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Has anybody had experience with the Orions?

Surfing through the net, I found this site of Siegfried Linkwitz (Linkwitz Lab). Yes he is the same Linkwitz famous for the Linkwitz-Riley crossover formulas. I was wondering if anyone has listened, or better yet, owns these speakers, which are Sigfried's best design to date. They appear to embody fascinating concepts in acoustical science. To name a few, dipole radiation, excellent sub-bass response within an open box, and a very slender and elegant cabinet. According to some, they are the closest thing to live music available, regardless of price. I'd appreciate any comments or observations. Thank you.
jmaldonado
mcteague
24 posts
 
Fishboat,

The Orions definitely do not sound big all the time. I listen to a fair amount of solo guitar and lots of string quartets and the aural perspective is always size appropriate. I hated the way full size panel speakers made a guitar sound like it was six feet long. Now, extremely live rooms may mess things up as will placement too close to the back wall.

Tim McTeague
cardani
160 posts
 
Fishboat:
"One criticism I've heard is that they (any dipole type) sound "big" all the time.."
Gradients are dipole only below 200 hz and i assume Orions are some where around that, being that you get the advantage of less standing waves than with any other boxed speaker (omnidirectional radiation bass enclosure).
gregm
3,395 posts
 
Gradients are dipole only below 200 hz and i assume Orions are some where around that
No. The Orions are open baffle from ~2,4kHz to ~40Hz. Now they have a back firing tweet too (the tweet used has its own back chamber).
cardani
160 posts
 
"No. The Orions are open baffle from ~2,4kHz to ~40Hz. Now they have a back firing tweet too (the tweet used has its own back chamber)."
Upssss!...sorry,thanks for the correction.
drew_eckhardt
394 posts
 
Sure. I built a pair over 3 years ago, have had them setup in a pair of rooms, and listened to another pair of Orions elsewhere.

They're as close as you can get to live music with two speakers provided that you can live with the placement constraints (> 4' to the front wall or half the distance to the listener), output limitations through 50Hz (while flat-in room to 30Hz, home theater action movie bass will bottom the woofers if the amps don't clip first. Organ music may also call for sub-woofers (Thor) crossed in at 40-50Hz), and don't have anything too odd going on acoustically with your listening room.
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