Hi,

Does anyone have any experience using either the 990/7075 or 7125 or the 1070 with Orb Audio's MOD2's? Here are some specs (Impedance: 4 ohms nominal, but compatible with receivers & amps rated at 6-8 ohms; Can handle 15 - 110 watts RMS)

I have to keep my system small for the room where I'm setting it up, which is why I'm leaning towards a satellite system. For now, I will just use it as a 2 channel system, but will eventually expand to HT. Many have recommended separates (especially for stereo systems) overall to me.

Also, can anyone recommend a similar speaker system. My wife's only stipulation is that the room is not overcome by boxy speakers....besides that she doesn't care what I get (doesn't limit me too much, right?!)

Thanks.

Doug917\'s shootout would tend to steer me toward the 990 (if I hadn't gone that way to begin with), and with the speakers you are considering the 7075 would probably be a good fit (115W per channel at 4 ohms). Of course, stepping up to the 7125 could give you more flexibility in speaker upgrades down the road while still posing no problem with the Orbs.

There are a number of good speaker brands out there there don't take up too much space, but there are not many speakers with a cabinet style and footprint as small as the Orbs. Macharya here in the forum uses Orbs with a Model 950 and Model 7100 and seems pleased with them . There's a thread from around the time macharya picked up his Orbs that may be worth reviewing - the Orbs do deserve some special consideration when setting up the bass management.

Online alternatives to the Orbs that might be worth some consideration would include Hsu's Ventriloquist , SV Sound's SBS system , a few different options from AV123 (either the Onix Rocket or the X-series), Axiom Audio , and probably a couple more I'm forgetting about that offer bookshelf speakers. The Ventriloquist in particular is pretty easy to blend into a space. A number of other manufacturers that sell through standard channels offer good bookshelf speakers that might be an option, if bookshelves aren't going to exceed your limits.

Gonk,

Thanks for the feedback. I'm leaning towards the 990 (not sure about the 7075 or the 7125 yet). I read the review you linked, which swayed me even more towards the 990. For now I'll be using it as a 2 channel system.

Also from what I've read, it looks like the setup isn't too difficult for the 990. The only issue that I won't be hooking it up to a TV for now, but in order to perform the initial setup, I guess I need to hook it to a TV, right? Would I need continue to hook up the 990 to a TV to tweak the settings going forward or would I be able to do with the 990 itself?


Can you also recommend good interconnects and speaker wire?

Thanks again.

You would need a TV for getting access to the menus initially and for tweaking settings later, but for general operation (toggling between inputs and such) it wouldn't be necessary - I very rarely go into the menus.

I purchased some speakerwire and interconnects from http://www.BlueJeansCable.com to go with my 990.

The speaker cable is pretty heavy duty stuff. 10 gauge twisted pair (although they sell 12 gauge twisted pair as well, or Canares quad if you want to go more expensive) and pretty inexpensive at $.61 per foot untermintated. Plus their banana plugs are of good quality and also inexpensive at $3.50 per pair and come with colored heatshrink tubing so you can make them look all nice and pretty.

Anyhow, will have to let you know how they sound, but they should do pretty good. And their RCA interconnects are pretty good too. They use Canares RCA connectors which are uber solid and connect really nicely and not too tight, pretty much professional grade stuff.

They have different cable types to choose from and each cable is custom made to your desired length.

Not as cheap as Acoustic Research stuff you can get at Best Buy, but not as expensive as most of the Monster stuff either and they have better connectors.

If you are more into higher end stuff/more expensive stuff, Outlaw sells cables and I've heard that bettercables.com sells good stuff.

I've used Blue Jeans, Outlaw, and BetterCables. In my opinion, BetterCables have gotten overpriced, but Blue Jeans and Outlaw both offer some good value for the quality of cable provided (the PDO remains my optical cable of choice at only $20 for a 1.8 meter length).

Yeah, I got the Outlaw PDO as Bluejeans doesn't make optical cables.

Oddly enough, while my 990 comes in today the PDO doesn't arrive until tomorrow.

Thanks guys for the info. The only thing with the Orbs is that they take up to 14 gauge wire. Other than that I'll check out Blue Jeans and Outlaw cables.

Any recommendations on a good DVD/CD changer (with DVD-A &/or SACD)? I can live without SACD. Some models I've looked into are Integra DPC-8.5 6 disc changer and Yamaha C950. I don;t want to give up quality, but want the convenience of a changer.

Ahh...bare wire only eh?

I'm sure you can find some good quality 14 gauge speaker wire.

I think Monster's Navajo White is 14 gauge and low profile. Probably find it at Radio Shack.

I know I've seen 14 gauge stuff on some of the online shops, but can't remember the addresses.

Perhaps Gonk or others can point you in the right direction.

And while you could go with a thicker cable and use like Monster pin connectors, I find that the pins put a lot of stress onto the speaker's connectors. Probably not recommended.

Here's some bulk 14 gauge wire at Cablestogo:

http://tinyurl.com/z5k8t

You probably don't need 250ft of it, but price is decent for the spool.