Posted by FredT [ 76.31.85.80 ] on January 24, 2008 at 07:47:24:

In Reply to: Double ART Array? posted by Brian Owens on January 23, 2008 at 13:06:11:

Brian, the ART Array with its woofer array and a single point source tweeter challenges the limitations of a line array from the start. It was designeed to be the cheapest possible line array that actually sounds good to me, and the high sensitivity and 16 ohm impedance are intended primarily for low power SET tube amp lovers. It sounds better with my 3.5 watt SET amps than it does with a high power solid state amp. Not everybody who has heard it liked its sound, but some people whose opinions I respect, including Danny Ritchie, said it sounded good to them. Of course these comments were made with the speakers' cost in mind - it's not in the same league as Danny and Rick Craig's line arrays.

Adding a second line of woofers will severely limit the horizontal dispersion, and adding a second tweeter will severely limit the vertical dispersion. You don't want to do this. Building the array as a bipole with drivers on the front and back would be better, but bipoles are very sensitive to placement and I wouldn't position them closer than three feet from the back wall. I understand your desire to be creative and not just copy what's been done in the past, but just adding drivers will not result in a better sounding speaker.

If I had $600-$1,000 to spend on a line array I believe I would go for better drivers instead of doubling up on the ones specified for the ART array. You could build a very nice sounding quasi-array using eight or nine Dayton Reference drivers with a Fountek ribbon tweeter. Rick Craig of Selah Audio used to sell this as a kit. He called it the Day Tek, and two or three years ago it sold for about $800. I suggest you contact him to see if it's still available, but the cost will have increased becasue of increases in the cost of parts, especially the inductors in the crossover. If you go this route you'll end up with an array featuring top quality drivers with an expertly designed crossover and enclosure plans.

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