Rockport owners.

While I never owned Rockport, I got to hear the Arrakis at Godwin’s High End and let me tell you it was the best I ever heard. While I am not sure on the electronics as it was 8 years ago, I believe it was all Spectral Electronics with a Berlkey Dac and a laptop.  All I can say is WOW.  If I ever won the big lottery, it would either be a system with the best Rockport speakers or the MBL Extreme speakers.  

How would you say they compare to some of the big Wilson’s? 

Ebm which Mágico do you have?

I have never owned Rockports but heard some at RMAF. The were my best sound at show.

I hears Rockports once, and they were good, and totally disappeared as sound sources, which was impressive.

Odd that no Rockport owners responded. 

I recently upgraded to a pair of Rockport Avior IIs.  I spent a long afternoon listening to them before purchasing them.  What struck me was the detailed but smooth midrange - vocals were almost spooky.  If I closed my eyes, it sounded like the singer was in the room with me.  Bass lived up to its billing, too.   After hearing a Ray Brown Trio song, I started queuing up every bass heavy cut I could think of.  It was not about quantity (plenty of that) but about how incredibly articulate it was.  The best I have heard.  All the other audiophile stuff - soundstage, speed, dynamics, were all there.  It’s really well balanced, with no real weak spots.  One more thing - you can listen to average non-audiophile recording and still enjoy them.  You can tell the recording isn’t the greatest, but still enjoy the music.  That was a key to me.
I have listened to some of the big Wilson’s, but they were not my cup of tea.  It seamed like there might be ten super-audiophile recordings that you could just listen to and relax.  Everything else I heard seemed to be reproduced with a focus on the flaws of the recording.  Just my take, obviously lots of folks love them.

I haven’t been able to hear Magicos, as there are no dealers near me.  
About the only complaint I can think of is that the Aviors revealed a weak spot in my system that I had to fix to get what I heard at my dealer.  I had previously skimped a bit on power cables.  I didn’t think they made a big difference.  The Rockports immediately revealed that I was wrong.  My dealer loaned me I the same ones on their demo system and the magic I heard previously was back.  Fortunately the power cables were only moderately expensive by current standards and I was able to trade my cable in for their full value.

I think these are likely my ‘forever’ speakers.  I may tinker with the rest of my system, but the Rockports are here to stay.

Mikemeeks thank you for the detailed description of the Rockports. Can you tell a bit more about the setup,  what equipment you use etc?

One reason that people keep their Rockport speakers is they are so heavy and difficult to ship,,,who wants to do that....easier just to say you love them and live with them....much like a marriage...

There sqre many good speakers and great ones out there. Magico, Marten, borreson, vimberg, tidal...just to name some. 

Lol,  all good ones are heavy. Hopefully there’s a better reason than that. 

I am asking the same question right now about Vandersteen. The Vandersteen's seem to have a cult-like following as well. It is strange because you always see Wilson and Magico mentioned when you get these top speaker lists, but Rockport and Vandersteen not so much. I am curious why too?

Price increase rockports jan 1 2021

Amen.

I auditioned the Rockports in the guise of Mira II and Cygnus- very memorable performances. Extremely cohesive and balanced speakers. 
I was unable to purchase the Rockport as there aren't many in the pre-owned section in my part of the world but the dealer offered me the Cygnus at almost the price of a new pair of Atria II after I bought a Kharma S7S.     

So what did you BUY?(carey).HELLO!!

I auditioned  the Rockport Atria, Magico S3 and have heard various Wilsons.  I also heard the Rockport Atria, Wilsons, Joseph Audio Pearl's and I believe Magic S5.  They all had tonal differences with all the other variables thrown in.  Wilsons have never done anything for me regardless of model, just my bias.  I think the Magico's would work with very careful matching since they are more on the analytical side.  The Rockport sounded wonderful, and the one that really surprised me for musicality was the Joseph Audio Pearl.  It would be on my must audition list in that price range.  It was probably my favorite at that price point at RMAF.  

I bought and sold the Wilson Alexia. Now considering the Wilson Alexx vs Rockport Cygnus vs Rockport Altair 2

Isn't the Alexx a lot more $$ than the other two? What are you planning on driving these speakers with? 

I’m putting a spectral system together however I haven’t finalized the amp yet till I decide on the speaker.  I have a old Krell 300c right now which I’ll upgrade after the speaker choice.  

Which do you think have the best low level detail

One reason that people keep their Rockport speakers is they are so heavy and difficult to ship,,,who wants to do that....easier just to say you love them and live with them....much like a marriage...

Not Rockport but my reason not upgrading yet. LOL! Lucky still happy with my speaker.
Heard neighbor’s Altair II with VTL Siegfried II and Ypsilon sources. Full body, resolving, powerful, organic ...  He upgraded to Arrakis and now Altair is available if interested.

Heard Alexx at event with Bob McGrath. Exceptional speaker. Little dark with MSB amp. Too bad didn’t use Momentum.
Bottom line can’t go wrong with any at price range. All great just matter of taste.

I would take YG Sonja 2.2/2.3 over both (and have heard Alexx and Altair 2 extensively). All 3 take big SS monos to drive. Spectral might work best tonally with the Wilson and its paper drivers. But it sounds if you've sold multiple Wilson speakers they may not be for you. You might take your amp to your next demo to confirm compatibility?

kiethr- selling my Wilsons was only to move up the chain not because I didn’t like them. Hoe er I did hear the YG Anat and I I felt it to be dry and uninvolving. 

Just kicking tires!!

@carey1110 hopefully not on Audionet or Soulution, or I’d agree too. The old Anats were bright IMO. The new hybrid tweeter is exceptional.

I really enjoyed the SF Reference line on classical recently and Lilium or Aida might be a perfect match for your musical taste. Not the warm closed in sounding SF of old. 

I read a review where the writer was comparing his Rockports to a similarly priced competitor. he went on gushing about the 4'' front baffle, and rock solid imaging the rockports excelled at and the exquisite build and finish. I'm a believer in solid cabinets paying dividends in sq all else being equal, that said  I can't comment personally on their sound.