Hi Jim,My room was the one probably closest to the Roger Russel system, and since it was a line source the sound propagated very well indeed (something I wasn't overly appreciative of under the circumstances!).
Vocals were very nicely rendered. I thought the top end a bit more rolled-off than normal from my vantage point (typically standing in the hall at the open doorway). The bass was a bit heavy, but that's probably an EQ setting issue. Dynamics seemed very good.
Based on my limited awareness of what it takes to get a flat top end from a line array and deep bass from drivers with a resonant frequency well above cutoff, they must be cranking in a lot of boost at both ends of the spectrum. Power handling was given as 250 watts, which is 10 watts per little full-range driver. They looked like metal cone Tang Bands to my uneducated eye, but that's just a guess.
I would say the Russels were definitely among the better systems, but then as you know I like a line-source speaker that does a good job from well off-axis!
I think that approach is very viable application of the line source concept. Whether it's better than a good two way, I dunno. I sure liked what I heard from one of your designs at MWAF a few years ago.
Think of it as a fairly expensive speaker that's helping to "get the word out" about line arrays.
Duke