Two of the best budget 5.0 satellite systems go head-to-head. I had both these systems and decided to give them a direct comparison. An Emotiva DMR-1, Oppo DV-980, and HSU STF-2 were used during this assessment and Monoprice cables all around. Lets get to it.
Packaging: Both systems come well-packed. The Orbs have a slight edge here. The Nanosats had foam on the bottom and on the top whereas the Orbs were completely surround by foam. Both would survive a typical shipping assault. The Orbs come packaged with desktop stands and the Nanosats come with mounting brackets already attached to the speakers.
Cost: The Nanosats run about $549 and the equivalent Orbs about $529. I have seen the 5.1 Mirage system for $599 which includes an 8" subwoofer.
Service: This I have to give to the Orbs as service is key to the survival of any internet-direct seller. The folks at Best Buy weren't anywhere near as pleasant or knowledgeable as the folks at Orb. No big surprise here.
Warranty: Both come with 5-year warranties. The products are new so I obviously didn't have any warranty work done so no comment how their processes compare. I would expect the Orbs to come out ahead for the same reason I mention above in Service.
Build Quality: The Nanosats are brushed aluminum and Orbs steel. The Nanosats are quite a bit heavier and are 2-way. The Orbs use a single 3" driver for all frequencies. Both are well-built and I didn't detect any flaws on either set. The Nanosats are built in China and the Orbs in the US.
Looks: Both sets of speakers are small with the Orbs being a little smaller overall. I'll sum it up this way: the Nanosats are pretty, but the Orbs are just plain cool.
Sound: Crossover was set to 120hz for both sets of speakers. The Orbs sounded more articulate and precise. This surprised me as I had expected the Nanosats using a 2-way design to present more detail, but this wasn't the case. The Nanosats throw a larger soundstage than the Orbs as expected due to the Omni nature of the speakers; however, in doing so, they give up some imaging. That's not to say the Nanosats don't image well because they do, but not as precisely as the Orbs.
I also found the Orbs a bit brighter than the Nanosats. This came up before when I compared Orbs to other 2-way speakers and reached the same conclusion. I can't say I felt the Orbs were missing anything on top in comparison with the Nanosats.
I didn't notice any real difference in dynamics. No real surprise given we're dealing with small drivers.
Both systems could crank and neither showed distress at loud levels. Certainly plenty for most purposes.
Overall, I'd say the Orbs sound a little more crisp whereas the Nanosats have a little bit more warmth. They both throw surprisingly big sound considering the size of the speakers. And both didn't seem to present a difficult load in anyway. Bottom line, if you like a large soundstage and are willing to give up some detail and imaging for it, go with the Nanosats; if you prefer a little more precision, detail, and great service, go with the Orbs.
