Arrakis 2

Roysen

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My guess here is the inertness of has cabinets has something to do with not needing this...

http://rockporttechnologies.com/#/enclosures/

That is probably very true but a doubled size in driver area would also decrease the excursion of the drivers to produce the same SPL which again would decrease distortion.

But I am not in any way meaning to be negative to the Arrakis bass. I am sure it is absolutely outstanding and among the very best in the market. I am also sure there is a reason why Andy has chosen to do it this way. I am just curious as to what that reason might be.
 
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LL21

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That is probably very true but a doubled size in driver area would also decrease the excursion of the drivers to produce the same SPL which again would decrease distortion.

But I am not in any way meaning to be negative to the Arrakis bass. I am sure it is absolutely outstanding and among the very best in the market. I am also sure there is a reason why Andy has chosen to do it this way. I am just curious as to what that reason might be.

All I can say is that the sound I heard was one of the 2 best ever, the other being Genesis 1.1s (customized). The rest of the SOTA speakers I have been fortunate to hear did not fall into this class of sound I heard:

- XLF (X2, X1 as well)
- Grand Utopia EM
- Tidal Sunray/Tower Sub
- SF Aida
- YG Anat II
- CLX/Descent Sub System
- Q5, SF Strad, Thiel 5, Maggie 3 series, Hansen Prince, Apogee Stage
 

Jazzhead

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Jazzhead

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LL21

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Beautiful photos! Thanks for posting! I have seen some but not all of them!
 

rockitman

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I want to see Arrakis on Ultra 5's. I don't understand why they would not work under the stock footers and transform them like they do for every other high end speaker they are used under.
 

jfrech

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I want to see Arrakis on Ultra 5's. I don't understand why they would not work under the stock footers and transform them like they do for every other high end speaker they are used under.

I'd love for someone to try under the Altairs or the Arrakis...

One thought on why the Rockport's might react differently is the cabinet construction. The outer and inner shells dissipate a lot of vibration, possibly in a different way than other speakers. So if the stillpoints are controlling/dissipating vibes...maybe these speakers have less vibes to control/dissipate. But until we try...it's just a opinion...
 

Jazzhead

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Jazzhead

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Jazzhead

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Synergy

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Jazzhead

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MRJAZZ

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Andy has started to design speakers that have front-firing bass drivers simply because people have a hard time wrapping their mind around side-firing drivers. If Andy Payor says there is no difference, I believe him. IMHO, there isn't another speaker designer who knows more. However, sometimes you have to deal with misconceptions. I believe his main reason designing a speaker with a side-firing driver was to reduce the width of the cabinet, not because it sounds different.

PRECISELY SO.........HE wants to limit the width of the cabinets.......makes sense to me......
 

Jazzhead

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LL21

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Are those from Edward Lau's setup in Hong Kong?
 

LL21

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Another awesome photo, Wizard. Thanks! 2 sets of Krell Master Ref Amps (500lbs-600lbs each), Meridian 808, ARC Ref 40 maybe and Continuum TT? And of course an Arrakis 2 (active). That should be quite a combination.
 

Jazzhead

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LL how can you tell they are active ? Would he need 2 sets of the MRA if they are ?? Some serious power on tap !!!!
 

Roysen

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I am still dreaming of three systems. They will hopefully still be in order of priority:

Tidal Audio La Assoluta speakers driven by six cannels of Tidal Audio La Assoluta amplification with new revolutionary Lithium battery technology as well as preamplification with integrated phono stage also with this new battery technology. Analogue playback will hopefully be through a fully stacked Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn with a Koetsu Coralstone Platinum cartridge with diamond cantilever upgrade. CD player will hopefully be Orpheus Labs Heritage transport and DAC latest version. SACD player will hopefully be CH Precision D1, CH Precision C1 and 2x CH Precision X1. DVD and Blu-Ray playback will hopefully be Constellation Audio Sirius (K am still hoping they will make it a comercial product). File based playback will hopefully be through the combination of Light Harmonic Sire The Source, Light Harmonic Sire The Streamer and Light Harmonic Sire The Dual DAC.

Rockport Technologies Arrakis II & 2x Wilson Audio Thor's Hammer driven by Goldmund Telos 5000, FM Acoustics Resolution Series 118 and Master Audio Systems Helius.

Magico Q7 & 2x Magico QSub-18 driven by darTZeel NHB-458 and Dynaudio Arbiter.

In this post I am looking for feedback on what you think about these combinations and in particular the Rockport combination. It will also consist of FM Acoustics Resolution Series 268-C linestage, FM Acoustics Resolution Series 223 phonostage, Rockport Technologies Sirius III Turntable and Tonearm with Lyra Olympos cartridge. As you can see much is relying on Rockport Technologies and FM Acoustics which I think is a great match and fantastic equipment. Additional I have brought in Wilson Audio Thor's Hammer, Master Audio Systems Helius, Goldmund Telos 5000 and Lyra Olympos, which I consider top of the line in term of performance for all of them. It remains to be seen though how the synergy will be together. Something as simple as differences in amplifier gain can turn into a real problem and when you consider the complexity of this hookup of components and cables it seems like a sure thing for causing trouble.

