Rockport Technologies Introduces Orion Loudspeaker

[andromedaaudio]

For that money you can also have a Kharma exquisite classic .

I might hear the new rockport in Munchen.

 

[Hyperion]

I like the tonality and quality of Rockports, but I agree, $133K for 3 drivers / 3 way is steep. For example, the Alex V is about the same price and includes an MTM + 2: woofers (10.5" + 12.5", significantly more bass surface area) = 3.5 way with an equally massive cabinet of boutique material. The Vivid Giya has 2: ~12" woofers (again much more bass surface area) and 3 drivers covering 200Hz - 20K+ = 4 - way and incredibly effortless (each driver delivers 2 octaves except the bass) at ~ $30+K less.

The cabinet and drivers from Rockport (Orion and Lyra especially) are more advanced compared to the Wilson counterparts and also developed fully in-house. Rockport is also more boutique in comparison. That's the simple answer(s).

Bigger is not always better

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se

 

[Johan K]

The cabinet and drivers from Rockport (Orion and Lyra especially) are more advanced compared to the Wilson counterparts and also developed fully in-house. Rockport is also more boutique in comparison. That's the simple answer(s).

Bigger is not always better

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se

Marcus,

I love the boutique kind of style that you have at your own place. A place where you feel special and very welcome, maybe leading up to a placement of an order of the more delicate art .
My Koetsu was not that big - yet VERY good?.

/ Jk

 

[sbo6]

The cabinet and drivers from Rockport (Orion and Lyra especially) are more advanced compared to the Wilson counterparts and also developed fully in-house. Rockport is also more boutique in comparison. That's the simple answer(s).

Bigger is not always better

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se

Define advanced? And you know this how? Have you compared the drivers / cabinet to know whether one is "more advanced" Most importantly, how does "more advanced" translate to better sonics? Those are the important questions that are not simple to answer.

Also, more drivers = less work per driver = less distortion, higher spls / dynamics without breakup, more realistic sound. See Vivid, Magico, Wilson, Evolution Acoustics and yes, even Rockport Arrakis. If you want effortless sound at higher SPLs with realistic dynamics, bigger / more is better. ;-)

 

[Hyperion]

Define advanced? And you know this how? Have you compared the drivers / cabinet to know whether one is "more advanced" Most importantly, how does "more advanced" translate to better sonics? Those are the important questions that are not simple to answer.

Also, more drivers = less work per driver = less distortion, higher spls / dynamics without breakup, more realistic sound. See Vivid, Magico, Wilson, Evolution Acoustics and yes, even Rockport Arrakis. If you want effortless sound at higher SPLs with realistic dynamics, bigger / more is better. ;-)

Advanced as in cutting edge and complex where every little detail is cared for. The Lyra cabinet is one of the most ambitious out there. Rockport are also making their own drivers.

It's all personal, but I will always choose a smaller speaker of higher quality rather than a larger one of lower quality at the same price point.

To me, technology is always secondary. I'm much more interested in the emotional side of things and the different experiences created by well curated music systems. The constant process of evaluation and learning is what this hobby is all about.

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se

 

[Hyperion]

Marcus,

I love the boutique kind of style that you have at your own place. A place where you feel special and very welcome, maybe leading up to a placement of an order of the more delicate art .
My Koetsu was not that big - yet VERY good?.

/ Jk

Thanks Johan - this is exactly what I want to create and offer my clients.

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se

 

[Kris]

Can I ask how you know how the different cabinet design / material makes a difference in sonics?

Every manufaturer will tell you cabinet design is one of the most important things.
Seriously.
The point is to cabinet be as immune to the vibration as possible so it is not generating additional resonances / sounds that will be added to the sound from the individual spearkers .
If you add anything uncontrolled ( like box resonances ) to the sound its not clean anymore and it interacts with more or less great sound from speakers.
Its funny , but since I auditioned Lyra first time I cant accept any other speaker as it has some box sound .
I simply hear this immediate as it is additional thing that should not be there.
its not much of it , but its just unpleasent sometimes.
With Lyra there are no limits .
When playing at 110 db you put your hand on the cabinet and there is zero vibration.

 

[Kris]

Nice Video

 

[LL21]

Every manufaturer will tell you cabinet design is one of the most important things.
Seriously.
The point is to cabinet be as immune to the vibration as possible so it is not generating additional resonances / sounds that will be added to the sound from the individual spearkers .
If you add anything uncontrolled ( like box resonances ) to the sound its not clean anymore and it interacts with more or less great sound from speakers.
Its funny , but since I auditioned Lyra first time I cant accept any other speaker as it has some box sound .
I simply hear this immediate as it is additional thing that should not be there.
its not much of it , but its just unpleasent sometimes.
With Lyra there are no limits .
When playing at 110 db you put your hand on the cabinet and there is zero vibration.

