Rockport Altair 2

[LL21]

So I finally finally heard these. I also had the even greater pleasure to meet Madfloyd who kindly joined for the audition. I am reserving this slot since I want to think carefully about such an august speaker.

Many thanks for Goodwins for their time...I have known Paul since 1993...and trust him and his hear. They are first class and have always looked after me. Just scheduling this took 3 tries because of our travel schedule.

System
DCS Vivaldi
Constellation Virgo and Centaur
MIT ref cables

Music
Eric Clapton Unplugged
fabric 15 deep house
Sherlock Holmes Hans Zimmerman
Rodriguo and Gabriela live in Japan
Rachel podger channel classics Vivaldi extravaganza
Snoop dog blue carpet
Amos tobin deep electronic house beats
Vivaldi prof Johnson reference recordings

Initial impressions

As MadFoyd can confirm, when we first sat down I thought impressive, soundstage not much diff than what I imagine my X1s might have done in the room. Detail 10-15% better. Eric Clapton track 1 guitar...my first question to Madfloyd who plays guitar was...is that really the full weight ofa guitar? Really? Mid strings feel lite...missing the impact of the resonance of the guitar body.

Bass slam on electronica was lite but I am so used to X1s and bigvelodyne I did not think much of it's liteness...maybe I am spoiled. I did not critique but was not impressed relative to Merck sheritan IIs I heard long ago which for the money were amazing.

Classical was beautifully articulated and spacious...i played this after clapton and rodriguo...and the classical also had slightly less bass impact heavy transients...But I still did mention to Madfloyd about preferring deeper bass because it helps with spacial cues and sense of aura around orchestral...oh well, so far impressive but no way I walk away and think dramatic improvement over my 20 yr old speakers. I preferred xlfs for sure but recognized set up was all new.

Then...about 1 hour in or so...Sherlock Holmes Hans Zimmerman was so much better...I was stunned. I was so stunned at the uplift from what I normally hear...I was sure something had changed and went back to Eric Clapton. Blam! String mids beautiful, full...bass weight much better slam...and soundstage much much deeper more deliberate. By this time we had also moved the couch back 3 feet because someone had left it too far forward and there was no soundstage.

I went outof the room to ask Paul about this...no way that's normal. How long was system on beforehand? It felt like something had warmed up. Turns out someone accidentally kicked the power cord of the pre and Paul plugged it in before we came in so not as much warm up. Big difference...huge actually.

nOW you're talking. And the warm up and deep puirty of tonality continued to improve for the 30 min I stayed after Madfloyd had to leave.
This s one seriously good speaker.

- transparency. Well based on the above, the transparency is exceptional...you really hear far, far into the playback chain. If someone whose never been in the room or heard the exact system can hear the warm up of the preamp so distinctly, that is a very transparent speaker. I feel confident I would not be able to do that with SF strads for example..much as I loved mine when I had them. It just changed completely.

- soundstage. For those love this stuff...I appreciate it but don't pine away for it. The room was maybe 30-35 by 20 by 10-11 high ( feet). Speakers at 16 feet apart and 10 feet into room...so quite far apart and close to the 20 foot width.

Eric cLapton unplugged. Eric Clapton was 12-15 back from front facade of the speakers.
Rodriguez and Gabriela - 5-7 feet back and 10-12 feet apart...they did move a bit
Sherlock Holmes...that kettle drum is 30 feet back...that was very very cool.

- bass wallop
Very extended and more detailed than what I heard from XLF but that's not saying one is better given room and set up. Just what I heard,
What I liked most is its organic detailed propulsive and very very balanced...people who enjoy will feel a very satisfactory bass power and balance. Bass freaks will still want more...but hey, we're bass freaks!

- ease and dynamics
My favorite part of these speakers presentation...how easy it makes it all seem. Nothing thrown at you, not deep sound staging nor pure tonal beauty, nor the ability to play multiple complex lines and keep it all intact, nor balanced coherent broad sound range.

