I have been told by people within other threads that the Orb speakers are good for the compact nature. Is the Mod-2 that much better or is it just 2 of the same speaker and I could get the same out of 1 with a bit more volume. I have the ability to adjust each line speaker with my receiver. I know I can get the Mod-1 and upgrade later, I was curious to know if anyone has done that and noticed a "significant" difference between the 1 and 2.
As a follow up to my room, I have some pretty crappy dimensions in that it's a large open floor plan with vaulted ceilings. That being said, I have to work with what I have to get the best out of it and I realize it wont be "perfect". If I need more uummppff out of the sattelites, then is the Mod2 the wayt to go? What does them running on 4 ohms do for the output and my system in general?
I would go with the mod-2 in a room with vaulted ceilings. I wouldn't worry about the 4-ohm specs. There is a way you can config. them to run them in 8 ohms. There is a post about them in the home theatre speakers area. I would venture over there and get some better answers.
I think the Mod2, at least in the front channels, is the way to go in a large room. Don't worry about the impedance. Their FAQ covers that and it's not an issue.
I have a fairly large room and I originally had Mod2's in front and Mod1's for the rears. I was having to jack the volume up on the rears and the Orb guys said it was probably a bad idea to have the rear or center any higher than +5 due to peaks in movies, etc. I went ahead and upgraded the rears to Mod2's and it sounds much better, especially if you listen to music in 5 channel stereo and have a large room.
Mark, yup matching speakers will always be a good call. If the orb folks say to avoid big amp power, a balanced set sounds even better. Do you have a mod2 for the center as well?
I looked at Hsu and ventriloquist a while ago, but was bent further towards the orbs. I couldn't justify the price, for my application, but I hear lots of good stuff about them. Bose who?
The concern I have with using orbs only in back is that you have to set the x-over at 100Hz or higher. Most people would choose a lower x-over point if using fairly substantial front speakers. I would factor that into your consideration.