Myles B. Astor
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Rockport Cygnus at CES
- Thread starter Myles B. Astor
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philb7777
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$62,500. Available Q2/Q3. New tweeter wave guide, baffle design and crossover.
They look like basically the same speaker as the Rockport Avior (MSRP $32,500) at nearly double the price. Do these improvements warrant a $30,000 price increase?
Ken
mep
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How would you know until you heard them and understood the differences and costs associated with the drivers and crossover?
mep
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I know. It seems to be in vogue.
philb7777
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Here is more info on the Rockport Cygnus:
The new from baffle is made of two 3/4" thick, aircraft grade aluminum plates that sandwich a viscoelastic polymer, forming a 1 1/2" thick, constrained mode damped composite sub-baffle.This aluminum sub-baffle assembly is in turn bolted and bonded onto the enclosure's 3 inch thick MDF inner baffle. All of the drive units are mounted to the aluminum sub-baffle assembly, which results in a lower noise floor, as well as greater dynamic expression and resolution from the drive units themselves.
The bass system utilizes (2) brand new, custom designed and built Rockport Technologies 10" carbon fiber/sandwich composite woofers per channel in an enclosure with an internal volume approximately 50% larger than that of the Avior. Each woofer has a newly designed, 3" diameter motor system (the Avior and Atria's woofers use a 2" motor system) with even greater headroom and power handling capability than that of the Avior. Since the woofers share the same design and construction principles as the Avior and Atria woofer, they also exhibit the same ultra-low distortion figures (-60 dB!), and incredibly high thermal and mechanical headroom. With 50% greater surface area than the Avior's twin woofers, the extension, ease, and resolution of the Cygnus' bass registers is world class, especially given the enclosure's modest proportions.
The Cygnus uses the same beryllium tweeter as found in the Altair, Avior, and Atria, although it is now mounted into a custom, machined aluminum waveguide. This shallow waveguide (not to be confused with horn loading) improves the acoustic impedance match of the tweeter at the low end of its range (1800 Hz-4000 Hz) which again allows for lower distortion and greater dynamic expression from the tweeter itself, as well as improved dispersion characteristics at the midrange/tweeter crossover point. The final waveguide is precision diamond-machined and then anodized, rendering a beautiful 3-D luster, and providing an ideal mounting surface for the tweeter itself.
The Cygnus embodies all of the attributes that the Atria and Avior are known for, yet brings each of these elements to a higher performance level, yielding a loudspeaker that will transport you back to the original recorded event in a way that is unheard of at this price point. ($62,500)
The new from baffle is made of two 3/4" thick, aircraft grade aluminum plates that sandwich a viscoelastic polymer, forming a 1 1/2" thick, constrained mode damped composite sub-baffle.This aluminum sub-baffle assembly is in turn bolted and bonded onto the enclosure's 3 inch thick MDF inner baffle. All of the drive units are mounted to the aluminum sub-baffle assembly, which results in a lower noise floor, as well as greater dynamic expression and resolution from the drive units themselves.
The bass system utilizes (2) brand new, custom designed and built Rockport Technologies 10" carbon fiber/sandwich composite woofers per channel in an enclosure with an internal volume approximately 50% larger than that of the Avior. Each woofer has a newly designed, 3" diameter motor system (the Avior and Atria's woofers use a 2" motor system) with even greater headroom and power handling capability than that of the Avior. Since the woofers share the same design and construction principles as the Avior and Atria woofer, they also exhibit the same ultra-low distortion figures (-60 dB!), and incredibly high thermal and mechanical headroom. With 50% greater surface area than the Avior's twin woofers, the extension, ease, and resolution of the Cygnus' bass registers is world class, especially given the enclosure's modest proportions.
The Cygnus uses the same beryllium tweeter as found in the Altair, Avior, and Atria, although it is now mounted into a custom, machined aluminum waveguide. This shallow waveguide (not to be confused with horn loading) improves the acoustic impedance match of the tweeter at the low end of its range (1800 Hz-4000 Hz) which again allows for lower distortion and greater dynamic expression from the tweeter itself, as well as improved dispersion characteristics at the midrange/tweeter crossover point. The final waveguide is precision diamond-machined and then anodized, rendering a beautiful 3-D luster, and providing an ideal mounting surface for the tweeter itself.
