An electronic article surveillance system is disclosed. The system utilizes interaction between magnetic fields generated by a plurality of antennae elements to generate magnetic field in different orientations within an interrogation zone. The antenna elements are fed in different phases in accordance to phase patterns to generate the different orientations. A novel receiving antenna construction for receiving the perturbations caused by re-magnetization of a marker within the interrogation zone is also disclosed. The antenna construction comprises a receiving coil at a certain distance from the transmitting coil, and a compensating coil closer to a transmitting coil. A method for utilizing the system is also presented.