It is fast but does not appear fast. The only way I can tell its fast is the level of complex detail it handles where each musical instrument maintains its own musical line perfectly and easily listened to on its own, despite the complex orchestral...plus the stable imaging of a delicate flute in the back or a harpsichord...while bass is plowing off to one side and strings in the middle...all distinguishable and tonally pure...without any image waver whatsoever...means it is delivering each instruments exact information without letting that instrument bleed into the presentation NFC another instrument.

- voice/mids
Think rockport solidity with delicacy and nuance. For someone who likes electrostatics, wants to hear full decay which I am convinced is part of a natural feel to music reproduction and fullness to their images and instruments...I think Altair is one of the finest examples I have heard. The fact that it weighs 515 lbs and delivers the solidity you would hope to get from such an inert heavy speakers is the icing on the cake which makes this kind of purchase really, really, really satisfying.

Prelim Conclusions

I can see why some have advised me they put the Altair against the X2...and the XLF has more scale but not necessarily more coherence, tonal purity or deep articulate sound tagging. I think for the footprint, the XLF cleverly gives a taller speaker that MIGHT just edge out in dynamic range...sense of space. But the Altairs do deliver a deeper soundstage than I have ever heard with the big Wilson's (and I have lost count as to how many times I have heard and auditioned big Wilsons in various locations incl my home). So you might not lose anything with Altair on that score.

Given the price differential, I think once again consistent with my thoughts on meta sheritan ii of old...rockport is sensational value and true sota. I would love to hear the Arrakis which is priced much closer to XLF and in fact given the value for money of the Altair intrigues me as t how it compares with the mighty Genesis 1.2 more than XLF.

[Mike]

Great write up! Thank you for sharing. I recently heard the Rockport Aviors (last Wednesday). They were ok. Nice speakers.

[cmalak]

Mike....the Altair IIs are on a different scale than the Aviors (both in terms of design and execution and therefore price - >3X cost of Aviors). They are in a different league from the Aviors. I think the D3 retail for $66K in black and $73K for Walnut Burl, while Rockpport does not have a model at that price point, the Altair IIs in the $97K range is the fairer compaarison point to the D3, than the $29K Aviors.

LL21...thx for your write-up. Paul at Goodwins is the man!

[LL21]

Mike....the Altair IIs are on a different scale than the Aviors (both in terms of design and execution and therefore price - >3X cost of Aviors). They are in a different league from the Aviors. I think the D3 retail for $66K in black and $73K for Walnut Burl, while Rockpport does not have a model at that price point, the Altair IIs in the $97K range iss the fairer compaarison point to the D3, than the $329K Aviors.

LL21...thx for your write-up. Paul at Goodwins is the man!

Agree...I personally felt like they competed with the X2 Series very very well other than pure scale (which is a characteristic I happen to love so its important to me)...but the Altair's get midrange guitar strings so right, it was beautiful...the sounding ring in the air of the guitar when Clapton strums was really, really beautiful. And my gut told me somewhat greater ease/alacrity than even the X2 Series 2...though i'd need a shootout for sure to be truly certain. And with someone there at the audition who plays guitar, it was nice to get the benefit of his confirmation as well about how pure that sound was. Sure, the system was clearly part of the entire effort...but having spent a little time with Rockport before, I really got the sense that the Altair was doing a lot of things right at a pretty extreme level. Wonder what would happen if someone threw the Rockport Active Crossover behind it (used for Arrakis) and biamped these things with 2 Gryphon Colosseums or Mephistos? How close to the X2 Series 2 on scale would one get with that extra oomf and linearity? hmmm...the price would probably still be way lower too...

[joeinid]

Lloyd,

Thank you for the great info and reviews.

[Mike]

Mike....the Altair IIs are on a different scale than the Aviors (both in terms of design and execution and therefore price - >3X cost of Aviors). They are in a different league from the Aviors. I think the D3 retail for $66K in black and $73K for Walnut Burl, while Rockpport does not have a model at that price point, the Altair IIs in the $97K range is the fairer compaarison point to the D3, than the $29K Aviors.

