Line Arrays - Competitive with best dynanics, ESL?


Line arrays don't get talked about very often at all. We all talk about our Wilsons, or Kharms, or Von Schweikert... of course the representatives from the planar camp, the maggies, ML, Soundlabs... Also the horns - Avantegarge, Acapella, etc....

What about the line arrays? I used to have a pair of bottlehead straight 8s. Cheap, well implemented line array, and they sounded awesome. They didn't rewrite the books of detail or dynamics, but threw a very lush soundstage, and had a tonal "rightness" about them.

Has anyone changed from a well-regarded dynamic, planar, or horn and moved to a line array? Pipedreams? Wisdom? Others? What are the pros/cons of line arrays in your opinion?
goatwuss

Showing 2 responses by eldartford

I am into Maggies, but, based on listening experience, the only dynamic system that I might buy would be a line array. "Line array" is a better description than "Planar" for Maggies, since the panel is much higher than wide. Because a line array has so many drivers, they don't need to have the long cone excursion capability and powerful magnet that is necessary for a conentional box. Therefore, while high quality (expensive) drivers can't hurt, they may not contribute much. I am interested in the potential of an "open" line array using full range drivers (which don't have much bass anyway). Augmented with a SW of course. Next DIY project.
A multichannel format that I am very interested in is 2+2+2 (instead of 5.1). This uses High and Low (position) speakers for the Left and Right front, and is advocated by the MDG label. (Center and Subwoofer channels are used for the high speakers). Supposedly it contributes strong height information to the sound field. A line array could be wired up so that the drivers were fed High signal at the top, and Low signal at the bottom, with a variable range in between. I will have to try that when I build mine.