Orb Audio - Page 3

Regarding the crossover, anywhere from 100 to 150 will "work". However, 150 will give you the maximum dynamic range that the system is capable of. As the frequency goes up, the need for piston area and excursion goes down (the opposite is true, of course). The Orb system is "optimized" for the 150 hertz crossover. Why does Orb give you (us) the choice? Well, Gary Pelled told me that many receivers do not offer multiple crossover choices. Hence their reco of the Pioneers that do.

One other point: if you really want a seamless front soundstage AND can accommodate it, place the center channel vertically. This is the best way to configure any center that uses dual midranges, and with the Orbs' small size, is very doable in many installations.

Tony

I had all mine crossed at 150 but I decided to try it at 120 and I confirm what your saying here and what Gary also told me in person when I was at Orb and that's to run these things at 150. They do sound better at least in my situation crossed higher. So I bumped everything back up to 150 and will be leaving it there.

Crossing over at 150 will decrease the chance of hurting the speakers. Keeping low frequencies out of small drivers enhances driver life, although sealed speakers are less prone to blowing up than vented speakers operated below resonance.

Basically, frequencies above 150 will get routed to the Mods, frequencies below will go to the sub. By doing this you will lighen the load on the Mods, increasing their dynamic range and lowering distortion. They should play cleaner and very loud.

Off topic,
Just for the record I ordered a pair of these for my boss (mod 1) and hooked them up to the 8w built in amps in his flat panel (for his kids room). I have to admit out of the box I was impressed. I definately expected them to sound much 'tinnier', however I would have to hook them up to my home setup to see how they compare to speakers I'm used to hearing.
I'm also curious how they compare to big box store JBL, Infinity, Polk, and Yamaha speakers that are identically priced.

Seth

I will not make any comparisons to any other speakers. I will say that I currently have a Stereophile Class A rated system off to the side while I enjoy my Orbs.

Well I can tell you this much. I have a room that was built for the sole purpose of A/V. I put the best speakers that I could afford in it. Paradigm Studio 100's, Studio 20's, CC570 Center Channel, SVS PB12/2 sub, all running on a Arcam AVP 700 Pre/Pro and Anthem MCA 50 Amp.

In another room I have a Orb Mod 2 setup with the Orb subwoofer running on a HK 635 receiver.

I entertain alot and without a doubt I get more people who are over for lack of a better word are "shell shocked" after I demo the Orbs than I ever did with my big stuff. The general consensus is they expect it out of the big speakers but are absolutely blown away by Orbs.

If your happy with them at 120 great. No reason to do anything else now but enjoy your stuff.

Have anyone here tried to put 3 or more Orbs together to make a single speaker? Is it doable?

Rgds
barry

Glad to hear the Orbs sound great!
I'm thinking of getting some for a 2nd room.

Has anyone compared these to the Gallo systems?
The A-Diva or Nucleus systems?

Seems like these are natural competitors.

Thanks,
G

That would be a 2 ohm speaker. You'd need one hell of an amp to drive it.

Gary Pelled who owns Orb Audio was the Chief Designer at Gallo and designed or co-designed the Gallos your speaking about. He told me that in person the last time I was at their location here in LA.

Orbs are excellent for music. I have compared my 5.1 ($960) with a pair of B&W 805S ($2500/pair), and I didn't hear enough difference to justify paying the the extra.

barry

I had Thiel 1.6's and a SCS3 in my living room with a 50" Pioneer Elite TV setup with a couple Boston surrounds and a Sony ES 4 AVR. Finished my basement and wanted to take the Thiel's into the new dedicated Theater room. I have a large "surround" entertainment center with enclosed area for speakers behind grills. Not what I ever wanted to use for speakers but the wife wanted some hide away speakers and since I was getting a dedicated HT room in the basement I said OK.

That is when I discovered the ORB's. I bought three mod-2's: L, R and Center. The key is a put the L and R in the cabinet and they sound great. No issues with the reverb out of the cabinet - they project well as the folks at ORB said they would. I can HIGHLY recommend these speakers for inside cabinet mounting. I have the crossed at 150 with an Energy sub. Still have the Boston surrounds since they are "attached" to the wall and the wall is wall papered. Fully satisfied with the sound and the surround impact in the room.

IMHO I really think these little speakers work well as everyone says. I can further attest they work well inside an enclosed speaker enclosure in an overall entertainment center.

Jim

If you took 2 and wired them in series (16-ohm) and wired the other 2 in series (16-ohm) and them wired these "pairs" parallel to the amp, you'd get an 8-ohm load.

Not sure how it would sound though but it should be able to handle a lot more power and go louder!

I've got orbs also. Just curious how you all have them wired. fronts through sub and then to amp or fronts to amp and using lfe? I've tried both and prefer wiring fronts to amp and using lfe to the sub. not to mention a cleaner install requiring less wire. just wondering.

Read thru this article and you will learn all about LFE (Low frequency effects)

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...pril-2000.html

hooking up to the sub allows you to use the subwoofer crossover rather than the crossover in the amp.

you have the sub cross set to max and are using the amp to do the crossover.

either way is fine, some prefer one over the other.

Hi,
I'm thinking about upgrading my HK230 which is driving my ORB mod2s. I'm debating between the Pioneer VSX 1015, Outlaw 1070 and the Denon 3805. I do more music than movies. Posted the same question under the receiver area, got no answer. Wondering which of these you experts out there with the ORBs recommend? Thanks!!

They are all going to work well, Orb's pretty confident with their speakers if you go to their facility here in Los Angeles the demo room has a Pioneer 815 handling all the speaker duties. So you really don't have to go nuts on a receiver which in this day and age is nice. I run mine with a HK 635 and it's nothing but oohs and aaahs over at my place when people hear them.

Thanks Russdawg for your input. I'm a newbie in HT stuff, so this may sound stupid. For the same sound tracks, I don't hear the "s" and "sh" as I accustomed to hearing in my car. Do you think this is a calibration issue? If so, I may not need the upgrade afterall.

Without being there firsthand it would be impossible for me to say....Sorry

Sorry to be thick but I was wondering the same thing as Murphypj ... where did you hook up the subwoofer (on some recievers it's marked "LFE") ? Did you use the RCA jack in the "preamp outputs" bank ? The speaker connectors on the 1070 are "L,R,CEN,SL,SR,SBL,SBR". I don't see anywhere besides the preamp to plug in a subwoofer.
This is driving me crazy ... so thanks for any help!

-R

If you are using a sub with a built in amp look for the connection on the back of your receiver in the pre/outs that says SUB/LFE. plug your RCA jack there.