Note that this is a discontinued product. You may want to visit the brand's page here to browse their newer products.
What reviewers think
Bloggers and YouTubers have tried this product—so we've summarized their strongest opinions below. Links to full reviews follow.
All
Lynx
reviews
Manufacturer details
- Woofer: 10" carbon fiber sandwich composite
- Midrange: 6" carbon fiber sandwich composite
- Tweeter: Waveguide mounted 1" beryllium dome
- Height: 48"
- Width: 12.40" (17.60" with feet)
- Depth: 23.40"
- Weight: 305 lbs. each
- Frequency Response: 23 Hz – 30 KHz, -3dB
- Nominal Impedance: 4 ohms
- Sensitivity: 90 dB SPL/2.83 v
- Min. amplifier power: 50 watts
Immediately apparent are the classic Rockport design cues, all of which contribute to our deliberate 'form follows function' philosophy. A continued evolution of our world-renowned enclosure designs, the LYNX boasts an all-new DAMSTIF3™ enclosure which is formed from a single, massive aluminum casting.
Uniquely driven A direct descendent of the LYRA, the drive unit complement for the LYNX includes our custom 10 inch, carbon fiber sandwich cone woofer, our latest custom 6 inch carbon fiber sandwich cone midrange, and our incomparable 1 inch waveguide-loaded beryllium tweeter. Together, this driver array delivers authoritative, first octave bass response with abundant headroom and startling agility, an ultra transparent midrange, rich in densely saturated tonal colors and texture, all crowned by a crystalline pure, dynamically realistic high frequency register.
The waveguide improves the acoustic impe...
Brand highlights
Taking a step back to look at reviewers' thoughts of the brand's entire lineup—not just this product—what stands out most is the following:
- Rockport designs and manufactures the majority of their drivers in-house, allowing precise control over every aspect of their performance.
- They are known for their cabinets' extensive use of damping and constrained layer construction techniques to minimize unwanted resonances.
- Every Rockport loudspeaker is individually measured and fine-tuned, with crossovers being tweaked to match specific drivers ensuring consistent performance across all units.
- The brand emphasizes that their designs deliver exceptional scale and dynamic ease, even in smaller models, offering a more significant sense of realism than expected for their size.
Select products
Atria II
- Positioning: The entry-level high-performance speaker in Rockport's lineup.
- Description: Features a waveguide-mounted beryllium tweeter and custom carbon fiber drivers, delivering a remarkable level of musical realism. Designed for smaller rooms but delivers a surprising scale of sound, making it a great choice for those seeking high-quality audio without the need for a large space, unlike the larger Avior II.
Avior II
- Positioning: A mid-range model that balances size and performance in Rockport's lineup.
- Description: Features a redesigned crossover and advanced carbon fiber drivers, providing a transparent and dynamic sound. Offers a richer sound than the Atria II.
Lynx
- Positioning: A compact yet powerful speaker, positioned below the flagship models.
- Description: Uses technology from the flagship Lyra, including a DAMSTIF3 enclosure and advanced driver units, offering a low noise floor and dynamic range.
Orion
- Positioning: A high-end model, offering advanced technology and performance.
- Description: Features a unique DAMSTIF II enclosure and custom drivers, providing exceptional dynamic contrasts and low-level detail retrieval.
Lyra
- Positioning: The flagship model, representing the pinnacle of Rockport's speaker design.
- Description: Features a groundbreaking DAMSTIF enclosure and a unique 3½-way driver configuration, delivering the highest resolution and lowest noise floor. It is the ultimate choice for those who desire the best in audio performance and are willing to invest in the most advanced technology Rockport offers, surpassing all other models in the lineup.
Our take on the brand
Look inside the brand
Our interview with the brand
What are two key technological innovations or strong opinions that differ you from other brands?
For us, everything comes down to three main elements: the enclosure, the drivers, and the crossover. We push each of those as far as possible.
We’re one of the few high-end companies that designs and builds our own drivers completely from scratch. That means we control every aspect of performance. Our drivers have the lowest distortion of any we know of in the loudspeaker industry. The carbon-fiber sandwich midrange and woofer cones, paired with 100% beryllium tweeters, behave like perfect pistons well beyond their operating range. The result is an incredibly clean, natural sound with no added noise or coloration. The moving parts in our drivers are ultra-light and nearly friction-free, powered by extremely strong motor systems—similar to a lightweight sports car with immense torque. That balance allows the speaker to deliver explosive dynamics while revealing the smallest musical details, the subtle cues that make recorded music feel alive.
