Having not read what the others have already stated, (sorry but I do not have the time), I will flat out state that the Orions, even driven by the ATI amps and entry level electronics, are among the best speakers in the world today. I was lucky enough to audition them in Sigfried's house and hear the magic first hand. I have worked within the high-end industry for the past 6 years, attended several CES shows, and heard several outstanding systems, including my own which retails for way to much money. Without a doubt, Sigfried's modest setup, in terms of ultra performance systems, is among the best of the best despite price. Active speakers require several channels of amplification, cables, etc, but is truly the best way to achieve realistic sound.
"Polyamping" A Look to the Future or Fancy Fad?
In a recent quest for information regarding DIY speaker designs, I was referred to the Linkwitz Orion Project. These speakers employ active crossovers and it is suggested to give each driver its own, separate amplification (actually one for each woofer and one for the tweet/mid - three per speaker). Linkwitz recommends the ATI AT6012, a twelve channel, six zone amp (60W/ch). I am not sure about the merits of the ATI amp but, regardless of amp, does anyone think this will be a "growing" design. I mean I have heard the benefits of biamping and have heard tell of triamping but, in this case, "sextamping"? Octamping would seem to be next. All accounts say that the Orions sound fabulous. Perhaps I am just behind the curve. What so you learned folks think of this direction in audio?