Orb Speakers Official Thread - Page 40

That's very bizarre, considering yours was boxed up and put away. Did you have any problems with it before that?

I'm highly considering the Lava LSP10 now as a replacement.

Just gotta see if it plays flat up to 150hz, like the Orb Audio Super 8.

Anyone have thoughts on this comparison?

The Lava thread is perhaps the best place to get info about that. Those folks seem pretty good about answering questions too.

Yeah, I thought it was really bizzare. Kind of a power of suggestion thing. I'd had no problems with the Super 8 during the 3 years I used it and it was running fine when I put it away.

I boxed it back up in dissapointment, but might pull the amp again to see if I can figure anything out.

I know its kind of forbidden to ask this stupid question but I am a complete noob so please excuse.

I am currently running two mod 1 with super 8. It sounds very loud but there is no clarity in the system. some of the songs that get played through ipod sound excellent. I am using pioneer vsx 1020.

Most of the movies that get played through HDMI/verizon fios have the problem of poor dialogue and extra loud bass when ever an action scene pops up.

I am planning to make this a complete 5.1 mod 2 system to really compare it with say BOSE AM 10 system. Are these speakers *comparable to BOSE or do they literally out class BOSE in all aspects ? I am asking this question as I dont get the same feeling listening to my current set up as I got it in the BOSE store in a mall.

AM I expecting too much from the orbs? do you guys think mod 2 all over will change everything... and it sounds like a killer system?

Thanks in advance

Why would it be forbidden to ask? That's essentially the purpose of these forums.

I'm afriad you won't find many Bose fans on this forum, so I wouldn't count on too many endorsements for them. While the amount of disdain they receive is unwarranted, IMHO, there is a valid reason for a lot of it. At one time Bose was quite innovative and forward thinking -- and did believe in leading edge engineering -- but they seem to have chosen a different path now.

That being said... the Orb system will suffer from the exact same issues that all such "micro" speakers do; lack of dynamic range. For sure, a 5.1 system consisting of all Mod2's will sound much better then what you have now, but there's really no one that can say whether or not it will be what you're after. The only way to discern that is to actually hear them.

What size room do you have? If it's too big you'll probably find them struggling to fill the space. In dynamics I mean, not volume (relative to their size, of course). I was often surprised how loud those little things could get. Usually the Super8 ran out of steam before the satellites did.

Hi all,
I'm a bit of a novice at all this and have just built a new bedroom in my house that I need to fit out. It's a decent size room and I plan to have a sleeping and sitting area for TV & music. I run a pair of B&W 685's in another room and like them a lot but want to take up the minimum space with speakers in the bedroom. I've been a long time admirer of Orbs but have never heard them, so I thought I'd log in and ask a couple of questions.

1) Listening to music is my big thing, my B&W's are great all rounders, will the orbs match or beat them? I listen to a wide variety of music from dance to spanish guitar to coldplay etc. Most of the treads talk about Orbs being great in a cinema environment but I've yet to find feedback on just listening to music.

2) The configuration of the room doesn't allow for 5.1+ as I plan on watching the TV from the bed and sitting area (New TV is on a bracket in the wall with a rotating arm, so I'm just interested in stereo performance via the TV?).

3) A more general question for the experts, I notice with the B&W's that when watching TV/Movies, I find it hard to hear the "quiet" bits which cause me to play with the volume only to have my head blown off when the explosions start! I'd like to be able to fix this, any suggestions? It really annoys the wife!!

Sorry about all the basic questions, any advice on whether Orbs will do it for me would be great!

Thanks

Just my 2¢ worth. I've had a People's choice system for over 3 years. If you're thinking about Orbs you can always try them out as they have the 30 day return policy. You'd have to run them long enough to get them broken in.

If it were me, I'd probably order a Mod2 setup as you can just run it as Mod1 and Mod2 and compare how it sounds. Even for music you will need a sub, the Orbs just don't have anything at the low end. You need a sub with enough extension to get up to 150hz or better. I'm not trying to bad mouth Orb, but I probably wouldn't get one of their subs. I replaced my Super 8 a few months ago for "sound" reasons and when I went to sell it found that the power supply stage of the amplifier was blown. I was going to sell it to another guy who's Super 8 amp had also blown. Mine was working fine when I put it away.

