[lowtech]

Hmmn, as the mod of this circle...

What exactly is the role of a "volunteer" here at AC?  My question was directed to "MaxCast", who apparently admonished me.  My question regarding his pointed statement remains unanswered.  Perhaps you can enlighted me since he apparently doesn't wish to clarify.

[MaxCast]

pm sent to lowtech

[ronpod]

I have recently added The Buffalo II, IVY III, and Twisted Pear Volumite to the Orion 3.2. The Volumite allows digital volume control, and with the 32bit resolution of the BII, little distortion is detectable. This allows directly feeding the Orion ASP with the DAC eliminating lots of circuitry. High res FLAC (96k) feeding an ethernet connected Squeezebox Touch precede the Buffalo II DAC. The BII has significantly raised the performance of the Touch which was very good to begin with. This digital system path rivals the tube-vinyl path in the level of musical engagement. I do love the vinyl-tube "sound" and will be further refining that path whilst enjoying the convinence of having a musical library, streaming internet radio, favorites, etc. at my fingertips. I am looking forward to RMAF 2010 to hear many other excellent systems and feed the neurosis.

[Nyal Mellor]

I have to say the that 3rd revision of Orion 3 (3.3) is WAY WAY better than the second. I was getting very worried that Linkwitz had really screwed up the speakers. I find it amazing that a very small change in the EQ shelving filter had such a big effect on the sound.

[coolbiz]

I have to say the that 3rd revision of Orion 3 (3.3) is WAY WAY better than the second. I was getting very worried that Linkwitz had really screwed up the speakers. I find it amazing that a very small change in the EQ shelving filter had such a big effect on the sound.

You're kidding, right?   Orion 3.2 is the latest revision and it seems stable now. Next upgrade will probably involve changing the bass section, as those Peerless XLS drivers are rumoured to be going out of production.

I cannot report on the sound of 3.2 as of now. While I have acquired the necessary parts to upgrade my Orion+ to rev 3.2, I haven't gotten around to doing the mod yet.

[coolbiz]

Well, no sooner than I had written that, 3.2.1 was out.   

[BPoletti]

With the latest updates, just how good is the Orion?  How does the Orion compare to commercially available speakers? 

I'm not necessarily asking these questions to stimulate discussion as much as to help me decide whether I want to invest the time, energy and not insignificant $$ to build a pair.   

I've reviewed some of the documentation SL has published on his web site and followed the development of the Orions since their introduction. 

Regarding the tweeter bloom, has anyone tried to install some felt around the tweeter to limit the baffle interaction?

[ltr317]

With the latest updates, just how good is the Orion?  How does the Orion compare to commercially available speakers? 

I'm not necessarily asking these questions to stimulate discussion as much as to help me decide whether I want to invest the time, energy and not insignificant $$ to build a pair.   

I've reviewed some of the documentation SL has published on his web site and followed the development of the Orions since their introduction. 

Regarding the tweeter bloom, has anyone tried to install some felt around the tweeter to limit the baffle interaction?

Hi.  The Linkwitz/Orion room was my pick as the best sounding room at the Rocky Mountain show this year.  While their setup sounded very good last year at RM, the sound was better this year because the system sounded more like real music than any room I visited, as opposed to processed sound.  I visited the room several times in the course of the 3 day show, and the system produced an organic sound, with a natural tonal balance and smooth details, regardless of the music playing.   

[ronpod]

I agree with ltr317. I, too, sat with my eyes closed in front of the Orions at RMAF. Eyes closed I was convinced I was sitting in a concert hall listening to a symphony orchestra. These were the only speakers at RMAF that provided this illusion convincingly. All the other rooms had some feature that reminded me that I was listening to speakers; some added excitement to the recording. The excitement usually was due to uneven frequency presentation (slightly increased highs or lows) or other highlighted aspects. These additions can be fun but distracting.

The Orions were designed with the specific goal of working with room reflections to present the illusion of live music. Hence the Orion room did not have any room treatments that I could see which was very unusual for its level of performance.


Note that I am biased; I have recently built a pair of Orions and I am relieved that there was little sonic difference between the Orions at RMAF and mine at home. These may be my last speaker purchase for my primary system.

