Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat for RV
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2018
I own a motor home and was looking to improve the sound quality of my system. Most RV manufacturers not only use small, low-grade speakers but they also place them in strange places like the ceiling where you get no real stereo separation. You can upgrade the ceiling speakers, but that doesn't improve stereo imaging. The challenge in improving the sound is figuring out how to install speakers in the "right" location.
The Orbs do a great job of addressing this problem. I was able to mount 2 speakers to the underside of upper cabinets by drilling a single hole in the center of the bases and using a single screw to secure the speakers. You can bend the support from the base to aim the speaker up or down and rotate the speakers left or right to get the proper sound dispersion.
The Orbs lack low-end/bass so unless you have some 6x9's mounted someplace close, you are going to need a sub-woofer. I installed a 125 watt car sub-woofer in a cabinet and it made a huge improvement in the sound. The Orbs are 8-ohm speakers so they need a bit of power to drive them. Most 12-volt car/RV systems are limited in output without a separate amp. But I found 20 watts a channel worked fine as long as you are not trying to create arena-level volume.
The Orbs also lack some of the "crispness" you get from a dedicated tweeter. You hear it most on things like cymbal crashes and snare drums. But after playing with the tone controls and faders to blend in the factory speakers I found I was able to compensate for the lack of a tweeter.
The Orbs on their own are really pretty remarkable. They provide a very smooth sound spectrum. Voices are particularly easy to hear whether it's vocals or movie dialog. The small, contemporary size works great in an RV and, although they may seem a bit expensive for some buyers, I wasn't able to find many alternatives. For that reason I give them 5 stars.
