Thanks Zephyr.

Goodwins did a great job and the 2 folks that came were a pleasure to work with and both great guys.

babybear May 23, 2012 12:18

Babybear....thanks for all the background info. I hope that you enjoy the new speakers very much! I'm also glad to hear Goodwin's hasn't lost their touch; they are a class act to be sure!

zephyr24069 May 22, 2012 19:00

Hi Zephyr and Kevinzoe,

Thanks very much.

I really enjoyed my system with the Magico M5's. It is a wonderful speaker and paired with the 2 Rel Studio III sub bass systems in my room the sound that I was able to achieve was, at least to me, one of the better systems that I have had the opportunity to hear.

Having said that, I have always liked Rockport speakers. I have heard the Rockport Altair on 2 occasions over the past 3 years and always enjoyed what I heard. I then heard the new Rockport Avior paired with VTL electronics at the 2012 CES and again, I really liked what I heard. Given the size of my room, I began to think that perhaps a truly high quality, extraordinarily engineered, physically larger speaker that is expertly setup with my room might be able to achieve a level of sound that a physically smaller speaker might not be able to do. When the opportunity to get the Arrakis arose, I decided to do it. I had not heard the Arrakis but I was able to speak with a person who owns a pair which helped convince me. The question that i had to think through carefully was whether to get the passive version or the active version of the Arrakis. The active version has an active external crossover and requires two full sets of amplifiers, an additional 2 pairs of IC's, additional power cords, amp stands, etc. Again, I was able to speak to several people that I trust about about an active speaker system such as this and became convinced that an active system done correctly makes it possible to achieve even higher levels of performance.

Goodwins High End from Boston came down last week to setup and dial in the speakers with my 2 Rel Studio III sub bass systems and my room and they did an amazing job. They were here for almost 3 days doing the work. The sound exceeds my expectations regardless of what medium I use (CD, SACD, LP), or what type of music I play.

babybear May 21, 2012 12:56

Congratulations on your further system upgrade and adopting a very beautiful set of speakers. What prompted your change in speakers to the Rockports?

zephyr24069 May 21, 2012 09:12

Hi Babybear/Arnie,
Congrats on one sweat looking system!

Did I see in your equipment list a reference to Magico speakers that preceeded your Rockports? If so, then care to mention why you changed?

I don't see any acoustical treatments listed in your equipment list - could you tell me about what you have, and where it's placed? For example, are the 3 polyfusers to the side of each speaker helmholtz bass trap while the curved nature diffuses the mids/high frequencies to reduce comb filtering effects? Or is it something completely different? Sorry but I noticed the right wall has a middle treatment that isn't the same height as the ones on either side of it - how come?

Lastly, what's your room's dimensions and do you have freq and time dimension measurements?

Congrats on a wonderful looking room and system! Kudos.

kevin

kevinzoe May 20, 2012 23:19

Hi Arnie,

Thank you!!! Well, someday, if i ever find it...passive it is! I saw that the owner of one of the pairs had his upgraded to Arrakis 2 with the active crossover...so that can be done a future date.

But in any event, looks like i will keep my eye out for passive. Enjoy your incredible system!!!!!!!!!!!!

lloydelee21 May 20, 2012 19:10

Hi Lloyd,

Thanks very much.

While I am certainly no expert, if you were to have the passive version of the Arrakis which has no external active crossover you should be able to run that version of the Arrakis with a stereo amp (and that version of the Arrakis is single wire as well. The version that I have is the active version which can only be run with 2 sets of amplifiers. In my case 2 sets of VTL Siegfried mono blocks (4 amps). The 2 Arrakis setups that you have seen must have been the active version. Also, the active external crossover is configured with balanced inputs only from the preamp and 2 sets of balanced outputs only to the amps.

I am happy to answer any questions. Hope that helps,

Arnie

babybear May 19, 2012 22:31

Babybear,

Absolutely incredible. As JFrech says, if i ever upgrade from my Wilsons, this is probably the only way to go. i too have heard other Rockports and been impressed.

I own a Gryphon Colosseum dual-mono. I have seen only 2 setups with the Arrakis...both had 2 sets of monos...4 amps! Am i going to be able to run the Arrakis 1 (original) with 1 dual mono Gryphon Colosseum??? Thanks for any advice!!!

lloydelee21 May 19, 2012 18:03

Hi Metralla,

Thanks very much.

You are right in that the Arrakis definitely don't need the 2 Rel Studio III's but since I already had them, we went ahead and dialed them in and once the integration of the Room, the 2 REL Studio III's and the Arrakis was completed the sound was simply breathtaking.

babybear May 19, 2012 13:02

Hi Eddie,

I hope everything is well with you.

My wife said the same words to me!!

You have got to come on down to hear this setup. The Magico M5 setup was so good but the Rockport Arrakis in the active version are something very special. Let me know.

babybear May 19, 2012 12:57

Fantastic addition - they look simply fabulous in your room. It's hard to imagine the Arrakis need the 2 Rel subwoofers, but boy, the bass must be mind-blowing. Congratulations on your whole system - just delightful to read about. Thanks for posting.

