Review: Orb Audio Mod2 Speakers

[Audioholics]

<A href="http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/loudspeakers/OrbAudioMod2p1.php"><IMG style="WIDTH: 125px; HEIGHT: 85px" alt=[OrbAudioMod2] hspace=10 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/thumbs/OrbAudioMod2_th.jpg" align=left border=0></A>Not all of us have the luxury or the ability to spend thousands of dollars on high priced, high performing, extremely accurate but outrageously ugly speaker systems. And those of us that have that ability may often have to deal with a "significant other" whose love of feng shui may be as strong as our love for tight, accurate, and heart stopping bass. Enter Orb Audio. Sold online though their website only, Orbs are offered in a variety of packages: Single Orbs (Mod 1), double Orbs (Mod 2), or any combination you want including mixing and matching the four available finishes. Read on for more...

[Read the Review]

 

[gymphboi]

Of course the real question is how they compare to the Gallo Micros and A'Divas?

I've got the A'Divas myself. I had the Micros, but given the LFE crossover settings on my receiver, I needed the bigger Gallos. My Panny SA-XR45 has 100, 150 and 200 settings. The Micros didn't quite work at 100 and 150 was to high. The A'Divas work great at 100.

I know the Gallo sub is a little bigger. I believe it is a 10" driver. From the review it didn't seem like the reviewer was thrilled with the build quality of the sub. The Gallo one is build like a tank. It is far heavier than it looks and is quite impressive given its size.

-Tony

 

[Takeereasy]

Hey Clint, by my math the figures don't add up. It's almost like the scores are subjective or something . Nice review Tom (I hope I got this reviewer right). I have to agree with the spouse though, the copper is the best looking colour option IMO. I'm never going to be a fan of the tiny, tiny, speaker movement, but at least I really like the way these ones look.

 

[jaxvon]

DID YOU JUST COMPLIMENT NOMAS?!

What is this world coming to...?

Agreed though, nice review. Too bad you don't have any in house measurement stuff. I'm surprised they can get decent imaging from those speakers, must be some good engineering.

 

[Tom Andry]

I have to agree with the spouse though, the copper is the best looking colour option IMO. I'm never going to be a fan of the tiny, tiny, speaker movement, but at least I really like the way these ones look.

In the pics the Copper definitely come out better but, in person, close up, I liked the steel. Though I'm wrong. I must be. My wife told me so.

 

[Tom Andry]

DID YOU JUST COMPLIMENT NOMAS?!

What is this world coming to...?

You just got a chicklet (I forgot to sign it)

 

[Takeereasy]

Even Nomas deserves a compliment once in a while Jaxvon,
Still a nice review nomas. Seems like a quality product. I can't believe you didn't know that you were wrong without being told. At least it's not your fault. It's a biological fact that the male gender is born with the predispostion to be incorrect in all manners relating to everything and anything when brought to task by a female.

 

[pinnace0]

I bought a set of ORB speakers as part of my first Home Theater project. I wanted the best possible sound, but I did not have a lot of physical space. The ORBs represented the best tradeoff between Quality\Space\Cost.

I was particularly encouraged; the reviewer’s conclusion of target market matched my decision criteria perfectly

A newbie to home theater, I will not pretend to have a “seasoned” ear. I will say the company “Orb audio” is an absolute pleasure to do business with. They patiently and competently fielded my newbie questions concerning speaker placement, receivers, wire, etc.

In the end, the performance of the Orb, the small size of the speaker, the fashion of the design, and the quality of the customer service proved to be an irresistible combination.

 

[Privateer]

Agree or not they are a bose killing setup.

 

[Sheep]

a post on topic

The driver in the subwoofer looks like the 8inch driver in my logitech Z2200 computer speakers. Just missing the "Logitech" in the middle.


sheep

 

[Audioholics]

In case anyone is wondering, I split off the hijacked thread. Keep this one focused on Orb Audio...

 

[Sheep]

nice touch

class act clint,

Actually there are more similarities between this system and the logitech Z5500's. The subwoofer driver looks the same, and they both use 3inch full range sat's.

Heh, Thats so weird.


sheep

 

[Buckle-meister]

In case anyone is wondering, I split off the hijacked thread. Keep this one focused on Orb Audio...

I hope you do not think my following comments are unrelated, but here goes...

