A Weekend with the Linkwitz Orion

[GranteedEV]

No offense, but I don't like the way those speakers look aesthetically.

yea, I would hide the summa behind an AT screen.

but i think the Soundscape 12 looks adorable. It's going to go in my master bedroom someday! just. with a different veneer... i dont really like that glossy black for this particular speaker ;p

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

well I want to know what SL thinks! he surely has some reasoning for the upfiring woofer!

They have asked him the same question, but he did not seem to want to fully reveal his reasons.

My impression is that it reduces some room vibrations caused by the Orion in certain "lightly built" rooms with wooden floors.

Did their Peerless driver supplier say they may have problems getting the drivers in the future???

No one wants to say.

The SEAS representative on the Orion forum says "availability" of the Peerless drivers was just ONE reason.

Is it the PRIMARY reason?

No one wants to say.

I know on the Thor subwoofer, you have an option of getting either the down-firing or the front-firing. If I were to get the Thor, which I'm not, I would get the front-firing woofers because that's what I'm used to.

All the subwoofers I've ever owned are front-firing.

I don't like change. I would prefer to have something that has been "proven" for a few years. The Orion has been using front-firing woofers all these years, so it makes me nervous to change.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

yea, I would hide the summa behind an AT screen.

but i think the Soundscape 12 looks adorable. It's going to go in my master bedroom someday! just. with a different veneer... i dont really like that glossy black for this particular speaker ;p

I think the Salk Soundscape 12 looks a little like a B&W 802, except the Salk is more square and has a side-subwoofer.

So the Soundscape 12 is your #1 speaker right now?

 

[GranteedEV]

I think the Salk Soundscape 12 looks a little like a B&W 802, except the Salk is more square and has a side-subwoofer.

So the Soundscape 12 is your #1 speaker right now?

My #1 speaker right now is the EMP e55ti.

Because that's what I have and what I can afford right now.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

My #1 speaker right now is the EMP e55ti.

Because that's what I have and what I can afford right now.

EMP e55ti?

Best Damn Speakers Ever Heard.

They probably sound better than some $23K speakers I've heard.

But no EMP speakers will ever tought the Def Tech BP7001SC & BP7000SC - world class speakers I must say - world class bar none.

 

[GranteedEV]

EMP e55ti?

Best Damn Speakers Ever Heard.

They probably sound better than some $23K speakers I've heard.

But no EMP speakers will ever tought the Def Tech BP7001SC & BP7000SC - world class speakers I must say - world class bar none.

Well I've heard "better" speakers but not with material i'm intimately familiar with if that makes sense. I can definitely say there's aspects of them that wipe the floor with my EMP Teks but what I in absolute terms can't say is how I felt about their tonality and IMO tonality is teh most important thing in the whole wide universe so if you're not listening carefully enough for that specifically then you're not in a position to make a judgement. You need material you're familiar with, voices you know well, etc. Sigfried Linkwitz's notes on "knowing the recording" pretty much says what I feel about judging speakers. I never make grandoise claims about my listening skills either!

So since I own them, and they cost me less than $1000, they're the best.

I think my next speaker would be a DIY active 3-way pair with uniform polar response and flat frequency response using the same 3 drivers in the Salk. Of course the DEQX alone would cost me $2000 lmao. I don't think I could quite make such an amazing cabinet though. Actually I would probably use less expensive tweeter and woofer, although I'm pretty much dead set on using the accuton midrange.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Sigfried Linkwitz's notes on "knowing the recording" pretty much says what I feel about judging speakers...I never make grandoise claims about my listening skills either!

That is one reason I pick the Orion over the Salon - I tend to trust SL more than some "experts" out there.

I think he listens to live classical music every weekend and compares it to his Orions.

 

[GranteedEV]

That is one reason I pick the Orion over the Salon - I tend to trust SL more than some "experts" out there.

I dunno... Kevin Voecks, Sean Olive... the Salons are definitely engineered maaad scientifically. I really want to hear the Everests too... all of the JBL/Harman research but also with limitless dynamic range and I want to open it up to see why it uses a battery for a crossover or whatever it was. too bad they cost about as much as a Nissan GTR I think I would sacrifice dynamic range for a fast sports car before I'm stuck married with a minivan and a wife and kids.

The Salon 1s actually used a dipole tweeter setup. Have you ever heard them, or just the Salon 2s?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I dunno... Kevin Voecks, Sean Olive... the Salons are definitely engineered maaad scientifically...

The Salon 1s actually used a dipole tweeter setup. Have you ever heard them, or just the Salon 2s?

SL, KV, & SO are definitely respected & admired names...

Salon 2s in 2 years - at least that's my diet plan.

 

[swspiers]

LOL.

Yeah, I am in the process of ordering the Orions right now. I think v3.2 w/ Chery wood & red stain color w/ high-gloss finish sounds good to me.

It's about freakin' time!

I'd be jealous, but I went with another Peter Aczel recommendation and went with Ohm.

anyway- congrats on deciding to get the Orions.

