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Orb Mod 1 or 2 vs. Bose? Appease my wife, please.

post #1 of 17
1/20/12 at 11:17am
Thread Starter 
The contractors started work today on my media room ( a 3rd floor 700 SF attic ) I was not prepared to make a choice yet, but they had a job cancel and asked if the could start today instead of 2 weeks from now....

OK, long story short, I have heard OF the Orb speakers, but have never heard them. But I have read great reviews. My wife grew up with Bose, and likes it ( and in fact, I use a professional Bose system to DJ ). I don't love the Bose for home stuff. In fact, I visited a Bose Store in NC this past weekend and I could not get the sales guy to really crank it up. It was the system they sell for $999.

We are - well I am - looking at the Orb as what we will get. Not sure Mod 1 or 2....

I will be pairing whichever speakers I buy with a Yamaha RXV671.

Thoughts, please? I need to make a choice FAST.
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post #2 of 17
1/20/12 at 11:23am
When the rest of the Bose bashing posts follow, you'll see that the alternative is probably a better/cost effective option.
Convincing the wife is your biggest problem.
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post #3 of 17
1/20/12 at 11:28am
You won't get many Bose supporters here as the general perception is that they produce a marginal product for a premium price. Advertising is not free and they do a lot of it so the money has to come out of the cost of the speakers.

Orbs are great and I owned a 5.1 setup for a few years. If you just want to "get this over with" I would go with the Orbs. If you have some time to explore, there is a lot out there that will reward you many times over. Sadly, the best speakers will most likely not please your wife.

These are nice and not too expensive:

http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Speake...eries/CM5.html
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post #4 of 17
1/20/12 at 11:33am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by michaelkingdom View Post

You won't get many Bose supporters here as the general perception is that they produce a marginal product for a premium price. Advertising is not free and they do a lot of it so the money has to come out of the cost of the speakers.

Orbs are great and I owned a 5.1 setup for a few years. If you just want to "get this over with" I would go with the Orbs. If you have some time to explore, there is a lot out there that will reward you many times over. Sadly, the best speakers will most likely not please your wife.

These are nice and not too expensive:

http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Speake...eries/CM5.html


That's not just here... it's also in my DJ world.

I will check your link. She really wants a small form factor. So do I actually, but not sure a $1000 - $1200 budget will get me what I want.
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post #5 of 17
1/20/12 at 11:43am
I've owned both bose and orbs and I much prefer the orbs
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post #6 of 17
1/20/12 at 11:57am
If tiny speakers are a must check out these.........http://hsuresearch.com/products/vt-12.html
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post #7 of 17
1/20/12 at 12:19pm
newegg has the energy rc-micro 5.1 set for $330:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16882269003
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post #8 of 17
1/20/12 at 1:08pm
In a dedicated media room you should go for a small form factor as you want the best performing media. I understand small form factor in the living rooms but not a dedicated media room.

Def Tech ProCinema 1000 5.1 i heard I liked

What are the dimensions of this media room including your ceiling height?

Have you thought about in wall speakers?
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post #9 of 17
1/20/12 at 1:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Papa2x View Post


Thoughts, please? I need to make a choice FAST.

Give her a $500 gift certificate to her favorite shoe store to calm the waters, then buy what you want to buy based on how it sounds, not how it looks.
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post #10 of 17
1/20/12 at 1:37pm
The orbs are excellent for their size.

I would also look into Mirage's offerings over at Vanns. The OMD-5s in particular tend to blend in really well while still providing very good sound.
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post #11 of 17
1/20/12 at 1:46pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by crazyrob425 View Post

In a dedicated media room you should go for a small form factor as you want the best performing media. I understand small form factor in the living rooms but not a dedicated media room.

Def Tech ProCinema 1000 5.1 i heard I liked

What are the dimensions of this media room including your ceiling height?

Have you thought about in wall speakers?


The "media" part of the room is 35 x22. Ceiling height is 8" in canter of room... 3' wide, with a slope down on each side. The TV area will be using the right 2/3 of the room.

