Knowing this and knowing that some of you may find yourselves in this very dilemma right now, I would like to bring another option to your attention: the Orb Audio Mod1 Home Theater Speaker System. Retailing for $798 direct from Orb Audio's website, the Mod1 system is a full 5.1 speaker package consisting of five Mod1 satellite speakers and a single Super Eight subwoofer.
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The Mod1 speakers are spherical in shape and very small, roughly five inches in diameter, and come in a variety of décor friendly finishes such as metallic white, metallic black, hand polished steel, copper and antique. The hand polished steel, copper and antique finishes do carry an up charge of $150 bringing the total system price, should you want one of the before mentioned finishes, to $948. Beyond the Mod1's beautiful finish, the softball sized speakers come ready to be mounted on a table or shelf but can also be mounted to the wall or ceiling via a simple bracket (sold separately), which you can also purchase from Orb Audio for $12.50 per speaker. The Mod1s can even be mounted on a floor stand of which Orb Audio offers solutions including the HOSS and TOSS floor stands which retail for $318 and $218 a pair respectively.

The Mod1 itself is a single driver loudspeaker featuring a magnetically shielded three-inch full range driver. The Mod1 has no crossovers of any kind and has a reported frequency response of 80Hz-20,000Hz and an 89dB efficiency into a stable eight Ohm load. The Mod1s can be driven beautifully by any modern home theater receiver with 50 Watts per channel on tap or more. Rounding out the Mod1's lower register is the Super Eight subwoofer, which features a long-throw eight inch driver powered by a 200 Watt BASH digital hybrid amplifier. The Super Eight has a reported frequency response of 28-180Hz with an adjustable crossover covering a range of 40-160hz. All the usual suspects in terms of control and connection options are present on the Super Eight minus balanced inputs and outputs, otherwise it's a rather full featured yet compact sub.

In terms of sound the Mod1 system is something else - the sound it produces defies its diminutive size. The coherence across the midrange and treble is unlike anything you're going to hear for less than a grand and perhaps more. The Super Eight does a good job of rounding out the Mod1's performance and mates well with the Mod1's sound; however I wouldn't call it a subwoofer but more of a bass module, for if you want earth shattering bass you're going to want to add a second sub or perhaps step up to the Uber Ten. That being said, those of you with modest sized rooms should be fine with a single Super Eight sub. The entire system is so compact and easy to "hide" that the Mod1 system almost feels like an in-wall speaker system versus a true satellite / subwoofer combo. Either way the Mod1 system is capable of musical and cinematic feats no sound bar can touch or home theater in a box can touch for a price that isn't far from what either of those two alternatives are going for.

Competition and Comparison
If you are interested in comparing Orb's Mod1 speaker system against other systems, please read our reviews for the Aperion Intimus 5T-DB Hybrid HD 5.1 speaker system and the Boston Acoustics Classic CS 2310 5.1 speaker system.  You can also find more information in our Floorstanding Speaker section and our Bookshelf Speaker section.