Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Quality audio is often the missing component that can elevate our enjoyment of digital experiences from average to awesome. Audio, movies, games and other immersive types of content benefit greatly from well-defined, balanced and powerful audio. Orb Audio's Booster audio and speaker system aims to provide this high level of sound primarily for mobile devices, notebooks and desktops.
Orb audio products arent available in stores. As specialty items, they are handcrafted and sold directly by the manufacturer. The level of fit and finish on the Orb speakers is bordering on obsessive. There are hundreds of cookie cutter speaker designs and then there are products that push the boundaries of industrial design while maintaining a high degree of performance. Orb audio certainly falls within the latter category.
The demos speakers sent to us for review included the striking hand antiqued copper finish that was both stylish yet resonated with a classic steampunk look and feel.
The speakers themselves feel incredibly solid and well built but one has to take care not to drop them or risk ruining their flawless globular sheen.
The Orb Booster audio and speaker system was hooked up to our 32-inch Samsung HDTV for watching some of the NCAA Final Four basketball games and then serving as a mini Marshall amp stack for some sessions of Rocksmith on the Xbox 360. The system performed well, gave good separation and held up well to use at a high volume.
Connected to our iMac, the Orb speakers really gave that desktop a better range of sound specially when playing with applications like Garageband and Motion as well as editing some videos on Final Cut Pro and iMovie. Watching the latest HD trailers on YouTube was also a treat accompanied by well-defined, cinematic audio.
Playing the Forza Horizon car racing sim on the Xbox 360 produced detailed engine sounds that I hadn't picked up before, a booster and multi-speaker system manages to create a more immersive sound stage for gaming on consoles that many players rarely experience.
I also watched episodes of Arrow, Game of Thrones and a DVD of Nirvana Unplugged in New York. Loudness and separation were exemplary and more refined than my old 5:1 surround speaker set up. The remarkable thing abou the Orb system is that it takes very little tweaking to get truly remarkable sound experience out of the box.
Being relatively tiny, they are also quite easy to uninstall and pack along. We took them to a weekend at the cottage and they were connected to a notebook that played back DVDs, not bad for a mini, on-the-go, cinema solution for the family.
And unlike many multi-speaker components we've tried, the Orb Booster system doesn't drown you in heavy, muffled bass but provides adequate punchiness when required.
Having a large CD collection which I like to enjoy one disc at a time, I realized the need for a good yet compact system specially for small spaces like a home office.
Orb's system is perfect for such set-ups and can give users the freedom of experimenting with a range of speaker placements.
My next project, time permitting, is hooking up the Orb Booster and speakers to an AirPlay compatible receiver so i can stream digital files directly from my iMac or MacBook as well as the various iOS devices in the office. Orb Audio's speakers and Booster impressed me so much that I'm considering ordering myself a set after I return the demo units.
Orb Audio speakers start at $239 for a pair and for $299 you can get two speakers and one amplifier. As you add speakers and maybe a subwoofer, pricing will go up accordingly. These are not cheap by any means, but you know you're getting quality components that will perform well under various conditions.
Rating: 5 out of 5