It is a media room, but none of us are audio / video philes.....

In the very back of the room a will have a dedicated dance floor area.... maybe 10' x 10' , with a DJ speaker, mirror ball, rope lights... and a mini dj setup.
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post #12 of 17
1/20/12 at 2:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Papa2x View Post

The "media" part of the room is 35 x22. Ceiling height is 8" in canter of room... 3' wide, with a slope down on each side. The TV area will be using the right 2/3 of the room.

It is a media room, but none of us are audio / video philes.....

In the very back of the room a will have a dedicated dance floor area.... maybe 10' x 10' , with a DJ speaker, mirror ball, rope lights... and a mini dj setup.

In a 35' x 22' room any of these smaller speaker systems will struggle A LOT!

I hope you are planning on a decent subwoofer cause your room is probably around 5,000 cu. ft. Large rooms require large subwoofers.

These smaller speaker systems are meant for rooms 2,000 cu ft and less.

Now I am not implying you need towers though I think you need at minimum actual bookshelf speakers with a proper subwoofer

For $1,100 here is what I would buy:
-4x Infinity P163's, $340 total
-Infinity pc350, $200
-Outlaw LFM-1 EX subwoofer, $549 shipped
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post #13 of 17
1/20/12 at 2:43pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by crazyrob425 View Post

In a 35' x 22' room any of these smaller speaker systems will struggle A LOT!

I hope you are planning on a decent subwoofer cause your room is probably around 5,000 cu. ft. Large rooms require large subwoofers.

These smaller speaker systems are meant for rooms 2,000 cu ft and less.

Now I am not implying you need towers though I think you need at minimum actual bookshelf speakers with a proper subwoofer

For $1,100 here is what I would buy:
-4x Infinity P163's, $340 total
-Infinity pc350, $200
-Outlaw LFM-1 EX subwoofer, $549 shipped


Well, the area where the TV will be is about 15 x 15....... does that change things? And I do have an old Paradigm sub..... it's been in storage for about 5 years.... a big beastly sub..... I wounder if that would work.
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post #14 of 17
1/20/12 at 3:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Papa2x View Post

Well, the area where the TV will be is about 15 x 15....... does that change things? And I do have an old Paradigm sub..... it's been in storage for about 5 years.... a big beastly sub..... I wounder if that would work.

Unless its 15 x 15 closed off, no it doesn't change anything.

I still recommend Bookshelf speakers set-up. By integrating the Paradigm subwoofer though you could have more money to put towards higher quality speakers
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post #15 of 17
1/20/12 at 3:14pm
My wife was the same - she pretty much insisted on getting small satellites. Until i dragged here to a dealer to show here some bookshelf speakers (white Monitor Audio RX2's, Centre, RXFX) and we did some (basic) listening tests.
We bought the MA's on the spot, and I never hear anything about speakers being too big or unsightly...
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post #16 of 17
1/20/12 at 5:27pm
Buy whatever you like
As far as appeasing your wife, well, I can try my best
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post #17 of 17
1/20/12 at 6:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by crazyrob425 View Post

In a 35' x 22' room any of these smaller speaker systems will struggle A LOT!

I hope you are planning on a decent subwoofer cause your room is probably around 5,000 cu. ft. Large rooms require large subwoofers.

These smaller speaker systems are meant for rooms 2,000 cu ft and less.

Now I am not implying you need towers though I think you need at minimum actual bookshelf speakers with a proper subwoofer

For $1,100 here is what I would buy:
-4x Infinity P163's, $340 total
-Infinity pc350, $200
-Outlaw LFM-1 EX subwoofer, $549 shipped

+1

We are not talking about towers here, just some bookshelf speakers.

Are a fraction of the rooms total space, they are pretty trivial.

If the room is 35*22*8 (I realize the walls slope, but then the math gets complicated) then the speakers and the sub will take up about 1/10 of one percent of the total volume of the room.
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