"Polyamping" A Look to the Future or Fancy Fad?

Having not read what the others have already stated, (sorry but I do not have the time), I will flat out state that the Orions, even driven by the ATI amps and entry level electronics, are among the best speakers in the world today. I was lucky enough to audition them in Sigfried's house and hear the magic first hand. I have worked within the high-end industry for the past 6 years, attended several CES shows, and heard several outstanding systems, including my own which retails for way to much money. Without a doubt, Sigfried's modest setup, in terms of ultra performance systems, is among the best of the best despite price. Active speakers require several channels of amplification, cables, etc, but is truly the best way to achieve realistic sound.

I too haven't had the time to read this entire thread but have been thoroughly enjoying the Orions for several months with the recommended ATI amp. My comparisons with more conventional speakers and amps would be the Verity Parcifal Encores, Maggie 3.6s, and Talon Khoruses (old version), (though I've heard most speakers in the $5,000 to $16,000 range) driven by Edge NL 12 amplification as well as Essense amps. In my opinion, I have gotten more musical pleasure out of my Orions/ATI combo than any other system I've had and i have in no way felt the ATI amp inadequate even when compared to my prior amp which was $15,500. Spend more if you'd like but this combo is pure musical enjoyment.

Linkwitz doesn't require that you run the ATI amp to drive
his Orion loudspeaker system. What he requires is that you
use 8 identical channels of amplification. His bass
drivers are mounted on an open baffle, so they can't handle
a lot of power. 60 watts per driver is about it. And you
certainly don't need to use more than that for a tweeter!

I'm planning to build a pair of the Orions and have cheaped
out by picking up 4 Hafler P1000, pro-style amps. They're
50 wpc and are 1U high rackmount pancakes. I've gone to an
all rackmounted system and these things mount in there with
plenty of room. I picked 'em up on EBay for an average of
about $140 each, so for a bit less than $600 got the
amplification I need.

Russ

4yanx...Of course the idea of an amp for every driver has been around as long as I remember, and I go back to the early 50s. However, your invention of the term "polyamplification" is a great leap forward!

Hi all, glad to read all your inputs, especially as it relates to my current project.
I'm building the Orions, but am making what I consider to be significant improvements to Linkwitz' design. I do highly regard his designs and expertise, yet in researching the Orions for this project, it became clear to me that some improvement could be made in the area of baffle resonance, for example, and so I am taking great pains to isolate the Seas midrange and also dampen overall resonance.
My system will be:
Sony SCD-1 modded
Supratek Sauvignon linestage
Linkwitz designed active crossover
(2) Bel Canto EVO4 II (each driver driven by 120w)
Linkwitz Labs Orion Speakers
Chimera Labs CCC Litz-wound interconnects and speaker

I can hardly wait to see how this sounds. I won't be done with everything until May or so. I'll post with an update if anyone is interested.