LL21...thx for your write-up. Paul at Goodwins is the man!

I would love to hear it. I just found the Aviors were just "ok" - and not better than the Revel Salon 2's IMHO. The tweeter was a little more edgy. That being said, it was a less than stellar demo. The dealer was FAR too interested in showing us his new DSP room correction widgy-ma-flidgy. The three of us couldn't have been more uninterested! We kept asking to hear the speakers - he kept wanting to show us his new DSP digital preamp (all three of us huddled over his shoulder as he showed us its accompanying software). He's showing guys who are tube and vinyl lovers how to RE-digitize the signal and how great his 16/44 room correction/digital preamp was (it wasn't). So we took 24/192 digital, converted it to analog (through a Bel Canto DAC), back to digital, back to analog as a 16/44 output. Hurray.

When we finally got to the ARC preamp/Mc Preamp combo driving the Rockports, we were rushing to leave. I would love to hear them again at a proper setting like Goodwins. The Altair II's too.

I heard the XLF's and although they are impressive, their sheer size is overwhelming to say the least. The Alexia is a better value IMO - given that it costs 1/4 of the XLF and sounded a little more coherent (to my ears) and would work in almost any room to boot. The XLF looked massive in this 20 x 30 room. But, they did sound "big" too....in a good sense.

[Mike]

Agree...I personally felt like they competed with the X2 Series very very well other than pure scale (which is a characteristic I happen to love so its important to me)...but the Altair's get midrange guitar strings so right, it was beautiful...the sounding ring in the air of the guitar when Clapton strums was really, really beautiful. And my gut told me somewhat greater ease/alacrity than even the X2 Series 2...though i'd need a shootout for sure to be truly certain. And with someone there at the audition who plays guitar, it was nice to get the benefit of his confirmation as well about how pure that sound was. Sure, the system was clearly part of the entire effort...but having spent a little time with Rockport before, I really got the sense that the Altair was doing a lot of things right at a pretty extreme level. Wonder what would happen if someone threw the Rockport Active Crossover behind it (used for Arrakis) and biamped these things with 2 Gryphon Colosseums or Mephistos? How close to the X2 Series 2 on scale would one get with that extra oomf and linearity? hmmm...the price would probably still be way lower too...

Thanks Lloyd. I would love to hear these. I wonder if Rockport will be at RMAF this year?

....I wonder if they monitor their dealers....just saying....

[LL21]

From Sound Environment's website regarding RMAF: The Sound Environment is Rockport's only representative in this region. Audition the Rockport Avior in The Sound Environment Room 1125. This may have been from RMAF 2012...but hopefully they will show Rockports again.

[Mike]

From Sound Environment's website regarding RMAF: The Sound Environment is Rockport's only representative in this region. Audition the Rockport Avior in The Sound Environment Room 1125. This may have been from RMAF 2012...but hopefully they will show Rockports again.

I sure hope so. I would love your opinion on the D3's if you ever get a chance to hear them.

[Petro85]

I would love to hear it. I just found the Aviors were just "ok" - and not better than the Revel Salon 2's IMHO. The tweeter was a little more edgy. That being said, it was a less than stellar demo. The dealer was FAR too interested in showing us his new DSP room correction widgy-ma-flidgy. The three of us couldn't have been more uninterested! We kept asking to hear the speakers - he kept wanting to show us his new DSP digital preamp (all three of us huddled over his shoulder as he showed us its accompanying software). He's showing guys who are tube and vinyl lovers how to RE-digitize the signal and how great his 16/44 room correction/digital preamp was (it wasn't). So we took 24/192 digital, converted it to analog (through a Bel Canto DAC), back to digital, back to analog as a 16/44 output. Hurray.

When we finally got to the ARC preamp/Mc Preamp combo driving the Rockports, we were rushing to leave. I would love to hear them again at a proper setting like Goodwins. The Altair II's too.

