I have to also say, that with any theatrical response to a
line array is. you WANT directionality in the sound. Its such a PITA when you get to a space like a high school and they say oh we have such an awesome sound
system. I get there and they have a
line array which is really only good for music
play back and concert reinforcement. To me directionality is lost with
line arrays.
It all depends on what you are trying to do and what you want is the right directionality for the application. Wanting a sound to appear to originate from a specific location means everyone in the audience hears something different based on their location, which may be the opposite of what you want for other aspects of the sound where the goal is for everyone to hear the same thing as much as possible. You generally design the
house sound
system for the latter and then use practicals for localization cues in a specific production. What is also a
bit ironic is that the biggest benefit of
line arrays is often the ability to control the vertical
pattern and have greater directionality than traditional speakers.
You noted that you are consulting and there is an AV Consultant, so how do the roles relate? Are you an Owner's Representative and they are part of the Design Team or are you both part of the Design Team or what? That could affect the manner in which, and to whom, you should respond. I'll also say that while I enjoy being able to explain the logic and thought behind my designs to the Owner and other project parties, and believe that I should be able and willing to do so, I don't like being put in a position of having my work second guessed. Speakers are also one area where I may often be least amenable to options as looking at other speakers is often not a matter of simply comparing the two products but rather of comparing the predicted performance from the two products in that application and I typically invest a great deal of time and effort into analyzing the expected results with different products when making
speaker selections. So it might come across much better if you approached this as their helping you understand why those speakers are a good solution, and in the process you can ask questions that may verify if it actually seems a good solution or not.
I have never understood the perspective that many in the
theatre world seem to have that using Meyer speakers somehow guarantees a good result. Yes, Meyer has some very good products but so do others and for every one of them it comes down to using the right products an an effective manner for that specific application, not just what name is on the product.
Okay, on to the actual topic! It sounds like a permanent install, however the Redline series is the
portable product
line in the K-Array family, there are other K-Array products intended for concert and install applications. The KR200 and KR400 are apparently satellite mains that are part of packaged
portable powered systems that consist of the
line elements and subs, with the subs containing the amplification and processing. And yes, the KR200 and KR400 apparently have a very wide horizontal
pattern (virtually omni at 1kHz, 180 degrees at 4kHz and 120 degrees at 8kHz) and are effectively bipolar in their vertical
pattern, with a narrow vertical
pattern as low as 500Hz and some severe lobing at higher frequencies.
The KR200 is apparently essentially a single
line array that can be 'folded' in the middle and is intended be mounted to the subs. It has a fixed nominal 120 degree by 7 degree
pattern. You can 'double up' the KR200 with two of the
line array elements mounted side-by-side and sharing a pole mount in order to get some additional output and horizontal
pattern control. In comparison, the KR400 is capable of 5dB greater output than the KR200 (127dB continuous/133dB peak for the KR200 versus 132dB continuous/138dB peak for the KR400) but perhaps more significant, you can adjust the angle between the two
line array elements to vary the coverage and the
line arrays can be flown. It seems that you can even fly multiple of the KR400 to create a taller
array. So if you had a 'standard' configuration of one
line element pair in a vertical
line attached to the sub the difference between the KR200 and KR400 would seem to be primarily the in potential output, however the KR400 seems to also offer greater flexibility in how it could be applied.
Basically, those do seem a
bit of an odd choice in general but there may be a reason for them being suggested that is not obvious. I'd simply tell the AV Consultant that you aren't that familiar with those products and ask if they could tell you something about them and explain why they are recommending them for this application. Since they are the ones recommending the speakers, they should be willing to do that and should also be willing to try to help set up a demo. If they are reluctant to do that then there may be a problem that extends beyond this particular product choice.
I should have just said 
