Rockport Technologies Introduces Orion Loudspeaker

Well done Ron. Excellent, informative interview with one of the truly TALENTED speaker designers in our industry. Thanks.
Very likeable guy(s) Thanks, Ron! :)
 
This is one of the very best interviews I have ever seen.
Fantastic job Ron. Extremely informative and fun to watch.
Seeing Andy and his top expert point of view is just eye opening experience.

I believe everyone of us heard close box , first order crossovers and open buffle speakers
but now we know what is „wrong” in their sound presentation.
Only a true top class expert in the field like Andy can give you true answer for issues to look for in the other designs.
For some reason Rockport remains on the top of sound reproduction with only 6 people in the team. Hope this company will keep doing things their own way forever.
 
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They are like a boutique design firm with an elite subject matter expert running the show. It’s a little like Gryphon does it. They find the very best people at each part and have them build it to their design parameters. Josh doesn’t want a CNC machine that then has to produce a specific kind of product. Andy has built subwoofers and sealed box speakers and he is always looking ahead to change things when a better idea comes along. Unlike other major manufacturers he is not boxed in by rigid adherence to a philosophy. This way he stays nimble and can be creative. They sell everything they make and are backlogged. They don’t want to double or triple the employee count. They like it the way it is but they are looking for land to build another facility to help with the bottlenecks they face now. No time for a turntable. The just want to keep making a relatively small number of very fine speakers and to keep getting better. I admire them greatly.
 
Please enjoy my interview with Andy Payor, Founder and Chief Designer, Rockport Technologies, in which we discuss the Orion, among many other Rockport models:

Ron Resnick’s Master and Makers interview with Andy Payor 12 days ago has already gotten 31K views! Ron did a very good interview with Andy, who I would call “an Engineers, Engineer.” For Andy to realize his creations, he has had to be multi-disciplined, being versed in material science, acoustics, physics, and electrical engineering. Add to that his obvious excellent communications skills and drive for excellence. Having been in a large technically orientated company, surrounded by thousands of engineers, I can tell you Andy impresses me as being “one in a thousand” with respect to engineering talent. In my 40-year tenure being an engineer, and working with 100’s of other engineers, I realized the following.

You can have a great abundance of skills, but if you lack inspiration, you will never create greatness.

I see that inspiration in Andy Payor, resulting in the great Rockport product line we see today. I also commend Andy for sticking to what he is good at, engineering! Andy had the wherewithal to turn the day-to-day business over to Josh Clark so he could continue doing what he does best, engineering. Rockport also seems to be in good hands with Jon Zimmer as Director of Sales, as evidenced, with the recent video of him in the UK premier of the Orion speakers. For a small, specialty company they have positioned themselves well in this niche market.
 
There is also one thing that you realize after you spend some time with top Rockports.
You hear the box and it's coloration in every other brand speaker. This is unpleasant to your ears and brain.
I stopped visiting to audition others systems as it makes no sense.
But I like to invite others, so there is no surprise they really like to spend more time with my Lyra.

It looks this kind of purity In reproduction becomes addictive to your ears and eliminates the need to change for anything else.
 
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My Orions should be arriving in late July. / early August. Almost here!
Congratulations!

I am two months behind you in the queue for my Orions, looking at September/October. Can't wait.
 
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Thanks Joey - been a long thought process deciding. Can’t wait to get them. Jeff H and I will have our work cut out moving them into my room!
Jeff can work miracles as long as he can get his little dolly up the stairs.
 
Listening to mine right now. You’re going to love them.
Can't wait! They will be replacing the Cygnus. My room is 21 ft x 15 ft x 9 ft. I'm curious how the bass response will be compared to the Cygnus. Hopefully my room is large enough for the Orion's to breathe.
 
My Orions should be arriving in late July. / early August. Almost here!
Hi Phil, I'm also getting Orions from Jeff, which should be here at the end of August or early September. So one month behind you it sounds. Jeff's and mine are being completed in the next batch after yours. My initial installation will be in our great room that has a large (7,500 to 8,000) cubic feet of volume. This room unfortunately does not have good symmetry though, so long term plan may be a dedicated room in the basement that would have very similar dimensions to your room. I would have interest in hearing your comments on the bass response results. I believe the Orion speakers may load the room differently given the 13" woofer located towards the bottom of the speaker. We will have to share notes on setup and tweaking experiences.
 
The bass is very precise and with proper set up I can't imagine that you won't love it.
 
Hi Phil, I'm also getting Orions from Jeff, which should be here at the end of August or early September. So one month behind you it sounds. Jeff's and mine are being completed in the next batch after yours. My initial installation will be in our great room that has a large (7,500 to 8,000) cubic feet of volume. This room unfortunately does not have good symmetry though, so long term plan may be a dedicated room in the basement that would have very similar dimensions to your room. I would have interest in hearing your comments on the bass response results. I believe the Orion speakers may load the room differently given the 13" woofer located towards the bottom of the speaker. We will have to share notes on setup and tweaking experiences.
MAXPWR,

I'll definitely report back the results of set up. With my Cygnus, I spent over 6 months before settling in on final placement (I really took my time - Ha!). My room is also asymmetric with one of the ceiling lines being slightly slanted on its peripheral end. That said, I have had some single bass driver loudspeakers in the room (Avalon Eidolons and Egglestonworks Andra IIs). Both had slightly less bass response than the Cygnus - which is much more full. My anticipation is that I will get the same bass extension that I do with the Cygnus, but it will be a bit more concentrated at the lower end, without the slighly midbass exaggeration I am currently getting. Both Avalons and Andras gave me that in this room but didn't come close to the low end extension the Cygnus give me. I'm hoping to get the best of both with the Orions in my room. I'll let you know - thinking I'm about 6 - 8 weeks away now.
 
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Since the Orion's arrived in my listening room, there hasn't been a day when I haven't thanked myself for putting them there. Just outstanding performance with no compromises.

Cincy
 
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What’s your room dimensions Cincy?
Definitely looking forward to both you and maxpwr’s delivery days… also looking forward to our store receiving our pair of Orions. Our store Lynx demo pair should be following very shortly behind those as well :)



Jeff
 

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