[jmanalo]

Do you guys notice what Source and DAC used with the Orions at RMAF?

Joe

[ronpod]

Siegfried Linkwitz recently presented "What Are the On-axis and Off-axis Frequency Response Requirements for Stereo Loudspeakers?" at the Burning Amp Festival held at Fort Mason, San Francisco. The following link provides the slide presentation and the audio of the talk.

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/What_is_new_at_linkwitzlab.htm

This presentation covers the progression of changes that led to the version updates for the Orion. The psycho-acoustics involved in selecting the high frequency selving filter is discussed. While the various changes to the active crossover circuitry may be irritating to audiophiles that want a final solution without fuss; for those audiophiles that enjoy diy and the knowledge of why a non-flat frequency response may bring a realistic audio scene, the stepped changes provide training in how to "tune" a speaker system in a methodical way.

Joe - I believe that a Marantz CDP served as a source for the Orion at RMAF. Images can be found here:
http://live.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/ces.pl?&MT_414&RoomView&MT&st61&&&&&RMF10
Somewhat modest compared to the rest of the vendors at RMAF (modest but competent similar to the room acoustic treatments).

[Bruce Schlein]

I have the Orion 3.2 and the upgrade to 3.2 was well worth the effort. The soundstage is more open, instruments more dimensional and the music more realistic harmonically. I do wish I had been able to attend the RMAF.

[whubbard]

I have the Orion+ and have been greatly enjoying them for years, but I might just have to give this revision a shot. Only problem is my ASP is already heavily modified so the replacement parts won't be as cheap.



-West

[sfdoddsy]

True regarding ease of changes, but you'd have to live with degraded sound quality.  (The few who have actually gone down the digital XO route with their Orions have not been pleased with the results.)

P.S. It's probably best to dig out the soldering iron if you really want to hear the change that SL has made to the design.

I'll have to beg to differ. I've been enjoying speakers based on the Orions but using a digital crossover for many years now. One of the reasons I chose the digital crossover was to get flexibility in EQ.

The latest Orion revision is a case in point.

I've been using a very similar HF roll-off to what SL now recommends almost from the time I built my speakers. I arrived at this through the experimentation a digital XO allows.

Interestingly, the Audyssey system in my prepro (when left to its own devices) also creates a very similar roll-off.

To me, these readily apparent frequency response changes, and the ability to customize them for my own room, more than outweigh the possibly illusory benefits of the all analog signal path.

It should be said that I am a believer in digital room EQ and have been for even longer than I've ownded my Orionesque speakers.

I'm also all in favor of the latest Orion 4 revision. To me the Peerless drivers were always the weak link of the Orion. The new Seas bass drivers should ameliorate the Orions biggest weakness - the inability of the bass section to match the dynamics for the mids and above.

[Davey]

Steve,

Don't get confused about the HF roll-off of Revision 3.  There's also concurrent changes in the tweeter portion of the ASP which restore almost all of the roll-off created by that shelving filter.  (It's an integrated update with many parts besides just the -3.2db shelving filter.)  His web-page description makes this update a little confusing in that regard since there is other update information available only to Orion owners.
You're not the only one confused by it.  "Gainphile" started a whole thread over on DIYaudio.com without a clue what he was talking about. 

Cheers,

Dave.

[ryanred]

I have the Orion+ and have been greatly enjoying them for years, but I might just have to give this revision a shot. Only problem is my ASP is already heavily modified so the replacement parts won't be as cheap.



-West

What sort of mods did you do to the ASP?

[sfdoddsy]

Hey Dave,

I'll have to agree that SLs explanation and the circuit changes are somewhat obtuse for us math and logic challenged types.

However, his overall finding that flatter measuring speakers do not necessarily sound more correct in a real-world room matches what I've been feeling somewhat guilty about doing for a while.

I'm sure my solution isn't as elegant as SLs, but it works better than not using it. Juzt in case I wasn't clear, I use audyssey's 'normal' setting to supply the roll-off. That way it is one click process to go back. My speakers, at least in my old room, are close enough to Audyssey's desired curve that it does very little else to the sound apart from trying to boost really low bass.

Cheers
Steve

Btw, what are you using now. Phoenixes and Pluto from stalking your posts, or something more exotic?