Hi Prof,
Again, thanks for replying.
Imo the size disparity between a 6" midrange cone and a 1" tweeter dome make it impossible for such a speaker’s off-axis response to have the same spectral balance as its on-axis response. At the crossover frequency, the cone will be beaming somewhat but the tweeter’s pattern will be about 180 degrees wide (constrained by the baffle itself), and this wide pattern will hold up for another octave or so higher before it starts to narrow appreciably. Such a speaker’s power response (summed omnidirectional response) can be smooth OR its on-axis response can be smooth, but not BOTH at the same time. And a significant discrepancy between the two is not conducive to good timbre in my opinion.
Omni or quasi-omni speakers tend to generate spectrally-correct reverberant fields, but they also (by definition) send a lot of energy towards the nearby walls. So they tend to generate a lot of early reflections. Imo even spectrally-correct early-arrival energy can be detrimental to clarity, as shown by the negative effects of early reflections at "bad" seats in concert halls. This may be somewhat offset by the extra early-arrival energy becoming extra late-arrival energy after a few bounces.
I believe that I am at odds with Floyd Toole here - I believe he finds early reflections to be beneficial, assuming they are spectrally correct. My source on the negative effects of early reflections in concert halls is David Griesinger, and it is my opinion that that applies to our listening rooms as well.
Duke
