Lifestyle products are all the rage nowadays, offering a level of performance and sleek design consumers have been waiting for. However, not all lifestyle products, especially loudspeakers, are equal. Bang & Olufsen is a total lifestyle oriented brand yet their prices are astronomical. Bose isn't any better, though one could argue they started the trend. There are cheaper products; seemingly every mass-market manufacturer makes a small speaker and or satellite subwoofer combo, but they don't sound much better than the box they're shipped in. What's a budget conscious music and movie enthusiast looking for a high performance yet stylish loudspeaker to do?

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Have a look at Orb Audio. Orb Audio makes high performance lifestyle oriented speakers for just about every budget and sells them direct to the consumer via their website. While Orb Audio's speakers may appear lifestyle oriented, their performance and round shape set them apart from most of the competition - including the few other "round" speakers in the market today. Don't look past Orb's slick design and think that they are all sizzle and no bacon. These are some real speakers with audiophile grade chops.

The Classic One is Orb's entry-level stereo system retailing for a modest $549. The Classic One system consists of two Mod1 satellite speakers and an eight-inch long throw powered subwoofer. The Mod1s come in a variety of finishes, metallic black gloss, pearl white gloss, hand polished steel ($60 up charge), antique copper ($60 up charge) and antique bronze ($60 up charge). Unfortunately the Super Eight subwoofer isn't as attractive as its Mod1 counterpart, clad in all black with a dark grey grill cloth covering its forward firing eight-inch driver. The Super Eight is small, roughly 12 inches square, and can be hidden relatively easily. However, for best results, lifestyle or not, proper sub placement is going to be key in getting the best full range sound out of the Classic One system.

Getting back to the Mod1 speakers for a moment, they're roughly the size of a softball at approximately five inches in diameter and weigh a diminutive 17 ounces. The Mod1s can be mounted on a tabletop via their included desk/table stand. If you want to wall mount the Mod1s, that is easily achieved via Orb Audio's Stud Zero or Stud Thirty wall mounts, which retail for $12.50. You can also floor mount the Mod1s via Orb Audio's HOSS and TOSS floor stands which retail for $318 and $218 respectively.

The Mod1 is a magnetically shielded, full-range satellite loudspeaker that features no crossover or separate drivers of any kind, just a single three inch polypropylene cone housed in a round metal enclosure. The Mod1 has a reported frequency response of 80Hz to 20kHz. The Mod1 can be driven by virtually any receiver, integrated or separates based system, thanks in part to its 89dB efficiency and eight Ohm nominal load.

On the bass side of things the Super Eight subwoofer is a ported, bass reflex design featuring a long-throw eight inch driver powered by a high-powered BASH digital hybrid amplifier churning out 200 Watts continuous and 450 Watts peak. It has a reported frequency response of 28-180hz and features an adjustable crossover from 40-160hz. The Super Eight features an adjustable phase control (0-180), and adjustable crossover control, RCA style inputs and outputs, a 12dB/Octave hi-pass circuit and an auto/on/off power switch.

Continue reading about the Classic One on Page 2.