Palmer ‘ORBIT 11’ @ Purité Audio

[kharan]

Don’t have any Gens here at the moment PJ, the Orbits have a lighter tonality compared to AsciLab, which I prefer but that could easily just be my personal taste. Gens/Kiis had a lighter balance compared to D&D8C, generally the weightier ( lower mids/upper bass ) balance was preferred but you soon be acclimatised to the Gens and of course you can just adjust their target to taste.
As has been stated the Orbit may not be the best or your particular favourite loudspeaker but they are remarkably good particularly when one considers the price.
Keith

Might need a comparison with the other cardioid you have, the one reserved for a customer.

Another thing, do you notice a balance change when you push the volume up? The multiband compressor should be activating, but I'm specifically curious about the volume at which is starts playing a role and how progressive it is.

 

[Pearljam5000]

I would be highly disappointed if you don’t end up with a pair of Genelec speakers, and I think you will never put it to rest if you go with something else.

I suppose you have a pretty good idea by now what Genelec model will suit your listening room size and intended listening distance, so just save up until you have the money needed for those, and don’t set for any second choice.

Gooo Genelec!!!

Thank you very much

 

[AM88]

Don’t have any Gens here at the moment PJ, the Orbits have a lighter tonality compared to AsciLab, which I prefer but that could easily just be my personal taste. Gens/Kiis had a lighter balance compared to D&D8C, generally the weightier ( lower mids/upper bass ) balance was preferred but you soon be acclimatised to the Gens and of course you can just adjust their target to taste.
As has been stated the Orbit may not be the best or your particular favourite loudspeaker but they are remarkably good particularly when one considers the price.

Is it the Orbit or the Ascilab’s tonality you prefer?

 

[Purité Audio]

The Orbit has a slightly lighter tonality, personally I prefer AsciLab, but it is only a preference.
You must hear these designs for yourself, ideally side by side in your own space.
Keith

 

[Purité Audio]

Comparing the Orbit to AsciLab this afternoon, unfortunately I do not have the resources of Harman and their ‘shuffler’.
I haven’t found a really ideal way to compare loudspeakers, whether you place them inside/outside interleave on top of one another.
Level matched with a steady tone and an SPL meter, you can see the Orbits are inside the C8Cs so a narrower image.
The main problem is probably me, because even when I compare unsighted I still instantly ‘know’ which I am listening to purely because of their positioning .
So take everything with a pinch of salt,
I still find the bass of the Orbits a bit ‘thuddy’ one note, and in relation to the other three speakers here there is proportionally too much but better that than too little. I have changed their position and used the inbuilt EQ to reduce the low bass.
I am fairly sure I prefer them firing straight ahead.
The image of the Orbits appears to be entirely contained with the speaker’s width, and the depth of image is also compressed compared to the C8Cs
Elements within the C8Cs image appear to have their own ‘space’ and I believe the AsciLabs design has greater resolution at least is more believable, piano sounds just more like a real piano, although no specific element is missing from the Orbits presentation.
Totally and in terms of timbre very little difference.
Moving further away from the Orbits i felt that I was looking at the image rather than being immersed within it. Genelec 8351B were very similar in this respect.
I would really value others opinions if you have the chance to compare the Orbit !! to other recognised deigns.
The Orbits are super speakers I don’t believe anyone would be disappointed with them particularly when one considers their price.
Keith …

 

[90sNintendoKid]

I reckon EQ and custom target curves for each speaker might help. Would you be willing for me to bring my UMIK1 when I demo the Orbits ?

 

[Audionaut]

The Orbits are super speakers I don’t believe anyone would be disappointed with them particularly when one considers their price.

I think that's the bottom line, Keith, and thank you for your impressions.
Very few people have the opportunity to compare them with other very good speakers at home, and I myself think it's remarkable enough that they don't completely pale in comparison to speakers that are several times more expensive.

 

[CB89]

@Purité Audio
I ordered the Orbit, they'll arrive next week. For comparison, I have the Neumann KH120a and KS-Digital D606. Price-wise, the Orbits are somewhere in between. I have measuring equipment and will equalize the Orbits exactly the same way as my other speakers. I'm curious to see how they perform.

 

[Purité Audio]

I reckon EQ and custom target curves for each speaker might help. Would you be willing for me to bring my UMIK1 when I demo the Orbits ?

I have microphones here, and will measure this week, the main culprit in this room ,in this orientation is at 40.1Hz none of the other speakers display that particular characteristic in those particular position which is unusual.
Measurements will reveal all.
Keith

 

[Purité Audio]

@Purité Audio
I ordered the Orbit, they'll arrive next week. For comparison, I have the Neumann KH120a and KS-Digital D606. Price-wise, the Orbits are somewhere in between. I have measuring equipment and will equalize the Orbits exactly the same way as my other speakers. I'm curious to see how they perform.

I will be interested to hear your thoughts.
Keith

 

[Pearljam5000]

Not sure that I'll like that "narrow image" thing
It's the second time I read something similar

 

[Matt_Holland]

Not sure that I'll like that "narrow image" thing
It's the second time I read something similar

@Purité Audio Keith, is this the case even when the Orbits are optimally placed and without other speakers placed next to them?

Based on your thoughts on the S6B, I can see Ascilab’s tower, cardioid and bass extender ‘S’ models being some of the very finest home/monitor speakers ever made.

 

[goat76]

Not sure that I'll like that "narrow image" thing
It's the second time I read something similar

Wasn't this called "Desperate Dealers Forum" before? It's completely possible that the image may be a bit on the narrow side in this part of the forum

Someone else mentioned that the Orbits have a large soundstage.

 

[Bwaslo]

With 120 degree radiation angle for most of the spectrum, the image ahould be wide.

 

[amirm]

Someone else mentioned that the Orbits have a large soundstage.

The "fun" of testing in stereo.....

 

[goat76]

The "fun" of testing in stereo.....

At least if you are positioning one pair of speakers on the inside of another pair of speakers, and then say they have a more narrow soundstage than the outer pair.

Optimizing the positioning of one pair of speakers at the time, and moving away the other pair of speakers far from the area is likely a better way to do it. And then take the time with long listening sessions, fine-tune the position, and when fully satisfied with that, write down a detailed description of what you hear. You don't have to do fast A/B swapping to know how the stereo characteristics are for each pair of loudspeakers.

If it's mainly the tonality you want to compare, then it can be a good idea to do a fast A/B test, and you don’t have to set up the stereo pair for that.

 

[amirm]

At least if you are positioning one pair of speakers on the inside of another pair of speakers, and then say they have a more narrow soundstage than the outer pair.

No. It means nothing. You have no idea of the interactions between those speakers, that setting and that room. The tester also has no precise way to quantify anything. This is especially true of the massive role music itself plays.

 

[amirm]

If it's mainly the tonality you want to compare, then it can be a good idea to do a fast A/B test, and you don’t have to set up the stereo pair for that.

Not just that. Spatial qualities of a single speaker is far easier to determine than any made up setting in stereo.

 

[Karmacoma]

They just started the production, they're not a well known brand on this segment, the price is very low, and we've already seen on ASR one user showing a poor positioning of the tweeter relatively to the medium, which a representative of the brand qualified as abnormal. It's not crazy to suppose there might sometimes be inconsistency in the QC therefore in the speaker matching, degrading the phantom imaging. Might be usefull to test a set of two speakers.

 

[Purité Audio]

I am comparing the single speaker option today, I believe it has merit.
Just to add I do swop inside to outside and interleave the speakers but I haven't discovered an ‘ideal’.
The listening to something for a long time then substituting I find to be the lest valid method.

Keith