AUDIOGRAIL ORCA LOUDSPEAKERS REVIEW

Audiograil Orca loudspeakers are a fairly large standmount speaker that uses high-quality components and costs 7500 Euros. Stuart Smith listens to what looks (on paper at least) to be a very interesting product.

Audiograil is based in Košice in the East of Slovakia and makes just three loudspeakers at the moment. However, they also run the company DIY AUDIO Europe and, as such, have access to a whole host of high-quality drivers and components with which to put this small range of speakers together. The speakers they do have are the Beluga Mini that features a 7” paper and glass fibre mid-woofer and 1” graphene reinforced dome tweeter, the Narwhals which have a 7” mid-woofer and a sealed ribbon tweeter, and the speakers we have here the Audiograil Orca Loudspeakers. All the speakers use Corian sandwich cabinets and high-quality components such as Mundorf capacitors and Jantzen coils. 

DESIGN AND BUILD OF THE AUDIOGRAIL ORCA LOUDSPEAKERS

The Audiograil Orcas arrived in a double-boxed pair of parcels that were well packed but had a bit of a “Fred in his Shed” feel to it and I”d like to see this improved going forward. As I mention a lot in review, the packaging is important when considering a product because it is vital protection during transport but it also sets the scene for what is to follow. I’d have much preferred these to have arrived in a suitable flight case (or pair of flight cases) or packaging that was bespoke to the speakers. However, the speakers arrived safe and sound and the packaging did its job.

For the size of the speakers I was somewhat surprised at how much they weighed and this is obviously due to the mass-loaded Corian sandwich construction of the speaker cabinets. Corian is an interesting material that you may be familiar with when used in countertops in kitchens and the like. It’s a product made by Dupont and is composed of an acrylic polymer and alumina trihydrate. Corian has the feel and appearance of hard, polished stone and (importantly for loudspeakers) is inert – the tap test has the Orcas sounding pretty much dead. 

The drivers used in the Orcas are a RAAL ribbon tweeter and an Accuton 7” mid woofer. The Accuton drivers are an interesting concept and I’m yet to hear a speaker that uses them not sound very good when they are well implemented. They are a ceramic speaker with Accuton telling us that this is a great choice given that it is light but extremely stiff and well-damped. Accuton drivers are not cheap and their use in these speakers goes a good way to justify their asking price. Add to the drivers the use of Mundorf Supreme capacitors, Jantzen wax foil coils, and Mundorf Resist and SUPREME resistors and the manufacturing price soon adds up. The cabinets can’t be easy to manufacture either and this will be why once you order the speakers you can expect a three-week delay before they are completed. 

The pair we were supplied with had a white front and top with black sides and back. I’d have preferred all one colour but you can order special customisations when you put in your order to Audiograil. 

The design is a ported design and the tuned port on the back is quite large in comparison to other speakers I’ve encountered. Also on the back is a single pair of pure copper speaker terminals that are of very good quality and held our heavy Tellurium Q cables (with spades) with no issues. The terminals will also accept bananas. 

I would have liked the speakers to have come with a matching set of speaker stands to put them at the perfect height and to give an aesthetic match.

One interesting point on the Audiograil website is the following statement “after gathering sufficient feedback, we actively refine the design, crossover, and drivers to enhance our products. This iterative process, commonly used in software development, proves highly effective when executed properly” and I like this. This statement suggests that whilst the company has clearly gone to a great deal of effort in the design and implementation of  great quality components, they are also not resting on their laurels and are constantly developing their designs when feedback suggests it. I’ll mention what I think about the negatives of this approach later.

Overall I think the Audiograil Orcas are a very good-looking speaker that has been carefully put together using very good components. 

SETUP

I used the speakers in our main system using the ELECTROCOMPANIET AW 800 M amplifier being controlled by our LEEMA LIBRA and TELLURIUM Q SILVER DIAMOND speaker cables. The speakers were placed in our main listening space and were positioned 2.5m apart and well away from side walls. 