I heard the XLF's and although they are impressive, their sheer size is overwhelming to say the least. The Alexia is a better value IMO - given that it costs 1/4 of the XLF and sounded a little more coherent (to my ears) and would work in almost any room to boot. The XLF looked massive in this 20 x 30 room. But, they did sound "big" too....in a good sense.

That's what keeps me from going to hear alot of equipment anymore. For me it's a whole day to drive there listen and drive back . And Ive had more experiences like that than I would care to remember. I'm there to look at a $10k turntable , please stop trying to sell me a $30k DAC!!!! I drove 5 hours round trip once to hear some amps once the guy told me the day before they were there. When I got there he told me they were just sold.
Well they opened at 11. I got there at 11:15 and I was the only one there.
Then he said "well I have much better amps than those" I told him it wasnt a used car lot and that's the oldest trick in the book and left.
Although I'm not listening to $96k speakers. I still feel disrespected 8 out of every 10 stereo stores I been to.
Oh sorry I was just venting. . Lmao!!!

[LL21]

I heard the XLF's and although they are impressive, their sheer size is overwhelming to say the least. The Alexia is a better value IMO - given that it costs 1/4 of the XLF and sounded a little more coherent (to my ears) and would work in almost any room to boot. The XLF looked massive in this 20 x 30 room. But, they did sound "big" too....in a good sense.

Interesting...they are big without doubt. Having bought my 20-yr old X1/Grand Slamms second hand, I fortunately got a very good deal and am very pleased and consider myself fortunate indeed. Now, they don't feel so big anymore. In fairness, I give Wilson a lot of credit for creating a serious SOTA speaker with lots of dynamics and slam and space...in a 19" x 24" footprint. Sure, its 6' tall, but look at some other big speakers...Sonus Faber, Tidal Sunrays, Genesis 1.2s, Gryphon Pendragons, Arrakis, Focal Grand Utopias (which feel a lot bigger than X2s/XLFs) which are even bigger in fact. And it can be dialled to fit an 8' listening distance. Extremely flexible for such an imposing speaker. Very impressive. And yes, I do think it sounds good too.

[socfan12]

Just saw this thread.

First, great review, Lloyd! Rockport makes some wonderfully musical speakers. I heard the Aviors with Constellation gear and really liked them. I called Rockport and talked to Andy - great guy who loves to talk about his speakers and how to get the most out of them! Loved his energy and enthusiasm!

Mike, agree with you that the tweeter was edgier than the Salon 2s, but I also felt the Avior was more musically resolving and I appreciated the low level detail it presented. I slightly prefer the Avior over the Salons, not sure why, but it's close.

Having said that, another speaker is still calling my name...

[LL21]

Just saw this thread.

First, great review, Lloyd! Rockport makes some wonderfully musical speakers. I heard the Aviors with Constellation gear and really liked them. I called Rockport and talked to Andy - great guy who loves to talk about his speakers and how to get the most out of them! Loved his energy and enthusiasm!

... I slightly prefer the Avior over the Salons, not sure why, but it's close.

Having said that, another speaker is still calling my name...

...which is???

[joeinid]

...which is???

TAD?

[socfan12]

You know me well, my friend!

[joeinid]

You know me well, my friend!

You could always "augment" your Salon2 with a nice pair of CR-1's

[socfan12]

Haha, I have not forgotten, Joe!

[joeinid]

Haha, I have not forgotten, Joe!

Thanks Allen.

Prices have dropped with pick-up

[mdkim]

I would love to listen to these bad boys one day.

[hiro100]

I heard the Rockport Avior and Atria today. I'm rarely blown away by a speaker but I thought these two speakers were just superb. Disappeared like few speakers I've heard and the reproduction of vocals and acoustic guitar was just stunning. Other strengths were depth of imaging and balance from bass to treble. I kept hearing the Rockport had a denser tonality and this was true but I was taken back by just how much resolution these speakers let through yet was extremely musical. I could have kept listening to them. Electronics were BAT stereo amp and preamplifier with Esoteric DAC/CD Player. Now I really want to hear the Altair and Arrakis!

