Point Source or Line Source?


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

Showing 1 response by zaikesman

Impossible to answer definitively in my opinion, even if we write a virtual book here -- there are plenty of potential tradeoffs to each in the real world. Frequently this question also entails choosing between mono-polar vs. bi-polar vs. di-polar radiation patterns, and planar/ribbon vs. electrostatic vs. dynamic-cone/dome driver types as well. And there are as many different versions of 'point-source' and 'line-source' as there are models of speakers -- no speaker can actually achieve true point- or line-source behavior (most either partially simulate one at best, or don't even really aim to), so there are as many differences among dispersion patterns between speakers ostensibly of the same catagory as there are between speakers in different catagories. You've just got to pick your poison based on your own preferences, priorities, and perhaps limitations. Bottom line is that any speaker, using any type of technology and/or configuration, is going to yield one idiosyncratic take on the sound absolute -- with its own set of pros and cons, and implications for factors such as listening style, musical tastes, and requirements for partnering room and system -- which won't be the same as for any other speaker, whatever the similarities or differences of the design approaches taken. You might be able to make a few broad and imprecise generalizations, but ultimately you're buying a speaker, not a type of speaker, and some other speaker will always do something better than the one you've got...