Palmer ORBIT 11 Cardioid Coaxial 3-way studio monitor (MSRP 799€/899$)

[Mnyb]

Pro audio is such a wide topic , there are many different needs . I'm sure the pro people know their needs and this product fits right into some uses cases and other not so much ?

 

[Oboreal]

Yamaha wasn’t worried either when Behringer released the X32 in 2010, yet in 2026 the market leader is not the same anymore… And back then, Yamaha was far more dominant in the digital mixing console market than Neumann and Genelec are today in the studio monitor world. This is simply going to be one more competitor which if sound quality confirm and reliability is there, will definitely be able to take some market share from them, because they’re clearly targeting the same segment. Also Palmer Orbit is a perfect mid range product, but i don't think they will stop there if the Orbit is successfull.

 

[IngMishael]

There's a problem (maybe somehow) on Orbit 11 is that:
It can only provide 28Hz bass when you push it no higher than 84dB.
Anything beyond 84dB will cause it to lose low-end bass.
If you push it to 100dB (possibly not this high), the -3dB could be somewhere around 45Hz or 50Hz.

how is that a problem?

 

[Mort]

how is that a problem?

How is it not? It's a limitation. Some might want more.

 

[Tell]

For music mixing, 28 hz extension is already mainly overkill, the B of a 5 strings bass is 31 hz (and rarely played), and the A0 of a grand piano is 27.5 hz (and mostly never played). As i often say, for mixing : a clean bass extension to 40 hz (the E string of a 4 string bass) will be enough for 99 % of relevant work .

Electronic music can reach below 30Hz, and it does sound awesome when it does!

 

[90sNintendoKid]

There's a problem (maybe somehow) on Orbit 11 is that:
It can only provide 28Hz bass when you push it no higher than 84dB.
Anything beyond 84dB will cause it to lose low-end bass.
If you push it to 100dB (possibly not this high), the -3dB could be somewhere around 45Hz or 50Hz.

I don't see this as a problem either, in Dirac ART I can set the support level to 50hz which is good enough for me because I use 4 subwoofers and I suspect will work well with Orbits as Atmos speakers and localising bass.

I have a Minidsp DDRC88A and I can play about with setting a high pass filter at 50hz so Dirac doesn't try to push things too hard.

Plus, at the listening levels I do which is 75db for movies and music, this might be fine.

 

[90sNintendoKid]

I'd also say that the concept of full range speakers sounds good in practice but I still will use subwoofers optimised to minimise room nodes/nulls etc.

 

[Chr1]

I doubt they are very worried.

Reckon they may well be if Palmer expands their range with more high quality products. Especially if they eat into their market due to better value for money.

 

[Mort]

Reckon they may well be if Palmer expands their range with more high quality products. Especially if they eat into the market due to better value for money.

Gonna disagree, at least Genelec. They are highly differentiated and have entire environments and systems into which customers buy.

That's not to even bring up things like reputation, resale value and cache.

 

[Chr1]

Yes, but that's not the whole market.

Palmer seems to be aiming at a large majority who either don't need, or can't afford the whole Genelec ecosystem.

 

[Mort]

Yes, but that's not the whole market.

Then they aren't worried about it.

 

[Chr1]

You seem very sure. Why?

 

[Mort]

Reckon they may well be

I'm responding to your assertion. Are you not held to the same standard?

 

[Ratterbass]

We should rename this website to AudioScienceSpeculation.

 

[Chr1]

I'm responding to your assertion. Are you not held to the same standard?

I did not assert anything. I said that they might well be concerned. You seem to be insisting that you know otherwise. I am asking how you are so sure.

 

[Mort]

I did not assert anything. I said that they might well be concerned. You seem to be insisting that you know otherwise. I am asking how you are so sure.

I'm gonna let this go. You are equivocating.

 

[Mort]

Splendid!

good talk

 

[Chr1]

So, either you work for Genelec and know something the rest of us don't, or you are just insisting that you know they won't be worried, purely out of arrogance.

Anyway, given both companies sell studio monitors aimed at both the home studio and hifi markets, I would suggest that Genelec may well be concerned if Palmer starts eating into a significant part of their market share.
Given the apparent quality and value of the product being discussed here, this is a distinct possibility.

Obviously the big pro studio market is different. Big studios have big budgets. But this product is not really aimed at this market. My 2c.

 

[Oboreal]

Agree. After a quick look on Thomann, the 80XX and 83XX series are by far the brand’s best‑selling models. Based on customer reviews, I’d estimate they represent roughly 90% of sales.

The One series is gaining traction, but judging from customer feedback it still remains fairly niche — maybe around 9% of Genelec's total sales, with the remaining 1% being the larger main monitors.

If you’re looking for a compact monitor with solid directivity, strong dynamics, and you don’t mind a very industrial design — with only one smaller sibling and one larger model — Palmer can genuinely compete with about 99% of what Genelec sells the most.

So yes, Genelec still has a very strong position, tons of impressive technology, and especially GLM. I don’t think they have any reason to worry about their future because they surely can provide a strong answer. But yet, on paper, this Palmer speaker offers specs close to the 8061 (down to 30 hz, 118 dB spl max, similar dispersion, just probably worse distorsion) at the price of a 8330 (45 Hz at –6 dB, 110 dB max SPL).

So if I were Genelec, I wouldn’t be losing sleep over it, knowing I still have unique advantages (multichannel ecosystem, GLM, reputation, etc.). But I also wouldn’t get too comfortable or rest on my laurels.

 

[Breeze98]

Good points and it seems like you are less bothered about the potential bass issues you posted about previously?

The issue isn’t the speaker itself. It’s simply that achieving a room with a clean, flat time‑domain response all the way down to 26 Hz is extremely difficult. That’s the paradox: you get an amazingly affordable full‑range monitor, but it ends up requiring a room that almost none of the people buying it will actually be able to have.

And of course the speaker’s low‑frequency extension affects how it excites room modes. Pretending otherwise is unrealistic. Of course, all full‑range loudspeakers will run into this issue. The difference is that they’re usually very expensive and therefore mostly used in professional setups with proper treatment, not in bedroom studios. That’s exactly why the Palmer Orbit 11 may create challenges that are far less common in typical home environments.

Applying a high‑pass filter is not consequence‑free either—especially if you do it with a FIR high pass filter, because you’re adding significant latency just to remove bass you don’t need.