[joeinid]

Wow!

The Rockport must be stunning. BAT tube or SS gear?

I heard the Rockport Avior and Atria today. I'm rarely blown away by a speaker but I thought these two speakers were just superb. Disappeared like few speakers I've heard and the reproduction of vocals and acoustic guitar was just stunning. Other strengths were depth of imaging and balance from bass to treble. I kept hearing the Rockport had a denser tonality and this was true but I was taken back by just how much resolution these speakers let through yet was extremely musical. I could have kept listening to them. Electronics were BAT stereo amp and preamplifier with Esoteric DAC/CD Player. Now I really want to hear the Altair and Arrakis!

[MDP]

Wow!

The Rockport must be stunning. BAT tube or SS gear?

It won't be long Joe, and we will get to hear it ourselves !!!!

[hiro100]

Wow!

The Rockport must be stunning. BAT tube or SS gear?

It was BAT SS. Stereo Amplifier.

[wizard]

Altair 2 with Eggleston Savoy at Audiogen.

agen1.jpg

agen2.jpg

Now FS.

[wizard]

5035060_orig.jpg

8536747_orig.jpg

384943_orig.jpg

[dlb2]

Great shots Wizard. I don't know about the Altairs but all that vinyl gives me heart palpitations!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wizard]

In Red Wine color.

[sharkmouth]

Now "that" is "saxy"!!!

[johnthomas]

Now "that" is "saxy"!!!

I concur 100%. Gorgeous looking!

[wizard]

In Audi Daytona Grey Pearl.

[Paul]

Now "that" is "saxy"!!!

Remind me the Fifth Element movie. Don't know why

[sharkmouth]

Probably because she sang the shit out of it too....

[dev]

In Red Wine color.

I wanted to say you always provide incredible pics of product and thank you for taking the time to share.


Curious, do you have your own personal set and if so care to post some pics along with what it consist of.

[LL21]

Beautiful, Wizard...and up close and personal, both the Altair and Arrakis are equally beautiful. I really like both speakers a ton.

[LL21]

...in fact, I'd love to do a shoot out between a pair of Arrakis and a pair of Altair 2s with 2-4 subs expertly setup. In a room 17 x 33...I wonder if there would be much between the two in terms of scale...any thoughts out there?

[David.m]

...in fact, I'd love to do a shoot out between a pair of Arrakis and a pair of Altair 2s with 2-4 subs expertly setup. In a room 17 x 33...I wonder if there would be much between the two in terms of scale...any thoughts out there?

I have Avior in a 23 x 18 x 8 room and they easily fill the room pretty much flat down to 20Hz (measured in room). The Altair 2's are a dream for me but I suspect they could almost be too much, if only I had a 10 foot ceiling in that room. I suspect Altair 2 alone would be near perfect for a 17 x 33 space, though if you have 10 foot + ceilings...

[joeinid]

Welcome to the forum David!

[LL21]

I have Avior in a 23 x 18 x 8 room and they easily fill the room pretty much flat down to 20Hz (measured in room). The Altair 2's are a dream for me but I suspect they could almost be too much, if only I had a 10 foot ceiling in that room. I suspect Altair 2 alone would be near perfect for a 17 x 33 space, though if you have 10 foot + ceilings...

I have heard the Arrakis in a room with those dimensions and a tall ceiling...and I can tell you I felt no overhang whatsoever...just more of everything one could want. I was amazed at how controlled it felt. And effortless. I do think ultimately some of it is by the uppers/mids being so powerful they are loafing along...but I am kinda hoping even the Altair would be loafing and with great subs, would be able to match in a room that size.

