|
Designing Outside The Square
The Orpheus Advantage :
24 years Design Experience + "The Emotion Quotient"
Encapsulating 20 years design experience and the renowned Orpheus "Emotion
Quotient", the new Aurora 2 and Aurora 3 embody and advance the spirit of their
rich design heritage. These potent performers are floor-standing loudspeakers
that can be used as dedicated stereo loudspeakers or home theatre mains/ rears.
The Aurora 2 and Aurora 3 features:
 |
High quality Kevlar drivers and 25mm textile dome tweeter with a
critically damped chamber. |
 |
Crossovers utilize air core inductors, audiophile grade metallised
polypropylene SCR capacitors. |
 |
Crossovers are optimised for uniform frequency, accurate phase
transition and minimum distortion. |
 |
Custom-designed PCBs employing short path copper tracks (twice standard
thickness). |
 |
Cabinets are constructed to the highest standards - high structural
integrity, low cabinet resonance. |
 |
All cabinets are crafted in selected real timber veneers (mahogany,
cherry, black oak). |
Technically Advanced Design:
 |
Acoustically Aligned Drive Units – The theoretical ideal speaker is a
point source. Orpheus has emulated a point source by placing the drive units
in intimate proximity and electrically removing mid-range information from
the lower bass driver, vastly improving driver integration and musical
cohesion. |
 |
2½ Way Crossover – This can be understood as a conventional two driver,
2-way design with an additional drive unit used for bass augmentation. The
lower bass drive fulfils this role of bass augmentation (which compensates
accurately for cabinet diffraction loss) without detrimental effect on
midrange sound staging, imaging and focus. The top bass driver has intimate
positioning with the tweeter, thereby approximating the ideal point source
of sound, making the individual drive units almost meld into one driver,
greatly enhancing imaging, integration and a palpable sense of 'being
there'. |
 |
Differential Bass Loading (DBL)
– Developed by Orpheus, the DBL technique uses two
reflex-loaded bass chambers of dissimilar volumes, critically tuned
to reduce impedance deviation through the bass region. This means an
easier power load for the amplifier resulting in greater headroom,
improved transient response and extended dynamics. DBL loudspeakers
exhibit greater bass extension and better group delay (transient
response/speed) than a traditional reflex (ported) design of the
same size. The scale, weight and punch of bass reproduction,
achieved at no detriment to speed, accuracy and timing, is nothing
short of astounding, belying the modest proportions of the
enclosures. |
 |
Asymmetric Tweeter Positioning – Strategically positioning the tweeter
asymmetrically on the baffle greatly reduces the effect the baffle has on
the output response. This leads to a much smoother high frequency response.
As a result the treble is sweeter; the sound stage is open, wide and airy.
The focus and imaging of the loudspeakers feels completely natural and
relaxed. |
How do they Sound?
The floor standing Aurora's are characterized by a truly wide,
3-dimensional sound stage with pinpoint imaging that captures the ambience of
the recording space. The speakers exhibit a highly accurate midrange and treble
response. This is combined with a truly extended bass end, with weight, punch
and timing that is surprising in enclosures of this size and price.
The Emotion Quotient.
The most vital ingredient of the Orpheus design recipe is technically
difficult to quantify. It is that intangible quality that seems to draw you into
the music. We call it the "Emotion Quotient". This is the loudspeaker
designer's ability to engage the listener to the musical event. So you don't
just hear the sound, you respond to it emotionally. This is profoundly
enjoyable. The Orpheus design philosophy is about how music can make us all
feel. The proof is in the listening!
What Does it all Mean?
The technical elements outlined above mean that the compact
Auroras offer exceptional value. They compete successfully in terms of features
and performance with often larger significantly more expensive speakers from
other manufacturers. Put simply it means you get a lot of musical pleasure for
your money.
Technical Specs
|
Model |
Aurora 2 |
Aurora 3 |
|
Design |
3
driver, 2 1/2 way floor standing |
3
driver, 2 1/2 way floor standing |
|
Bass
Loading |
Differential Bass Loading 2-chamber twin port |
Differential Bass Loading 2-chamber twin port |
|
Low
Frequency -3dB |
40
Hz |
35 Hz |
|
Frequency Response |
+/-
2dB 42Hz to 20kHz |
+/-
2dB 37Hz to 20kHz |
|
Impedance |
4
ohms (benign load) |
4
ohms (benign load) |
|
Sensitivity |
90.5dB 2.83V |
92 dB
2.83V |
|
Power
Handling |
100
watts |
120
watts |
|
Crossover |
12
element |
12
element |
|
Cabinet |
Interlock construction
Strategically braced 19 mm
MDF |
Interlock construction
Strategically braced 19 mm
MDF |
|
Terminals |
Bi-wire |
Bi-wire |
|
Dimensions (mm) |
H 890
W 190 D 280mm |
H 950
W 220 D 325 mm |
[Read a review on
this product] |