El: I commented that most "omni's" like the Ohm's are not true Omni's due to the limited vertical dispersion. Other than that, until you can do a side by side and listen to the differences in presentation between a panel and an "omni", it is all "theory".
Holzhauer: There are speakers that have tried to do the "pulsating sphere" thing. The first one that comes to mind is the Design Acoustics D-12. This was a dodecahedron ( 12 sided ) cabinet with a driver on every panel. In effect, you kind of had a wooden "disco ball" with speakers in it. The thing here was that these used conventional woofers, mids, tweeters, etc... and the sound was crossed over and "sprayed" at random. Never heard these in person or read any "real" test reports on them, but i bet it was a disaster both sonically and electrically. Once again, another example in speakers of "good in theory, horrible in implimentation".
As to Stuart Hegemann, there are some articles about his theories and speaker designs in a recent
Audio Xpress. From what i can recall, i think that there will be a follow up article. If you're not familiar with Audio Xpress, it is a DIY type magazine that covers everything from electronics to speakers, both SS and tube. I can get you the info on the specific issue(s) if you want.
As to why i said what i did about 901's and the Shahinian's, the 901's effectively radiate in every direction horizontally due to the layout of their drivers on the front and angled rear panels and the purposely designed amount of reflections that they encounter. In effect, they are "spraying & bouncing" everywhere. In the same respect, the Shahinian's ( specifically the Obelisk ) "spray & bounce" the upper frequencies all over due to the use of multiple drivers and the use of angled panels. Having said that, the Shahinian's have far more vertical dispersion, make use of far better quality drivers and actually have a LOT more thought and research put into them. As such, they are similar yet VERY different designs and that is all that i was implying. Once again, i'll point out that i consider the Shahinian's to be a "good" speaker even though there are things about them that i would do differently. With that in mind, i have recommended these speakers to others and have gotten emails from Agon members that are very happy with them after purchasing them based on my recommendations. One should bare in mind that most of these are not designed to "crank" ( much like my Ohm's ) but at "reasonable" volume levels, they produce "magic".
For that matter, i don't know of any speaker made that i think does everything as well as it should and believe that most designs could be easily improved upon. That is why i've modified most everything that i have. Then again, it is quite easy to pass judgment / criticize / "talk shit" in public if one is strictly a spectator and not really in the game "professionally" so to speak : )
Matchstikman: I could give you a LOT of background of how the "radials" came to be and none of it is very supportive. Let's just say that Steve Deckert had a set of my Ohm's and very nearly destroyed them. After playing with them and experiencing what these could do, even though they weren't working correctly due to his "repairs", Steve started working on the "Radials". For that matter, if one can't look at the "Radials" and then Ohm's
"Sound Cylinders" and see an amazing amount of resemblance, there's something wrong with their vision. Sean
>
PS... While the Decware site and information that is provided looks impressive, believe me, things are NOTHING like that in the real world. Either at their shop or in the services provided. Obviously, some folks know their way around a computer and can create wonderful websites. How close the information presented compares to reality is another matter. Personally, i've "been there, done that, won't EVER go back".