Blumenstein Ultra Fi

[Grainger49]

Had another audio buddy here this weekend.  He drove up from Atlanta, 4 hours, to hear the Orcas.  He agrees that they seem to defy the laws of physics.  His jaw was on the ground.

[Downhome Upstate]

My 2 cents about the Orca's after about only 20 hours:

Imaging better than my MMG's, tone to die for, and a reach (resolution) further into the music. Listening to Fleet Foxes 'Helplessness Blues' 24/96 HD Tracks album download through the Halide DAC HD and the Orca's was a revelation. A great match for the 2A3 Stereomour (stock except for ALPs Blue Velvet control).

Kudos to Clark & Molly. I had worried that jumping from my old amp and MMG's was another impulsive twitch. Thanks for saving me the cost of another hair shirt.

 

[Doc B.]

I disagree with the notion that the Orcas defy physics. In fact they show that Clarko has a pretty damned good grip on the physics. Use them wrong, and you will never appreciate their capabilities. Use them as designed and they are truly wonderful. Please don't take that as damning with faint praise, because they can definitely outdo my bigass 6 driver and 7 amps per side setup on imaging. You will not recreate the impact of exploding C4 when they breach the doors in Zero Dark Thirty (great flic, saw it last night) with Orcas. But when listening to music you will hear vocals at live room levels that will make you open your eyes and look to see if the artist is really in front of you.

[Downhome Upstate]

AMEN, Brother. Can I hear a Gawd Bomb?!?

[Jim R.]

I myself wouldn't call it defying physics either but I do think in terms of the physics it is far more optimized than any other speaker I've experienced.  I do think that that as one listens though, a bit of cognitive dissonance does set in as I think most or all of us simply aren't used to hearing so much, with so few flaws from such a small speaker.

I'm so glad to seeso many people trying these and really enjoying them.  I'm not at all comfortable being a fan-boy, especially of things audio knowing how different we all hear and perceive music and sound, the effects of room and gear, etc. but they really seem to just make music so well for so many, and as Clark said, high-brow or low-brow, they're right at home in a wide range of systems.

It's really fun to see how many people's system profiles in their signatures that have been static c for so long (a thing I admire and aspire to myself), now list Orcas in place of their long-standing reference speakers.  And it's really gratifying to me personally, if I've helped at all to spread the musical love a bit.  I do it completely for my fellow audio geeks and nothing more.

-- Jim

[Grainger49]

Dan,

I should have said they defied the speaker technology of the old days (60s-70s) when I sold audio gear.  A 3" speaker was a tweeter, midranges were often 5" and woofers started at 8".  But not everybody would understand the 60s and 70s.  Much of that time I had a servo driven 18" sub.  It sits silent in the front right corner of my listening room today. 

But I did say, "seem...."

We listened for a long time with my current sub turned off.  We were very impressed with the bass with the Orcas far from any reflecting and reinforcing walls.  This isn't what anyone could do with a 3" driver back in the dark days when I was selling audio gear.

Yes, Jim, cognitive dissonance.  The full range driver has a coherence I have never heard before.  I'm convinced that accounts for the clarity of the imaging and soundstage.

[Downhome Upstate]

"Extraordinary, adj.,a : going beyond what is usual, regular, or customary <extraordinary powers>

Someone should defend Grainger's use of a figure of speech here (defying the laws of physics). The Orca's are damned-well and gloriously extraordinary. They do the unexpected. Unexpected, as in seemingly defying what we take for granted, stuff like Newtonian physics. I'm sure that physics properly understood, with a Japanese accent, explains what these tiny boxes do, but it damn sure seems to defy some kind of law to me.  Can I get a hallelujah!?! Can I get an amen?!?

I thing Grainger got it right. He didn't say his jaw dropped did he? Oops. 

[patm]

270 hours in with Orca's, stands, Subs and 100w amps and the sound is Superb! The Orcas are really starting to hold there own and fill the room with sound. I agree that they SEEM to defy physics.

Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou Clark and Molly.