Regards,

metralla May 19, 2012 12:20

Arnie, you are crazy! It's not even Summer time, so you can't blame the Texas heat. Your room sounded amazing already. Congrats and can't wait to hear the new addition.

zerv May 19, 2012 03:33

Thanks so much John.

I am looking forward to hearing your system once the room acoustics project is finished. Of course you are welcome to come by anytime to hear my system with the bi amped Arrakis.

babybear May 18, 2012 22:00

Hi Arnie, Rockports are fabulous speakers, if I ever get the itch to move off wilsons, Rockports are definitely it. I've heard some of their other models and the transparency is astounding. Congratulations ! I am sure they sound fantastic in your room!

jfrech May 18, 2012 21:38

System edited: I've just completed a major system upgrade. I have moved to the Rockport Arrakis 2 speaker system from my wonderful Magico M5 speakers. The Arrakis 2 uses the Be tweeter and a Rockport external active crossover that takes the signal from the VTL 7.5 Series 3 preamp and splits it between the bass drivers of the Arrakis and the mids and highs. The crossover has adjustable gain for each channel. I am driving the Arrakis with 2 sets of the VTL Siegfried mono block amps both using the Gold Lion KT 88 tubes. Goodwins High End from the Boston area flew down to my home to do the setup. They did an amazing job of integrating the Arrakis with my 2 Rel Studio III subs and most importantly my room. The sound is nothing short of amazing (at least to me).

babybear May 18, 2012 12:50

System edited: I changed my digital front end to an all MSB digital front end. I now have the MSB Platinum CD IV with the Signature power base mated with the MSB Diamond DAC IV with optional clock module powered by the Diamond power base.

babybear April 12, 2012 22:49

Hi Babybear
Sounds like a homerun.
Thank you for your insight.

rugyboogie February 29, 2012 05:01

System edited: I've made some changes. Replaced my Audio Excellence Power Wing conditioner with the Absolare Purifier power conditioner that is powered from a wall socket with an Echole Signature Power Cord. There is a very significant improvement in sound quality compared to the Power Wing (and the Power Wing was very good). Also replaced my Audio Desk RCM with the Loricraft PRC Deluxe RCM.

babybear February 28, 2012 14:40

Hi Rugyboogie,

Thanks very much.

My previous table was a Steve Dobbins Garrard 301. I would say that the Beat is better than the Garrard in the following areas:
1. A significantly lower noise floor
2. Image Stability of performers within the soundstage
3. Wider and deeper soundstage
4. Deeper and tighter bass
5. The sense that the table never loses control over the musical performance even on complex musical passages
6. Upper frequencies sound even more natural and real.

Hope this helps.

babybear February 28, 2012 14:02

Hi Babybear
Stunning system, great room and love your Beat table.
Can you describe how the Beat betters your previous table when you have time please.
Thank you,

rugyboogie February 28, 2012 03:45

Hi Arnie,

I heard the Rel at a dealer once and was quite impressed. I can only imagine how two would sound.

I forgot about the new Reed arm. I will have to check it out on their web site. I got to hear the Schroeder LT vs the Reed at RMAF last year. The bass was better on the Schroeder but the highs where a little nicer on the Reed. They both had the Allnic Puritas. Of course the Schroeder was just a prototype. Steve says they are still deciding on the best bearing to use.

I have heard The Beat a couple of times. Once in Mike Lavinges system and once at RMAF. One of the best TT's I have heard. If I had more funds I would love to have one.

Sean

sarcher30 February 19, 2012 17:37

HI Sean,

Thanks very much.

I started out with one Rel Studio III and it made a significant improvement and then 6 months later I tried the second one and it was even better so I went with 2 of them.

I have talked to Steve about the Linear Tracking arm as well so it will be interesting to hear it once they have it ready to go. I have also asked him about the new Reed 2P arm that came out in the last couple of months - it has both on the fly VTA and Azimuth adjustment and uses 3 bearings instead of 4.

I really enjoy The Beat. Works like a champ and sounds so amazingly good. I've had mine for over a year now and it is my main source. I previously had one of Steve's fully loaded Garrard 301's and that too was wonderful, but The Beat is a definite step above that.

Arnie

babybear February 19, 2012 13:57

Wow nice room. 2 Rel studio 3's nice. I also have an Allnic H3000 and Reed 3Q. I am thinking about upgrading to the Schroeder LT when Steve and Frank are done with it. How do you like the Beat?

Sean

sarcher30 February 19, 2012 05:25

Hi Sabertouch,

If I remember correctly, it was around $8K to upgrade from the Series 2 to the Series 3. It was alot of money but before I did it I was able to compare a Series 3 that my dealer had to my Series 2 and it was a pretty significant improvement. As for tubes, I was using a pair of CIFTE tubes that came from VTL. In the past few months I have upgraded to a pair of NOS Telefunken 802s tubes that VTL had tested and matched. Also a very nice upgrade.

babybear February 14, 2012 14:05

What was the cost to upgrade your 2 series VTL to the 3 version?
Are you using the stock tubes in your pre or have you tried other NOS
types? Thanks.

sabertouch February 13, 2012 20:19