...I kept expecting to hear [the sub] bottom out or break up, but it didn't, at least not until I put on the tap scene from Finding Nemo. At that point the sub pretty much went nuts (in a "put on a Captain Kirk mask and work coveralls" and not an "Uncle Charlie that grows tomatoes in the bathtub" kind of way) and made sounds that God never intended a sub make (it bottomed out).

I thought this was really funny. I know just what the reviewer meant; the first time I heard that bit of the film I thought "holy crap!!!" I can easily understand why the Orb sub had problems.

Regards

 

[azcoyote]

I just listened to these at my buddies house. His were setup with two orbs per station in 6.1 surround mode using a new Yamaha receiver (model unknown, price around $1000 so guessing 2500 or similar since it had YPAO). I have to say the orbs sounded wonderful. Presence was there, soundstage was wide and open. My only complaint, and something I am trying to figure out how to explain to my buddie (he is new to HT), is that the sub-woofer is not that great for high volume. On several DVDs he played for me, the sub was bottoming out and going into a death rattle. I subtly commented on the sound asking if that was part of the soundtrack or the sub was working a little too hard. Of course, the answer was "Oh, no. That is part of the soundtrack". <sigh> I figure the best way to show him the issue is to go ahead and buy the Axiom EP500 sub and play the same materials. I think that would make my point nicely... 8)

Cheers,
Wiley

 

[Buckle-meister]

...something I am trying to figure out how to explain to my buddie (he is new to HT), is that the sub-woofer is not that great for high volume. On several DVDs he played for me, the sub was bottoming out and going into a death rattle. I subtly commented on the sound asking if that was part of the soundtrack or the sub was working a little too hard. Of course, the answer was "Oh, no. That is part of the soundtrack". <sigh> I figure the best way to show him the issue is to go ahead and buy the Axiom EP500 sub and play the same materials. I think that would make my point nicely... 8)

Again, funny. It's a lucky thing subs cannot talk; his would be screaming!

Poor, poor sub.

Regards

 

[whatnot]

The Orbs have great sound for both music and movies, which I think is pretty rare for small speakers. That's my favorite thing about them. They have that big, rich sound I crave.

 

[Buckle-meister]

The Orbs have great sound for both music and movies, which I think is pretty rare for small speakers. That's my favorite thing about them. They have that big, rich sound I crave.

The epitome of a great small speaker; one that delivers a big, rich sound. You could not ask for more. Enjoy.

Regards

 

[azcoyote]

One thing I have to agree on. The sound of the system was balanced and very spacial. The orbs looked beautiful too and matched his room nicely. All and all a totally impressive setup. But when it came time to have the giant robots stomp across the screen on "Skycaptain and The World of Tomorrow", the sub was hating life. In his room (vaulted ceiling, open great room) that sub is just not sufficient to keep up with the Orbs. I think the Orbs with a good quality 12" sub (insert your choice here) would be fabulous...

 

[georgep]

I have an Anthony Gallo setup with their 10" MPS-150 sub. I am a newbie on technical issues, and in reading the orb audio review on the Orb sub I don't know exactly what a sub bottoming out would sound like. Regarding the Darla tap scene in Finding Nemo, I have played it as high as -12db on my Denon 3805 with earth shaking results. So how do you tell when a speaker has bottomed out?

By the way, the founder of Orb Audio was a past business associate with Anthony Gallo and was apparently a joint holder of some but not all of Gallo's speaker patents.

George

 

[rlr267]

Gallo v. Orb

I don't know the exact relationship, but I did get this from a Gallo dealer. He told me that the guy who owns Orb was Gallo's partner and marketing director. The two had a falling out and there are similarities in the speakers, but Gallo kept many patents that Orb can't use. Ergo, they look alike and share some architectural DNA, but the difference supposedly ends there.

That all said, remember, I did get it from a "Gallo Dealer" who wants to sell his product.

What I want to know is; has anyone ever performed a head to head to see how these speaker stack up against one another? I am a newbie, just got my first AV reciever (A Yamaha RX-v757) and I am leaning towards the Gallo for one reason, they may be more expensive, but I did get to audition them and they sounded great.

I don't want to spend more money to find out the Orb is as good or better, so if anyone has auditioned both, I am all ears. No pun intended.