What is the point of point source?


I often read reviews of equipment that praise whatever is being reviewed for being a point source. I read this as a focused narrowly defined area that the music eminates from. I prefer the image of an "outside the speakers" soundstage that is often referred to. So why is point source a positive attribute?
mechans

Showing 1 response by magfan

A point source speaker implies a perfectly uniform spherical dispersion. No instruments have such output. No microphones can record it, either.

Stan, above, started with the idea of the size of a radiator being related to its directivity but didn't finish the thought. I wonder if a radiator beams more as the wavelength approaches the size of the driver.....

I also wonder how various linear designs work into this. A ribbon tweeter is a point, but stretched up/down for a distance.

I like the way Mapman was headed with this.....as a practical solution for speakers....a point source, which may never exist as a practical driver.

Maybe someone will come up with a solution using that new carbon material....Graphene?