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Orchard Audio at 2023 Florida Audio Expo

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The 2023 Florida Audio Expo was my first “real” show. It was a great experience for me on multiple fronts.

Setup

The below image shows the setup of the Orchard Audio room. There were two systems:
1. PecanPi Streamer –> Starkrimson Stereo Ultra –> Soundfield Audio M1V2 Speakers (outside)
2. PecanPi Streamer –> Starkrimson Mono Amps –> Soundfield Audio Obelisk B7 Speakers (inside)
Both systems used cables from Triode Wire Labs to connect everything together.
A big thank you to both Ammar from Soundfield Audio and Pete from Triode Wire Labs for partnering with us.
Lastly a very big shout out to Joey from Joey G’s Audio Channel for helping out with the room all 3 days.

Music

I discovered some great new music at the show, particularly these three tracks:
Kashmir by Marcin — https://open.qobuz.com/track/116946907
Kothbiro by Voena — https://open.qobuz.com/track/98641341
The Ghetto by George Benson — https://open.qobuz.com/track/40710956

Meeting Isabeau Corriveau

Isabeau is a harpist from Quebec, Canada. She is an amazing performer as well as individual. She performed in the orchard audio room multiple times during the event, and it was amazing.

Networking

I met a lot of great folks at the show and it looks like there may be some partnership opportunities to come between Orchard Audio and other companies.

Reviews have been arranged with the following, be on the lookout:
https://www.youtube.com/@MODAC/
https://audiodekor.com/

Press Coverage

Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity
“An unconventional but great sounding setup with an appealingly small footprint.” — Carlo Lo Raso

Posi+ive Feedback
“This was a great sounding room, and Orchard Audio definitely seems poised to go places!” — Tom Gibbs

The Absolute Sound
“More conventional was the setup in the Orchard Audio room. With extremely affordable Orchard electronics (e.g., the $2500, 500-watt/channel Starkrimson Stereo Ultra power amp and the $550 PecanPi streamer), Soundfield Audio M1V2 speakers ($2200/pair) and Triode Labs cables, the total system came in at just over $5k—the least expensive system I heard at the show. Yet the sound was far from the bottom of the sonic pack.” — Alan Taffel

Jay’s Iyagi
“Everything was fluid liquid and overall flew really very well in this room.”

Headphone Guru
“Orchard Audio was running two spectacular low-budget systems in their room…” – Gary Alan Barker

About Our Company

We are an audio company that provides an immersive listening experience by offering top-quality DACs, streamers, and amplifiers.

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 Orchard Audio LLC 
 
 
 Orchard Audio LLC
  
 51 Google reviews 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 Orchard Audio LLC 
 
 
 Orchard Audio LLC
  
 51 Google reviews 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 E Lins 
 
 
 E Lins 
 
2024-02-12
 
 
  
 
Friendly place, honest and knowledgeable guy. Direct and frank exchange, business-driven up-to-the-point purchases.
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 Wing Ng 
 
 
 Wing Ng 
 
2024-02-11
 
 
  
 
Leo was great to deal with and responsive in working with me to make sure I was satisfied with his amp.
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 Robert Audet 
 
 
 Robert Audet 
 
2023-07-18
 
 
  
 
If Leo was a DAC, he'd be top of the line for sure.  Few years back when I first heard of Orchard Audio, checked their initial product which was right up their with this new trend of SBCs out of the UK which made robotic learning for kids the new hype, as well as low cost, high quality devices for men and their guilty pleasure, the SOUND.
What made it very interesting is that in the world of RaspberryPi, HifiBerry and so many others, you had this company who's owner and creator was a rock star among us men.  Everyone was talking about Leo this and Leo that.  The product reviews, although always among the most recommended, still came after all the praise for Leo.
Yesterday I got my Orchard-Audio PecanPi Streamer from a private vendor.  The unit was 2nd hand, it arrived in a box with nothing else but a note: Enjoy the music.
Of course nothing worked as I had hoped it would and I was left with no other choice but to contact the company for HELP!
I got on a chat line with someone at the company and that person soon discovered that we were both talking different languages and where could not even described my new purchase  correctly.  Well lucky for me, that person did not give up on me, he tried one thing, and then another, and this went on until we hit a key word that brought us together on the same page, with a sudden clear understanding of what I had to do.  45min. that's all it took after that for me to get my new PecanPi  Streamer connected, with a new SD card in and a fresh configuration.

