Does anyone have any thoughts on ORB?

Mikey081057

I am looking for a pair of speakers for my desk... I have read much good about orb, and can get a set CHEAP... At my desk I like to listen to Spotify thru my laptop with a Firefly DAC and my Qinpu A3 amp...

Dabutcher

I bought a 7.1 set up from an estate sale untested. IMHO small size w small sound. Two did not work at all. I did not have the sub. That would make a difference? I did good reselling on Ebay. Good luck. D

pearsall001

They would be fine for your application...but they really do need to be mated with the sub. There's just no way around it. You can only coax so much out of a 4" sphere.

zingo

Leo Leporte really likes them.

hochpt21

I don't know about the ORB, but FWIW I just got some Audio Engine A2's for my desk and really like them.

Mikey081057

hochpt21 wrote: »

I don't know about the ORB, but FWIW I just got some Audio Engine A2's for my desk and really like them.

I am looking at those A2's too..

Most of what i can listen to is at relatively low vols in office environment but can occasionally crank it...I do subscribe to the small speakers = small sound principle, but this application calls for small and pc speakers suck bag. I am having fun with the Dragonfly on my laptop tho... Nice addition for the price...

EndersShadow

Mikey081057 wrote: »

I am looking at those A2's too..

Most of what i can listen to is at relatively low vols in office environment but can occasionally crank it...I do subscribe to the small speakers = small sound principle, but this application calls for small and pc speakers suck bag. I am having fun with the Dragonfly on my laptop tho... Nice addition for the price...

A couple other options to look at are the M-Audio M40's and if you spend a bit more you can start to get into the KRK Rokits and some of the Mackie powered monitors. But the A2's and the M40's are pretty close price wise IIRC.

I am also in this boat myself. A2's or something in the 300-500 dollar range. I like you two dont get to listen to loud that often at work. Plus its normally small speaker + long distance = small sound. Small speaker + nearfield = larger sound so those A2's will probably be more than enough (but in my case I love overkill so I like the A5's).

I am rolling with the Audio GD NFB-5 at work connected to a mini-itx build just for FLAC playback.

I think the A2's would work perfect for what you need, but see if you can find the A5's used as they may be about the same price. I have seen some of those sets sell here on the forum for VERY good prices so maybe post a wanted ad here.

Also there was a forum member (in chicago IIRC) who had both the A2's and A5's to do a A/B between em and posted a nice review at some point. I would look for that. The members name escapes me but try newrival as it might have been him...

**edit** here are a couple quotes from threads he posted in

Thread: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?115844-Help-me-improve-my-PC-sound

newrival wrote: »

If I were you, I would seriously look into Audioengine. They're powered and are super nicely finished. I have both the A2's, and the A5's and they are perhaps one of the best purchases I've ever made. I won't resort to flowery hyperbole here, but don't take my word for it, check out a couple reviews here:

http://www.stereophile.com/budgetcomponents/1207ae/
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/1007/audioengine_a2.htm
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0706/audioengine_5.htm
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=AUENA2

They're truly excellent speakers and offer sound that outshines many far outside it's price. The A2's are perfect for a computer setting. small unobtrusive, and very clean, but with HUGE sound. They offer a wireless sub for these, but you may not feel that you need it. seriously. The A5's have huge bass. In the nearfield, you honestly wouldn't need a sub, but you can use the wireless one with these, too.

oh and by the way theyre $200 for the A2's and $350 for the A5's. that's amplifiers (built in) and speakers! And if you want you can still use a DAC with these as they take miniplug (headphone style) and RCA inputs.