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[Taylor Gonzalez]

I have a conceptual question that I hope you guys can shed some light on.
What guidelines do you guys use when designing systems with clusters of point source speakers? What determines the angle at which you splay the boxes? What type of horn patern would you choose? From a purely conceptual standpoint, I would like to know what you guys know!

[Ivan Beaver]

I have a conceptual question that I hope you guys can shed some light on.
What guidelines do you guys use when designing systems with clusters of point source speakers? What determines the angle at which you splay the boxes? What type of horn patern would you choose? From a purely conceptual standpoint, I would like to know what you guys know!

Here are a couple of the "basic things to look for".

One of the most important things is what is the "angle cut" of the box.

It HAS to be 1/2 of the rated pattern of the cabinet.

So if it is rated for 60*, then the sides must be cut at 30*.

If a cabinet has 15* sides, then it must "obviously" be a 30* cabinet.

Next is the distance between the various drivers.  They MUST be as close as possible-especially at the upper end of their responses.

So this means that the HF drivers need to right up against the cabinet walls.

Also the horn MUST be large-in order for the cabinets to have any sort of control and to keep them from interfering with each other.

A narrower pattern horn MUST have a LARGER horn to have the same control as a wider coverage horn.

Or put another way-if 2 horns are the same physical size-the one with the wider pattern will control down lower.

The pattern chosen depends on a number of factors.  The area to be covered-the height of the loudspeaker etc.

In most cases the "usable" vertical coverage is ONE HALF of the rated pattern.

This is because you aim/point the center axis towards the furthest seat.

This is to bet the loudest energy to the furthest listener.

If the pattern and mounting height is chosen correctly, then you will have the same SPL/freq response (except for the lower freq that the horn does not have control over)-DESPITE what people who insist that point sources can't cover a room well due to the "inverse square law or 6dB/doubling of distance" issue.

It is the actual usage (and understanding) of these principals that allows for the even coverage.

Most people MISTAKENLY assume that due to the 6dB/doubling that you can't get even coverage.  They could not be more wrong.  But don't tell them that---------------

[Mac Kerr]

I have a conceptual question that I hope you guys can shed some light on.
What guidelines do you guys use when designing systems with clusters of point source speakers? What determines the angle at which you splay the boxes? What type of horn patern would you choose? From a purely conceptual standpoint, I would like to know what you guys know!

What determines the splay is the coverage angle of the speaker in the frequency range of interest. Since the pattern will rarely be the same over the whole range of the speaker the only thing you can be fairly sure of is that it is not the angle of the side of the box.  Most general purpose speakers are in the 60º to 90º range for rated horizontal coverage. A good place to start experimenting would be something close to that angle between the centerlines of the speakers. That should give fairly even coverage at whatever frequency to spec was determined at.

The coverage angle of the speaker should be such that they cover the area you want covered when they are splayed so they sound best. If one speaker has the coverage then that's what you need. More speakers doesn't necessarily make it sound better, usually it makes it sound worse.

Experimenting with your speakers is a good way to determine what works for your situation.

Mac

[Caleb Dueck]

Download a free modeling program, and watch as boxes are added.  Make sure phase, or whatever the term is, is turned on.  That allows for speaker to speaker interactions to be seen.  Look at frequiencies other than 1k.

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