Rockport Technologies Introduces Orion Loudspeaker

MAXPWR

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Dec 1, 2019
34
44
105
Iowa, High-End, Fly-Over Country
FROM ROCKPORT TECHNOLOGIES:

SOUTH THOMASTON, Maine, May 18th, 2022 – After three years of intense development, and building on 30 years of cutting-edge loudspeaker design, Rockport Technologies is excited to introduce the all-new ORION loudspeaker. In keeping with Rockport’s understated, yet timeless style, the ORION strikes an impeccable balance of elegance and raw performance. The ORION is available for pre-order today and is shipping this summer with a retail price of $133,000.

The entire enclosure for the ORION is comprised of just three components; the inner cast aluminum housing, the outer carbon fiber main housing, and the outer carbon fiber baffle shell. The fabrication process completely eliminates the design constraints imposed by conventional construction methods, and owing to this design freedom, the ORION’s form has been fully optimized for ideal drive unit placement, reduction of internal standing waves, and minimum edge diffraction, ensuring an unhindered, coherent wave launch.

“The fundamental absence of any enclosure-induced noise has a profound effect on the ORION’s presentation, yielding an incredibly low noise floor, unmatched dynamic contrasts, and astonishing low-level information retrieval,” says Andrew Payor, Rockport’s founder and Director of Technology. “Like the LYRA, the ORION’s DAMSTIF2™ enclosure is unique in that it has no conventional joinery, no fasteners, and simultaneously achieves the multiple goals of maximum damping, stiffness, and mass.”

Essential to the success of the ORION are three newly developed drive units; the new, custom, carbon fiber sandwich cone 13-inch woofer, capable of delivering authoritative, first-octave response with staggering headroom and grip, an all-new 7-inch carbon fiber sandwich composite midrange with densely saturated tonal colors and unmatched transparency, and a 1.25-inch waveguide mounted beryllium tweeter with virtually perfect pistonic behavior, resulting in ultra-low distortion and extraordinarily transparent, extended, and dynamically realistic high frequencies.

The aesthetic appeal of the ORION is a direct expression of its purpose-suited design, and legendary Rockport performance has been attained by virtue of each design choice. Fluent in every musical language, the ORION is your personal gateway to the vast realm of recorded musical artistry and destined to become an instant classic. Rockport Orion SPK.JPG
 

MAXPWR

Well-Known Member
Dec 1, 2019
34
44
105
Iowa, High-End, Fly-Over Country
FROM ROCKPORT TECHNOLOGIES:

SOUTH THOMASTON, Maine, May 18th, 2022 – After three years of intense development, and building on 30 years of cutting-edge loudspeaker design, Rockport Technologies is excited to introduce the all-new ORION loudspeaker. In keeping with Rockport’s understated, yet timeless style, the ORION strikes an impeccable balance of elegance and raw performance. The ORION is available for pre-order today and is shipping this summer with a retail price of $133,000.

The entire enclosure for the ORION is comprised of just three components; the inner cast aluminum housing, the outer carbon fiber main housing, and the outer carbon fiber baffle shell. The fabrication process completely eliminates the design constraints imposed by conventional construction methods, and owing to this design freedom, the ORION’s form has been fully optimized for ideal drive unit placement, reduction of internal standing waves, and minimum edge diffraction, ensuring an unhindered, coherent wave launch.

“The fundamental absence of any enclosure-induced noise has a profound effect on the ORION’s presentation, yielding an incredibly low noise floor, unmatched dynamic contrasts, and astonishing low-level information retrieval,” says Andrew Payor, Rockport’s founder and Director of Technology. “Like the LYRA, the ORION’s DAMSTIF2™ enclosure is unique in that it has no conventional joinery, no fasteners, and simultaneously achieves the multiple goals of maximum damping, stiffness, and mass.”

Essential to the success of the ORION are three newly developed drive units; the new, custom, carbon fiber sandwich cone 13-inch woofer, capable of delivering authoritative, first-octave response with staggering headroom and grip, an all-new 7-inch carbon fiber sandwich composite midrange with densely saturated tonal colors and unmatched transparency, and a 1.25-inch waveguide mounted beryllium tweeter with virtually perfect pistonic behavior, resulting in ultra-low distortion and extraordinarily transparent, extended, and dynamically realistic high frequencies.

The aesthetic appeal of the ORION is a direct expression of its purpose-suited design, and legendary Rockport performance has been attained by virtue of each design choice. Fluent in every musical language, the ORION is your personal gateway to the vast realm of recorded musical artistry and destined to become an instant classic. View attachment 93072
Here are the specs for the Rockport Orion Speaker that I got from my dealer:
Woofer 13" carbon fiber sandwich composite
Midrange 7" carbon fiber sandwich composite
Tweeter Waveguide mounted 1.25" beryllium dome
Height 50.3
Width 14.3 (20.3 with feet)
Depth 26.4
Weight 360 lbs. each
Frequency response 20 - 25 kHz, -3dB
Nominal impedance 4 ohms
Sensitivity 90 dB SPL/2.83 V
Min. amplifier power 50 Watt
 
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CKKeung

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Jun 17, 2011
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" ... The price of the Orion is $133,000 per pair, and it is available for preorder now with deliveries beginning in July. ..."

