I haven't built a line array, and as others say, you'll have trouble with bass, BUT I bought 6 Visaton FRS5X to make a small array with. They have a high Qts of around 0.7 and fs of about 160 hz so with 32 a side its possible to reach a little lower, maybe 100 hz?
Used nearfield and at modest volumes the pair I spend a lot of time listening to have a lovely neutral sound with no emphasis of frequency or annoying sibilance.
If I were to makes large array, these are the 2" drivers id use.
Used nearfield and at modest volumes the pair I spend a lot of time listening to have a lovely neutral sound with no emphasis of frequency or annoying sibilance.
If I were to makes large array, these are the 2" drivers id use.
http://drc-fir.sourceforge.net/
And maybe some pré EQ with a vst plugin or a program like JRiver Media Center if you have a computer based system.
Else you'd have to get a pretty decent EQ, cheap choices are a Behringer DEQ 24/96 for example. You might even check out the crossover based Behringer for crossing over to a sub.
Don't forget a measurement microphone, preferably calibrated and a software package like REW or HOLMImpulse.
16 or 24 drivers using 2" drivers makes quite short arrays. Please check out the differences between short and long (floor to ceiling) arrays. Plenty of info on this subject here on DIYMA.
And maybe some pré EQ with a vst plugin or a program like JRiver Media Center if you have a computer based system.
Else you'd have to get a pretty decent EQ, cheap choices are a Behringer DEQ 24/96 for example. You might even check out the crossover based Behringer for crossing over to a sub.
Don't forget a measurement microphone, preferably calibrated and a software package like REW or HOLMImpulse.
16 or 24 drivers using 2" drivers makes quite short arrays. Please check out the differences between short and long (floor to ceiling) arrays. Plenty of info on this subject here on DIYMA.
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please correct me if I am wrong.....
But people always compare SD size with line arrays and say 'my 25 drivers are the equivalent to a 15" driver' etc. But don't forget most 2-3" drivers only have 1-2mm of X-max, whilst a 15 inch driver could have 11-12mm or more
This greatly affects the ability to develop undistorted bass output, I would not be happy if my sub-woofer only had 1-2mm of X-max...
But people always compare SD size with line arrays and say 'my 25 drivers are the equivalent to a 15" driver' etc. But don't forget most 2-3" drivers only have 1-2mm of X-max, whilst a 15 inch driver could have 11-12mm or more
This greatly affects the ability to develop undistorted bass output, I would not be happy if my sub-woofer only had 1-2mm of X-max...
What size is that subwoofer? I have 50x 3.5" line arrays and hardly see the cones move yet it is flat (actually a bit bumped up) down to 20 Hz.
My xmax (not to be confused with xmech) is 2.55mm and 50 of them gives me an Sd of 1815 cm2. That would make my VD (Sd x Xmax) about 463 cm3.
It equals one 15" sub with ~ 5.7mm Xmax. Or a 12" with about 10mm Xmax.
Here's the FR + distortion:
(as measured in a live room with more ambient noise than I would have wanted)
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Since the power is distributed throughout all the drivers, each ones sees a fraction of what a big 15" driver would see. So they do not need that big Xmax factor.
Bass is also a lot tighter since they don't have to flap so much trying to reproduce it.
But the graph you show only has a max dB of ~ 78.....
Do you have any distortion graphs with it at 100dB?
It doesn't take much cone movement to generate low output bass.
Surely the law of physics is the law of physics and if you have 25 drivers with an equivalent SD of a 12" driver, but the cones only move 1mm, this is like a 12" single cone moving 1mm.......what am I missing?
Do you have any distortion graphs with it at 100dB?
It doesn't take much cone movement to generate low output bass.
Surely the law of physics is the law of physics and if you have 25 drivers with an equivalent SD of a 12" driver, but the cones only move 1mm, this is like a 12" single cone moving 1mm.......what am I missing?
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I would love to supply that graph but my room doesn't allow it. All things start to rattle like crazy if I do that. The 78 dB is from a frequency measurement to check my settings... just as an example and the cones hardly move.
My math above should clue you in about a size reference. And it is indeed distributed bass and as such much more equal across the room than a single sub.
Perceval - As I am purely discussing bass output, and not modal distribution, subjective sound quality etc...
And if they have the same surface area and are therefore moving the same amount of air.....why not?
I have distributed subs - 4x 10 inches and in movies they move + - 10 mm easily to get my in-room 20 hz at decent levels.
I cannot see how the laws of physics can change.
(Wesayso - in your case you have 50 drivers with quite a large SD for 3.5 inch drivers, my comments were directed towards a 2" line array with nothing like your speakers SD.)
One final point is if you look at any of the small drivers HD under their FS it is usually quite high. So although you can EQ smaller drivers using their X-max 'to the max' to gain bass output, HD may suffer - a way to relieve this is to add in distributed subs and not squeeze the last ounce out of them - of course this all depends on listening levels, if used for light jazz or the latest transformers movie at reference levels.....
There is no replacement for displacement!
And if they have the same surface area and are therefore moving the same amount of air.....why not?
I have distributed subs - 4x 10 inches and in movies they move + - 10 mm easily to get my in-room 20 hz at decent levels.
I cannot see how the laws of physics can change.
(Wesayso - in your case you have 50 drivers with quite a large SD for 3.5 inch drivers, my comments were directed towards a 2" line array with nothing like your speakers SD.)
One final point is if you look at any of the small drivers HD under their FS it is usually quite high. So although you can EQ smaller drivers using their X-max 'to the max' to gain bass output, HD may suffer - a way to relieve this is to add in distributed subs and not squeeze the last ounce out of them - of course this all depends on listening levels, if used for light jazz or the latest transformers movie at reference levels.....
There is no replacement for displacement!
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I agree with you here... my drivers were picked for their purpose.
But one other aspect that gets overlooked is the line effect. A line array isn't a point source. You'd need a whole lot of 2" drivers to get to a reasonable Sd and to keep the line effect working in lower regions it would need to be floor to ceiling (making the array taller than it is with the floor/ceiling mirror effect).
But one other aspect that gets overlooked is the line effect. A line array isn't a point source. You'd need a whole lot of 2" drivers to get to a reasonable Sd and to keep the line effect working in lower regions it would need to be floor to ceiling (making the array taller than it is with the floor/ceiling mirror effect).
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