Wilson Alexx V vs Rockport Orion

Thank you all for your valuable comments and advice. I had decided to go for the Rockport Orion and made my order a few months ago.

The wait was longer than expected, as Rockport was busy finishing their new Rockport Lynx for its world debut. My speaker finally arrived eight months after I placed the order, but it was worth the wait. Straight out of the crate, the new speaker was already on another level as compared to my previous speaker, though the bass took some time to open up. After a month of breaking in, I’m in sonic heaven. Special thanks to JiminGa for his detailed explanation of the speaker’s essence. I completely agree with his comment that the speaker’s cabinet is extremely quiet, allowing for better resolution and a more realistic, natural sound. With the 13-inch woofer, the bass is out of this world. I’m very glad that I made this choice.
 
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Chpray said:
Thank you all for your valuable comments and advice. I had decided to go for the Rockport Orion and made my order a few months ago.

The wait was longer than expected, as Rockport was busy finishing their new Rockport Lynx for its world debut. My speaker finally arrived eight months after I placed the order, but it was worth the wait. Straight out of the crate, the new speaker was already on another level as compared to my previous speaker, though the bass took some time to open up. After a month of breaking in, I’m in sonic heaven. Special thanks to JiminGa for his detailed explanation of the speaker’s essence. I completely agree with his comment that the speaker’s cabinet is extremely quiet, allowing for better resolution and a more realistic, natural sound. With the 13-inch woofer, the bass is out of this world. I’m very glad that I made this choice.
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Congratulations ! I bet they sound fantastic. I do suspect they will sound better after a few more months. Maybe less dramatic as the first month but more at ease and more of that pull you in...anyway that's what I remember on my Lyras...
 
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JiminGa said:
The Rockport's have an absolutely dead quiet cabinet which allows extremely low distortion drivers to be fully heard from the beginning to the end of each note without the cabinet obscuring any bit of it. This allows for better resolution and comes across as a more realistic/natural sound. Also, the bass is different. The single 13 inch Orion woofer is a thing to behold. It couples to rooms beautifully. Finally the simple 3 driver 3 way design is the antithesis of multi driver box over box over box design. It gives up driver surface area in pursuit of absolute purity of presentation. You might prefer either one depending on your own personal tastes. The only way is to listen for yourself. You can't go wrong with either.
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Having a "dead quiet" cabinet is certainly a good thing, how you manage drivers' rear waves is another. With predominantly parallel walls and no real mechanism to absorb rear waves = distortion.

Net - no matter how inert the cabinet, it's a solid material which will reflect back out of phase energy onto the driver chassis and more importantly the cone. If only there was a speaker that eliminated this distortion? ;-)
 
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sbo6 said:
Having a "dead quiet" cabinet is certainly a good thing, how you manage drivers' rear waves is another. With predominantly parallel walls and no real mechanism to absorb rear waves = distortion.

Net - no matter how inert the cabinet, it's a solid material which will reflect back out of phase energy onto the driver chassis and more importantly the cone. If only there was a speaker that eliminated this distortion? ;-)
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It’s called open baffle dipoles :)
 
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IME all loudspeaker designs can be implemented exceptionally well and horribly and everything in between.
 
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I have not listened to the latest incarnation .
Before i heard them many times at Kharma in Breda and at a dutch dealer show .
With Boulder the bass could be a bit to much at times , but a very special speaker .
I always hope they bring it to munich so i can hear it .
At Kalshoven in Breda you can still hear them i suppose but its appointment only these days.

This would be my first choice in speaker design together with Rockport Lyra ,( regardless of price).
Cabinet built quality is extremely good ( i know where they re made ;) )
 
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But after hearing many many speakers over the past years and comparing them to my own ..... i miss nothing .
Here and there something may be but not in overall package .

And you know how it is with speakers once your hook them up in your own home / amplification then the troubles starts :cool:.
Something our local expert Bonzo still has to learn
 
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andromedaaudio said:
But after hearing many many speakers over the past years and comparing them to my own ..... i miss nothing .
Here and there something may be but not in overall package .