The FMA 268-C has two balanced analogue outputs on XLR. I am going to plug in the FMA118 amps to one of the FMA 268-C outputs using the FMA P.I.T. balanced interconnects. The FMA 118 will then drive the Arrakis tweeter, midrange and midbass by being plugged directly to the Arrakis internal passive crossover with the FMA Forcelines loudspeaker cables. Then I am going to plug a FM Acoustics P.I.T. Y-cable into the other FMA 268-C output. Into one end of the Y-cable I will plug the Arrakis II active analogue 2-way stereo crossover. Into the other end of the Y-cable I will connect a pair of Wilson Audio The Controller active analogue 2-way mono configured crossovers. Into the Arrakis crossover I will plug the Goldmund Telos 5000 amplifiers with a pair of Siltech Triple Crown interconnects to drive the Arrakis II deep bass by plugging in a pair of Transparent Audio Magnum Opus speaker cables. Into the Wilson Audio The Controller crossovers I will plug the Master Audio Systems Helius amplifiers with a pair of Siltech Triple Crown interconnects to drive the Wilson Audio Thor's Hammer subwoofers by plugging in a pair of Transparent Audio Magnum Opus speaker cables. By using two Wilson Audio The Controllers in mono configuration I want to play the Wilson Audio Thor's Hammers in stereo and avoid to sum up their outputs and play both mono. The three crossovers used can also solve any gain problems since all these crossovers can adjust its output level and by doing so have all speakers matched in level.

In the Tidal Audio system the entire system will be sold as a whole including power amplifiers, linestage, phonostage and cables. This system has first priority and will be finished first. I assume synergy will not be a problem in this system where all components are from the same manufacturer. So I am not asking so much about that. I am pretty secure in this regard.

In the third system there will be no gain problems with the subwoofers since the QSub-18 have their own internal crossover and amplifier where output level can be adjusted independantly. However to drive the Magico Q7 by bi-amplifing them with darTZeel NHB-458 and Dynaudio Arbiter might prove problematic. I hope maybe Herve Deletraz can be persuaded to adjust the gain of the darTZeel amplifiers on delivery to match the gain of the Dynaudio Arbiter. The speaker cables here will be Kimber Kable Black Pearl. Interconnects will be the new top of the line from Tara Labs or the best from Kharma.

So come on beat me, make fun of me, agree with me or what ever. Just bring your opinions forward. They are highly appriciated.

Thanks,
Roy
 
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LL21

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LL how can you tell they are active ? Would he need 2 sets of the MRA if they are ?? Some serious power on tap !!!!
Hi Jazzhead...sorry I missed this. I believe the bottom black piece of equipment is the Active Crossover? And yes, with this, you need additional amps because the active crossover splits the signal and then send the 2 signals to the different amps. The Arrakis 2 is active as in active crossover, not as in actively (internally) amplified.
 

LL21

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Roysen,

Awesome systems! As you are rightfully asking, are they the optimal combinations...or is there a way to optimize them? in the case of the Wilson active controller and the Rockport active crossover, my question is CAN you drive the tweeter directly as you say, and even if you can, are you losing anything by bypassing the Rockport Active crossover in doing so?

I agree it IS a lot of configuration...but clearly the end of the chain (Arrakis + dual Thors) is certainly formidable and worth trying to setup optimally. Arrakis 2 is surely one of my 2 favourite speakers that I have heard myself ever...Gary's massive 4-panels are the other (though I've only heard the older version). The big Wilsons are third, but no big Wilson setup has ever demonstrated (for me) the comparable level of effortless scale of these 2.

1. I would ask Andy Payor.
2. Since you are not using the Wilson Active crossover to split signals to treble/mid and bass...but you are using it only to tailor the bass signal to the Thor, are there 'better' or different crossovers that you can insert in front of the Thors that wont require you to need 2 Wilson Crossovers (since they're mono)?
I know a Wilson dealer who said the original Wilson crossover was not particularly good, and used to recommend people consider different crossovers. He likes the current one much better, but I suspect he would equally say there are other good crossovers out there...and likely better ones.
 

Roysen

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Hi Lloyd,

My understanding is that the active crossover for the Arrakis is only used to drive the sidemounted bass drivers. The midbass, midrange and tweeter have their own internal passive crossover inside the Arrakis. Have I misunderstood this.

An option for me would be a pair of active mono 3-way FM Acoustics Resolution Series crossovers to handle the Arrakis and Wilson active crossover points. Other options would be DEQX or Trinnov digital crossovers with built-in room compensation and speaker compensation.

All the best,
Roysen
 

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