dynamic sidebar call, depending on top-level page

hello

i am attempting to load different dynamic sidebars depending on the top-level page, but am having problems with the syntax.

1. I am using a variable called $sect_title to hold the top-level page name. (see below)

<? $post_ancestors = get_post_ancestors($post);
			if (count($post_ancestors)) {
			    $top_page = array_pop($post_ancestors);
			    $children = wp_list_pages('title_li=&child_of='.$top_page.'&echo=0');
			    $sect_title = get_the_title($top_page);
			} elseif (is_page()) {
			    $children = wp_list_pages('title_li=&child_of='.$post->ID.'&echo=0&depth=2');
			    $sect_title = the_title('','', false); } ?>

2. I am then attempting to call the sidebar with the code below, but is failing. Not working

<?php if ( !function_exists('dynamic_sidebar') ||
				           !dynamic_sidebar('echo $sect_title') ) { ?>
				     Not working

				<?php } ?>

when i hardcode to troubleshoot, it pulls in the sidebar fine.

<?php if ( !function_exists('dynamic_sidebar') ||
				           !dynamic_sidebar('home') ) { ?>
				     Not working

				<?php } ?>

im sure it’s just a syntax issue.

thanks in advance

rhys