Blumenstein Ultra Fi
- Thread starter Doc B
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Grainger49
New member
And I was trying to tell what turntable that was in the back corner. I wouldn't have known Prince from Madonna. Well, she is blonde, right? I could have told by the hair.
Grainger49
New member
AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, I did it. I pulled the trigger on a pair of Dungeness subs for my Orcas.
This is my, in chronological order, Birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas from my wife (we don't really give Halloween and Thanksgiving gifts but this is the way she said it).
This is my, in chronological order, Birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas from my wife (we don't really give Halloween and Thanksgiving gifts but this is the way she said it).
Grainger49 said:
An excellent decision! The compactness of those smaller subs makes them super flexible in terms of optimizing listening position.
-PB
Grainger49
New member
Thanks!
Now I need to make a pair of foot print cut outs for future positioning. What is the size, Clark? They will displace my Paramours.
Edit: I made one out of foam and will be crawling around the floor for a while.
Now I need to make a pair of foot print cut outs for future positioning. What is the size, Clark? They will displace my Paramours.
Edit: I made one out of foam and will be crawling around the floor for a while.
I think they've all been surface mounted? (subs) or are you wondering about the older Orcas with rear mounted drivers compared to the newer Orcas?
Clark B.
New member
Hi there Dsound,
Yes, the Orcas were changed from a rear mounted driver to a front mount to alter the frequency response of them to become a sound that is geared more towards the upper volume capabilities of the drivers and cabinets themselves.
The rear mounting gave emphasis and a pleasant brightness to the midrange which works well with the ears' frequency response at lower volumes (<65db avg. SPL's), where the midrange (>1000,<5000) can be slightly boosted to enhance the intelligibility of music at those lower volumes.
We had a companion product at the time which was called the Naga, which had surface mounted drivers, flatter response, and was put into a backloaded horn for slightly greater power handling. This was our "living room" model, and got around 82-85db SPL's max from ~6-9 feet away.
Over time we wished to balance out the capabilities of both speakers into a single model that would be our "super speaker."
So the newer, surface mounted Orcas' sound is flatter, which is what the ear needs at the higher volumes I was chasing in the design (for livingroom or desktop use (by customer request)), and now they are even a somewhat bass heavy sound within their >~80-85 hz to 20k+ frequency range (which you wouldn't guess from a 3" driver, but I've got the graphs and testimonials to prove it.).
This surface mounted, slightly midrange deemphasized sound is more geared towards the longer listening sessions we wish to encourage as well, and the slightly larger cabinets take advantage of the prodigious maximum excursion and bass making capabilities of the drivers as well by tuning them a bit lower in practice than they can be simulated in design software.
We were gradually able to unleash these capabilities about a year ago as certain cabinet bracing, bass reflex tuning, and driver frame dampening/tuning processes were optimized as well over the years. The Orcas haven't really changed in the past year, which is what's freed us up to devote our design capacities towards the bigger Feastrex models and etc.
I know that the look is pretty dissimilar between the recessed and surface mounted drivers, but for us who have seen and heard the difference (and countless other experiments that never made it to market), we view the change as simply a gradual evolutionary process of refining the sound of the speakers for enjoyment by the general audiophile public and also to pass muster for more rigorous professional uses.
We are now making what we feel are some of the most balanced and well rounded, and even magical sounding with SET amps, set of compact speakers you can buy at any price.
No, we didn't invent the "little speaker, big sound" ilk of small bookshelf speakers, but we've been the first to successfully produce a true single driver bookshelf design that sounds good without even a scrap of damping material or BSC that runs happy with 2 watts at under a $3000-$4000 price point. Why? we wish to "proliferate the beauty" of such a brutally-elegant concept rather than to guard it behind high price tags.
In terms of production numbers, we switched to the surface mounted drivers at around pair #75, 2 years ago. Just last night a woman came by to pick up her pair of Orcas, #250. So the vast majority of the Orcas out there are of the surface mounted type.
Hope this information helps!
Cheers!
