My new Rockport Atrias!

Rockportsound

New Member
Feb 6, 2015
6
0
0
I just got my Rockport Atria delivered. I have it setup with my

Sim Audio W5 -- Cardas Clear Beyond PC, Balance Clear
Classe SSP-800 -- Cardas Clear Power
Oppo 93 -- Cardas Clear M
BPT Sig Plus -- Cardas Clear Power
Rockport Atria -- Cardas Clear Light

They sound incredible. Money well spent.


The BPT Sig Plus has Wattgate, Hubble and Oxiyde(purple) outlets

Now here is my dealer recommendations...

Transparent Power RPL cables
Transparent Power Wave 8 conditioner
Transparent Ultra MM2 interconnects and Speaker cables or Gen5
Bryston BDP-1


Is the move from Cardas Clear to Transparent a good move or just a lateral one


Any input would be sincerely appreciated... Thank you in advance.
 

jfrech

VIP/Donor
Sep 3, 2012
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Austin
I just got my Rockport Atria delivered. I have it setup with my

Sim Audio W5 -- Cardas Clear Beyond PC, Balance Clear
Classe SSP-800 -- Cardas Clear Power
Oppo 93 -- Cardas Clear M
BPT Sig Plus -- Cardas Clear Power
Rockport Atria -- Cardas Clear Light

They sound incredible. Money well spent.


The BPT Sig Plus has Wattgate, Hubble and Oxiyde(purple) outlets

Now here is my dealer recommendations...

Transparent Power RPL cables
Transparent Power Wave 8 conditioner
Transparent Ultra MM2 interconnects and Speaker cables or Gen5
Bryston BDP-1


Is the move from Cardas Clear to Transparent a good move or just a lateral one


Any input would be sincerely appreciated... Thank you in advance.

First, congratulations. I've heard the Atria's many times. They are a incredible speaker. I've also heard the Cardas Clear cables and they are quiet special in their price range. Very hard to beat and do everything quite nicely. They can be bettered however. Transparent is a great choice, Rockport uses Transparent cabling internally in your speaker and also in the voicing process. I suspect your dealer can arrange for a evaluation. Even if you just get a cable or two I think you can tell...I'd expect you'd hear a lower noise floor allowing more details and space to appear. Also deeper and tigher bass and more clarity through out the frequency range. This usually comes at a cost of a higher price.

I do not think you'd be disappointed - especially if you get into the gen 5 cables...

Again, congrats !
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Manila, Philippines

cakeaudio

Well-Known Member
Jun 8, 2012
32
5
915
Southern California
Congratulations! The Atria's are awesome, there is really something special about them beyond what you would expect from Rockport. We are a dealer and have the Altair's, Avior's and Atria's here. I had the Atria's at my home for a while and loved them..

For what it's worth: I would bring the speakers more into the room away from the front wall if you can, Rockports like to be in the room a bit in most installations Ive setup. (If you can, experiment with the placement distance from the front wall until you get the bass and soundstage you like and separation / toe in for focus).

Imo there are much better power cables available than Transparent, also I personally don't like any power conditioners - just straight into the wall with a quality outlet (Hubble hospital grade is good). And I would experiment with cables, find a dealer that will lend you a set and see how you like them - but you might want to wait until you have 80-150 hours on them and you got them placed where you want before you buy cables. Adding a Nordost Qx4 field generator is very effective, again borrow one from a dealer and try it.

Happy listening.

Ken
 

Rockportsound

New Member
Feb 6, 2015
6
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0
First, congratulations. I've heard the Atria's many times. They are a incredible speaker. I've also heard the Cardas Clear cables and they are quiet special in their price range. Very hard to beat and do everything quite nicely. They can be bettered however. Transparent is a great choice, Rockport uses Transparent cabling internally in your speaker and also in the voicing process. I suspect your dealer can arrange for a evaluation. Even if you just get a cable or two I think you can tell...I'd expect you'd hear a lower noise floor allowing more details and space to appear. Also deeper and tigher bass and more clarity through out the frequency range. This usually comes at a cost of a higher price.

I do not think you'd be disappointed - especially if you get into the gen 5 cables...

Again, congrats !

Thanks so much for your feedback. Yes, I called the main office today and they recommended to start with either the Super MM2 or Ultra MM2 throughout the entire system. The Gen5 seem to be selling well, so demos are hard to come by. If there is a noticeable improvement over the Cardas Clear , it might be worthwhile to go with the Ultra Gen5. It appears that the new Gen5 Supers are better than the old MM2 Ultras. And from what I am told the New Gen5 Ultra is twice as good as the old MM2 Ultras. Let's see.
 

Rockportsound

New Member
Feb 6, 2015
6
0
0
Congratulations! The Atria's are awesome, there is really something special about them beyond what you would expect from Rockport. We are a dealer and have the Altair's, Avior's and Atria's here. I had the Atria's at my home for a while and loved them..

For what it's worth: I would bring the speakers more into the room away from the front wall if you can, Rockports like to be in the room a bit in most installations Ive setup. (If you can, experiment with the placement distance from the front wall until you get the bass and soundstage you like and separation / toe in for focus).

Imo there are much better power cables available than Transparent, also I personally don't like any power conditioners - just straight into the wall with a quality outlet (Hubble hospital grade is good). And I would experiment with cables, find a dealer that will lend you a set and see how you like them - but you might want to wait until you have 80-150 hours on them and you got them placed where you want before you buy cables. Adding a Nordost Qx4 field generator is very effective, again borrow one from a dealer and try it.

