Palmer Orbit 11 Monitor Review (Video)

[dtaylo1066]

What would be the recommended and best lowest cost option to go from digital coax output to AES/EBU, as not many DACs have an EAS/EBU output. I guess a DAC with blanced out would help, but I have WiiM Ultra currently and no desire to change that.

 

[AudioJester]

What would be the recommended and best lowest cost option to go from digital coax output to AES/EBU, as not many DACs have an EAS/EBU output. I guess a DAC with blanced out would help, but I have WiiM Ultra currently and no desire to change that.

You can try a spdif/rca to aes/xlr cable. This works in some situations. Alternatively there are small transformer boxes that will do the job.

 

[dfuller]

To me the two deal killers are the uneven horizontal directivity and the volume limitations even with a sub. Given all the progress that's been made with speaker directivity over the last five years, I see no excuse for any speaker, let alone a monitor whose major selling point is the uniform directivity a cardioid response provides, to exhibit anything less than exemplary directivity down to at least 1 khz. Coming from the superb directivity of the LS 50 Metas, that's simply unacceptable.

And then there's the issue of being able to play loud enough. Speakers with two 8" woofers, and a 6.5" midrange should be able to play down to 100 hz at 105 db with acceptably low levels of distortion (like below 1-2 percent) without triggering limiters especially if low passed with below 100 hz to a sub (s). In short, you should be able to "pot it up, pot it high" once in a while when you're spending nearly $3-4k on your speakers and subs. I don't think that's possible with the Palmer Orbit 11s.

Unfortunate because there are probably some not very expensive design modifications which would allow this framework to achieve those improvements.

To be clear the design modifications required are (more or less) more cabinet volume. The KH310 is ~16L net internal volume and while by no means an SPL monster it's achieving more SPL with less amp and less driver surface area. The Orbit 11's bass enclosure internally is probably 8-10L net.

 

[h2opt]

Thanks @amirm , I see you have the kh120 ii, what would you recommend for an all around studio work monitor production/mix/master.. I am new to speaker measurements and would appreciate some guidance. I plan to buy also good headphones to monitor the sub bass HiFiMan Ananda Nano with Topping DX-5.
I love the bass extension on Orbit 11 but I feel like the kh120ii will give me a better result in the studio.

 

[amirm]

Thanks @amirm , I see you have the kh120 ii, what would you recommend for an all around studio work monitor production/mix/master..

My pleasure. The one I have is the 80DSP. The KH120 ii is one of the most perfect and accurate monitors I have tested. I recommend it without hesitation.

 

[dfuller]

Thanks @amirm , I see you have the kh120 ii, what would you recommend for an all around studio work monitor production/mix/master.. I am new to speaker measurements and would appreciate some guidance. I plan to buy also good headphones to monitor the sub bass HiFiMan Ananda Nano with Topping DX-5.
I love the bass extension on Orbit 11 but I feel like the kh120ii will give me a better result in the studio.

The Neumanns are excellent for this; I've used a few sets of the the years. The KH120 II does not extend as low as the Orbits, but it also plays much cleaner at typical nearfield levels.

 

[Oink-Oinko]

The Neumanns are excellent for this; I've used a few sets of the the years. The KH120 II does not extend as low as the Orbits, but it also plays much cleaner at typical nearfield levels.

The issue usually with mixing is the low mids, would there be a difference between these two in that regard, given you cannot raise the volume much on the orbital regardless?

 

[Bwaslo]

The issue usually with mixing is the low mids, would there be a difference between these two in that regard, given you cannot raise the volume much on the orbital regardless?

Look at the 96dB distortion curves, compare to F6B. You can raise volume, just not at very low frequencies (for either speaker).

 

[daniboun]

Updated into Spinorama )

Measurements for speaker Palmer Orbit 11

www.spinorama.org

 

[svosprey]

Yes, I am finally back, producing youtube video! This time with a video review of the recently tested Plamer Orbit 11 professional monitor:

Video, like all of my others is NOT monetized. So enjoy it without ads or interruptions. If you do like it though, please subscribe to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AudioScienceReview

Nothing new in there if you have read the review but hopefully some nuances that were not there in the text review.

We need to have infants with new ears do these reviews. When we can afford high end audio our ears are already used up. We are chasing the unobtainable and spending lot of money in the process.

 

[amirm]

That's true for higher frequencies. Fortunately, bulk of what matters is below 5 to 6 kHz so we are good until we are buried.

 

[Bwaslo]

That's true for higher frequencies. Fortunately, bulk of what matters is below 5 to 6 kHz so we are good until we are buried.

And speakers are EQable. Kick the very high highs up some dBs to compensate for elderly ears. If you're fortunate enough to have the same response characteristic in both ears, that is. And if you don't mind maybe annoying younger guests.

 

[svosprey]

And speakers are EQable. Kick the very high highs up some dBs to compensate for elderly ears. If you're fortunate enough to have the same response characteristic in both ears, that is. And if you don't mind maybe annoying younger guests.

Unfortunately the USAF gave me a permanent high frequency squeal that I cannot change. Maybe some $4000 dollar cables would help.

 

[Adis]

We need to have infants with new ears do these reviews. When we can afford high end audio our ears are already used up. We are chasing the unobtainable and spending lot of money in the process.

Yeah...laymen know best.