And you know how it is with speakers once your hook them up in you own home / amplification then the troubles start :cool:.
Something our local expert Bonzo still has to learn
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Why I told everyone you have the best speakers.
 
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JiminGa said:
I have heard both the Orion and the XVX (not the AlexxV) in the same room with the same equipment. The Orion in my opinion is the better overall speaker. When Peter set up the XVX they had a demo. Josh a few months later set up the Orions in the same room. As explained in an Audiogon post by an attendee there were maybe 8 men who heard both demos. ALL 8 preferred the Orions. Everyone I’ve talked to at the store (and they sell both) would by Orions over Alexx V. And they verified the Audiogon post about preferring Orion to XVX. So that’s maybe 12/12 people who would buy Orions not just compared to Alexx V but compared to XVX! Also the Lyra are not definitely better than Orion. I’ve heard both extensively including in Rockports own listening room. The Lyra is quieter and has a springier upper/mid bass. The Orions new drivers including the 13 inch woofer are amazing and couple to the room differently. Which you prefer is up to you but you have to actually hear it first. Everyone has their own tastes and things that make them happy. The better speaker is the one that makes YOU happier. No one can answer that for you.I’m just relaying what I know about other people’s preferences. You might disagree and that’s fine.
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I own an XVX. I wouldn't remotely consider any Rockport speaker over it. Robert Harley Editor of TAS removed the Lyra and replaced it with his XVX which he currently still uses as his reference. He recently reviewed the Orion but he did not even compare it to his XVX, which will surpass either the Lyra or Orion in every sonic category. Neither speaker is in the same league as an XVX. He has heard all three speakers in his custom built listening room for months of extensive listening and is a friend of AP of Rockport. I trust his ears and evaluations. The Orion is a 3-way speaker. I would place it in the class as the Alexia V. Since his Orion review he has reviewed numerous extremely expensive statement level loud speakers and the XVX remains his reference. There is a reason for this. The XVX has the ability to make almost any recording sound good. It is an extremely musical loudspeaker. It wants to please the listener unlike many loudspeakers yet it remains incredibly resolving and its dynamic ability is simply incredible. I It sounds good with tubes and SS gear. It is a reviewer's ideal loudspeaker and is also Michael Fremer's long standing reference. It reproduces live performances at totally realistic SP levels without a hint of strain. The XVX is -6dB at 11 Hz and will produce 110dB bass tone at 24 Hz with 1.5% distortion. Distortion measurements at reasonable sound pressure levels are inaudible 20 cycles to 20 thousand cycles. Demos are notoriously unreliable for judging a speaker. Volume 15 / Number 3 July - Sept 2021 MC extensive review HFC.
 
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I heard the XVX now many times .
XVX full range .... wonder why they put a sub in the room .

LYRA is more coherent / more revealing / better soundstage / better balanced /
Better cabinet
Simply lets you hear the music flow more naturally without faults / distractions.

Wilsons on VTL / ARC / CAT makes them much better imo , but not LYRA level
 
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Charles I’m glad you like what you have. There is no “best” only what is best for us. Have you heard Orion and XVX in the same room with the same electronics? I spent 9 hours doing so and came to the opposite conclusion. Not that it matters what others think but when Wilson set them up in Omaha at TSE they had an open house presentation. Rockport then had an open house presentation in the same room/electronics several months later with Orion. Of the 15 or so attendees that attended both presentations. NONE (that I or the people that work there know of) preferred the XVX. Let that sink in. How many times do people with opinions actually take the time (and have the opportunity) to compare directly under identical conditions? Harley is just a guy like you or me but he’s heard lots of speakers. To be clear he referred to his five best speakers he’s heard. Lyra and Orion were two of them. I assume XVX, M6 and WB are the other three so they are all comparable. Next month I will fly to hear XVX with Gryphon Apex and airforce 1 and Lyra with Relentless and DCS in the same house with purpose built rooms. I’ll let you know how they compare.
 
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