Given what I have said about Accuton drivers and the speakers I have heard that use them, I was expecting good things from the Audiograil Orcas. Clear and uncoloured midrange and presence band were expected to be a given and I was expecting the ribbon tweeter to give an expansive and airy presentation. The Corian cabinets should ensure there is minimal cabinet distortion, but my concern was that the rear-ported nature of these speakers would make them difficult to place and a bit “one-notey” at the very bottom end, which I also expected to be not hugely extended given the size of the cabinets. 

But let’s take a listen and see… 

Adrianne Lenker’s Sadness as a Gift is a pretty simply recorded tune with a feeling of a “live” recording. Lenker’s vocal was delivered beautifully and without effort and without feeling pushed at all. Clarity and purity of the vocal delivery were made obvious with these speakers and whilst some of the instruments (fiddle) can sound a little harsh on some speakers, there was no hint of this with the Orcas. One of the things I enjoyed whilst listening to the vocal on this record was that I could clearly visualise Lenker moving towards and away from the microphone and I could clearly hear a very slight croakiness/raspiness in her vocal. Acoustic guitar was delivered with a laidback feel which is absolutely correct for the way it is played on this track. This was a very good start for these speakers and despite this track hardly being a challenge to any speaker, I think they brought the track to life with a kind of reality that is not so common. I also found that I was listening a little more quietly than I would normally and I didn’t really feel I was missing very much at all.

For some reason, ROON pushed up The Secret Sisters Water Witch  – Commentary, a field recording of two “sisters’ speaking about water divining. I hadn’t expected this track to pop up at all, but I’m glad it did because it allowed me to get a feel for what the Orcas do specifically with spoken word (a very good test for any speakers). What I found was that despite the noise of the recording medium (which was very obvious) and the occasional pop on the microphone, both voices were rendered with clarity (that word again) and what I would suspect is pretty true to the actual recording. This was a new track to me but you could hear the difference in the microphones used and/or the distance different people were away from their mics/recorder. 

Switching Genres completely and putting on Aphex Twin’s Music From The Merch Desk and the first track “no stillson 6 cork (Houston, TX 12.17.16)” I got a feel for the bass detail these speakers can deliver with that first opening synth drone that was full of texture which continued throughout the track, even when the drone was altered by Richard James. There is a real sense of the synth’s (I have no idea if it was a virtual or actual synth, but I”m guessing the latter) tone and the way it is made up and you can hear the sub-oscillator that creates the big fat tone. These tracks sound like live and spontaneous compositions that don’t seem at all polished  – kind of like he is creating them off the cuff (which he likely is). The sound of the tracks is a bit rough and ready and the mix has a very live feel to it with sounds coming and going to the fore throughout the mix. It’s a bit mushy (not a fault of the speakers) and the Orcas don’t hide this at all, though they do get across the rawness and spontaneity of the track. About halfway through the track it morphs into kind of sounding like AT’s Didgeridoo from yonks back and the Orcas don’t break a sweat with this change or the sounds that come and go – it would be very easy for the speakers to become overawed with the barrage of sound, but the speakers do get across what simple layering is there. Another promising result from the Orcas. 

I left the Orcas in the system for a good while after I’d stopped actively taking notes and listening to their sound really did grow on me a lot. The ceramic Accuton drivers in these speakers are a bit of a revelation, but they kind of feel like they shouldn’t work. Think ceramic and you would think cold, brittle, and (sonically) a bit top-endy but they just aren’t. The bass you get out of these speakers is splendid being copious yet balanced, and tight but impactful. There is a level of detail in the bass (through its speed, perhaps) that has you listening out for characteristics within bass sounds – like the sub-oscillator thing I mentioned in the Aphex Twin tunes. I suppose one way to describe this bass phenomenon is “clean”  – there’s no woolliness or break-up distortion as the driver gets pushed and this lets you hear into the sounds a smidge more than your run-of-the-mill speakers. 

