AudioFred Messages: 377 Registered: May 2009 Location: Houston
Illuminati (1st Degree)
I'm a fan of Zaph Audio. Most line arrays use ribbons, but John is pretty clear that ribbon speakers are poor performers compared to domes, and that the scintillating performance in the upper range is really just distortion. But people keep using them, and then they cross them at unbelieveably low frequencies when Zaph's study has shown that they are very poor compared to even a cheap $29 ribbon below 4000hz.
Zaph's test results have resulted in the widespread belief that ribbons sound inferior and therefore they aren't a viable tweeter option. Listening conclusions from many experienced listeners say otherwise.
Here's an interesting example of a positive review of a point source speaker using the smaller Fountek ribbon: