Yes line arrays with premium drivers cost a premium price but you'll never know how well they sound until you listen to them. The Selah Audio designs use very good drivers--Vifa or Seas cones and Fountek true ribbons. Now you can build lower cost line arrays with lower cost woofers and planar tweeters but you may not realize the optimal sound that you might desire.

As you likely realize, a near field line array offers at least 10 dB more sensitivity, dynamic range, power handling than a point source speaker. Hence, it is no contest if you wish for a replica of live concert hall experience. You'll never get close with a point source but a line array would be your ticket to success.

My recent near field array using 12 Creative Sound Solutions WR125S mid-woofers and 9 Aurum Cantus G3i-130 ribbons per side runs $4300 for the drivers from CSS. I'm using a fancy digital crossover so you'll have to add in its cost to the mix. The sound? Impressive.

Bottom line is that going with a line array made with quality drivers provides to me the nearest to ultimate sound as you can get. A comparable commercial line array would be easily 10 times the cost of these kits. While you can enjoy line arrays which cost less money, a premium array will slay the competition.

Jim