ORB Audio Mod2 Home Theater System

[Rob Williams]

Here’s something that’s a bit different for Techgage – we have an in-depth look at a multichannel speaker package from ORB Audio, a new direct-selling speaker manufacturer that’s quickly gaining popularity. And for good reason, as we soon find out.

You can read the full review here and discuss it here! Please let us know your opinions on the review and if you'd like to see more HT-like reviews in the future.

[Greg King]

Thats a solid set of speakers. I don't know if I am personally sold on the "orb" look of the things, but without that design, it kind of defeats the marketing scheme of ORB Audio.

Good review!

[madstork91]

"He's Got Big Balls, She's Got Big Balls…" - Rory

I lol'd

That being said; Those things cost way too much.

[Rory Buszka]

It depends on what you're looking for. These aren't PC speakers, or at least, not as most people think of them. That's actual steel and stainless -- these are beefy little speakers. The sub is also far above what I've seen in any PC speaker package, including Logitech's 8". If ORB Audio brings these to the PC market like I've heard they plan to, don't expect them to be cheap. When it comes to a high-end product, at some point you've just got to pay to play.

[MakubeX]

Decent speakers. Orb is known for making good speakers for the size.

i think logitech z5500 is more cheap compare to the Orb speaker in the review.Logitech z5500 has dolby & DTS hardware decoding and of course,10 inch subwoober.and i already own it

These blow away any computer speaker you've ever heard...compare them to $2,500 systems you see in stores, and then you realize they are NOT expensive! Best purchase I've made in a long time...

[DLO]

My first post in the land of all people seriously techy. Imagine you have an empty house, love for music and films and want it all over the house. Sources would be web, itunes, MP3, dvd, cd, records, etc. You go and buy a load of ORB speakers and a SONOS system (because you know no better)
Where now?

[Rob Williams]

You go to downtown San Fran and pick up some good Sushi, that's what you do. In reality.. I am just bumping this thread for someone else to better reply since I have no clue about audio.

I've had my Orb Mod 2 7.1 system with the 10-inch subwoofer installed for a couple of weeks now. I'm still tweaking the room acoustics to get the sound perfected, but the bottom line is that these things completely blow away the Bose system that preceded them. A very high-quality and much more expensive bookshelf or floorstanding speaker set might marginally outperform these things, but they wouldn't be as attractive, and they wouldn't make the wife as happy.

My setup is built completely around a home theater PC, BTW. I've got an Intel board that supports high-definition audio output, which means that it has a TOSlink connector that can output either regular old S/PDIF or something called ADAT - Alesis Digital Audio Tape.

ADAT is a format that recording professionals have been using for decades. It's comprised of 8 channels of discrete PCM digital audio at very high bit rates.

Why is that important? Because my PC is doing ALL of the DSP functions that are normally the province of the receiver. All that stuff about delay adjustment, speaker tuning, bass processing? That's all handled by processing on the PC. The only thing between my PC and the speakers is a Simplifi Digital 7075A amplifier. (www.simplifidigital.com). The amplifier has only two jobs: D/A conversion on those 8 channels, and amplification on the analog result. The sonic result is truly amazing, and the money I'm saving by not having to buy the kind of high-end receiver that can do all of the things my PC can do more than pays for the additional cost of the Orbs.

It's just silly to compare the Orbs to any of the PC-oriented speaker setups out there. There just isn't any similarity. The best comparison, as the reviewer notes, is with Anthony Gallo's vastly higher priced Nucleus speakers, which are only available at audiophile dealers. I've listened to them, and I can't tell any difference between my Orbs and the Gallos.

If you're serious about showing the audio snobs in your neighborhood what an HTPC can do, consider the combination of the Simplifi device and the Orbs.

- Mitch

[Merlin]

1289.00
Dont think I could put that out for just speakers.
I'm not one of those that has too much mooolah and dont know what to spend it on.

Merlin