-Clark
Yes, the Orcas were changed from a rear mounted driver to a front mount to alter the frequency response of them to become a sound that is geared more towards the upper volume capabilities of the drivers and cabinets themselves.
The rear mounting gave emphasis and a pleasant brightness to the midrange which works well with the ears' frequency response at lower volumes (<65db avg. SPL's), where the midrange (>1000,<5000) can be slightly boosted to enhance the intelligibility of music at those lower volumes.
We had a companion product at the time which was called the Naga, which had surface mounted drivers, flatter response, and was put into a backloaded horn for slightly greater power handling. This was our "living room" model, and got around 82-85db SPL's max from ~6-9 feet away.
Over time we wished to balance out the capabilities of both speakers into a single model that would be our "super speaker."
So the newer, surface mounted Orcas' sound is flatter, which is what the ear needs at the higher volumes I was chasing in the design (for livingroom or desktop use (by customer request)), and now they are even a somewhat bass heavy sound within their >~80-85 hz to 20k+ frequency range (which you wouldn't guess from a 3" driver, but I've got the graphs and testimonials to prove it.).
This surface mounted, slightly midrange deemphasized sound is more geared towards the longer listening sessions we wish to encourage as well, and the slightly larger cabinets take advantage of the prodigious maximum excursion and bass making capabilities of the drivers as well by tuning them a bit lower in practice than they can be simulated in design software.
We were gradually able to unleash these capabilities about a year ago as certain cabinet bracing, bass reflex tuning, and driver frame dampening/tuning processes were optimized as well over the years. The Orcas haven't really changed in the past year, which is what's freed us up to devote our design capacities towards the bigger Feastrex models and etc.
I know that the look is pretty dissimilar between the recessed and surface mounted drivers, but for us who have seen and heard the difference (and countless other experiments that never made it to market), we view the change as simply a gradual evolutionary process of refining the sound of the speakers for enjoyment by the general audiophile public and also to pass muster for more rigorous professional uses.
We are now making what we feel are some of the most balanced and well rounded, and even magical sounding with SET amps, set of compact speakers you can buy at any price.
No, we didn't invent the "little speaker, big sound" ilk of small bookshelf speakers, but we've been the first to successfully produce a true single driver bookshelf design that sounds good without even a scrap of damping material or BSC that runs happy with 2 watts at under a $3000-$4000 price point. Why? we wish to "proliferate the beauty" of such a brutally-elegant concept rather than to guard it behind high price tags.
In terms of production numbers, we switched to the surface mounted drivers at around pair #75, 2 years ago. Just last night a woman came by to pick up her pair of Orcas, #250. So the vast majority of the Orcas out there are of the surface mounted type.
Hope this information helps!
Cheers!
-Clark
Attachments
Thanks for the detailed reply Clark! It's interesting to hear all the aspects you considered in the refinement of the Orca speakers. 
The reason why I asked the question is that I recently bought a pair of rear-mounted Orcas (have not received them yet). While these aren't the latest iteration of your speakers, I'm looking forward to hearing them, especially given that my normal listening levels is <65db.
The reason why I asked the question is that I recently bought a pair of rear-mounted Orcas (have not received them yet). While these aren't the latest iteration of your speakers, I'm looking forward to hearing them, especially given that my normal listening levels is <65db.
Clark B.
New member
Totally. We have a few pairs we still keep around, SN #006,007 in the living room at home and also #035 and #036 that we occasionally run in the shop when there aren't any bamboo ones around. The new ones are awesome, but the old ones are still really fun to listen to!
Congrats on your purchase,
Clark
Congrats on your purchase,
Clark
Molly
New member
Clark posted about our sale elsewhere on the forum (http://www.bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,4909.0.html) but I thought I'd also mention it one last time here on the BUF thread as well, again for those who don't get our newsletter. We've been running a 10% off sale and it's continuing through end of day tomorrow, Saturday!
More info here: http://bit.ly/1f7JpC3
A few of you have already taken advantage of it, and feel free to contact us if you have any questions!
