I'm still waiting to see this super 0.75-inch dome design at this price point with comparably wide directivity
As
@ctrl said, I do not know of any small dome that improves on the RAAL in horizontal directivity width. I certainly have not seen it in a commercial design. Even if it does exist, it would be in a very small group.
As far as I'm concerned, until this point is proven, I do not think you have solid ground to criticize Dennis's choice of the ribbon, as you have multiple times. In this thread you are now implying it is a primarily a subjective choice rather than one of making an educated compromise, which strikes me as misguided.
Ultimately it's very simple. If distortion is of
utmost importance to the listener, then the listener should buy another speaker. But to me and others it is obvious that directivity plays a more important role in what sounds better to most people's ears, and there is nothing inherently wrong with the choice of the ribbon in order to achieve some of the widest directivity available.
Some have said a couple more dB extension in horizontal directivitt doesn't matter, but I respectfully disagree.
Let's do a thought experiment. In some studies, in order to test the effects of sidewall reflections, researchers use an anechoic chamber and fake the 'walls' with surround speakers set to a delay that replicates a wall bounce.
Assuming you start with 'perfect' zero-distortion speakers, what do you think would have a more noticeable effect to the listener while listening to music?
a) increasing the distortion of the speakers to match the what is provided by the RAAL
b) Decreasing the SPL level of the 'side speakers' by ~3dB in the last couple of octaves (even while level matching total SPL).
Idk about you, but to me situation b seems far more audible, and I'd wager it that for most listeners, it would probably sound worse too(because most listeners seem to prefer louder sidewall reflections).
Whether or not I'm right, the point is to illustrate that a few dB and Hertz extra of wide directivity is not trivial.
So yes, distortion is a flaw with this speaker, but no, I'm not sure there was a better way of achieving similarly wide dispersion without an estoeric design and price.
P.S I'm also not sure there's any benefit to having wider vertical directivity unless you listen from up close. It is arguably a bad thing since both floor and ceiling reflections are known to be more detrimental than their sidewall counterparts. Unless you're a coaxial with perfect verticals, all wider vertical directivity seems to do is exacerbate audibility of lobing.
