Hsu Ventriloquist vs. Mirage Nanosat vs. Orb (1 Viewer)

[Drew.Ri]

Thomas, tried to send you a private message, not sure if it worked.

I also live in Fairfax.

Do you think it would be possible for me to give the VT-12s a listen sometime?

If not, cool, I understand, but I thought I might as well ask.

Thanks for the info.

Drew

 

[Thomas Dekany]

got it and sent a reply to it!

 

[Robb Roy]

Drew,

It seems you are looking for the best deal as well as sound. If you are looking at the Ventriloquists, you might want to look at BIC America’s stuff as well. If I read this interview right (http://www.oser.com/onlinepubs/cedn_...c_america.html) it would seem Hsu is making and/or designing BIC America’s subs, and BIC America is making and/or designing Hsu’s speakers (or at least licensing the technology from BIC America). I haven’t comparison shopped, but BIC America has a reputation for extremely affordable stuff. You might be able to save some money. I’m not positive about that, though, since the interview implies the subs will be cheaper because they will use BASH amps, but I’m pretty sure Hsu also uses BASH amps now. Either way, it can’t hurt to check out your options.

-Robb

 

[Erich H]

Good thread you guys have going on here, and a very nice forum in general. I am interested in pretty much the same systems that Drew mentioned, and I would be interested to know if you made your purchase yet and how you felt about your speakers.

As far as the Orbs go, I was planning on making a hybrid between the MOD1 and the MOD2 systems by upgrading the front channels to the MOD2 and keeping the rear as MOD1. My biggest question about these speakers are the mounting options. The HOSS stands that Orb has on their website are nice, but way too much for a $1000 speaker system in my opinion. Does anyone who of any less expensive stands that will work with the MOD1's? These seem to get great reviews, and my fiance really likes the looks of them, so if I could get the cost down on the stands, I think these would be worth trying.

As for the Hsu Research setup. I have read fantastic reviews for these and was almost convinced to go that route. However, I have read that this system has very strict placement requirements to achieve the best sound. While I am flexible with placement, I don't have tons of room to work with (or I would be looking at bigger systems). Is this true about the Hsu speakers?

Finally, the Mirage or the Energy Take 5.2. Since these are the only systems that I can actually experience for myself locally, can anyone compare either of the other two to these?

Thanks for any info.

-Erich

 

[Drew.Ri]

I have not purchased the speakers yet. Waiting for my tax refund.

I did get the chance to actually listen to the Hsu set up, with the STF-2 sub. Sounded great. Really great in fact. I listened to them in a room that had a pretty easy setup for sound, the rear speakers were actually placed behind and to the sides of the listener. In that setup they did sound great. I'm not sure how versatile they are for more difficult shaped listening areas/rooms though. In my case the sofa is against the back wall so the rears can't be behind the listener at all. So, I don't know how versatile they are with different setups. I don't think space is really the issue (they should sound great in a small room as well as a big one) as long as they can be spaced from the listener properly.

That being said, I have made up my mind that I will be purchasing the Orbs. I have still not listened to them, but after all the reviews and comments on multiple forums I figured that I will not be dissapointed at all with their sound (and if I am I can send them back and get the Hsu's). There are really two reasons I picked the Orbs.

One, the wife likes their look a lot better. The Hsu's are small (I listened to them in grey, and was surprised by how nice the gray looked, the website doesn't show the grey very well) but they still have the "speaker" look in that they are stil just little boxes. My wife really wants to avoid having recognizable speakers all around the room.

Second, the Orbs, in my opinion, have better upgrade options. I will be getting the MOD1 package for now (small room). Hopefully I will be moving into a new house with a bigger room later this year though. At that point it is simple to upgrade the fronts to MOD2's and add a 6th or 7th in the rear to fill the rest of the room (for playing music and having speakers in the back by the pool table).

I will get back on the forum after the purchase to let everyone know how it went and to offer my humble opinions on the sound.

Erich, you asked about the Mirage's. I listened to the nanosats. They sounded great, very large sound stage. The sub that was being sold with them was pretty lacking (and that's from someone who doesn't even have a sub yet). I have seen many people say that you either love their sound or hate it. I suggest that you listen to them, you will probably either be very impressed or just feel that they are so-so. Worth a listen though. The people that loved the sound seem to be very happy with them, even after later listening to other systems that are often more highly recommended. So, if you do end up loving the sound I don't think anyone would consider it a bad purchase. I would recommend a different sub though.

Thanks everyone for the helpful suggestions and feedback.

