ORION Loudspeaker System - US

The ORION is a loudspeaker that I would love to see in any music lover's home. I am convinced that it will provide endless hours of enjoyment. It is a speaker that disappears and instead lets you experience music as it has been captured in the making. "True to the original" has been my guiding principle. With the ORION I feel that I have achieved my dream of building a speaker that excels sonically, yet is not huge and visually overwhelming. While costly to build, because it uses the most refined components in critical places, its price is kept low since you purchase it directly from us. You could even build it yourself and save $2700 by investing 60 hours or more of your own time. I can provide all the plans. But this approach may not be practical or feasible in your situation. Therefore I offer the complete loudspeaker and electronics system, ready to be connected to your preamplifier's output and to be turned on. I have trusted friends who will do the building for you. They cut the wood panels, assemble the cabinets, apply paint and varnish, mount the drivers, make grills and cable assemblies, solder electronic components onto circuit boards and place them into a metal case, inspect and test everything for proper electric and acoustic function. You will receive for $6500, plus shipping, a complete loudspeaker system which consists of:

	(1) Two open-baffle loudspeaker cabinets of 46"H x 13"W x 16"D,  each with two 10" woofers, one 8" midrange and one 1" tweeter, and with a Speakon connector. Each speaker weighs 60 lb
	(2) Two 8-conductor speaker cables of 20' length, with Speakon connector on one end and four dual banana plugs on the other
	(3) One 12 x 60 W power amplifier AT6012, 17"W x 7"H x 16"D, 73 lb
	(4) Six 6' long shielded cables and two Y-cables  with RCA plugs to connect the power amplifier to the Crossover/Equalizer
	(5) One line-level 3-way active Crossover/Equalizer in 17"W x 1.75"H x 13"D case and with external 110VAC power supply, 2 lb
	(6) Two 6' long shielded cables with RCA plugs to connect the Crossover/Equalizer to your preamplifier output

It is very likely that the ORION will not be the first loudspeaker you have owned. Over time you may have lived with a variety of speakers and experimented with amplifiers, cables and accessories to obtain the best possible sound, and thus have arrived at your present setup. The ORION, though, was designed from the start as a complete system, including amplifiers, cables and interconnects. It is, therefore, sold as a complete system, because that is the only way I can guarantee its performance. Once you hear the ORION in your surroundings you may have no difficulty parting with what you currently use.

Note: Should you not want the AT6012 power amplifier in your setup, then deduct $1200 from the ORION System price. If you wonder about the compatibility of your amplifiers with the ORION, then study the descriptions of Opt 01 and Opt 02 on the ORION Construction Plans+ page, and the AT6012 specifications, to see my amplifier selection criteria.

The ORION is only available over the Internet. Each system is built in response to a fully paid order. This, of course, makes it difficult for you to base the purchase decision upon a listening experience, unless you can visit one of the ORION do-it-yourself builders who have volunteered to demonstrate their system. You can read opinions about the speakers from people who have built or have listened to them, by browsing and searching various forums on the Internet. You can strengthen trust by studying the ORION challenge and the PHOENIX speaker project from which the ORION evolved. In the end, you still will have to take a leap of faith, because this system seems to violate several audiophile tenets. But, every detail of the ORION System is done for a reason, and I have tried on this website to explain all of them. It will take some study, if you wish to find out. After all, the ORION is the result of 30 years of loving work in the audio field. It could not have been built until a few years ago, because certain components were not available.

The looks of the ORION

The shape of the speaker is the result of acoustic requirements and cannot be changed. The appearance, though, can be customized. We offer 5 color schemes. All of them use the same dress panel around the drivers. It is made from a solid piece of Bubinga wood. This panel is  glued elastically to the cabinet to form a constrained layer damping system against structure borne vibrations. The dress panel can be covered with an easily removable grill cover for protection from children's fingers and for appearance. The cover is acoustically transparent, but not perfectly so. The cover is optional and at additional cost.  Below the dress panel is the grill cover in colors that can be chosen from the table below. The cloth is made by AcousTex Fabrics. The side panels are made of multi-layer plywood and painted in a selection of Sherwin-Williams colors. Any of the color and fabric combinations in the table below are available at the same basic price of the ORION Loudspeaker System. Caution: The color samples look representative on my LCD flat panel monitor at 9300K, but may be different on yours. Base your selection on actual color samples. We can provide those.

The choices in finish

Option	Dress panel	Grill cover	Side panels
A	Bubinga	70 Smokey grey	Proper Grey 6003
B	Bubinga	73 Granite	Mink 6004
C	Bubinga	77 Mushroom	Truly Taupe 6038
D	Bubinga	88 Lt. Rye	Reddened Earth                               6053
E	Bubinga	22 Cinnamon	Tanbark 6061
F	Bubinga	95 Terra Cotta	Sensational Sand                               6094
G	Bubinga	22 Cinnamon	Red Bay 6321
H	Bubinga	33 Charcoal	Any of the above colors
H	Bubinga	10 Black	Any of the above colors

A cover for the dress panel is optional. The panel is covered with the same fabric that was chosen for the grill cover. It is easily lifted off since it merely hangs over the top of the speaker cabinet. It should be removed for critical listening.  A set of two covers costs $190.

If the available finishes do not match your taste or decorating needs, then consider custom solutions for any of the three elements, dress panel, grill cover, and side panels. Such changes will add to the system price and delivery time. Contact info@LINKWITZ.store with your specific proposal to discuss availability, timing and cost.

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