 

jfrech

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Sep 3, 2012
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Seems like another great Rockport speaker ! I love the color. :)
 
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MadFloyd

Member Sponsor
May 30, 2010
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Would love to hear it!
 

andromedaaudio

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Jan 23, 2011
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I saw it in the other rockport room.
Looks great but my battery ran out , i ll take pics tomorrow.
I listened to the avior 2
sounded nice but also bass issues
 

dandylinpsst

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Jun 12, 2010
68
18
1,563
I can't believe it's Andy design!
How to separate the market between Lyra, Orion and Cygnus?
 

andromedaaudio

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Pics from the munich room 22 with the new model on static display.
 

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Ronboco

Member
May 9, 2022
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I saw it in the other rockport room.
Looks great but my battery ran out , i ll take pics tomorrow.
I listened to the avior 2
sounded nice but also bass issues
Hello andromedaaudio,
Were the bass issues with the Avior 2 from the room or the speaker? Thanks

Ron
 

andromedaaudio

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Jan 23, 2011
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Hello andromedaaudio,
Were the bass issues with the Avior 2 from the room or the speaker? Thanks

Ron
Its very difficult to say .
I cannot tell you right now , it might be a set up issue.
The Lyra bass was excellent so assuming rockport knows the deal it might indeed be a set up issue.
By the way if you can stretch it go for the Lyra , that is a endgame speaker
 

Ronboco

Member
May 9, 2022
28
24
8
59
Its very difficult to say .
I cannot tell you right now , it might be a set up issue.
The Lyra bass was excellent so assuming rockport knows the deal it might indeed be a set up issue.
By the way if you can stretch it go for the Lyra , that is a endgame speaker
I would love to be able to afford the Lyra but I’m going to have to be satisfied with my Avior ii and Boulder 866. I am finding excellent bass in my room with them. Happy listening!
Ron
 
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Hyperion

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Oct 3, 2011
441
231
950
Stockholm/Sweden
Hello andromedaaudio,
Were the bass issues with the Avior 2 from the room or the speaker? Thanks

Ron
Rockport has zero bass issues. They're better controlled, nuanced and refined compared to most of the competition in my opinion.

There might have been room related bass issues on some tracks during the show in Munich though, which is more or less mandatory during show conditions such as these. Shows in general are not the place for serious evaluation, but it might give you some ideas regarding what to explore further.

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se
 
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andromedaaudio

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Jan 23, 2011
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That might very well be the case with this rockport speaker.
But very often demonstrators use " show conditions " or " not the right cable" as an easy excuse .
Dealers do it too sometimes , all kind of BS like the powercable isnt good , its the speaker cable or its the interlink ....etc.
 

Hyperion

Well-Known Member
Oct 3, 2011
441
231
950
Stockholm/Sweden
That might very well be the case with this rockport speaker.
But very often demonstrators use " show conditions " or " not the right cable" as an easy excuse .
Dealers do it too sometimes , all kind of BS like the powercable isnt good , its the speaker cable or its the interlink ....etc.

This is just not true. I’ve got both Atria II and Avior II on the demo floor here with some experience.

I’ve had clients used to ”more bass” or excessive/uncontrolled bass imho choosing other speakers than Rockport.

They do need proper amplification to drive them though - as many of the alternatives on this level within the same segment.

If bass control is a high priority, Boulder or Pilium are both great choices for amplification.

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se
 

amadeus

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Jan 13, 2018
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Looks like the "Pregnant" version of the Rockport Atria speaker retailed around 27500$ but the Orion whit few inches bigger woofer is 133000$...
To me the prove that Rockport speakers are going to a wrong direction and that prices are skyrocketing without substantiated justification.
 

Hyperion

Well-Known Member
Oct 3, 2011
441
231
950
Stockholm/Sweden
Looks like the "Pregnant" version of the Rockport Atria speaker retailed around 27500$ but the Orion whit few inches bigger woofer is 133000$...
To me the prove that Rockport speakers are going to a wrong direction and that prices are skyrocketing without substantiated justification.

If you care to do some research you will learn that Orion is rather a trickle-down version of the Lyra (which is a very ambitious and advanced design) rather than an upscaled Avior II or Cygnus. The larger beryllium tweeter and the 13" inch carbon fiber woofer are also brand new designs, now first introduced in the Orion.

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se
 
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andromedaaudio

VIP/Donor
Jan 23, 2011
8,350
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If bass control is a high priority, Boulder or Pilium are both great choices for amplification.

Its obligatory at these price points afaik
May be the Absolare amp wasnt able to control the woofers fully in the absolare room / munich.

The CH did a very good job on the Lyra , according to the demonstrators it was with 1 % feedback
 

Hyperion

Well-Known Member
Oct 3, 2011
441
231
950
Stockholm/Sweden
Its obligatory at these price points afaik
May be the Absolare amp wasnt able to control the woofers fully in the absolare room / munich.

The CH did a very good job on the Lyra , according to the demonstrators it was with 1 % feedback

All designs have their strengths and limitations. A hybrid design (as in the case of Absolare) won't grip the woofers in the same way with the solidity, tightness and speed of the very best SS designs. They do excel in other areas though such as timbre, texture and soundstaging offering a very natural and organic presentation.

/ Marcus, www.perfect-sense.se
 
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CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
The Orion was demonstrated by the Hong Kong dealer during the HK High-end Audio Visual Show 2022.

IMG_20220807_141501.jpg

It was paired with VTL amps and Bricasti dac ?
IMG_20220807_120946.jpg

They are beautiful !
IMG_20220807_121120.jpg

The out-trigger and feet :
IMG_20220807_121151.jpg

IMG_20220807_121227.jpg

The bigger woofers make the sound very effortless and natural.
I like them!
I'm wondering : I may even prefer Orion to the flagship Lyra.
:D
 

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