Each crossover is individually calibrated to the specific drivers it’s paired with. It’s the only way to ensure every pair of loudspeakers meets our reference standard within a quarter of a decibel. We’re the only company we know of that goes to that level, and it’s a big reason we build a limited number of speakers each year.
Finally, our DAMSTIF™ enclosure designs are without question the stiffest, most massive, and well-damped in the world. They’re so inert that they contribute nothing to the sound, no matter the frequency or volume. This total absence of cabinet coloration results in extraordinary clarity across the entire frequency range, along with the blackest possible background.
In the end, all that engineering comes down to one goal: getting out of the way of the music. The less the speaker adds, the more you hear exactly what the artist intended.
What's your approach to customer support?
All of our speakers are designed to be easily serviced in the field. If there’s ever an issue, such as a blown driver or a system mishap, we can usually work with the customer’s local dealer to take care of it right at home. It’s rare that anything needs to come back to us for repair.
We take a lot of pride in the fact that we can service every single speaker we’ve ever built in our 35-plus-year history. We’ve never left a customer without support. We keep a deep inventory of parts and can bring any Rockport back to its original performance.
That kind of long-term commitment has always been part of who we are. We think of our products as once-in-a-lifetime purchases—built to last, to be cherished, and eventually passed down to the next generation.
What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?
That’s always changing, but lately we’ve been spinning:
• “Ta Confiance” – Kham Meslien
• “Antigravity” – Sohn
• “Whiskey and You” – Chris Stapleton
Each track brings out something different. Kham Meslien’s music has this deep, organic tone and sense of space. Sohn’s production pushes a system’s layering and control. And Chris Stapleton’s voice cuts straight to the heart. When a system gets all of that right, you stop thinking about sound and just get lost in the performance.
What other products pair best with yours?
We design our speakers to work beautifully with a wide range of electronics and test them with many different systems to be sure. Right now, that includes equipment from AudioQuest, CH Precision, D’Agostino, dCS, Doshi, Gryphon, HRS, Shunyata Research, Soulution, and Transparent Audio.
All of these companies share a similar mindset: total dedication to performance and musical honesty. When you combine components built with that kind of care, the whole system disappears—and the music takes over.
Used
Rockport
What if you spend more?
Our Reference range offers the very best that can be achieved in accuracy and musicality. We are honored that these models are some of the most awarded loudspeakers in the world. They combine advanced materials with cutting edge science and engineering. Designed without compromise, their singular aim is transporting listeners into the heart of the music.
Sonja 3.2 is a true, reference loudspeaker, delivering the life-like, natural sound which is the hallmark of YG. Capable delicate holographic imaging while still recreating concert scale audio, it is one of the very best loudspeakers in the world. With the revolutionary Lattice tweeter, twin BilletCore midrange drivers and our innovative Ultracoherent crossover, it combines an astonishing sonic performance with exceptional engineering and craftsmanship.
The Reference speakers are structured from high-grade aerospace aluminum, machined in-house to an incredible precision. The speakers are meticulously hand-built by experts in our Colorado workshop. The Reference 3 models include new technologies and design innovations based on novel theoretical models, detailed multi-domain simulations and thousands of hours of listening. The end result: loudspeakers which convey every nuance of emotion, each musical cue from the tiniest micro-detail to the visceral impact of the most thunderous crescendo.
An entirely new, hybrid Lattice tweeter uses a novel airframe in a specially-selected aerospace alloy, machined by YG Acoustics. It delivers exceptionally low distortion over a huge bandwidth, with wide angular dispersion to support a large sweet-spot. Groundbreaking, third-generation Ultracoherent crossovers apply a deep understanding from simulation to deliver performance never before possible. Our BilletCore drivers use advanced motors and cones machined in-house from solid billet, offering some of the highest performance and lowest distortion in any driver available today.