The Cygnus embodies all of the attributes that the Atria and Avior are known for, yet brings each of these elements to a higher performance level, yielding a loudspeaker that will transport you back to the original recorded event in a way that is unheard of at this price point. ($62,500)
Philb7777 - thanks for sharing. I was thoroughly impressed with the Rockports I heard at Goodwins. I can only imagine how good these will be.
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philb7777
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philb7777
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My pleasure Mike. I have actually ordered Aviors and but I'm contemplating changing the order to the Cygnus. It's not a trivial difference in price, but it would be nice to have the 'latest' thinkings of Andy Payor with a new Rockport purchase. I tend to keep components/speakers for 10-12 years at a time, so It would be an investment.
I agree. Andy is passionate about what he does. I would tend to be thinking along the same lines as yourself.
What amps are you going to be using? I've heard Rockport with McIntosh, Spectral, Constellation and Sim. Spectral was exceptionally good. But I've read some horror stories about their Customer Service, so not sure that would be my pick. I would suspect Soulution 501's would be excellent as well, or a Stereo Hegel H30.
philb7777
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I currently have an all Audio Research system, with the Ref 2SE phone, Ref 5SE preamp and Ref 250 mono blocks. I enjoy the ARC sound as it gives me both characteristics of solid state sonics and tube sonics that I like/prioritize. Both my local dealer and Andy felt that it would be enough power to drive the Aviors or Cygnus and should mate well.
I heard both Constellation and Ypsilon at RMAF 2014 and really liked both of them, intact both were stellar. Constellation was with Raidho and Ypsilon was with Lansche. Heard Soulutions at RMAF too, with Focal Grand Utopias. For whatever reason, they were not a good match.
Thanks for your input and info Mike. Its increasingly hard to hear different components with loudspeakers and have the experience to draw from.
philb7777
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Thanks cmalak. Yeah, it looks like Gryphon is what Andy voices things with in the factory. I wish I could hear some Gryphon someday. I don't think they have a current US distributor/dealer network? The Gryphon/Rockport combo must be magical.
cmalak
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philb7777....A few years back I tested my electronics (Ref 3 and Ref 110) with his Mira speakers and loved the combo. I am a big Rockport fan. Your combo with the 5SE and 250s should be a super nice combination with either the Aviors or the Cygnus. Let us know which speaker you decide on and what the match with ARC sounds like when you get them installed :thumbsup:
Just curious but what speakers will you be replacing with the Rockports?
Just curious but what speakers will you be replacing with the Rockports?
philb7777
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That is great to know with your experience matching ARC and Rockport. Thanks for that piece of info!
I will be replacing Avalon Eidolon Diamonds. I have had them for just over 10 years and love them. In fact, its taken me over 2 years and lots of searching to decide on the Rockports. I can't speak highly enough of my Avalon Eidolons. They always have been up the the challenge and improved as I improved things up the chain. To my ear the Rockports have a little more robust bass and dynamics compared to the Avalons. Imaging is a toss up, but the Avalon soundstage depth and holography is hard to beat. In the end, with my ears, the dynamics of the Rockports won out.
My friend has some Avantgarde Horns and he has pushed me to consider them. I completely get why he likes them. The Rockports are just in the middle between the Avalon sound and the Avantgarde sound. They take the best attributes of both.
Thanks again for your info, and I should have a decision by mid week. I'll keep you posted.
Hi Mike,
Not grumbling at all. Merely an observation that visually they appear very similar to the Rockport Avior. Seems to me like a lot of extra money for a new tweeter wave guide, baffle design and crossover.
Best,
Ken
philb7777
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Well, I took the plunge and changed my order to the Cygnus. My payment on the Aviors will be used as a downpayment on the Cyngus. Hopefully the Cygnus will arrive sometime between late May and July. It will be a good thing on timing as my son and several of his friends will be home from college and I will need all the help I can get lugging these crates up my stairs to my listening room. I'll keep everyone posted on my (hopefully patient) wait!