Orange Pyramid Audio System review: Festival strength sound on a small scale

Introduction

Crack open a warm cider and pull on your wellies: the Orange Pyramid Audio System might be the next best thing to rocking out in a muddy Somerset field. This unique amplifier and bookshelf speaker combo brings the Glastonbury vibes, and could be the antithesis to the countless wireless speakers and streaming separates that have fully embraced digital.

Home hi-fi is a real genre shift for guitar amp specialist Orange, so the Pyramid sensibly doesn’t stray too far from its maker’s analogue roots. Connectivity is pared back to the essentials, there are basically no buttons, and the focus is firmly on the music. But when it costs more than a pair of dynamically priced tickets to the Oasis reunion tour, is there a big enough audience wanting distinctive design that’s only really wired for sound?

Design & build: hello, Glastonbury!

The compact box it arrived in was a clue, but I was still surprised by just how small the Orange Pyramid really is. The main unit is dwarfed by the two ‘voice of the world’ bookshelf speakers that complete the system, and even with power and speaker cables trailing out the back I could still squeeze it onto sideboards and countertops I’d never dream of putting a traditional hi-fi on.

Both the Pyramid and the speaker cabinets are build from wood, with a white piano finish that I think makes a refreshing change from the usual black or walnut. I think the firm was sensible not to wrap the system in its signature orange vinyl wrap and wicker combo – it’s distinctive enough as it is. Especially with Orange’s classic hieroglyphic icons wrapping around the base of the Pyramid, despite not actually having anything to do with Egypt.

The illuminated capstone feels like a nod to Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage. Twist the oversized power/volume dial and it lights up – green when playing an analogue signal, or blue when streaming over Bluetooth. It’ll flash red if you crank things up so loud as to hit peak output power. The colours aren’t subtle, and neither is the brightness level; I’d have loved a way to dim it, change the hue, or switch it off altogether. Please don’t call the fun police on me.

Orange ships the bookshelf speakers with their magnetic grilles attached, but once I saw the driver units underneath I immediately stashed them in the box. The metal surrounds and subtle branding look fantastic, so you definitely shouldn’t hide them away with mesh unless you’ll be putting them within reach of children or pets.

Features & connectivity: wired and proud

The Orange Pyramid has nothing but the essentials, with just the volume dial (which doubles as a power switch) up front. Around the back there’s just a single button, for activating the system’s only concession to the digital age: Bluetooth streaming. Leave it pressed down and the system will default to Bluetooth the next time you turn it on. You get aptX here – the original version, not the newer HD, Adaptive or lossless varieties. That’ll come as a blow to anyone wanting hi-res playback without wires.

There are no wired digital inputs at all, with only RCA and a 3.5mm auxiliary connection for hooking up a turntable, CD player or a separate music streamer. There’s no headphone output for personal listening, or a subwoofer output for augmenting the supplied speakers with extra bass.

Spring clips on the system side make setup easy enough, while the speakers themselves have binding posts that’ll also accept banana connectors. Orange doesn’t include any in the box – just bare speaker cables.

The power cable doesn’t stick out very far, so you can push the Pyramid right up against a wall if you like – though it’ll make adjusting the bass and treble dials a little trickier. There’s another, smaller dial on the base of the unit for adjusting left/right balance, but that’s your lot.

This being an Orange product, there’s no fancy phone companion app or streaming services baked-in. Just power on and play.

Sound quality: almost analogue

Each of the Pyramid’s bookshelf speakers is packing a 130mm woofer driver, 25mm silk dome tweeter, and a bass reflex port. The Pyramid itself delivers 40W RMS per channel from what I understand is a Class-D amplifier, which the firm reckons delivers a “warm, clean sound” with a “pleasing transitional bass response”. Or as close as it can get to an analogue feel without cramming the unit full of valve amps.

I would’t go quite that far, but this system is still a pleasure to listen to. The finer details (and defects) of my original 70’s Fleetwood Mac vinyl were preserved, with a clear presentation and a richness of sound on par with what I’d expect from standalone speakers around the Pyramid’s price. There’s no shortage of volume, being able to fill even larger rooms with sound without sounding strained.

The two drivers are well balanced, with no blatant handover point and shared vocal duties. The tweeters have ample brightness and clarity, but not ever to the point of treble peaking on James Blake’s I never learned to share – a track that can edge into sibilant territory on other speakers. This was true across every genre I tried, keeping ear fatigue to a minimum and making this a great choice for long listening sessions.

These aren’t huge speakers, so can’t match larger rivals at the other end of the frequency range. Bass isn’t quite as pronounced as I’d like, at least at lower volumes.

The sort of oomph I expect from Burial’s Dreamfear either required turning things up to levels I’m sure won’t have impressed my neighbours, or tweaking the EQ dials at the rear of the pyramid. Everything sounds a little congested until you do, and even then can’t match a system with a separate subwoofer for sub-bass rumble. But as long as you go in with that knowledge, you’ll be happy with the overall presentation.

Orange Pyramid Audio System verdict

If you’re short on space and all about analogue (but like the idea of some Bluetooth backup all the same), the Orange Pyramid Audio System is a real contender. This miniature portal to Worthy Farm is more powerful than it looks, and has a sound signature influenced by the firm’s analogue history. Some will see the lack of screen, companion app and Wi-Fi as a win, given it puts the focus firmly on the music.

Digital converts aren’t quite so well catered for, with modest Bluetooth bitrates and limited connectivity. They may be better served by any number of powered bookshelf speakers that have streaming smarts baked in. For everyone else, it would’ve been nice to have a headphone output and some more control over the LED light show. Bass-heads might also find the speakers a little lacking.

This isn’t the most affordable compact hi-fi, either – but the premium could be worth paying if you’re after more of a tech talking point than the repetitive rectangular alternatives.

Orange Pyramid Audio System technical specifications