Orpheus loudspeakers latest release is the Apollo “Model A” floor stander, 1m high (with spikes). This new design came about when Orpheus was encountered production difficulties with their Aurora curve cabinet, which had become too expensive to remain competitive. The new design brief was to design a speaker to work within the affordable price range but with no sacrifice in sound quality. This meant a return to the rectangular style cabinet, as used in a number of their earlier and very successful models. In passing, we note that their cabinets have easily the best timber veneer finish in their class. To control and reduce the effects of cabinet colourations, Orpheus dedicated an extended period to researching this aspect.

Having achieved a solution to the cabinet design, Orpheus began designing the all new Apollo electronics. For this project, they decided to develop a new driver to replace the Kevlar drivers used in the Aurora range for the last 10 years. The decision was made to go back to a paper cone as paper does offer a warmer sound signature that was reminiscent of Orpheus before Orpheus went down the Kevlar path. A lot of manufacturers use Kevlar more for the ease of production rather than the inherent superiority of the material - paper still works very well. The tweeter remained a silk dome type as Orpheus prefers working with soft-dome tweeters. 

A no-compromise approach was made with the bass drive units, which feature a cast aluminium chassis for reduced resonance. The result was a remarkably smooth and neutral sounding speaker, presenting the warmth and dynamics that had always been a characteristic of our product. The reduction of cabinet colouration meant that the bass transients are now much clearer. This translates to a perceptible deeper bass extension where the bass is tight and recovery is extremely fast. The added benefit of this new design is a significant reduction in the production cost and this has enabled Orpheus to pass on the savings in the form of an affordable audiophile grade loudspeaker.

As a free bonus to Len Wallis Audio customers, all the Apollo A speakers we sell are rewired with QED Silver Anniversary speaker wire for an added clarity and control.

Update: The latest models of the Apollo A have been tweaked for some more midrange presence as well, while not sacrificing any of the overall smoothness they deliver.