I listen to music on 2 channel as well. The Orbs are ok (my wife says this is high praise from me), but it may well depend on what you're used to and I don't think they're going to match the B&W's in the upper end at all. If you listen to delicate guitar music I think you'd notice this. B&W does make a smaller speaker, the M1. It may fit your needs better, but I have not listened to them. You'd probably also need a sub with them as their ±3db point only goes down to 80hz. You'd probably have to audition them to see what you think.

Thanks, that's helpful. I think I'll give them a go. Do you think I should order the bigger sub with the Mod 2 config?

Keith

I agree with the above. I've had Orbs plus the Super 8 for at least 4 years now and still love them, but I'm not doing any critical listening or cranking them up very often. There is a trade-off to get the small, decor-friendly speakers - and the trade-off is a small loss of sound quality. I think they do a really good job with home theater sound. They are very clear and detailed. I think they sound great, and I've owned a lot of speakers in my younger days, but I doubt you will consider them outerforming your B&W bookshelf speakers. My Super 8 also blew an amp and Orb gave me a great price on replacing it with the improved BASH amp. Give them try and let us know what you think.

I think that if you have the space for the bigger sub, go for it.

In my case, I was only able to fit the smaller sub. I think it is very good.

Small speakers and a small sub are a bit of a compromise but if you are doing home theater (as opposed to critical music listening), I think you will be happy. I am.

$700 can buy an awful lot of subwoofer. You might want to consider all your alternatives before you make a final decision.

+1
That goes for the main speakers too because there are plenty of "Better" alternatives now.

At the risk of diverting the thread, what's the current thinking of the top 2-3 "better" choices from a sound AND aesthetic perspective?

PM sent.

I'd love to get that PM too!!

Done.

Are there new entires in the subcompact speaker market place that are as good as or better than Orb? If so, which are they? The Orb package is incredibly compact, discreet and the sound quality is much better than their size would imply.

This is true but Orb Audio for years have claimed they have the best speakers and refuse to update their line.

The alternatives: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1331363

Personally, I went from the Orb Mod1, Mod2 & Mod4 to: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1339511

Two very informative & fun Threads.

Enjoy!

Thanks for the link. I go check it out. I don't want to derail this thread.

I wish I could get larger speakers for my fronts but the WAF isn't there for anything other than Orbs.

I'm considering a replacement for my now fried Super 8 subwoofer and am curious about the Energy S10.3? The Egg has it for a great price and the research I've done show it to be a very capable sub, albeit 10". Thoughts?

It shows that it plays to 120hz. I previously set the crossover for the Orbs/Super 8 at 150Hz since I read that they perform better at this setting. The Orbs are supposed to be able to be set @ 120Hz crossover. Thoughts?

That is a pretty good price, but I think you may want to look for something with better upper end extension.

The Energy ESW-M8 or Mirage MM-8 would be a great replacement.

I went ahead and bought the S10.3. I'll receive it today, run YPAO, and give it a try with a frequency sweep, etc.

I hope you don't plan on crossing your Orbs over any higher than 120 hz.
Otherwise, you'll have created somewhat of a hole.

Plus, if you listen to a lot of music, the Sub will sound slow by comparison to your satellite speakers.

It's mostly for HT and TV.
I'm going to set the sub crossover @ 120Hz and the Orbs as well, based on what I read in this entire thread.

Good luck!
Let us know how it sounds.

I received the Energy S10.3 yesterday and am breaking it in as we speak. I did a frequency test last night and the Orb's play decently @ 120Hz, albeit with an expected volume drop. The S10.3 sounds good enough at 120Hz to me that I'd say it's a winner! I'll run a frequency sweep tonight to hear if their is a significant volume drop 110-130Hz or if it's just a slight dip.

So far I'm lovin' the sub!

The other night, I ran an interesting test of my Orb speakers.

My Bluray cleaning disk came with a speaker frequency test program. It sends a single frequency, sinusoidal output thru the amp to the speakers. It went from about 30 or 40 Hz (i've forgotten) up to 20 kHz. The amp/speaker combination reproduced everything from the bottom up reasonably well up until the 10kHz test. At 10kHz, we could hear only a very low/almost no output. At 20kHz, there was nothing.

Are these speakers supposed to be able to produce output at 10kHz and above?

The player is connected to the amp via a short (3') HDMI cable and uses PCM audio.

I'll do more testing in the future but wanted to get some thoughts on this anomaly. Is it an anomaly or expected?

Just curious what you used to measure the output, and how accurate that device is at the extreams...