Mid-tops, what to do....

Yeah, something like that! Don't want it to end up more than 1m tall because then it'll stack nicely with the subs in the van! Might also stick with a 1.4" CD, probably the 18Sound 1424BT which is a 2.5" VC and goes almost as high as a 1" but with more headroom. Leaves more flexibility on crossover frequencies.

Well, if you want to meet a certain front baffle size, what i would do is draw out the baffle (keeping in mind your truck pack), whack the XT8 + comp horn on the front, then you can design the ported horn from there (if size is priority), keeping that mouth size constant.

If you want even more compactness, make the ports exit either side of the XT8 and then you could mount the comp + horn in the mouth of the 12" horn. You could even increase mouth size for the equivalent truck pack...

It's just personal opinion, but I'd stick with a 1", with the phase plugged 8" horn crossover frequencies will still be quite flexible I think (mykey, enlighten us on your recommendations).

Just to throw my decision out of the window, I've just found that the B&C WG800 waveguide has a 6in high exit which I think could be made to work with two 8" drivers in a 'V' configuration al-la dVDosc. Guaranteed they won't be cheap, but could be interesting to investigate the option of going down that route.

On the point source route, I can fit a 65-70cm long horn with ~2000cm2 area mouth into my proposed cab and it won't end up much bigger than my current cabs. One cab per side doesn't give a great response but two per side would give good efficiency down to 70Hz or so.

I guess the main difference is I can find enough bits lying around to prototype one of the point source cabs, whereas the line array will require lots of expensive bits to try out. Probably means I'll go point source for now but the line array is something I want to try in the future.

Hi Chris.

I've done quite a bit of reading. Most seem to agree that there are two configs that a line array would be set in, a small curved array consisting of 3-4 boxes curved, and a bit long array like the type traditionally seen.

I'm assuming that you're looking at the smaller type.
I looked at the various products offered by manufacturers that can be used (and are advertised to be) as small curvy 'line arrays'.

dB Tech DVA T4
Adamson Spectrix W
Adamson Mectrix W
JBL VRX928
EAW BLAM
RCF TTL31
RCF TTL33
McCauley M90/120
Outline MiniCOMPASS
Renkus Heinz ST
Turbosound TFA-600 Flex Array
L Acoustics KIVA
L Acoustics dV-DOSC
Apogee ALA-3
Martin Omniline
Meyer M1D
Meyer M2D
Meyer MICA
Meyer M'elodie
VTCpro EL210
D&B Q series

Wow, that's a whole lot! Probably not all of them even...

I found some interesting features in each (no, NOT even more hf waveguides...). I'll probably outline them later - copying that list here took an age.

Edited by: Deadbeat

And of course D&B Q Series should feature on that list. Used regularly with just 3 boxes/side. My main experience is with that and dV-Dosc.

I've since found out that the waveguides are a bit pricey for me to be playing with at the moment. Tempting to have a go at building one......

What design are you going for?

I've noticed a few trends in the 'latest' line array cabs, in that they are switching to other HF forms in the smaller cab (probably for expense, size, and 'just to be different' even). Martin use a tightly packed array of domes with their interesting omniline array (very interesting...) and EM are to use a true ribbon on their HALO.

Then again, there's more 'waveguides of the week' to come yet. As jsg has said - Danley's paraline seems like a keeper for DIY...

Marrying multiple features from such arrays could be useful - while going through this pile I mixed up the Omniline and miniCOMPASS in my head and ended up with a omniline with pivoting arms [img]smileys/smiley36.gif[/img]

Design wise unfortunately it's all being put on held again. I've got a lot of work lined up or expected to come in between now and Christmas so I'm better off saving my money until the January. I should have plenty of time and maybe money if I've saved any to work on new projects.

At the moment I'm toying with a point source idea which will be a cross between a FK1 Res4, a Martin Blackline H3 and end up looking a bit like a Turbo Floodlight top!

I've got enough bits to prototype a pair, it's just finding time. I need to finish some half-built cabs in the garage first and really I should build some wedges with all the co-axial 12" drivers I bought from super-hero cos they're what I actually NEED at the moment!!!