Just curious if anybody feels like updating this thread.
I've listened to the Grand Miras and the Ankaa at Audio Vision in San Francisco a few times. In both cases I felt like the sound was extremely "clean" and well defined, but the partnered electronics may have not been the best match (it was higher end Naim gear powering the Rockports).
Dont get me wrong, I love Naim gear (I've owned both the Nait 5i and the Aro tonearm), but I would really like to hear Rockport speakers with super high-powered amps (like Gryphon, Boulder, or even Parasound JC-1).
To my knowledge, Andy has been working with side-firing woofers since the Merak / Sheritans and the Hyperion (the mid / late 90s) so having almost all of his speakers now utilize the side-firing woofer configuration does not seem surprising. For a while he went down the route of separating the low end cabinets from the midrange and tweeters (ala the Watt / Puppy methodology), but now it seems like he is focused more on single cabinets, except in cases like the Mira Grand or Arrakis where you have to break up the cabinet size.
What I heard was incredible imaging and great tonal balance, but again, my next step is to hear them with huge amps behind them (300 watts or more). From what I understand, that is the best way to hear Rockport speakers.
I've listened to the Grand Miras and the Ankaa at Audio Vision in San Francisco a few times. In both cases I felt like the sound was extremely "clean" and well defined, but the partnered electronics may have not been the best match (it was higher end Naim gear powering the Rockports).
Dont get me wrong, I love Naim gear (I've owned both the Nait 5i and the Aro tonearm), but I would really like to hear Rockport speakers with super high-powered amps (like Gryphon, Boulder, or even Parasound JC-1).
To my knowledge, Andy has been working with side-firing woofers since the Merak / Sheritans and the Hyperion (the mid / late 90s) so having almost all of his speakers now utilize the side-firing woofer configuration does not seem surprising. For a while he went down the route of separating the low end cabinets from the midrange and tweeters (ala the Watt / Puppy methodology), but now it seems like he is focused more on single cabinets, except in cases like the Mira Grand or Arrakis where you have to break up the cabinet size.
What I heard was incredible imaging and great tonal balance, but again, my next step is to hear them with huge amps behind them (300 watts or more). From what I understand, that is the best way to hear Rockport speakers.