This clarity and purity of tone continues through the mid and upper midrange tones where instruments and vocals are similarly clean and pure-sounding even when pushed a little bit. The latter point about being pushed a bit is an interesting one because I just didn’t feel the need to play these speakers as loud as I normally would for normal listening sessions to get them to the point where they “come alive”. 

The ribbon tweeter is employed here very well and it adds a smattering of the airiness that a well-implemented ribbon or AMT can bring to the party. Most importantly, the crossover sounds seamlessly implemented and from top to bottom the sound is balanced and coherent. 

Shpongle’s Ineffable Mysteries From Shpongleland is a record that has a lot going on in it. There’s a whole load of field recordings of street scenes and whatnot interspersed with the usual psytrance multicultural and electronic noodliness. This is a genre that can be lost on many systems that don’t have the slam and detail required to get across the small psychedelic details within the mix. Perhaps the drums don’t go as low as I’d have liked and a sub might be in order (this is a large room to fill) but what was perhaps missing in the lower registers was made up for in super-fine detail presented throughout this record – including bass slam. Strings had a “real” feel to them, but when a bit of birdsong happens along it’s not lost in the mix. And the layering of sounds I’m suggesting here isn’t so fixed and regimented to sound false or “too flat”. What I got with this particular record was the ability to drift into and out of the music (as this kind of music should allow) but also to focus on specific sounds and follow them until they morph into a new sound. As I say, loads is going on in this record and the Orcas manage to represent it clearly and accurately, but without being cold and clinical about it all. Speed and agility are the speakers’ high points on this kind of record as these features allow for the unveiling of greater detail. The speed of the ORCAS and the implementation of the tweeter allow for a soundstage that is highly stable and as three-dimensional as I’ve heard in our system. 

QUIBBLES

Need matching speakers stands to give a coherent aesthetic and put the speakers at the correct height – I found our SolidSteel stands a little small of top-plate for me to feel comfortable leaving the speakers on them when I wasn’t in the room – cat’s are not to be trusted at the best of times! 

The speakers are not cheap (they use quality components and are exceptionally well put together, so their asking price is fair) but the question should be asked as to what their resale value will be down the line. The same argument applies to many audio products that are artisanal in their make-up – there are some exceptional products at great prices (and the Orcas are a case in point), but the secondhand market is relatively unknown. My argument here is that a great-sounding product is a great-sounding product, whatever, though I know some do value the comfort of known brands having known secondhand values. Personally, I’d buy the best-sounding kit and be done with the future value, though I’m also sure that some branded speakers will lose just as much value as soon as they leave the showroom or warehouse! 

The Orcas don’t go as low as our floorstanders and some may want a sub in larger rooms. Those with small to medium-sized rooms need not worry! 

No speaker grilles or covers – I never use them but some may prefer them for a better looks in the home.

 CONCLUSION

The saying goes that the sum is greater than the parts, but starting out with great parts in the first place gives you a much better chance of greater greatness down the line, especially if you know how to implement those parts to best effect. Great! Anyone can go out and buy the same drivers and whatnot as found in the Audiograil Orcas, but not everyone has the ability (without copying existing designs) to put those drivers together in a box and with a suitable crossover to create a coherent and great sounding loudspeaker. Nice! 

There’s the bit on the Audiograil website that suggests feedback about the speakers is welcomed and I both love and hate this approach with equal measure. Many are the times I’ve seen designers/engineers come up with innovative and fab-sounding products only to sit on them and tweak them ad-infinitum to the point where the first products off the line bear little resemblance to the last, or to the point where nothing is finalised and the product languishes in prototype mode forever and a day. To my mind a product should be launched, should be consistent, and when improvements are found a MK2 version should be announced with the option for current owners to “upgrade”. Design by committee rarely works in my opinion, but I’m sure the folk behind Audiograil are experienced enough to know their product and where sensible modifications end and pointless tweaking begins. At the moment, I have very little to complain about with these speakers over and above my quibbles noted above and I think they represent a very viable option for those looking for a great-sounding speaker, but who don’t worry about wanting a “named” brand, though the component parts are very well known! . 

