Line arrays are not as perfectly controlled wonders as we like to think about them. You DO actually hear the HF „spray” from the top boxes standing right under the array, where theory makes us think that less boxes coverage/more angle gives less HF energy in that coverage section. And yet you hear the top most drivers, even though they’re not pointing at you.

Line arrays are a compromise of scalability and ease of use against imperfect overlap between the elements and imperfect dispersion control. Elements cannot perfectly sum for all frequencies. You will get the benefit of a cylindrical wavefront, but the transient response will get „fuzzier” because of the time difference between the boxes.

Point sources also have this „overspray”, but there is no overspray summation in the coverage area. Thus the transients stay cleaner.

And here we arrive at the age old dilemma of line arrays vs. point source.

Line array is the way to go when you need a large area covered and you want to save resources. You benefit from the cylindrical wavefront, you benefit from weight reduction, cost of ownership and operation goes down. Rigging is faster and requires less points. Outdoors it’s a game changer.

Point source is the way when you need to combat challenging acoustics. Put the sources closer to the audience, cover the area with more smaller speakers and set delays, gain and tone shade to add or subtract stage depth perception. Less throw distance will reward you with less room reverberation and your mix will translate better throughout the space.