Rockport Technologies has been working diligently on a loudspeaker that will fill the void between our Avior and Altair models. The new loudspeaker is called the Cygnus (the Swan) and will retail for $62,500 USD. While it shares many of the same design elements as the Avior and Atria, there are some important distinctions. In summary, these are : The main cabinet construction is similar to the Avior in that it uses multiple layer, constrained-mode damped MDF panel construction with comprehensive internal bracing to both stiffen the enclosure and break up structure-born and acoustic resonant modes. The Cygnus also features our new Aluminum/MDF hybrid construction, whose baffle is machined from 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 enclosures 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) 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 Atrias 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 our 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 Aviors twin woofers, the extension, ease, and resolution of the Cygnus bass registers is world class, especially given the enclosures modest proportion. 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. Numerous prototype waveguides were modeled and manufactured using the stereolithography process until the optimum waveguide profile was achieved. 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 I believe will transport you back to the original recorded event in a way that is unheard of at this price point. The Cygnus will make its debut at the 2015 CES, and will be shown in the DCS suite at the Mirage hotel.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 19:34:57 +0000
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