The ORCAS were powered throughout the review process by the Electrocompaniet AW300M amplifier which is a bit of a powerhouse (and soon to be joined by its twin) and it think this amplifier was a very good match for the ORCAS. There are no specifications given for these speakers on the website, but I’ve always seen Accuton-based loudspeakers paired with hefty power amplifiers and I’m guessing that the ORCAS do benefit from the grip and control this amplifier brings to the party. 

Sonically, the ORCAS are a really nicely balanced speaker that is highly detailed and articulate in their presentation, but without being clinical and cold. Whilst they are not cold in their presentation, they are clean and there is little to no hint that that final sound is being unduly coloured by the speakers drivers or their cabinets. 

I’m giving these speakers a FIVE HEARTS award and I’m really only knocking points off their overall score because I wanted matching speaker stands, they have no grilles – for those of you for whom these factors have little consequence, buy with confidence – after a personal trial, of course! 

As an aside, right up until the point of reading through my notes and putting this article together, I had wrongly assumed that these speakers cost 15K a pair. At that price I think they sound great but I struggled to see a value proposition for myself. At 7.5K the Orcas represent a great-sounding speaker that I think represents very good value for money when compared directly with bigger names. This value proposition must be tempered with things such as ease of selling and secondhand values – but then you are also getting an artisanally made product and have a direct line to the person who built your speaker, on which it is difficult to put a value. If AudioGrail do go down the route of distributors with several retailers, then you can expect prices to increase substantially and so it might be a case of “grab em at this price whilst you still can!”

I liked them a lot and kept them in the system a good few days longer than I needed to!

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality and Features:

High-quality drivers and crossover components come together to produce an impressive final product

Exceptionally well built from Corian that helps give an uncoloured sound

Quite a big standmount speaker that requires a sturdy stand with a decent-sized top-plate. I would like to see a purpose-made stand become available that put the speakers at the correct height safely and securely

No cover grilles

Sound Quality:

Speed and agility at every frequency 

Airy in the tops, clean in the mids and speedy in the bass – dynamically, these are a fab sounding speaker

Coherently balanced 

Great soundstaging

Value For Money:

There are much worse sounding speakers that cost a lot more and trying to put a value on an artisan product such as this is nigh on impossible. If you hear them, like them, and can afford them then buy them. I think they represent good value for the product they are, though secondhand value will be unknown.  

We Loved:

Detail and speed allowed for an increase in the detail brought to the fore, but not at the sacrifice of listenability – these are a very nicely balanced speaker! 

We Didn’t Love So Much:

No stands

Big for a standmount – would love to see these as a compact floor stander! 

Rear port may be restrictive with regards to positioning

Price: 7490 Euros

Elevator Pitch Review: Audiograil is based in Košice in the East of Slovakia and also run the company DIY AUDIO Europe and, as such, has access to a whole host of high-quality parts such as those used in these larger standmount speakers. However great the parts, the ORCAS perform beyond what I was expecting for the asking price and I was very happy to spend time in their company. They are dynamic and clean-sounding loudspeakers that will delight many listeners looking for an honest and uncoloured picture of the music they are listening to.

Stuart Smith

SUPPLIED BY AUDIOGRAIL

SUPPLIED SPECIFICATIONS

Accuton 7″ midwoofer

RAAL ribbon tweeter

Mass loaded Corian sandwich cabinet

Mundorf Supreme capacitors

Jantzen Wax foil coils

Mundorf MResist/SUPREME resistors

Silver plated PTFE internal wiring

Pure Copper Speaker Terminals