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Our summary
Product Strengths
- Exceptional build quality using aerospace-grade aluminum
- Creates a holographic soundstage
- Delivers every genre with exceptional clarity and authority
- The design strives to editorialize the signal as little as possible, letting the music flow
Product Considerations
- Substantial investment required
- Considerable weight—145kg per speaker
- Demands thoughtful amplifier matching, requiring a lot of power to shine
- Requires optimal room placement
Takeaway: The YG Acoustics Reference Sonja 3.2 speakers are a masterpiece of acoustic engineering, providing a realistic, precise, and effortless sound experience. If one wants to hear their favorite music at its best, these speakers could be worth the investment.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Starting as a personal side project, the design and breakthroughs we achieved merged into what is now our frontrunner in our speaker portfolio. The initial idea of the project was to design the best possible bass loading module (basshorn aside), to be used with a new horn design we had in the works. The hybrid open baffle / aperiodic bass loading outperformed my expectations, and lead us to push the company design and manufacturing resources to this project, to be our new main speaker offering. This effort resulted to a new diffraction-less midrange horn, as well as our new horn/dipole ribbon tweeter design. Add some crossover technology borrowed from our top speaker the Contendo, and we present to you the Aurora!
Our summary
Product Strengths
- Surprisingly free of horn colorations
- Very rich, present, and neutrally balanced
Product Considerations
- The reviewer was sitting too close to hear them at their best in the small room
- Looking a bit like something the Borg might have invented
Takeaway: The Aries Cerat Aurora Reference is a unique, horn-loaded speaker that sounds surprisingly good. They were considered the most interesting and novel new speaker at the show.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Reference range offers the very best that can be achieved in accuracy and musicality. We are honored that these models are some of the most awarded loudspeakers in the world. Designed without compromise, their singular aim is transporting listeners into the heart of the music.
Celebrating the twentieth anniversary of YG Acoustics, XX 3 is a unique product: an ultimate performance loudspeaker that will redefine what you think is possible. Benefitting from the latest in driver and crossover technology, it offers the highest possible sound quality from a single tower design. It is an acoustic, scientific and engineering marvel.
The XX 3 delivers incredible accuracy and realism from the deepest bass to the highest treble: the finest micro-details placed exactly in a broad and deep holographic audio space; unmatched scale and faultless timing. Each channel has our revolutionary Lattice tweeter and seven BilletCore drivers, all driven by our most extreme Ultracoherent crossover.
The Reference 3 models include new technologies and design innovations based on novel theoretical models, detailed multi-domain simulations and thousands of hours of listening. The end result: loudspeakers which convey every nuance of emotion, each musical cue from the tiniest micro-detail to the visceral impact of the most thunderous crescendo.
An entirely new, hybrid Lattice tweeter uses a novel airframe in a specially-selected aerospace alloy, machined by YG Acoustics. It delivers exceptionally low distortion over a huge bandwidth, with wide angular dispersion to support a large sweet-spot.
Groundbreaking, third-generation Ultracoherent crossovers apply a deep understanding from simulation to deliver performance never before possible. Our BilletCore drivers use advanced motors and cones machined in-house from solid billet, offering some of the highest performance and lowest distortion in any driver available today.
Our summary
Product Strengths
- Exceptional build quality
- Incredible bass
- Product is not an inferior DAC to Gordon
- Beats the Blackback at soundstage
- Connectivity options are strong
Product Considerations
- [Pricing complaints removed]
Video review
Our take on the brand
Experience Clarisys Audio's Auditorium for ultimate sound quality. Boasting neodymium magnets and a double-sided bass panel, double-sided midrange, and double-sided treble. All drivers are 100% identical, giving you perfect coherence. The Impedance is 7ohm on average and never drops below 6ohm! The ribbon midrange starts at 600Hz and is a multi-segmented 7-trace design with 42mm width--the widest ever put into a speaker. The three-trace ribbon tweeter starts at 9000Hz, and the rigid aluminum substructure prevents flexing. High-quality copper foil internal wiring ensures exceptional signal transfer and musicality. Each speaker weighs 604 lbs plus an external crossover, which is color matched.
Our summary
Product Strengths
- Experienced a 'wall of sound' from the speakers
- These speakers do not need room treatment
Product Considerations
- Extremely well-built, resulting in a thousand-pound shipping weight
- Speakers purchased at Audium come with a service, where if the buyer has issues, someone will fly to the buyer's home and fix them
Takeaway: The Audium speakers offer a phenomenal sound experience without needing extra sound treatment in the room. The build is solid, and the company will even fly to the buyer's house to fix them.
Video review
Our take on the brand
What competes at this price?
