Rockport Avior - thoughts and opinion?

joey_v · Nov 30, 2015

Thoughts on the Rockport Avior?

I first heard them when they were 29,500 and I thought they had good dense imaging. However, now the pricing went up to 33,000?

I heard them three times, 2x they sounded quite good. The 3rd audition was not so impressive but was a different system and was not as engaging to my taste.

I am coming from 802 Diamonds (d2). My values lie in dense PALPABLE imaging and good extension and bass. Imaging has to be realistic, first and foremost however.

I welcome any and all opinions on this, thanks!

Ron Resnick · Nov 30, 2015

I have heard the Altair and the Arrakis but not the Avior. But if those are your values I think that, in general, Rockport is a good answer.

joey_v · Nov 30, 2015

Ron Resnick said:
I have heard the Altair and the Arrakis but not the Avior. But if those are your values I think that, in general, Rockport is a good answer.

Thanks Ron!

jfrech · Nov 30, 2015

joey_v said:
Thanks Ron!

My dealer has Aviors. I've heard them dozens of times over the last 2 years. It's a killer good speaker. Really made me think as to wether to get my Altairs or save a pile of $$'s. The Aviors are that good. Like Ron said...your values are right in the Rockport sweet spot.

What's your associated gear? And who is doing the speaker set up? All of that comes into play also...

Good luck !!

Sunnyboy1956 · Dec 1, 2015

i have had the Aviors for nearly 3 years in my system. The Aviors were preceded by the Quad 2905s, ML Odsseys and B&W CDM 9NTs in that order. The Aviors come closest to a box speaker without a crossover. The individual drive units blend seamlessly with a coherence which IMHO is unique. Even if I had an unlimited budget and room size, and I don't , there is no other speaker I would rather own. Mated with a pair of REL G1s I have a soundstage and bass response that to my mind equals a 200k speaker system. Even discounting for owner pride/ bias this is one helluva speaker. YMMV

sujay · Dec 1, 2015

Sunnyboy1956 said:
i have had the Aviors for nearly 3 years in my system. The Aviors were preceded by the Quad 2905s, ML Odsseys and B&W CDM 9NTs in that order. The Aviors come closest to a box speaker without a crossover. The individual drive units blend seamlessly with a coherence which IMHO is unique. Even if I had an unlimited budget and room size, and I don't , there is no other speaker I would rather own. Mated with a pair of REL G1s I have a soundstage and bass response that to my mind equals a 200k speaker system. Even discounting for owner pride/ bias this is one helluva speaker. YMMV

+1.....I have to agree that the Aviors paired with the REL G1s work magic in my set up. I think the key is amplification. In my view, one tends to underestimate the power required to make them sing based on their benign sensitivity figure. I gathered ( in the Cygnus forum if I am not wrong) that the Aviors actually go down to below 2ohms in impedance at certain lower frequencies, which by any means are a tough load. So one could easily be led to different conclusions based on the amplification.

Cheers

Sujay

joey_v · Dec 1, 2015

So the Aviors are hard to amplify?

My digital front end will be upgraded later.. right now it is a cary 306 sacd with digital inputs for a streamer.

My preamp is tube - cary slp-05. Love it.

ricjor1 · Dec 1, 2015

Let your own ears decide. You have already listened to them on three different occasions. Yes, I ask for opinions, but only if I don't have an opportunity to hear a component on my own. I recall when the Aviors first came out and I just had to hear them. My wife and I listened to the Aviors and decided they weren't for us. There are no absolutes in Audio; therefore you can't discount "your own ears". I don't prefer the Aviors sound, but I surely can understand someone else loving them.

sujay · Dec 1, 2015

joey_v said:
So the Aviors are hard to amplify?

My digital front end will be upgraded later.. right now it is a cary 306 sacd with digital inputs for a streamer.

My preamp is tube - cary slp-05. Love it.

Hi,

I don't think they are hard to amplify like some panel speakers or MBLs; I think they could present a tricky load and hence high current amps (inducing tubes) would be preferable and will bring out the best in them.

As Pradeep has remarked, the Aviors are remarkably coherent and low distortion speakers. On a head to head with magico S5s, I clearly preferred the Avior by a wide margin. The instruments sound more saturated (not thick) and have weight and presence. So, I would strongly suggest one should audition them with different amplifiers if one has the luxury of doing so....

Cheers

Sujay

joey_v · Dec 1, 2015

sujay said:
+1.....I have to agree that the Aviors paired with the REL G1s work magic in my set up. I think the key is amplification. In my view, one tends to underestimate the power required to make them sing based on their benign sensitivity figure. I gathered ( in the Cygnus forum if I am not wrong) that the Aviors actually go down to below 2ohms in impedance at certain lower frequencies, which by any means are a tough load. So one could easily be led to different conclusions based on the amplification.