That was the moment when music started playing, not any kind of music, but for me at least, the MUSIC that I as a man have been evolving to.  I have now reached plenitude and am now ready to die if I must, but before, please let me listen to that music a little while longer.  Oh!, did I mention that the poor sole at the end of the chat, the one who walked me through Dante's Inferno, well, yeah it was indeed...Leo.
Leo thanks for the MUSIC and for being you.
Robert Audet
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 Robert A Rust 
 
 
 Robert A Rust 
 
2023-07-01
 
 
  
 
Leo, after our discussion at the Florida International Audio Fest, I am so glad that you built a three channel amplifier, the Duo/Trio. Just having a single power cord to get your amplification over three mono amps with power supplies and power cords is a great help. More importantly, it goes extremely well with my tube amplifier used for my front speakers. I think the GanFet class D works well for the other three speakers because it matches closely to the power rating of the tube amp,  adds clarity to the center channel, and balances the frequency in the rear speakers, without competing with the front speaker pair. I also think that the use of the RCA to XLR converters are important to use instead of XLR to RCA cables. The increase of 6 dB improves the sound and allows the Duo/Trio to work optimally. Why buy an amplifier and then not use it to its full capacity? Anyone who wants to purchase this three channel amp, or any other of your amps, should seriously consider adding these converters to their system. To this point, I like the converters so much that I am ordering a third for my tube amplifier to insure that I am getting a fully balanced performance.

Great job all around, thank you for taking the plunge. I hope this amplifier helps all of those people looking to upgrade their amplifiers using an Audio Video Receiver or processor, including those with tube front channels.
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 Ronald Hale 
 
 
 Ronald Hale 
 
2023-06-16
 
 
  
 
Leo is awesome! He is the owner. Very quick shipping! Great product! And great customer service. I have asked way too many questions. And he always answers the same day.
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 Dominic Rushe 
 
 
 Dominic Rushe 
 
2023-04-25
 
 
  
 
TL/DR: Sounds amazing. Extraordinary customer service. Highly recommended.

I have wanted to add a streamer to my hifi for a while - Rega Brio, KEF LS50s, CD and record player. But which one and what sort? Roon? Sonos? Bluetooth? WiFi? I went down the rabbit hole of reviews and forums.

I am not a technophobe by any means but a lot of the info I found was too technical and confusing. I just wanted a plug and play streamer for Tidal and was thinking of getting an Audiolab 600N. I didn’t want to spend too much as the tech seems to be advancing.

Then I read a John Darko piece about Raspberry Pi streamers and thought that seemed like an elegant solution but one that was too much of a DIY project for me to do by myself. More Googling and I found Orchard Audio.

Here’s a dude (Leo) in New Jersey with “decades of engineering expertise” at big companies making reasonably priced streamers that get great reviews. What’s not to like?

I bought the PecanPi, it arrived really quickly. It’s small, sturdy and has a solid, homemade feel that I love. I couldn’t wait to try it out.

I chose the Volumio option after discussion with Leo. Plugged it in and nothing. Ugh. I rebooted everything  (all very IT Crowd). Nothing. So I emailed Leo. Ten minutes later he had emailed me back. Problem was fixed (turned out it was just some glitch in my internet) but it was clear to me that Leo was on the case if I had issues.

So now it is up and running and it’s phenomenal. Hifi descriptions of sound are as impossible as wine reviews, it’s so subjective, one man’s blackberry and slate is another’s blueberry and tar. But for me the PecanPi (in my smallish NY apartment) is big, detailed, has a great, intimate, 3D feel and sounds as good playing Satie as it does the Oh Sees.

Very happy customer. Thank you!
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 Jonathan 
 
 
 Jonathan 
 
2023-03-29
 
 
  
 
I was looking for the best GAN based Class D amplifier I could and stumbled across some positive reviews of the Starkrimson Ultra Gan amplifier.  My initial buying experience was atypical in that the amplifier wasn't able to deal with my 125vac due to it triggering the overvoltage circuit to cut off the amplifier. I'm not going to sugar coat it; I reacted a bit too hastily with my words g g and well in the end cooler heads prevailed and Leo agreed to put a better regulated replacement power supply and solved the problem for me. Right out of the gate this amp has a very deep punchy bottom end.  The midrange drivers and AMT tweeters sound as good as I've ever heard them now.  I'm glad I kept this amplifier as it offers so much better control over the bass with extremely natural sounding mids and high. I highly recommend you audition the Starkrimson Ultra before checking out other class D or Gan based amps
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 Michael Valentiner 
 
 
 Michael Valentiner 
 
2022-12-29
 
 
  
 
Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra Review
Michael Valentiner

A big thanks to Leo for the opportunity to evaluate the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra amp.

It is hard to add anything that hasn't been already said about this amp. It is detailed, dynamic, lively, has well defined bass, etc. Superlative in many aspects.

Detailed, smooth, and bright. Musical notes are very articulate and distinct from one another. Great separation of musical instruments. Percussion instruments are rendered in great detail. I was hearing things I hadn't heard in the mix before.
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 Riley Leclerc 
 
 
 Riley Leclerc 
 
2022-11-26
 
 
  
 
These little monoblocks paired with the streamer as a pre-amp is the smallest footprint endgame stereo set up out there.
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 stuart cadman 
 
 
 stuart cadman 
 
2022-10-08
 
 
  
 
I bought a PecanPi 18 months ago yet Leo didn't hesitate to advise on solving a technical issue I ran into today. Top Man!

    

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