The Lyra and the Orion certainly have absolutely heroic cabinets (as well as very sophisticated component technology), but an interesting relatively new competitor may have achieved similar results with a different approach at a fraction of the cost - Acora Acoustics with their granite enclosures.
Rockport Technologies Introduces Orion Loudspeaker
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I guess it's my turn to bragI 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 :
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...
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.
I'm a musician, an engineer (biomedical/electrical/ computer science), an avid audiophile for ~40 years (for better or worse). WRT music, more often than not I can tell what piano, guitar, etc. type were employed, I can tell when drummers' timing is off (and when it comes back into the groove), I know how instruments should and do sound, I recorded at and had my own home studio, and FWIW I have Synesthesia (common amongst musicians). So please drop the - I'm more qualified than you so let me show you what to read attitude.At the end of the day, better sonics specific to cabinet materials / assembly techniques is far from a finalized "best practice for best sonics" standard. Some companies use cabinet resonance(s) to achieve their sonic signature, others believe less cabinet mass = better quality driving the inherent resonances to upper frequencies and out of the audible band. Net - your generalization is the simple basic approach, not necessarily the best, again - more than one way to skin a cat.
What I do know is this - As Materials Science delivers more sophisticated composites along with advanced manufacturing technics driving cabinet and driver distortions ever - lower, we are realizing that there's more to great transducers to yield realistic and best sounding music that evokes emotion. I'm betting none of your linked articles capture that sentiment. ;-)
Have a great one and enjoy!
I guess it's my turn to brag
At the end of the day, better sonics specific to cabinet materials / assembly techniques is far from a finalized "best practice for best sonics" standard. Some companies use cabinet resonance(s) to achieve their sonic signature, others believe less cabinet mass = better quality driving the inherent resonances to upper frequencies and out of the audible band. Net - your generalization is the simple basic approach, not necessarily the best, again - more than one way to skin a cat.
What I do know is this - As Materials Science delivers more sophisticated composites along with advanced manufacturing technics driving cabinet and driver distortions ever - lower, we are realizing that there's more to great transducers to yield realistic and best sounding music that evokes emotion. I'm betting none of your linked articles capture that sentiment. ;-)
Have a great one and enjoy!
You have a great one. Auditioned Vivid G1 last year and almost purchesed it , I liked it that much.
It is in my top 3.
But before I decided to pay for Vivid I took a long trip to audition Alsyvox Boticelli in other country and after that one more trip ecross Europe to audition Rocport Lyra And YG Sonia 2.3
So I took my time to pick whats best for me.
To me any additional vibration and resonance is kind of coloration in laudspeakers.
I like that in musical instrumnts a lot as it gives them individuality, and harmonics reachness, but if it is in a speaker it is changing a little bit tonality , adds this coloration to the recorded sound. So at the end it is not identical To what was recorded. I might be just sensitive to that.
One more thing was important that metallic cones are unfortunately not for me . I love the speakers and their sound a lot with metallic cones in general, but I perceive this tiny bit of metallic texture as fatiguing in longer sessions. I wish That was not the case as I could save a lot of money buying something else.
There is no good mesure for musical emotions creation . I wish there was, but I must say that one of the WBF members mentioned long ago that he was setting thausends of systems in others homes
in his life and the best sounding and creating emotions were always the Vivid G1speakers.
Absolutely. Just the guy holds the patents so others cant use it .
He designed world famous B&W Nautilus in the past so he knows what to do.
I like your choices. I also demo'd many speakers before moving to Vivid including Rockport, Wilson, EAs, YGs, Von Schweikerts, Vandersteen, etc. To me, the most realistic and effortless for the $$ was Vivid Giyas (about tie with Vandersteens but different flavor in sound). But Rockports are very, very good, no doubt.
Also, IMO / IME all speakers are a compromise in multiple areas - a few being dynamics (e.g.: planars) and "boxiness" (cones in closed box) etc. Net - there is no perfect speaker.
Finally, cabinet resonance is one of several compromises / challenges faced with all speakers. For example - all box speakers have that burden irrespective of how low cabinet vibrations may be versus omnis / dipoles. There are + from speakers like Maggies and Alsyvox (I'm sure even though I haven't heard them) that cabinets with drivers simply can't achieve with ~50% of the drivers' energy bouncing around a little cabinet continually. Can't change physics
Enjoy!!!
Given that the Lyra has beryllium tweeters, perhaps you're not as sensitive to metallic drivers (and the fatigue you believe they create) as you thought.
As a general rule I do not care for beryllium anything in loudspeakers. Sooner or later I find them a touch edgy or harsh or hard or metallic.
Somehow Andy Payor's beryllium tweeters are the exception to this general rule for me. I truly don't know how Andy does it. I find Rockport Arrakis and Lyra endlessly musical and non-fatiguing.
So do I. If I were in the market for speakers, Rockport would be my first choice.
Thank you Ron for that opinion. I feel the same.
This is an exact reason I got Lyra. Endless pleasure.
Andy tuned the crossover to his taste and added the tweeter wave guide to change the characteristics. It almost dosnt sound like Berillium anymore.
People read that it has a berillium tweeter and they think they how it sounds without hearing it.
„This is human and this is human they are the same ” well not exactly,
I dont trust anyones opinion , I take their good experience AND I test it all myself.
Last 10 years I am testing everything I can . All the time I can.
Only if it really works for me I pay for it,
There are only 2 friends here that are exception to that.
I trust their ears so can buy based on their opinion.
I think that beryllium tweeters can be unfairly maligned as my sense is that the execution is just as important as the material. It's true, that the inverted Focal beryllium tweeter in particular has a notoriously mixed reputation and yet it was widely used in many loudspeakers. Wilson was able to tame their behavior to a considerable degree, but I never thought their top end was a sweet as the Rockports (which use beryllium but not an inverted design.) I think Dave and Daryl understood that as well which is why they eventually transitioned to their silk dome Convergent Synergy series several years ago. The Synergy tweeter was first used in the XLF and further modified for the Alexx V, (which I use now) where it's performance makes the Alexandria top end seem much cruder, less "pure" and therefore significantly more colored by comparison.
Very true.
I was considering the top Wilsons many times in my journey,
but could never fall in love with them.
Rockports met all I could ever wanted from a speaker and exceeded my expectations by a big margin after modifying cables and network in my system.
the only beryllium I like is in some horns which makes them very high resolution for nuances, and see through, electrostat like. TAD 4003 would probably be the best of them, the top Goto drivers have them, and at lower prices drivers like Radian add beryllium diaphragms which can be found in hORNs universum
I agree 100% with you Ron. This is very different tweeter based on berillium.
There is someting that Andy does to his speakers making it always a mastepiece.
After so many years , being dedicated to one goal he found his own way of delivering top products with its own characteristics that is so attractive to many of us.
Funny but once you get those speakers ( Lyra in my case) its the end game speaker.
You know it is impossible to find it elswere.
Hi Kris,
Kerem of Absolare demos at Munich with Lyras. Once I heard that system I posted that if one has the money, this hobby does not have to be that difficult. You just copy and paste that system, and (unless you're a box swapper) you are done forever!
Kerem of Absolare demos at Munich with Lyras. Once I heard that system I posted that if one has the money, this hobby does not have to be that difficult. You just copy and paste that system, and (unless you're a box swapper) you are done forever!
Absolare ran with Orion in 2023, we visited the room Friday morning and things were poor. Bass was mush/boom and overall a big disappointment. Didn't go back however many people reported great sound, can only assume they made changes or the system warmed up properly. The Orion's were saved, they sounded terrific driven by Riviera in the Audioquest room.
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