My Rockport Saga

[LL21]

I was told the NHB-108 didn't do well with 4ohm loads. Maybe the amp was the problem?

John, you have my curiosity piqued. As you know I have Sashas at my home and a Rockport dealer fairly close by... hmm.

NHB-108 and 4ohm loads is a bone of contention i recall. I have been told by Dartzeel dealer it does not handle those loads well...and many here will confirm (and also strongly refute) that advice i received. Your Sashas are also, i think?, one of the toughest loads in the Wilson family with an infamous dip to sub 2ohms somewhere in the upper bass if i am not mistaken?

As for Rockport...would that be Goodwins High end in Waltham? I have not seen Paul in 20 years, but remember him from the '90s when he was at a different place in Cambridge selling SF, Thiel and Krell. Great guy. I've spoken with him a little while ago, and hope to see him this summer when we visit Boston.

Please let me know what you think of Rockport if you do hear them.

 

[Elberoth]

It all depends what do you mean by 4 Ohm speaker. Sasha is a 4 Ohm speaker, but dips to 1.8 Ohm in the bass. This is definately too tough of a load for darTZeel, as I could check in my system.

However, there are plenty of 4 Ohm speakers that do not dip below 3 Ohms heavily, and those speakers the darTzeel will drive with aplomb.

 

[jfrech]

I was told the NHB-108 didn't do well with 4ohm loads. Maybe the amp was the problem?

John, you have my curiosity piqued. As you know I have Sashas at my home and a Rockport dealer fairly close by... hmm.

It's worth a drive to the Rockport Dealer. Again, I love my Wilsons...had 4 different models...the Rockports are special imho...

 

[Roysen]

Elberoth:

The Altair and Arrakis cabinets are constructed from a composite based material. The rest of the line is MDF. All of Andy's speakers are hernia inducing. I have the Aquila and they weigh 300 lbs each.

Ken

As far as I know the Arrakis baffle is made from carbonfiber, and the Altiar baffle from glassfiber.

 

[microstrip]

I was told the NHB-108 didn't do well with 4ohm loads. Maybe the amp was the problem?

John, you have my curiosity piqued. As you know I have Sashas at my home and a Rockport dealer fairly close by... hmm.

Early NHB-108's had problems driving tough loads - I gave up on it many years ago. However, some time later they upgraded the protection system and now it is my experience that a three years old NHB108 drives the Aida's (also a difficult load) with ease.

 

[LL21]

As far as I know the Arrakis baffle is made from carbonfiber, and the Altiar baffle from glassfiber.

Yes, i have read an article which said exactly this...i think it was Ultraaudio trip to Rockport's facilities in Maine, USA.

 

[jfrech]

Yes, i have read an article which said exactly this...i think it was Ultraaudio trip to Rockport's facilities in Maine, USA.

I agree here...a friend in Austin has the Arrakis...they are clearly carbon fiber....when I visted the Rockport facility last fall...they showed me a cut away piece of the Altair 2...it was a glass fiber shell filled with some sort of damping compound (a lot of it). Look here http://rockporttechnologies.com/#/enclosures/ then 2nd tab on the right...

 

[LL21]

I agree here...a friend in Austin has the Arrakis...they are clearly carbon fiber....when I visted the Rockport facility last fall...they showed me a cut away piece of the Altair 2...it was a glass fiber shell filled with some sort of damping compound (a lot of it). Look here http://rockporttechnologies.com/#/enclosures/ then 2nd tab on the right...

Cool shot! Thanks.