Cheers

Sujay

Sujay

Sounds like a wonderful combo. G1 + Avior. Wow

joey_v · Dec 2, 2015

sujay said:
Hi,

I don't think they are hard to amplify like some panel speakers or MBLs; I think they could present a tricky load and hence high current amps (inducing tubes) would be preferable and will bring out the best in them.

As Pradeep has remarked, the Aviors are remarkably coherent and low distortion speakers. On a head to head with magico S5s, I clearly preferred the Avior by a wide margin. The instruments sound more saturated (not thick) and have weight and presence. So, I would strongly suggest one should audition them with different amplifiers if one has the luxury of doing so....

Cheers

Sujay

Sujay

Auditioning with different amps is difficult. I have 3 amps to choose from:

Cary 211FE
Classe M600 monoblocks
Boulder 2060

The Boulder is incoming as we speak so I don't have much experience with it just yet.

Billy Shears · Dec 2, 2015

Is it true that the Beryllium tweeter in the Rockports can be a little hot?

Ron Resnick · Dec 2, 2015

Billy Shears said:
Is it true that the Beryllium tweeter in the Rockports can be a little hot?

I was worried about that, as I am very sensitive to any artificial or distracting brightness. With tubes and vinyl on both the Altair and the Arrakis I was relieved that I did not hear any hotness or brightness at all.

Prior to those auditions I surveyed as many people as I could find who have heard Rockport speakers and literally the only criticism I could uncover (and I tried hard) was that two people found them "dark-sounding and overdamped," which definitely does not raise the spectre of a hot tweeter problem -- and that is from people who did not care for the Rockport speakers (and who do like Magicos).

Billy Shears · Dec 2, 2015

Ron Resnick said:
I was worried about that, as I am very sensitive to any artificial or distracting brightness. With tubes and vinyl on both the Altair and the Arrakis I was relieved that I did not hear any hotness or brightness at all.

Prior to those auditions I surveyed as many people as I could find who have heard Rockport speakers and literally the only criticism I could uncover (and I tried hard) was that two people found them "dark-sounding and overdamped," which definitely does not raise the spectre of a hot tweeter problem -- and that is from people who did not care for the Rockport speakers and who do like Magicos.

Thanks Ron, that sounds convincing. With speakers of this quality and transparency, its always going to depend on the system, but its good to hear they dont bring any disturbing artefacts of their own....

bonzo75 · Dec 2, 2015

Ask PM flyer (Michel) for his opinions, because he had his Aviors in a room full of SMT, with Tenor Audio OTL 350 hybrids, and has now sold them for one of my favorite speakers, Analysis Audio Omega (ribbon magnetostat). I have heard them with both Tenor and Spectral SMA 400, they sounded better with Tenor.

Jeffy · Dec 2, 2015

Tenor is a darker sounding amplifier and is not a good match for the Rockport's.

sujay · Dec 2, 2015

joey_v said:
Sujay

Auditioning with different amps is difficult. I have 3 amps to choose from:

Cary 211FE
Classe M600 monoblocks
Boulder 2060

The Boulder is incoming as we speak so I don't have much experience with it just yet.

Agree, for most of us, auditioning with different amps is difficult. Which is why we feed off others' experiences. I think you can't go wrong with the boulder 2060 or the classe monos.

sujay · Dec 2, 2015

joey_v said:
Thoughts on the Rockport Avior?

I first heard them when they were 29,500 and I thought they had good dense imaging. However, now the pricing went up to 33,000?

I heard them three times, 2x they sounded quite good. The 3rd audition was not so impressive but was a different system and was not as engaging to my taste.

I am coming from 802 Diamonds (d2). My values lie in dense PALPABLE imaging and good extension and bass. Imaging has to be realistic, first and foremost however.

I welcome any and all opinions on this, thanks!

I think the retail on the Aviors went up this year. They are closer to US 40k now........

joey_v · Dec 2, 2015

sujay said:
I think the retail on the Aviors went up this year. They are closer to US 40k now........

I think retail is 32500$.

Unfortunately, my source for a used Avior has dried up with my indecision. The seller was motivated but found another buyer right before we could finalize the transaction details. It would've been a good deal for me.

It was that 3rd audition that kind of ruined it for me and left me indecisive.

On the amp end, I figured the Boulder would get it to sing.

Oh well, the speaker adventure continues.

Thanks for the guidance sujay!

sujay · Dec 2, 2015

joey_v said:
I think retail is 32500$.

Unfortunately, my source for a used Avior has dried up with my indecision. The seller was motivated but found another buyer right before we could finalize the transaction details. It would've been a good deal for me.

It was that 3rd audition that kind of ruined it for me and left me indecisive.

On the amp end, I figured the Boulder would get it to sing.

Oh well, the speaker adventure continues.

Thanks for the guidance sujay!

Anytime! Aviors do come up in the used mkt. I am sure you will find another deal....or probably another speaker you like more (-:

Good luck....cheers

Sujay

Rockport Avior - thoughts and opinion?

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