Case in point: New Year's Eve in Sarasota meant a downtown celebration with three bandstands set up in a cordoned off area of streets where folks could make merry in the 75 degree weather while waiting for the giant orange to signal in 2007:D .
All of the sound companies were established and had adequate amps and mixing boards, multiple subs/tops, all were clustered- no verticle arrays;
CompanyA-4 dual 18 folded/4 dual 12&horn,
CompanyB-6 dual 18 direct radiators/6 dual 15&horn,
CompanyC-10 dual 18 direct radiators/12 15&horn).
CompanyA -stacked 2subs per side 30' apart with each 2 12/horn cab set above the subs. No 250 sizzle or dispersion, lots of mids, Ok bass. Mixing engineer may have high hearing loss ?:x
CompanyB-Same configuration with 1 extra top/sub per side.
Massive thuddy lows, muddy drums, NO sizzle,generally ugly sound.Mixing engineer may have high hearing loss ?:
CompanyC-High dollar company with their own stage (30x30) with single15&horn clusters flown three per side, on the ground were three more per side above three subs, all clustered side by side. Sizzle was apparant 100' away, bass was loud but notes were clear-very good sound overall.
IN MY OPINION : Irregardless of the type of music being reproduced, good clarity and overall balance of the frequencies allowed for the most enjoyable sound with MUCH LESS listener fatigue (we were ther for 4 hours and enjoyed companyC's clearer sound/mix at one o'clock
-that said I'm sure many were drawn to the thuddy sound of one company and the middy sound of the other. 
"But Joel, don't be so judgemental, maybe the problem was in the mix".
BOTTOM LINE- Possibly, but aside from that factor I still say: You can have all the power, dsp, eq, etc- BUT-If you want really clear sound you have to have to have speakers that will faithfully deliver it to the audience. My Fitzmaurice cabinets make good on that promise like NO cabs I've used in the past and for far less dollars invested.
How do my 250's/T30s sound? According to my wife (with excellent ears), my 4 250s are nothing short of AMAZING in their ability to deliver clear and uniform ANYWHERE within a 100' range in a venue. I'm making a 2nd t48 which my wife(good ears again) prefers the sound of compared to my T24s (guess they're clearer?) I have yet to compare the t48 to the t30, I'll report on that when I do.
Maybe this post should be in the reviews section?
May the New Year bring you peace and prosperity.
Cheers,
Joel
At least she wants the stuff in a safe place to not get ripped off