Following my review of the floorstanding Magico S5 Mk.II last February,1 I spent some time with two-way stand-mounted speakers from Aerial Acoustics, Bowers & Wilkins, and Dynaudio. As much as I appreciated the small speakers’ virtues, I found myself missing the big Magico’s bass extension and ability to play loud; my next loudspeaker review, therefore, would be of another floorstander.
It’s been a while since we published a review of a Rockport Technologies loudspeaker. Michael Fremer raved about Rockport’s Antares in August 2002, which at the time cost $41,500/pair.2 In September 2004, he was also impressed by the combination of the Rockport Merak II loudspeaker and Sheritan II subwoofer ($29,500/system).3
I’ve been consistently impressed by the sound of Rockport speakers at audio shows over the past few years, so I asked Rockport’s Andy Payor for a pair of Avior IIs.
The Avior II
At $38,500/pair, this three-way design is almost identically priced to the Magico S5 Mk.II and is very similar in height, width, and weight—a back-breaking 220 lbs—but is significantly deeper. The review samples were finished in a high-gloss piano black, and the speakers’ appearance belied their bulk. Other than on the stepped rear panel, there’s hardly a straight line to be seen: the top slopes down, the sidewalls are gently curved, and the sloped-back, 6"-thick front baffle is faced with inset black felt and narrows toward the top, to optimize the tweeter’s acoustic environment.
The raked-back enclosure is heavily braced and features a triple-laminated, constrained-mode-damped construction with sections of varying thickness, and stands on an integral base, which has a subcompartment for the potted crossover circuitry. The network is wired point to point, and uses film/foil capacitors manufactured exclusively for Rockport Technologies as well as custom inductors and Caddock power resistors. All the crossover components are matched to within 1% tolerance, and each individual network is fine-tuned for the specific drive-units with which it will be used.
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