-S

 

[TLS Guy]

I think for two channel, the less expensive ones may actually be better for music. Take the 7006 and 7004 bipolars for example. Those have bipolar arrays of one midrange and one tweeter per side. They image more like a small two way monitor, just superb for two channel and good for recreational background listening. The larger models have the d'appolito array, with it's peculiar lobing characteristics; great for HT, seated on the couch in the sweet zone listening.

(That's what I'm using to justify my enjoyment of my less expensive DT's as I type this. I could be way off with my analysis. The reason I have the less expensive model has more to do with the-one-who-must-be-obeyed commenting on the 7000's, 'those are so big...how about those smaller ones?')

ADTG, get the Orions.

The D'appolito MTM configuration does not have a peculiar lobing pattern when properly executed. The object is to maximize horizontal dispersion and minimize vertical dispersion, which is exactly what you want. This minimizes floor and ceiling reflections. It also allows for much more power in the mid range because there are two drivers.

I can assure this arrangement minimizes the sweet spot effect. Unfortunately a lot of manufacturers do not know how to correctly configure the crossovers for this arrangement. I bet Siegfried Linkwitz will not be one of them.

 

[GranteedEV]

The D'appolito MTM configuration does not have a peculiar lobing pattern when properly executed. The object is to maximize horizontal dispersion and minimize vertical dispersion, which is exactly what you want. This minimizes floor and ceiling reflections. It also allows for much more power in the mid range because there are two drivers.

I can assure this arrangement minimizes the sweet spot effect. Unfortunately a lot of manufacturers do not know how to correctly configure the crossovers for this arrangement. I bet Saul Linkwitz will not be one of them.

Wait, let me clarify a few things:

1) Siegfried Linkwitz and Saul Marantz are not the same person
2) The Def Techs use a passive LR4 crossover but not one designed by linkwitz

Anyways The Audio Artistry Beethoven did use an MTM. I wonder why SL went away from MTM/WW/SW to T/M/WW/SW...

 

[TLS Guy]

1) Siegfried Linkwitz and Saul Marantz are not the same person

I know that and was in the process of editing it, when you post came through.

 

[GranteedEV]

I know that and was in the process of editing it, when you post came through.

funny thing is, this is the second time i've seen you accidentally make that error lol!

Poor Saul...

 

[TLS Guy]

That is one reason I pick the Orion over the Salon - I tend to trust SL more than some "experts" out there.

I think he listens to live classical music every weekend and compares it to his Orions.

SL has made a lot of contributions to audio. I'm not surprised you like his speakers. He has been doing this a long time and published many important papers. They way he goes about it, is the way you produce great speakers.

 

[GranteedEV]

i wonder what sounds better.. the orions or TLS Guy's TLs!

maybe ADTG can bring his Orions there and compare!?

 

[jp_over]

LOL.

Yeah, I am in the process of ordering the Orions right now. I think v3.2 w/ Chery wood & red stain color w/ high-gloss finish sounds good to me.

Man - that's awesome. It will be interesting to read how you like these after living with them for a while.

By the way, are you going to change your handle to OrionGuy, SeigfriedDude, or LinkwitzBloke?

Also, I know exactly what you mean about the Gedlee speakers. Part of "visually auditioning" these to the wife was the below (pardon the borderline-criminal and assuredly iniquitous PowerPoint hack):




Needless to say, WAF was not granted! However, these are in the HIGH running for my final setup (in which WAF is not a factor since they won't be located in a common living area unless behind a screen).

Congrats again!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

i wonder what sounds better.. the orions or TLS Guy's TLs!

maybe ADTG can bring his Orions there and compare!?

I'm sure TLS Guy's speakers are among the BEST along with the Orion and Salon2.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Man - that's awesome. It will be interesting to read how you like these after living with them for a while.

By the way, are you going to change your handle to OrionGuy, SeigfriedDude, or LinkwitzBloke?

Also I know exactly what you mean about the Gedlee speakers...

Needless to say, WAF was not granted! However, these are in the HIGH running for my final setup (in which WAF is not a factor since they won't be located in a common living area unless behind a screen).

Congrats again!

I think a more appropriate name for me would be AudioNut or AudioCraze.

I've heard great things about the Gedlee speakers.

Yeah, I can see putting the Gedlee speakers behind a screen. They don't even have grills, do they?

Speaking of grills, I listened to the Orion w/ & w/o grills, and I can't say with confidence that I could tell the difference. The same goes with every single speaker I've listened to.

 

[digicidal]

Speaking of grills, I listened to the Orion w/ & w/o grills, and I can't say with confidence that I could tell the difference. The same goes with every single speaker I've listened to.

Funny you mention this as this is where my 'coppery ears' (maybe bronze or even tin) let me down as well. I cannot deny the measurements on many speakers, and I can wholeheartedly recommend always listening with grills off - but that's just because I love watching woofers working.

About the only speakers that I've heard a pretty significant difference on were the Focal 800 series... but then only with the little tweeter grills. With them off they seem to 'glare' much more at volume - and were noticeably tamer with them on. However, even that could have just been room reflections for all I know.

With everything else - well they just look better with them off.