Point Source or Line Source?


Each has it's proponents, which is better and why?
seadogs1

Showing 1 response by nsgarch

Dispersion: Both good. Line source disperses very little vertically which avoids ceiling and floor room reflections. Point source disperses uniformly both horiz. and vert. producing (some say) a larger soundstage/sweet spot.

Output: Line source (whether a ribbon, or a vertical array of conventional cone,dome, or electrostatic drivers) require only a little work from each driver. So they can (all together) produce fairly high volume with low distortion. Point source need to be as small as possible to approximate a point, so they must be driven hard to move any appreciable amount of air. They must therefore be made of stiff and light (exotic/expensive) materials, and employ clever strategies for keeping them cool so the voice coils won't burn out.

I can't say which is better because their are too many variables that affect both their ability to produce realistic imaging and sonic signatures.