where is the box in that speaker?</p>