AXPONA 2011

The Linkwitz Lab Orion 4

John Atkinson  |  Apr 21, 2011

Definitely one of my two best sounds at Axpona, along with the BAT-Scaena room, was the Orion 4 dipole speaker (from $14,750/pair with analog line-level crossover), designed by Siegfried Linkwitz and with custom enclosures made by Wood Artistry. Quad-amped with two Bryston 9B four-channel amplifiers, a Pass Labs preamp, and a Marantz CD player, the "William Tell" section from Shostakovich's Symphony 15 had superb dynamic range, with a "quiet" quality that seemed like there was a lower level of spurious behavior from the room. This allowed a wealth of detail to be perceived even when the music was itself quiet.

Each Orion 4 weighs 85 lbs and uses five SEAS drive-units: two soft-dome tweeters, a magnesium-cone midrange unit, and two long-throw 10" woofers especially developed by SEAS for the open-baffle loading used by Linkwitz. The crossover frequencies are 90Hz and 1440Hz and the tweeters, the midrange unit, and each woofer are driven independently, though the woofers can be paralleled to allow tri-amping if only six amplifier channels are available.

COMMENTS
jeffbook's picture
Submitted by jeffbook on April 21, 2011 - 2:01pm

The woofers used in the Orion 4 are 10" diameter long-throw Seas drivers developed in conjuction with Linkwitz, not 8" diameter.

John Atkinson's picture
Submitted by John Atkinson on April 21, 2011 - 2:06pm
Thanks. I'll correct the text.
vclements's picture
Submitted by vclements on April 21, 2011 - 7:44pm

They may sound great, but....uhhhh.....not so pretty.

JA, small typo "wighs 85 lbs". Although typos to be expected as you have ben an insanely busy lad that can certainly run circles around me. I would have been in a corner snoring two days ago!!

Perrin Weston's picture
Submitted by Perrin Weston on April 21, 2011 - 8:29pm

Maybe the photos (and the hotel room floor) don't showcase it, but in person the woodwork and design of these loud speakers really do the sound justice. A stunning package all around.

John Atkinson's picture
Submitted by John Atkinson on April 22, 2011 - 5:14am
Quote:
small typo "wighs 85 lbs".

Fixed. Post in haste, correct in leisure.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

blackwash's picture
Submitted by blackwash on April 21, 2011 - 9:02pm

It is good to see Stereophile finally discovering the magic of the Orions.

I replaced my Watt/Puppies with a pair about eight years ago and haven't looked back.

maryrivera's picture
Submitted by maryrivera on December 9, 2012 - 11:00am

The ORION-4 product consists of two loudspeakers, two 4-way loudspeaker cables, and an Analog Signal Processor. All parts are matching designs and exhibit superb craftsmanship. Price $14,950 Vinyasa Flow Add-on options are offered for custom 8-conductor speaker cables with Speakon connectors and for sets of interconnect cables.

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