Happy listening.

Ken

Thanks very much Ken. My room is the typical basement--- 21 x 14 x 9. One good thing, the speakers sit on top of laminated wood/concrete flooring Lots of doors and windows was problematic. I bought quite a bit of room treatments from GIK Acoustics Soffit traps for the front and rear corners. Monster traps and Skyline for the rear wall. And ATS paneling at first reflection and the main screen area. Not sure I am quite done but it is close. I like a bit of a live room.

Thanks for your advice. I will try to move the speakers out a foot or so. All I can say it the speakers image quite well. I had to do a doubletake on whether the center was on! It was not. The sound stage was quite nice but the bottom end was a little bit lacking.
 

Sunnyboy1956

Member Sponsor
Feb 22, 2014
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New Delhi, India
Do share your experiences on cable swapping. FWIW I am running a pair of Aviors with Cardas Golden Ref speaker cables. All my friends tell me that I need better speaker cables but in all honesty I don't feel I am missing anything.
The Transparent Gen Ultra 5 looks promising but expensive.
My room specs are almost identical
Cheers
Pradeep
 

Altanpsx

Member
Sep 10, 2014
75
2
6
Hi sunnyboy1956,

I tried few cables with my avior, best results from transparent ref. , internal wiring of avior is also trans. Ref. . If you have a chance try it. (I am not using the updated gen., mine mm2 tech. )
 

Sunnyboy1956

Member Sponsor
Feb 22, 2014
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New Delhi, India
Altanpsx
Many thanks. I presume you mean the Ref XL and not the more expensive version which costs more than my speakers. Fortunately there is a dealer in my country. Will explore further.
Cheers
 

Altanpsx

Member
Sep 10, 2014
75
2
6
Transparent Referance, not the ref xl(if you may afford it is way better). Referance need to caliber as low/high. Ref xl needs tobe calibrated for your equipment. Try referance first, if its good enough you are lucky, if it is good but you want more....
 

Jeffy

Well-Known Member
Apr 27, 2014
475
171
348
Orchard Lake, MI
Sunnyboy, I have the Altair's and I'm using Echole Signature speaker wire. Before I was using Siltech. Echole is fantastic they make several models Omnia is their top model. Jeff
 

Rockportsound

New Member
Feb 6, 2015
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0
Hi sunnyboy1956,

I tried few cables with my avior, best results from transparent ref. , internal wiring of avior is also trans. Ref. .

Did Andy or your dealer confirmed that Rockport uses transparent reference for internal wiring?

Would you say transparent reference MM2 or the new Ultra Gen5 would be a good starting point for Rockport's Atria/Avior line of speakers?


Thanks in advance!
 
Last edited:

jfrech

VIP/Donor
Sep 3, 2012
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Austin
Did Andy or your dealer confirmed that Rockport uses transparent reference for internal wiring?

Would you say transparent reference MM2 or the new Ultra Gen5 would be a good starting point for Rockport's Atria/Avior line of speakers?


Thanks in advance!

My dealer and Andy when I met him. Not sure if it's "reference" however...

I think you'll find Ultra Gen 5 a touch better...just a guess from upgrading various transparent iterations over the years. The ref mm2 used should be a killer good buy and you're really not giving up that much. If you could somehow sneak your way in to Ref XL MM2 I'd say that's your best bet...and shouldn't be to much more than Ultra Gen 5. Just make sure you get the networks tuned...which means you might be best to buy certified used via Transparent's dealer network..

I've heard the Cardas Golden Ref (years ago) and the Clear interconnects recently. They are good...really good for the $$'s. I do think you'll find the Transperent cable better (Reference MM2 or Gen 5 and above)...but it comes at a cost. Cardas GREAT for the $$
 

Altanpsx

Member
Sep 10, 2014
75
2
6
Yes. Used mm2 eould be cheaper but a good starting point. You may upgrade anytime with an upperline(must bought from transparent network). But a warning always hard to sell transparent cable, at least depending on my experiences.
 

Sunnyboy1956

Member Sponsor
Feb 22, 2014
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Rockportsound
I mailed Andy and he confirmed that they use Transparent cables in their showroom. He was enthusiastic and positive about using Transparent cables with Rockport speakers.
John
I am having second thoughts notwithstanding the many positive recommendations regarding Transparent. I guess it's a largely personal thing and no reflection on the excellent reputation of Transparent. There is not a single capacitor in the signal path of my Wavac mono blocs and I am not comfortable introducing any artifacts in my speaker cable. I guess you could call it an old fashioned approach and sort of anti technology but so be it. I am immensely happy with the sonic performance of my system and prefer to leave it that way.
Cheers
Pradeep
 

Jeffy

Well-Known Member
Apr 27, 2014
475
171
348
Orchard Lake, MI
Sunnyboy you nailed it. Why would anyone use those cables. Open up the box and look at all the parts your signal would be going through. I just don't get it.
 

jfrech

VIP/Donor
Sep 3, 2012
2,152
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Austin
Sunnyboy you nailed it. Why would anyone use those cables. Open up the box and look at all the parts your signal would be going through. I just don't get it.

Cardas and Echole are good cables. I've heard em both. Nobody here is bashing those products nor the people using them.

I think your post is a bit harsh.

Besides, open up your speakers and look at all the parts in the crossover....
 

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