People have long looked at the boxy-looking sound-makers in the corner of their living room, generally next to some CD eating machine, and wondered: “Why are these things so ugly?”
Well, it seems the answer is to make them into little balls of fun, which is just what Orb Audio and a number of others are doing.
The only problem is these sets often cost a heck of a lot (probably something to do with making things spherical, or just because they look ‘arty’ manufacturers think they can get away with it.
For instance, Cabasse Eole luxury spherical speakers cost around £1500, Antony Gallo’s Nucleus Ti cost around £110 per unit, and Acoustic Systems’ Sound e-Motion M100-20 loudspeakers cost around £2700 per pair.
Great sounding balls
The Orbs don’t necessarily buck that trend, but still, the company at least allows you to tailor the package to your pocket.
In a method that makes you feel like you are involved in some kind of role-playing game, you start with the Mod1 set of home cinema speakers for around £300, which isn’t bad for a higher-end surround sound set.
You can extend it up to £800 for the full kit, which comes with magic things like wire and a Yamaha receiver to power the whole thing, which is still alright in home cinema terms.
The website advertises the speakers as housing: “high-power neodymium magnets, advanced high excursion speaker drivers and gold-plated binding posts, as well as state of the art BASH hybrid digital amplifiers in all of our subwoofers. The result is great sounding speakers and robust compact subwoofers that produce output on par with much larger models.”
Available now, though you’ll have to order from the US.