[cmalak]

I have Avior in a 23 x 18 x 8 room and they easily fill the room pretty much flat down to 20Hz (measured in room). The Altair 2's are a dream for me but I suspect they could almost be too much, if only I had a 10 foot ceiling in that room. I suspect Altair 2 alone would be near perfect for a 17 x 33 space, though if you have 10 foot + ceilings...

David...welcome to AS

Tell us about the rest of your system feeding the Aviors. Big fan of Rockports here. Thx

[David.m]

Thanks for the welcome guys.
Cyril, my sources are analogue - Thales TTT-C/Simplicity, Lyra Atlas, RCM Theriaa phono, digital - Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD, amp - ASR Emitter II Exclusive + Battery Power Supply, the Avior's, cables are a Thales phono & Argento Flow IC's/speaker, HRS isolation. I couldn't be happier & am hoping this set-up will do me for quite a few years

[socfan12]

Welcome to AS, David! Great setup you have there, well done!

[Cavl]

Thanks for the welcome guys.
Cyril, my sources are analogue - Thales TTT-C/Simplicity, Lyra Atlas, RCM Theriaa phono, digital - Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD, amp - ASR Emitter II Exclusive + Battery Power Supply, the Avior's, cables are a Thales phono & Argento Flow IC's/speaker, HRS isolation. I couldn't be happier & am hoping this set-up will do me for quite a few years

Welcome to AS, David. Impressive list of equipment - I can understand you being quite content. I'm very interested in hearing about your ASR Emitter amplifier, so I'll likely send a PM later.

Van

[Jazzhead]

1262826_231069403746765_637565716_o.jpg1618283_231069450413427_1449535243_o.jpg1973802_231069467080092_1428737602_o.jpg

[Jazzhead]

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[Jazzhead]

How do I post a full scale pic , thru it's url ?

[LL21]

I heard the Rockport Avior and Atria today. I'm rarely blown away by a speaker but I thought these two speakers were just superb. Disappeared like few speakers I've heard and the reproduction of vocals and acoustic guitar was just stunning. Other strengths were depth of imaging and balance from bass to treble. I kept hearing the Rockport had a denser tonality and this was true but I was taken back by just how much resolution these speakers let through yet was extremely musical. I could have kept listening to them. Electronics were BAT stereo amp and preamplifier with Esoteric DAC/CD Player. Now I really want to hear the Altair and Arrakis!

I think that is an excellent description of the sound each time I have heard Rockports...3 times, 3 systems. Merak Sheritan IIs, Altair 2, Arrakis. It really is something to behold. I keep talking about scale in order to describe the fact that a guitar or a voice just seems 'fuller'...but you have described it better...denser tonality. The guitar string really is powerful and dense...so is the voice. No bigger but definitely more powerful. Kinda like the difference between an [underamped] Martin Logan CLX where the voices are beautiful, ethereal and well placed in space, but a bit ghostly...vs an XLF where the voice may not have quiet the placement...but it is SOLID. the Altair and Arrakis are SOLID...but in comparison to the sound I heard with the XLF twice and the Arrakis once, the Arrakis was far MORE tonally solid, powerful, quiet, etc...than anything I have heard other than Genesis 1.1s which were expertly re-built and setup in a custom room.

[LL21]

...in fact, I'd love to do a shoot out between a pair of Arrakis and a pair of Altair 2s with 2-4 subs expertly setup. In a room 17 x 33...I wonder if there would be much between the two in terms of scale...any thoughts out there?

Having spoken with a couple people, I actually think a relevant shoot-out would be:

- Arrakis with 1 stereo amp or maybe 1 set of monos vs
- Altair 2 with 1 stereo amp plus dual subs

Why? For some, the idea of 4 monos, plus the extra full set of ICs to go from preamp to Active Crossover and then from Active Crossover to 4 monos...is a huge leap of cost, space, and setup/maintenance.

I think for some monoblocking a pair of XLFs, Raidho D5s, Focal Grande is commitment and cost enough! Is perfectly driving an Altair with subs going to compare well with an Arrakis that is perhaps less than optimally setup?