 

[Thomas Dekany]

Good luck Drew with those speakers you are getting. Maybe I get to hear them one day

 

[Erich H]

Drew,

I will be looking forward to your opinion of the Orbs. From your first post, it sounds as if you are in a similar situation as I am with regards to your space constraints.

You also indicated that you were going to start with a MOD1 system, and then upgrade it later. Orb pushes modularity and mentions upgrade kits on their website, but doesn't list any kits or their price. I assume that to upgrade from a MOD1 to a MOD2, you just need the additional MOD1 orb and a MOD2 mounting bracket. Have you by chance contacted Orb for a price quote for your potential upgrade?

-Erich

 

[Drew.Ri]

Erich - No, I haven't contacted them yet. However, not sure where I got this, but I believe that the MOD2 brackets are included when you get an upgrade at a later date. Might be worth sending them an email about it. I read one post on this or another forum, don't remember, where the person bought the MOD1 and asked if they could send a couple brackets for MOD2 so that he could test out using MOD2 in the front speakers so that he could compare the sound of the MOD1 vs MOD2 in a stereo setup. I believe they sent the brackets for no extra charge. So, even if you have to pay for the brackets when you upgrade later, if seems that they should be pretty inexpensive as they were willing to send some out for free.

Thomas - I will post on this forum after getting the speakers and getting them setup well. Since you let me have a listen to your Hsu's I will be happy to let you have a listen to the Orbs. Hopefully they will sound at least as good as the Hsu's so that I don't get buyers remorse, and hopefully they won't sound too much better so that you don't like them better than yours.

 

[Thomas Dekany]

================================================== ==========

- funny!

Fortunately speaker upgrade is not in my budget right now.

However I do hope that you are very satisfied with your new setup.

 

[Erich H]

I know you didn't list these in the original post, but I checked out a KEF 2005.2 set up today, and they weren't bad (and my fiancee liked them too). However, they were pretty pricey - $1300. I have also checked out the Nanosats, and you are right, they need more bottom end. Additionally, I compared them to a set of Polks for $1000, which sounded a bit better. I have done more reading on the Ventriloquist setup and more and more do I keep hearing that placement is very critical and that one must be in the sweet spot to truly enjoy their sound quality. This isn't really ideal because I like to listen to music while I am doing other stuff than just sitting on the couch, so I would like to enjoy good sound from different areas. At this point, I am leaning toward the Orbs for the following reasons:

1) My fiancee loves their look.

2) They are not that expensive, and they seem to get good reviews.

3) Apparently, the creator of the Orbs is Gary Pelled, who got his start with Anthony Gallo and helped design their speakers.

I guess my main reason for posting this is to solicit any reasons *not* to get the Orbs. Basically, if anyone has a compelling reason to not get the Orbs, please speak up.

 

[Lance Haile]

Any update here? Did you get the Orbs. I would love to hear your thoughts. I'm in a similar situation.

 

[Drew.Ri]

Ok, since I did start this thread I guess I should chime in again with an update.

My wife and I moved out of our little townhouse last summer. In the new house I have a large basement room to use as a home theater/bar area and no longer have the wife restrictions as to speaker size. Therefore, I am no longer considering small satellite speakers. I think I have pretty much decided on getting Ascend speakers for the room. 170's or 170-SE's for the front with a 340C for the center and probably 170's or 200's for the surrounds. Everything I have heard about these speakers is very impressive. I am still waiting to buy them as moving into a new house took my speaker budget, so I'm busy saving up again.

 

[Lance Haile]

I was looking forward to hearing your orb review, but congrats anyway on the new house!

 

[DarrenAlan]

Just a quick note -- I don't own the entire Orb package, just the little Super 8 sub. Having owned five subs including an Adire Rava, Paradigm PDR-10 (both gone now), and a Pinnacle SubSonic, I can say with confidence that it is a fine unit. I've had to turn the volume down not once, not twice, but three times due to break-in and cable changeover (6' heavy-gauge instead of 20' thin-gauge). The bass quality AND quantity is superb for the size and price. It digs down deep below 30 Hz in my 14x17x8.5 media room, with the unit corner loaded. The volume setting is now just 25% of maximum!

The Super 8 replaced an Energy S8.2 that was buzzing like crazy (bad amp; I've tried everything including ground loop isolators, etc.). The Energy equalled and perhaps just barely beat the Super 8 in extension, but was slower, muddier, less defined, and didn't even come close to matching the output.

Just my two cents -- YMMV and happy hunting!

P.S. Oh, and I can say, too, that Orb's customer service was outstanding. I was considering several alternatives including the Outlaw Audio LFM-2, and Ethan and Will @ Orb patiently and quickly returned all my e-mails and spoke with candid honesty about their products.