[JuanD]

Hi guys, this is my first thread of many I hope so I'm a newbie about home theaters and speakers, etc. I have now a Bose Cinemate GS Series II but I'm not that happy with the low-end extension nor the propietary cables, so I want to upgrade, but I want to stay in the 600 USD budget and want small receiver and small speakers.

I need some advice in terms of quality and quantity of sound and possible compatibility issues of this sound system: Orb Audio Mod1X Speakers (1 Pair), Orb mini T V3, Dayton Audio SUB 1200 (1 unit). My plan is to connect the orb speakers to the orb amp and connect the sub with the LFE output of the amplifier, however i have some questions:

1. Can I Do That?
2. Is this enough for a room size of [Long x Width x High] (19' x 14' x 10') in feet or (6 x 4,5 x 3) in meters?
3. Is this setup good with music? not only movies? If not, what do you suggest? (600 USD approx, Small amplifier, small speakers, sub can be large)
4. If I want to put more speakers in a future (Two more for a 4.1 system) How Can I connect that to the amp? Can I? The speakers will lose power each?
5. What frequency is ideal for the crossover in the dayton subwoofer?

Sorry for my bad english and Thank you very very much for your attention!

 

[Zorba922]

Well, the Orb speakers will be a slight upgrade in sound over the Bose Cinemate---but so would any number of speakers.

1. Yes, but with a $600 budget you can do much better than any of those Orb products.

2. No...in a 19 x 14 foot room that type of tiny-pretty speaker is always going to struggle.

3. If you want it to be good with music, I'd definitely NOT get tiny-pretty satellite type speakers. That's like trying to win the Tour de France while riding a tricycle.

4. If you want future surround sound expandability, you will need a multi-channel receiver not some dinky little T-amp type amp (those are fine for 2.0 or 2.1 desktop/nearfield setups).

5. Standard crossover is 80Hz, but that depends on how low your SPEAKERS can go, not how low the sub can go.

First off, before I give you any specific recs, where are you---inside or outside the US? This will determine what your shopping options are.

 

[JuanD]

Thank you for your answer, right now I'm in the US. I know, bookshelf speakers probably will be better for music, however, I want to stay with small speakers for aesthetic reasons, bookshelf speakers will disrupt with the decoration in my room. Can you suggest some small speakers in the 150-300 USD price range (a pair) that do better than the orbs and a better amp? Thank you for your help!

 

[Zorba922]

NHT SuperZeros and Ascend HTM-200SE.

They are rectangular speakers but very compact due to their sealed cabinet design...if you make a scale drawing or paper model of them next to oen of the Orbs, you'll see that they have almost the same footprint. The Ascends will give you the biggest sound out of a small package, but the NHTs would still be better than Orbs.

For the receiver:
Yamaha 575 full sized receiver, $240:
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/yamrxv575bl/yamaha-rx-v575-7.2-ch-x-80-watts-networking-a/v-receiver/1.html

or

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/marnr1506/marantz-nr1506-slimline-5.2-ch-x-50-watts-networking-a/v-receiver/1.html

 

[cel4145]

Agreed. The NHT and Ascend speakers would produce better sound for you than the Orbs because of their larger drivers.

 

[sigpig]

Sell your Bose system and put the cash toward your new system...

 

[RayGuy]

Look at Cambridge Audio Minx Min 12 or 22. Far superior to Orb. Then, pair with a sub that has reasonable response to 150 Hz. In cheaper subs, this will point towards a 10 or 8" form factor, so you lose some portion of the lowest octave of bass, but that is the price you pay for going small. If you go small and use a cheap 12" sub, you will have a hole in the frequency response right around 100 Hz, and that is not a good thing.

If your room is relatively small, the Martin Logan Dynamo 300 gets to 150 and will hit 32Hz (+/- 3dB). That's pretty good performance for < $150.

 

[gajCA]

NHT SuperZeros and Ascend HTM-200SE.

They are rectangular speakers but very compact due to their sealed cabinet design...if you make a scale drawing or paper model of them next to oen of the Orbs, you'll see that they have almost the same footprint. The Ascends will give you the biggest sound out of a small package, but the NHTs would still be better than Orbs.

For the receiver:
Yamaha 575 full sized receiver, $240:
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/yamrxv575bl/yamaha-rx-v575-7.2-ch-x-80-watts-networking-a/v-receiver/1.html

or

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/marnr1506/marantz-nr1506-slimline-5.2-ch-x-50-watts-networking-a/v-receiver/1.html

I agree with this; if you must have a tiny footprint, start with a foundation of a 2.0 or 3.0 system, then, when money is available add your center or sub before the rear surrounds.

Here's another small speaker to consider; inexpensive enough that you could actually buy them and a center channel plus receiver for your budget.

These could start as your front pair when you buy the receiver and be moved to the rears if you find them somewhat lacking and choose, down the road, to get slightly larger front speakers.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107OWM3B/Polk-Audio-OWM3-Black.html?tp=186

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107CS10B/Polk-Audio-TSi-CS10-Black.html?tp=189

 

[zieglj01]

Thank you for your answer, right now I'm in the US. I know, bookshelf speakers probably will be better for music, however, I want to stay with small speakers for aesthetic reasons, bookshelf speakers will disrupt with the decoration in my room. Can you suggest some small speakers in the 150-300 USD price range (a pair) that do better than the orbs? Thank you for your help!

The Focal Bird $99 each, and they come with stands to sit or wall mount
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/focalltlbirdeablk/focal-little-bird-4-2-way-ultra-compact-satellite-speaker-black-each-new/1.html

Bigger Bird $149 (sold each)
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/focalbirdeablk/focal-bird-5.5-2-way-compact-satellite-speaker-black-each-new/1.html

Focal Sib - same option (sold by pair)
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/focalsibprblk/focal-sib-5-2-way-atmos-flex-on-wall/bookshelf-black-pair/1.html