Speakers

[Tommygenio]

Which is more better between conventional speakers and line array?

[djk]

Unless the line is very tall, a conventional speaker may out perform it.

In an actual club situation I compared a 7' tall four box line array with a shorter stack of two mid-bass horns with a center HF horn, and the horn stack had much better clarity and focus beyond 30' back in the room (the horn system sounded better up close too, but had less horizontal coverage). The horn system was cleaner, played louder, and with less power too.

Maybe my opinion would change if I had more boxes in the array, more amplifiers, and more money (but I don't).

Is this for home or PA?

(I don't like line arrays for home either)

[bjorno]

Originally Posted by djk

Unless the line is very tall, a conventional speaker may out perform it...(I don't like line arrays for home either)..

Or the opposite...I do like line arrays at home..

I'm only thinking of tall line arrays that uses max one quarter-wave C-C distances or less vertically or horizontally and are designed by me.

Opinions are always different and depends on who you are asking!!


b

[djk]

I dislike the very narrow vertical dispersion, and the tiny sweet spot.

I suppose it's fine if you're willing to clamp your head in a vice once you've found that sweet spot.

[revboden]

Originally Posted by Tommygenio

Which is more better between conventional speakers and line array?

Gah!!! he used the word "better"..... run away!!!!

better is subjective. heck some people like Dipoles ...

(puts on asbestos suit, ducks behind desk)

[Top Shelf]

I have only ever heard one properly set-up and run line array. It was a permanent install. IMHO a properly splayed and powered trap box M/H system with center clustered subs has the most dynamic and clear output. But that is just from my personal experience , others will have their own opinions

[bjorno]

FYI:

Line array sweet spot....Quotes:

Line Arrays. Are they superior to point source??

There are a lot of acoustics professionals out there who argue that because sound pressure from a line array falls of at 1/r rather than 1/r^2, that a line array has a larger sweetspot--Dave Griesinger from Lexicon for one. The reasoning is that if you are off center, the pressure difference between the two speakers will be less with a line array than with a point source.

Line Arrays. Are they superior to point source??

You might checkout my near field line array white paper which discusses some of the advantages of near field line arrays. The sound fall off versus doubling of distance from a near field array is half the rate (1/r) versus the fall off rate (1/r*2) from point source speakers. hence, within a room the sound volume is nearly constant.

The sweet spot of a near field line array (when properly designed) is significantly larger than from point source speakers. Some people may miss that pin point head-in-a-vise sweet spot expereince from point sources but I don't.

Salas must be listening to Bessel arrays or far field array speakers to suggest that line arrays don't pass muster in a home. Near field arrays work very nicely in a home.

----------------------------

Line Arrays. Are they superior to point source??

I would believe a small sweet spot in a line source if they are electrostatic or perhaps some planar sources. But if the line is an array that is realized with inherently wide dispersion drivers plus if it is operated in its near field, a narrow sweet spot will not be an issue. In fact, the sweet spot will be wide enough that some listeners (who are used to small, head-in-a-vise point sources) will comment on the diffuse nature of the image. Literally, the image of near field line array can approach the entire area between the speakers. With such a near field array the image will be solid and within the sound stage all of the various sound elements will be located in the correct locations.

Line Arrays. Are they superior to point source??

I'd draw the line (bad pun) this way: if at the intended listening distance and range of listening heights, the power law is closer to 1/r and the spectral balance is independednt of height, what you've got is a line source.

Right, and by default, this means no XOs in the line and with enough discrete elements to create so much comb filtering that our internal audio processor sums its response to the equivalent of a single large point source, a salient point that in recent years seems to have dropped by the wayside when these are discussed. As good as JG's or any other's power tapered arrays may sound, they aren't line arrays, ergo their 'sweet spot'/power response shifts with frequency based on each summed driver's polar response, just like any other WMTMW.

The one true line array I auditioned (McIntosh XR290) had no 'sweet spot' in a typical sized listening room, instead sounding very close to a live event WRT dynamics/transient response, with moving around the room having little affect on its power response and tonal (spectral) balance.

The downside is cost and building complexity since it requires at least a three way vertical array of many appropriately sized drivers.

GM

Near Field Line Arrays. Pros and cons?...

Regarding the definition of the near field, this is the field having a distance from the speakers: < H² / (2 * l)
(H is the vertical height of the linear source, l is the wavelength of a particular frequency).

We see that the extend of the near field, is dependent:
(a) on the wavelength (it does not extend to all frequencies at the same distance), and
(b) on the vertical dimension of the emitting linear source, so the near field extends from a few tens of meters for the higher frequencies, to relatively close to the speaker (about 50 cm - 1 m) for the lower frequencies.

What does this mean? It means that the sound from a line array obviously is heard at a large part of the spectrum within the near field area and the rest part outside.

For the higher frequencies (inside the near field), this means that for doubling the distance from the speaker, we have a general decline in pressure over a 3 dB. For the lower frequencies for which the listening position is already in the far field, for each doubling of the distance the pressure is reduced by 6 dB.

Why line array?


Line Array and Column Speaker - AVS Forum

b

[djk]

Everyone makes the 'only 3dB loss' statement, but the measurements I have seen don't seem to bear this out.

A single point source vs an 8 box line array:

http://www.danleysoundlabs.com/pdf/G...%20Summary.pdf

When someone comes up with an inexpensive, good sounding line array; I'll use it.

[Jim Griffin]

There is considerable difference between near and far field data. The Danley measurements referenced by djk are far field data wherein both point sources and line sources exhibit a 6 dB per doubling of the distance roll off. For home use you need to design a line array for near field coverage which has a 3 dB per doubling of the distance falloff.