Why not horns?

too large footprint - My Klipschorns take up less room than that behind most speakers. Gotta love that!

Poor bass - I getttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
Sorry about that, as I was typing I got hit in the gut with a bass vibe.
What were we talking about? :)

Hello Duke ,

Which maggies are we discussing ? Anything over 12K becomes directional regardless of the speaker.

The term figure 8 is an misnomer , in real terms it is used to signify similar pattern front/rear. SO we are getting into semantics discussing beaming etc as a dipole will have the same out of Phase pattern front to back ..

Of course a full range single panel will exhibit differently vs a 2 or 3 way dipole.

Accurate?? By what definition? I test smaller designs in a anechoic chamber measure for accuracy this is how I define accurate true to signal able to produce musicality thats true to intention of artist. And yes why not make the sound quality's enjoyable unless you just want accurate poor sounding loudspeakers? I'm done with this waist of forum space. Have better things to do like designing loudspeakers of all types. Will let the members with very little real hands on experience take over. They need the ego stroke. Have at it I'm out of here...

Better bass from horns versus a Thiel??
Define better.
It may have more "punch" but it's severely delayed.
Pick your compromise.

Herman, I'll wager a doughnut with my Thiels.