Thanks,
Molly
More info here: http://bit.ly/1f7JpC3
A few of you have already taken advantage of it, and feel free to contact us if you have any questions!
Thanks,
Molly
Clark B. said:
Received my new-used Orca's yesterday and I love them! I am truly enjoying the upper-mid detail and how deftly musical these speakers are. They especially shine when I play small-combo jazz (Bill Evans, Bud Powell) and acoustic guitar. I am currently listening to "Lost Cause" (Beck) and the sound is ridiculously good.
The true litmus test was when I played "One Flight Down" (Norah Jones) for my wife. She was so captivated that when it ended , she immediately made me restart the track to continue the experience.
Thanks for making such an accessible/great product Clark.
[Edit: Attached picture of setup]
Clark B.
New member
dsound said:Received my new-used Orca's yesterday and I love them! I am truly enjoying the upper-mid detail and how deftly musical these speakers are. They especially shine when I play small-combo jazz (Bill Evans, Bud Powell) and acoustic guitar. I am currently listening to "Lost Cause" (Beck) and the sound is ridiculously good.
The true litmus test was when I played "One Flight Down" (Norah Jones) for my wife. She was so captivated that when it ended , she immediately made me restart the track to continue the experience.
Thanks for making such an accessible/great product Clark.
[Edit: Attached picture of setup]
Wow! Seeing those really takes me back (a few hundred pairs)! You have one of maybe 4 pairs of the bamboo rear mounts produced circa 2011 before we went surface mount to accomodate for the new style driver vibration dampening hardware and to flatten out the upper frequencies in the 2 khz region from the effects of the recess mounting (with the then new FE83En driver).
But, on the other hand, those drivers have had years of play... the paper darkens with age, and softens up as well, which fully sweetens the tone of the high frequencies. the suspension loosens up to a point that its far more pliable than when its new, and the sound finaly gets a "frictionless" characteristic to it. I bet they sound pretty darned good by now! Congrats!
Best,
Clark
Clark B. said:
It's fun knowing I have a rare-piece of Orca-histroy
. Regarding the drivers, I had to swap one out because a child (not my own) got curious about the dust cover and pushed it in. On the upside, it gave me an excuse to take a look at the unique bracing that you have going on inside the cabinet.
A couple wire-strippings and a generous amount of solder-later.. Looks good as new!
Clark B.
New member
Well that makes me even happier to know that you had the gumption to notice the primary design feature behind everything we make:
That it is end-user maintainable/repairable.
With so many products these days, its a "one time go" at making sure they live for the long haul. Manufacturers are focusing on the way literally everything used inside their piece is "custom" and "one of a kind." Not realizing that they are alienating the end user from the very thing that makes something worth being passed down: that it can be yours to (easily and infrequently) care for for quite some time. The wood finish used in any old product especially governs this attribute.
We should get you hooked up with one of our wood work repair kits btw to restore them to their original glow. I'll throw in extra finish for you. http://blumensteinaudio.com/shop/cabinet-touch-up-kit
Cheers,
Clark
That it is end-user maintainable/repairable.
With so many products these days, its a "one time go" at making sure they live for the long haul. Manufacturers are focusing on the way literally everything used inside their piece is "custom" and "one of a kind." Not realizing that they are alienating the end user from the very thing that makes something worth being passed down: that it can be yours to (easily and infrequently) care for for quite some time. The wood finish used in any old product especially governs this attribute.
We should get you hooked up with one of our wood work repair kits btw to restore them to their original glow. I'll throw in extra finish for you. http://blumensteinaudio.com/shop/cabinet-touch-up-kit
Cheers,
Clark
Clark B. said:
Thanks Clark! I'll probably need to order that kit sooner than later as I have 3 little ones running around the house
. On another note, I was listening to Freddie Freeloader yesterday and I discovered how much the Orcas really shine when turned up. The Orcas rendered Davis' trumpet wonderfully at higher listening levels; this was especially appreciated when compared to my old speakers, whose tweeters rendered brass instruments unnecessarily harsh and sibilant.