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- High sensitivity and easy drivability
- Clean performance, neither sterile nor colorless
- Better at reproducing the spatial information on stereo recordings than the Altec
- Considerably smaller and thus easier to place—and to live with, in an aesthetic sense
Product Considerations
- Less colored than the Altec, with a less peaky lower treble
- Very heavy (231 lbs each), which makes installation difficult
- High price
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- The Altec loudspeakers were more colored than the Alumine, with a peaky lower treble
Takeaway: The Stenheim Alumine speakers offer a clean and detailed sound in a relatively compact size, while the Alumine Five offers even greater sensitivity in a floorstanding design. If high sensitivity, easy placement (Alumine), and a clean sound are valued, these speakers could be a good fit.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Unique design where form follows function, resulting in a contemporary and sleek aesthetic
- Incredibly tight, impactful, articulate, and controlled bass response with impressive dynamic power and clarity
- Seamless integration of midrange and tweeter via the M-Array, creating a virtual point source for maximum imaging and soundstage
- Exceptional clarity, transparency, and detail retrieval across the entire frequency spectrum
- Soundstage is incredibly wide, deep, accurate, and immersive with instruments placed precisely in a three-dimensional field
Product Considerations
- Significant power from amplifiers is required to perform optimally, with recommendations ranging from 200 to 1600 watts RMS
- The Hyphn is a large and heavy speaker, needing a decent-sized room and strong flooring
- Sensitivity is rated at 86 dB, which is considered low and necessitates high-power amplification
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Sonus Faber: Hyphn has a far more forward-sounding presentation compared to the more relaxed and recessed soundstage of Sonus Faber
- Vs JBL Everest DD67000: Hyphn's bass is not as 'huge' as some monster high-end speakers like JBL's Everest, but it is tighter and more tuneful
Takeaway: Monitor Audio's Hyphn is a state-of-the-art loudspeaker with a unique design, delivering exceptional clarity, deep bass, and a wide soundstage. If unrestrained performance and a forward-looking aesthetic are desired, the Hyphn is worth considering for an immersive listening experience.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Impressive midbass solidity
- Remarkable fidelity at lower volumes due to the alacrity of its drivers
- Comprehensive and dynamic sound signature with plenty of detail and clarity
- The newly developed tweeter allows for faster response and a frequency range that easily extends to 28,000Hz
- Features a modular design, offering flexibility with passive, iTron active, and all-in-one wireless streaming versions
Product Considerations
- Integrating the Spacehorn subwoofers requires careful alignment
- High-quality source components are needed to match its performance level
- Some reviewers found that the iTron amplification did not produce the requisite bloom and musicality for classical and jazz music
Takeaway: The Avantgarde Trio G3 speaker is a top-tier audio system known for its exceptional sound reproduction and flexibility with different configurations. If you appreciate high-quality audio performance and aesthetics and want a sound system that sounds exciting and sophisticated, it is an excellent option.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- An all-encompassing sound keeps listeners rooted to their seats
- A unique 360° sound wave design creates a natural balance of direct and reflected sounds
- A truly huge, yet meticulously crafted, soundscape is created
- Not physically evident in the aural landscape, offering a sound that seems to have no origin
- Integration of the woofer's and melon's outputs was far smoother than previous models
Product Considerations
- High-powered amplifiers capable of delivering ample amounts of current are required due to its insensitivity (around 80dB)
- Placement can be tricky, needing more space away from room boundaries than some rooms can provide
- The biggest problem has always been the audible lack of seamless integration between the bass box and the stack of omnis atop it
- A 'chesty, compressed, almost grainy midbass coloration' can be exhibited if placement and other factors are not optimized
Takeaway: The MBL Radialstrahler 101 E MkII loudspeaker offers a distinctive and immersive listening experience thanks to its unique omnidirectional design. It can fill the room with a natural and balanced sound, creating a captivating musical soundscape for the listener.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Upgradable from older Model 7 versions, representing long-term value for owners
- Features a 'CounterForce Bass' system with opposing woofers to minimize cabinet movement and improve clarity
- Offers extensive bass adjustments for room integration, including 11 trim pots for precise frequency adjustments
- Time-and-phase coherent design ensures that all drivers move in unison
- Provides a relaxed ease and warmth that fosters musical engagement
Product Considerations
- Sensitivity is relatively low at 85dB, requiring a powerful amplifier to achieve its full potential
- Requires careful rake angle adjustment for optimal performance
- Bi-wire capable, the mandatory HP-7 filter costs extra
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs KEF KC-62 subwoofer: Both use counter-opposing force woofers to stop cabinet movement
Takeaway: The Model Seven XTRM is a technologically innovative speaker designed for music lovers. It offers powerful bass, harmonic beauty, and exceptional tonal realism, making it a worthwhile investment for those seeking a high-fidelity audio experience.
Video review
Our take on the brand
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