Posted by FredT [ 24.175.116.95 ] on June 04, 2005 at 07:29:59:

In Reply to: Re: Finished At Last posted by lcholke on June 03, 2005 at 22:28:46:

The drivers are wired in two groups of four-in-series for a nominal 16 ohm impedance, with no power tapering. The actual length of the array is about five feet, and you would ideally place a line array in a fairly large rooom with the listening position about 10' or more from the front of the speaker. Mine is an odd-shaped room that's about 21'wide by 25'deep, with the listeing chair positioned so your ears are 13' from the fronts of the speakers. I haven't done the math, but at that distance the middle drivers are not much closer to your ears than the top and bottom drivers. If you were designing an 8' array like the larger Pipedreams and Epiphany arrays you probably would want to consider power tapering, but it's a toss-up at five feet. One advantage of not using power tapering is that the focus remains the same whether you're sitting or standing. With the tapered Linus array and FredArrays the focus changes noticably when you stand.

They do represent a significant step up in component quality. The Linus Arrays have $20 woofers and $25 tweeters; the XT8's have $100 woofers and $120 tweeters. The result is greater power handling capacity, which translates to greater dynamics when you crank up the power, greater bass extension, much better sounding midrange, and far greater treble resolution. I had built a pair of two-way speakers before (the Eros MKII) using the Vifa PL series woofers ($70ea) and was impressed by the difference in bass and midrange clarity betweeen the the PL series and the less expensive TC series woofers that are used in the Linus array. Very much like stepping up from a good jug wine to a vinter's reserve. And the XT series woofers in the XT8's are a small step above the PL. The Fountek ribbons are almost in a class by themselves. To my ears they are as good as the best fabric dome tweeters such as the Scan Speak Revelators ($200+ ea) and the Magnepan 3.6 ribbon tweeters, plus they offer the sensitivity that's needed (98dB) to work in a line array.

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