Rockport audition:
Spent several hours with a wonderful demo from local dealer, Cake Audio in Orange County, CA. The Rockport Altair IIs were setup on a Brinkmann/Esoteric --> Vitus rig. We (Ron was with me) were told the Rockports really scale down depending on room size. In fact, the dealer preferred the "lowly" Atria in his own room.
I found the Rockport sound quite beguiling but at the same time frustrating. Tonality was quite nice and just warm of center in a good way (on analog - Esoteric digital seemed bland to me). Soundstage was excellent! Height and depth were superb on my variety of recordings, including electronica. I could definitely tell transparency was a notch above what I have at home (and confirmed later that evening). I don't really focus on imaging, but it certainly wasn't fuzzy or distracting.
Bass was perhaps the *best* i've heard from a ported loudspeaker in the sense that articulation, extension, etc. were pretty much as good as a sealed bass loudspeaker. I did feel ultimate amplitude was a bit light, but I'd much rather hear that than the opposite.
As to constructive criticism, I felt that the 50W Class A Vitus was simply underpowered. Music just didn't clear the speakers and feel as effortless as I have at home. There was somewhat of a "dead" feeling and not alive as I"m used to at home. I also thought that coherency wasn't quite as good - but I suspect this was from the Altair being in a room that was a bit small. Piano kind of "scaled the speaker." Remember, the dealer thought the Atria was the perfect speaker for this space. Finally, Ron mentioned that the bass push he's typically heard before wasn't quite there - from dual big area woofers- and I would agree, though like I said I prefer articulation and extension vs output.
So where does that leave the Rockport? I learned that my ARC definitely won't work with a Rockport and I'd prefer to see a 300-400 wpc SS amp behind them. Looking back at prior LA show reports, the Rockport on BAT high powered SS was perhaps my favorite so maybe today's Rockport needs the same. I might consider them in the New Year if the dealer can provide a higher power, Class A/B amplifier.
View attachment 46976