The InConcert driver arrays aren't true line arrays. If they were, all of the drivers in each satellite would reproduce the same frequency band. Instead, there's some frequency shading going on (with the outermost drivers only operating up to 1500 Hz and the second innermost set of drivers operating up to 6000 Hz). This means that only the two center drivers are reproducing treble. However, since the wavelengths involved are still very small at those frequencies, the two stacked treble sources do create self-interference at extreme vertical angles, creating pattern control in the vertical plane. Indeed, the spacing of the other two sets of drivers is intended to create the same vertical coverage pattern with decreasing frequency, creating a line source of increasing length as frequency decreases, maintaining the same narrow vertical coverage pattern from the treble range through the midrange. However, they do have wide coverage in the horizontal plane, owing to the narrow horizontal dimension of the line source. Still, you wouldn't place these speakers on their sides.
I'm currently a senior at Purdue University, and I've had a fascination with loudspeakers and audio since I was a child. I've designed and built my own loudspeaker projects for about the last eight years, and I've learned a lot in that time, which I'm glad to be able to apply to my review-writing. I also recently held a job at a company in Philadelphia which manufactured large-scale professional audio loudspeakers, such as you'd find in auditoriums and theaters.
Last edited by Rory Buszka; 12-15-2006 at 08:20 AM.