I remember well being in Hong Kong listening to the Rockport Arrakis and putting my fingertips very lightly about 2 inches from the edge of the woofer cones right onto the cabinet...and my pant legs are flapping gently in the bass. And nothing...with my eyes closed, if I could not hear, I would not have known from touching the cabinet that there was any noise coming from the bass cabinet, let alone enough to move my trouser pants.

Remarkable. Still my favorite speaker of all time. Have heard the Rockport Merak Sheritans of old and the Altair 2s (twice). Would love to hear the Lyras.

 

[Kris]

I remember well being in Hong Kong listening to the Rockport Arrakis and putting my fingertips very lightly about 2 inches from the edge of the woofer cones right onto the cabinet...and my pant legs are flapping gently in the bass. And nothing...with my eyes closed, if I could not hear, I would not have known from touching the cabinet that there was any noise coming from the bass cabinet, let alone enough to move my trouser pants.

Remarkable. Still my favorite speaker of all time. Have heard the Rockport Merak Sheritans of old and the Altair 2s (twice). Would love to hear the Lyras.

As far as Rockport statement , Lyra is better than Arrakis in many ways , being smaller to fit most of listening spaces. This is very smart.
It sounds as large as the old Arrakis.
Also I got direct info from their sales that Lyra being flagship since 2015 is not to be replaced any time soon. This is due to the fact that Lyra sales are still increasing.
It looks they created a true masterpiece that will be very heard to beat.

 

[andromedaaudio]

It sounds as large as the old Arrakis.

Sounds more like an assumption then fact.
Did you hear them both?

I heard the Lyra on 2 occasions and it does what it does very good .
Very clean coherent with a good balance , for a not too big of a room perfect .
But i don t think it scales up to the size of a very large speaker with substantial more bass membrane surface .
Like for example a Arrakis , plus the arrakis bass comes in both high and low which will give a more realistic room filling effect

 

[LL21]

Sounds more like an assumption then fact.
Did you hear them both?

I heard the Lyra on 2 occasions and it does what it does very good .
Very clean coherent with a good balance , for a not too big of a room perfect .
But i don t think it scales up to the size of a very large speaker with substantial more bass membrane surface .
Like for example a Arrakis , plus the arrakis bass comes in both high and low which will give a more realistic room filling effect

I could believe that...more resolving power, less intrusion into sound by the speaker cabinet and quite possibly better cones, crossover. But more air pressure in a room? Possibly upper bass punch, no idea, but overall air movement, I suspect very much Arrakis still wins.

 

[Kris]

I own Lyra now. I auditioned Arrakis.
Yes it must be due to a better crossover , better cabinet, new and much better drivers.

to support my hearing first 40 seconds of that video, and after that what Andy is saying.

 

[Kris]

Sounds more like an assumption then fact.
Did you hear them both?

I heard the Lyra on 2 occasions and it does what it does very good .
Very clean coherent with a good balance , for a not too big of a room perfect .
But i don t think it scales up to the size of a very large speaker with substantial more bass membrane surface .
Like for example a Arrakis , plus the arrakis bass comes in both high and low which will give a more realistic room filling effect

But I would 100% agree with you if you auditioned Lyra on the Audio Schow / expo.
They used Nordost to ofen and CH precision amps that changes tonality and shaves off bass authority. Internal wireing in Lyra is done with Transparent Ref . So it makes sense to use this cabling.

 

[andromedaaudio]

They used Nordost to often and CH precision amps that changes tonality and shaves off bass authority.

Lol and all those headaches / problems after spending 20 K + on cabling

By the way you should nt take my opinions very seriously as i spend no more then 100 euros on cables in general

 

[Kris]

Lol and all those headaches / problems after spending 20 K + on cabling

By the way you should nt take my opinions very seriously as i spend no more then 100 euros on cables in general

But the car is great on your pic ! No a 100 dollar toy I believe.

I like others opinion a lot as I can learn .
If I dont have the others opinion I would not make a big progress I am doing.
I would be staying in my own made bubble .
My Dad use to say:
„ Even the most foolish person on this planet knows something you dont know son”
So I listen and interact as much as I can. People are great in general, they throw sometimes amazing ideas with no reason. I take them and test if it works for me.
I also spent few years traveling just to audition others systems here is Europe and US to learn what makes sense , what is not and why.
But at the end this works not just for me.
I invite local audio experts from time to time and I like they talk a lot before but never once they hear my system. Being speachless is what I do when I am home and listen.

