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They are small, round, and quite beautiful. But turn them on, and everything about them is big: a big, beautiful sound usually reserved for much larger speakers. A big change aesthetically over those clunky old behemoths of sound. A big difference in the way they’re made, and a big improvement over speakers costing two to three times their price.

Meet Orb, the line of handmade, highly affordable and décor-friendly audio products

“We are more ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ as a product line than almost anyone else in the audio industry,” said Ethan Siegel, co-founder and CEO of Orb Audio. “This is very important to us, and it is made possible by our internet-only, direct-to-consumer business model that cuts out the wholesaler, the retailer, and the resulting markups. Our big advantage is that we spend more money than our peers on custom, advanced components, and then we combine that with a labor-intensive manufacturing and finishing process that yields a better sounding, better looking speaker that also happens to cost less.  This is what sets us apart from most of the other systems out there.”

All of that great sound emanates from beautiful steel cabinets that are designed with both sound and style in mind – the Orbs sound great and look perfect in the living room.  The Orbs are handmade by

Best of all, an Orb Audio speaker system is modular and upgradable, which is another completely unique feature.  Each Orb speaker in an audio system can actually be made from one, two or four individual Orbs (Mod1, Mod2 and Mod4).  A buyer who starts with the Mod1 system can upgrade to Mod2 or Mod4 at any time in the future, going from the entry level Orb system to the top of the line, as their needs or budget demand.  Other speaker systems have to be completely replaced if you want to upgrade.

For bass, Orb speaker systems also include a choice of two high-quality, very compact subwoofers, the Super Eight and the Uber Ten.  Each of these subwoofers again surpass the performance and sound of much larger units with much bigger price tags.  By utilizing custom, high performance components, Orb extracts the most performance possible from a reasonable cabinet size.  

Orb’s most popular system is the their Mod1 Plus Home Theater System, which includes 5 speakers, the Super Eight subwoofer, a handmade stainless steel speaker stand, and all of the wires and cables needed to set up the system.

This complete package is available for $999.

“We do things very differently than your typical consumer electronics company,” said Pelled. “Almost every part that we can feasibly make in the United States is made here. With most other companies, it’s all done overseas.  With Orb, we are designing this stuff ourselves, putting it together ourselves, and supporting almost 100 artists and vendors in California and elsewhere in the U.S.  When you export your production, not only do you lose quality control, but you lose the benefit of the discoveries and inventions that come with daily problem solving.  On top of that, style and design are the first things to go in mass produced audio systems.  By keeping it as local as possible, we can still pay attention to all of these things, using expertly finished steel instead of plastic or fake wood, for example.  So, it’s not just about great sound, it’s also about how our speakers look in your room, and the level of attention we are able to pay to every speaker that goes out of our door.  But we couldn’t do any of this, since it costs quite a bit more, if we did not have our direct business model cutting out the enormous markups that plague the audio industry.  Our average customer saves over $1,000 by avoiding markups, and they receive a speaker system that is simply superior in many ways to the more expensive, mass-produced systems.  That is really the key to our success, and our speakers make us proud.  We are so confident that people will love them, that we offer a 30-day home trial with a “no questions asked” return policy.  It is very easy to give Orb a try and people have embraced the idea from day one.”

Customer service also makes this company with the little speakers a big winner in people’s minds. “In retail, customer service in electronics is pretty much dead,” said Siegel. “But with Orb, you can look up the reviews online and see how our products are shipped quickly and packaged really well. You will also see how we’ll gladly spend hours on the phone helping our clients set up their system, including parts of the system they didn’t even buy from Orb, like a TV. If you email us, you’ll most likely get a response within a few minutes. And if you call us, it’s not unusual for one of our executives, or one of our engineers or speaker designers, to answer the phone and help you.  People might think that a store can provide better service than an online company, but we are proving every day that is simply not true.  With Orb, you’ll always be talking to someone who’s very knowledgeable and who has the power to help you with anything you need. It’s all a matter of exceeding expectations, no matter how high, and we apply that belief to our service as well as to the quality of our speakers.”

Orb Audio products are priced starting at $239 for a Quick Pack of two satellite speakers, which of course can be upgraded to any complete Orb system in the future. More information about Orb Audio products, pricing, and purchasing can be found at www.orbaudio.com, and at 877-ORB-AUDIO (877-672-2834).

About Orb Audio

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