WHAT MAKES A LOT OF STACKED SPEAKER BOXES A “LINE-ARRAY”?
The simplest definition of a “line array” is: a number of special independent units (loudspeakers), vertically stacked and aligned, that operate as a single sound source and which provide coherent summing, if some conditions are met. The vertical stacking achieves a sound field that has a narrow vertical coverage, with higher directivity and sound pressure than conventional systems. The sound waves emitted are referred as “cylindrical waves” (figure 1), and they attenuate only 3 dB for every doubling of the distance from the source, as opposed to the “spherical waves” (figure 2) emitted by conventional loudspeakers, which attenuate 6 dB for every doubling of distance. Fig. 1 Fig. 2 This is true up to a distance from the source which is dependent upon its frequency and the height of the array, thus the longer the array is made (building it with more loudspeakers) the longer the throw of the system. Cylindrical waves only expand in the horizontal plane, not in the vertical plane. The are
