Omnidirectional speakers. The future?


I have been interested in hi-fi for about 25 years. I usually get the hankering to buy something if it knocks my socks off. Like most I started with a pair of box speakers. Then I heard a pair of Magnepans and was instantly hooked on planars. The next sock knocker was a pair of Soundlabs. I saved until I could afford a pair of Millenium 2's. Sock knocker number 3 was a pair of Shahinian Diapasons (Omnidirectional radiators utilizing multiple conventional drivers pointed in four directions). These sounded as much like real music as anything I had ever heard.
Duke from Audiokinesis seems to be onto the importance of loudspeaker radiation patterns. I don't see alot of other posts about the subject.
Sock knocker number four was a pair of Quad 988's. But wait, I'm back to planars. Or am I? It seems the Quads emmulate a point source by utilizing time delay in concentric rings in the diaphragms. At low volumes, the Quads might be better than my Shahinians. Unfortunately they lack deep bass and extreme dynamics so the Shahinians are still my # 1 choice. And what about the highly acclaimed (and rightly so) Soundlabs. These planars are actually constructed on a radius.
I agree with Richard Shahinian. Sound waves in nature propagate in a polyradial trajectory from their point of source. So then doesn't it seem logical that a loudspeaker should try to emmulate nature?

holzhauer
Twilo, Gonglee3, if you use 2 amps, With this arrangement, you have no master volume control. Use the preamp outs on amp
I am reminded by this subject, that while at Rutgers U., in the late '50's, I had the pleasure of visiting Hegeman's home and auditioning a stereo pair of his unusual design. The enclosures were large transmission-line loaded, with the woofer/mid mounted on top at a visible angle to the listener, and fitted with his own take on the venerable "whizzer" cone. They were driven by a pair of Dynaco amps, fed from a stereo reel-to-reel tape (RCA Menotti: Sebastian), and the sound was *fabulous*! I will never forget it.

John
John: Apparently not! :-) I've forgotten more particulars about setups I listened to within the last year...
Any fellow omni-fans might be interested in a new review of an Ohm speaker over on 6moons.com. By the way: Did anybody compare Ohm and Shahinian-speakers?
The "Walsh Series" of Ohm loudspeakers are not omni-directional in any aspect of operation. This is specifically covered on their website. They simply present a diffuse presentation, which may confuse some folks into thinking that they are omni's due to the lack of focus. Sean
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