Button in his paper argues that the high frequencies are attenuated due to interference in the near field. I would think this would be eliminated with a focused array. This could be a new thread topic on this board.I would mount the drivers on axis to the listening point to get the most benefit of the drivers designed flat on axis response.
http://www.jblpro.com/vertec1/doug%20button%20258%20final%20rev%20c.pdf
-Linc