 

[sbo6]

Advanced as in cutting edge and complex where every little detail is cared for. The Lyra cabinet is one of the most ambitious out there. Rockport are also making their own drivers.

It's all personal, but I will always choose a smaller speaker of higher quality rather than a larger one of lower quality at the same price point.

To me, technology is always secondary. I'm much more interested in the emotional side of things and the different experiences created by well curated music systems. The constant process of evaluation and learning is what this hobby is all about.

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se

Thanks for your response, however you seem to be in conflict with yourself

"Advanced as in cutting edge and complex where every little detail is cared for. The Lyra cabinet is one of the most ambitious out there. Rockport are also making their own drivers." = Technology is paramount

"To me, technology is always secondary." = Self - explanatory.

Which is it??

 

[sbo6]

Every manufaturer will tell you cabinet design is one of the most important things.
Seriously.
The point is to cabinet be as immune to the vibration as possible so it is not generating additional resonances / sounds that will be added to the sound from the individual spearkers .
If you add anything uncontrolled ( like box resonances ) to the sound its not clean anymore and it interacts with more or less great sound from speakers.
Its funny , but since I auditioned Lyra first time I cant accept any other speaker as it has some box sound .
I simply hear this immediate as it is additional thing that should not be there.
its not much of it , but its just unpleasent sometimes.
With Lyra there are no limits .
When playing at 110 db you put your hand on the cabinet and there is zero vibration.

Thanks, I'm well aware that the cabinet (or lack thereof) is a key part of speaker design. But you didn't answer my question (included again).

Can I ask how you know how the different cabinet design / material makes a difference in sonics?

Elaborating - Has anyone compared MDF, HDF, Granite, baltic birch, aluminum, composite A, B, C, employing different cabinet absorbing materials providing listening tests results and measurements? To my ears, there are many ways to skin this cat that yield excellent results.

 

[sbo6]

As far as Rockport statement , Lyra is better than Arrakis in many ways , being smaller to fit most of listening spaces. This is very smart.
It sounds as large as the old Arrakis.

I see you bought the Lyra, congrats.

WRT fitting into smaller spaces, isn't that why Rockport designed the Altair?

Also, that's interesting that you claim the Lyra sounds as large as the Arrakis with the latter being far larger (volume) with significantly more driver surface area in all frequencies except the highs. IMO I can see how the newer design of the Lyra may be of better overall sonics (clarity, cohesiveness, etc.), but scale and gestalt I have a hard time accepting vs. the Arrakis. Maybe I'm wrong and the laws of physics can be bent / broken ;-)

Enjoy your new speakers!

 

[Kris]

I am scientist. University Professor , I publish a lot in my topic.
I read a lot in all other subjects of my interest. One of them is audio , That is why I know.

I agree with you , there are many ways to skin the cat , but some are better then others .
Every company tries to find something unique as most of things are patented !
They dont want to get in trouble.

In general the less vibration the better.
For that easy cure is
1 . Big mass.
2. some viscoleastic material to dampen it.
3. sendwiching it to genearte sheer for any resonances.
4. adding reinforcements.
But this is very complex problem so there is no place here to explan it all.

Some examples of articles you need to read starting with very old one :

https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1977-03.pdf

https://www.lessloss.com/docs/20130219/LessLoss_Virtues_PRINT.pdf

Loudspeaker Enclosure Materials (Part 1)

In this article for Voice Coil, Mike Klasco (Menlo Scientific, Ltd.) reviews and looks ahead at all the materials and design approaches for loudspeaker enclosures. This article discusses enclosures using wood, MDF, plastic, plastic composites, moldable materials, coatings and pairings for those...

audioxpress.com

Loudspeaker Enclosure Materials (Part 2)

In the first part of this article, Mike Klasco discussed the contribution of the enclosure on perceived overall product quality as well as sonic clarity. This second part of the article looks closely at material testing, evaluation and manufacturability, and other more recent approaches to...

audioxpress.com

A Whitepaper: The Audibility Of Cabinet Panel Resonances and Pat. Pend. Method Of Reduction Of Audible Coloration

By: Albert Von Schweikert, Chief Design Engineer, VSA Corp. Editor’s Note: Dagogo is honored to be chosen as the platform for the first publishing of a new Whitepaper by Albert Von Schweikert. Lately, several high profile speaker companies have launched advertising campaigns using their cabinet...

www.dagogo.com

There are few hundreds articles I checked long ago, so in summery your simple question has no short answer and needs many pages of explanation.
Why dont you read it yourself ?

If I dont know I check what is published. All we know as humanity is published somwere.