Q: What is a dipole line source design and why is it superior to a point source design ?
A dipole speaker radiates a sound wave forward and an out-of-phase sound wave
backwards. This creates a null (a great reduction in sound volume) at the sides of the
speaker, reducing the speaker's interaction with the room.
A line source projects its sound from a line not from a single point. Ordinarily, the
sound level decreases by 3 db each time you double the distance from the speaker
until the distance is equal to the length of the line source. Then the line source begins
to approximate the 6 db reduction in sound level for each doubling of distance found
in a point source. However, when the line source extends essentially from the floor
to the ceiling, as in the Panga, the line source never transitions to the 6 db roll off of
the point source. Because of this, the listener to the Panga is usually in what
engineers call the "near field" of the speaker, where the direct sound from the speaker
dominates over reflected sound in the room.
A floor to ceiling dipole line source design is especially helpful in obtaining good results
in less than ideal rooms with less than ideal placement. The dominance of the direct
sound and the reduction of room interaction due to side nulls in the sound field result
in a speaker that is superior to a point source or to a line source that does not extend
floor to ceiling.
"Obveously, Panga must be swallowed head first."
- Final conclusion of 3 year $10,000,000
University research study
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