Hello all. Very curious if anyone has had any experience listening to line array speakers. These may be my new direction - courtesy of the designer of Pipedreams and Scaena. But will not have the chance to hear them. Perhaps some of the more widely traveled and experienced have had the opportunity and can comment? Thank you.
Line array speakers
- Thread starter Staxxx
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reignofchaos
Well-Known Member
Might not be relevant but will say anyway - My only experience with line arrays is in outdoor rock concerts. The best ones I have heard are the arrays from l acoustics at the Joe satriani concert in mumbai. Obviously refinement goes out of the window in such scenarios. However what I do remember is a very clean sound with incredible visceral impact.
All input is great, thanks! Yes, I have heard those too. I love the impact. Apparently the more refined designs operate almost like an omnidirectional speakers.
The design I am looking at has but 56 tweeters, 20 midrange units (firing backwards) and two bass units. Six and a half feet tall!
The design I am looking at has but 56 tweeters, 20 midrange units (firing backwards) and two bass units. Six and a half feet tall!
GeorgeO
Well-Known Member
Zalytron's site has some designs, using Focals for line arrays, I toyed with building one many years ago, but bringing all those drivers across was too daunting!
ranjeetrain
New Member
At some point in time I considered Dali Megaline. One of the best implemented Line Arrays at a very reasonable price. They say it sounds ultra clean and effortless. No first hand experience though.
Thad E Ginathom
Well-Known Member
This is probably a very different application --- Reubensm's post
Fantastic
Well-Known Member
Line arrays sound 'big'. They can also go very loud and clean because the power is divided down by the large number of drivers they use. Tall planar speakers are similar to line arrays !
I have heard them at exhibitions but that is never really the best place to hear them. I must admit ( and apparently many others also do ) that usually the best sound one hears at exhibitions are the simplest two or three way speakers !
At one RMAF show the EPOS bookshelf speakers produced far better sound than many multi thousand dollar speakers at the show ! They were musical and extremely realistic and pleasing to the ear. The BIG speakers played very loud and sounded 'big' ( larger than life !) but while being impressive due to the impact of intensity , they weren't so appealing to one's ears. You need to hear them yourself to understand what that really means ! However this applies to the description of ALL musical systems and musical instruments. You really 'need' to hear them yourself.
What speakers do you use now ?
I have heard them at exhibitions but that is never really the best place to hear them. I must admit ( and apparently many others also do ) that usually the best sound one hears at exhibitions are the simplest two or three way speakers !
At one RMAF show the EPOS bookshelf speakers produced far better sound than many multi thousand dollar speakers at the show ! They were musical and extremely realistic and pleasing to the ear. The BIG speakers played very loud and sounded 'big' ( larger than life !) but while being impressive due to the impact of intensity , they weren't so appealing to one's ears. You need to hear them yourself to understand what that really means ! However this applies to the description of ALL musical systems and musical instruments. You really 'need' to hear them yourself.
What speakers do you use now ?
IIRC a couple of forum members were onto this sometime back. Trittya did some research/ work on the subject/ project. Another FM Goldyrathore was working on Line Array speakers using Logitech PC speaker drivers. Don't know the status of the project though. You may ping them for additional information.
I heard Don Keele's CBT line array. It was doing its job of having same loudness level over a distance. As you walk towards the speaker, the loudness level did not go up like in a normal speaker. But it was lacking refinement, horizontal imaging wasn't so great. I guess it all boils down to the quality of individual drivers.
If your intention is to cover a longer listening area, then these will do good job over the range. But if you are concerned about 1 or 2 rows, I would say don't bother.
If your intention is to cover a longer listening area, then these will do good job over the range. But if you are concerned about 1 or 2 rows, I would say don't bother.
Thad E Ginathom
Well-Known Member
Isn't this against the laws of physics?
Or is it achieved by aiming different drivers at different points? The directional aiming and slective area coverage ability of the Orange systems (see linked post above) that we saw at a Chennai meet a couple of years ago is amazing.
Hey Staxxx, never heard a line array. But when i hear it 2 names come forth Genesis and Mcintosh
Not sure of they still build them though
Are you also thinking of PLanar - supposed to be Infinite Line Array
soulforged
Well-Known Member
I've read/heard a lot of good things about Infinity IRS V...these guys are masive!
bhagwan
Well-Known Member
If you can source a Scaena - buy it - eyes & ears shut - hands down - close the deal & get the speaker - super. I love it.
p.s. Remember - you will need a big room to play them & those cylinder subs are a 'must' ! :yahoo:
Hi Bhagwan....yes this is a refinement of the Scaena speakers from the same designer, or more accurately one of the team, Mark Porzilli of Pipedreams and Melos fame.
When I spoke to them they said that they found selling a separate sub and tower array difficult work (I suppose because it made connections complicated) and that people preferred a "one piece" system with the bass drivers integrated into the speakers. It is because of that that they have now worked on these new speakers.
Will keep this thread updated with the progress...
OT: Your new amps look delicious!
When I spoke to them they said that they found selling a separate sub and tower array difficult work (I suppose because it made connections complicated) and that people preferred a "one piece" system with the bass drivers integrated into the speakers. It is because of that that they have now worked on these new speakers.
Will keep this thread updated with the progress...
OT: Your new amps look delicious!
Isn't this against the laws of physics?
Or is it achieved by aiming different drivers at different points? The directional aiming and slective area coverage ability of the Orange systems (see linked post above) that we saw at a Chennai meet a couple of years ago is amazing.
Yes, the front baffle is curved, so the drivers are arranged at different distance.
Thad E Ginathom
Well-Known Member
Oh right...
I think we need a Doh! smiley.
I guess should have know that.
Thanks manoj.
I think we need a Doh! smiley.
I guess should have know that.Thanks manoj.
But it did go up, just not quadrupling in level (6dB) for every halving of distance, as happens with typical speakers.
If it did go up by few db's, I did not notice it as the music was playing. Only a human SPL meter can notice that.
goldyrathore
Active Member
In home environments only I would suggest only two types of line arrays
1) A floor to ceilng array
A floor to ceiling array uses the floor and ceiling reflections to its advantage. The reflections help extend the line to infinite height. So the listener is always in the near field. Near field is where the array SPL is falling of at just 3db vs 6db for point sources. It means there is very less SPL difference near and far.
2) A CBT array
This is a remarakable design. The array does not have any near field/far field transition. Unlike normal short arrays (all small arrays are short at longer wavelenghts) the frequency response does not change with distance and hence the spectral balance is always maintained with distance.
1) A floor to ceilng array
A floor to ceiling array uses the floor and ceiling reflections to its advantage. The reflections help extend the line to infinite height. So the listener is always in the near field. Near field is where the array SPL is falling of at just 3db vs 6db for point sources. It means there is very less SPL difference near and far.
2) A CBT array
This is a remarakable design. The array does not have any near field/far field transition. Unlike normal short arrays (all small arrays are short at longer wavelenghts) the frequency response does not change with distance and hence the spectral balance is always maintained with distance.
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