Pat

[tdogzthmn]

Looking forward to getting my own pair of Orca's in on Monday!  I have a S.E.X. 2.1 due to arrive next week so I'll be stuck powering my my Orca's with my FirstWatt F5 in the mean time.  It will be nice to hear these speakers on two different styles of amplifier. 

[butchbass]

My Orcas arrived this past Thursday and I cannot find enough time to listen to them. They are so natural sounding and just tickle the ears. I haven't been able to listen to must sax music on my Audio Nirvanas because of the blare. With the Orcas you can just hear the reed vibrating so sweetly. When listening to  a vibraphone every nuance of the vibrato and decay is vivid. It is hard to believe the sounds that come out of such a small package. The Orca subs will be next. Thanks for all of the good reviews on this forum. It convinced me to give the Orcas a try. If anyone is kind of waffling about them take the plunge. You will be glad you did.

[Grainger49]

"Decay"  That is something that I noticed too.  Even the fade out of familiar songs seems to go on forever.  Notes that hang in the soundstage will fade very naturally.

It is hard for me to imagine someone not enjoying the sound of the Orcas but everyone listens for different things in music so there are going to be folks out there who the Orcas just don't appeal to.

[tdogzthmn]

Letting my Orca's burn in and getting high off their natural varnish, or maybe its just from the sweet sound emanating from those small white cones.  I have a few options as to the placement of the speakers but for now I'm enjoying them from my desk.  The sound really does seem to come from an invisible source several feet from where the actual speaker is sitting.  They are wonderful for acoustic/live genres where there is more emphasis on the midrange and treble.  Rock, Metal and Electronica are good but need the extra punch of a sub for the full experience.  For now I am extremely content just playing some Ludovico Einaudi and sitting back with my tumbler of W. L. Weller Bourbon. 

-Tom

[Grainger49]

Looks like Scotch or Bourbon and water aids your listening as it does mine.  (well, Bourbon for me, not Scotch)

I took the fast way out.  I put my Orcas on a 120WPC SS amp and played my music loudly for over 400 hours; listening once a day to the progress.  Of course it helps having a "dedicated listening room (~2200 Cu Ft)" in the house.  This is the bonus room (not above the garage without the walls that slant in) that is not legally a bedroom.  If I turn the storage space above the garage to a closet I can legally call it a bedroom.

Today I was listening to my VSAC 2003 Demo disk.  It is my most eclectic collection of music¹.  The Taiko drums from the Sheffield Kodo album were amazing.  One Winter's Night is absolutely stunning with the instruments floating in space.  This is an album anyone interested in acoustic music should own, Strength In Numbers/Telluride Sessions.  You won't believe the artists in this group.

¹This disk includes all acoustic, Triad (written by D. Crosby), from Jefferson Airplane, Taiko drums, Festival Sketch by MJQ, San Miguel by The Kingston Trio, an R&B cover by Alison Krauss, and a jazz song (Clear) by Spirit.  A tribute to my eclectic taste in music as one retailer I know described it.

Addition:  Listening today to the whole of Strength In Numbers, Telluride Sessions, there are fades I never knew were there.  I have to reiterate DECAY in all caps!  The dynamics are shocking me.  This is a very familiar album.  I know every note on it but what I am hearing today is a clarity that wasn't there before.  As I had noted before, the side men, in this case Be'la Fleck, Jerry Douglas and Sam Bush are in a straight line, not in a semi circle.  Mark O'Connor and Edgar Meyer are dead center.  This is a revelation!

I'm still screwing with the sub's crossover.  I turned it all the way up to 100 Hz but can't decide.  I don't seem to hear any trouble at this frequency and I had assumed I would.

[Natural Sound]

I'll need to orient my orca subs with the speaker cones forward. Is it better for the ports to be faced in a certain direction? I.E. towards each other or away? The subs will be around 5+ feet or so apart.

[Jim R.]

Tom,

Probably room dependent and how far the sides of the subs are to the side walls.  My guess and experience is that 5 feet is ok but you should try it both ways.  These don't require forklifts to move around like a lot of subs out there.

In my setup I had the cones facing each other (with the rack of gear inbetween noless) and they were 5 feet apart or less.

HTH,

Jim