The Best, Not the Biggest: Rockport Technologies Speakers

December 20, 2023

Meet the Elusive High-End Audio Brand Coming to HiFi Buys

If loudspeakers could be ‘artisanal,’ then Rockport Technologies speakers would definitely qualify as such. Rockport speakers aren’t mass-produced like plastic-wrapped cheese slices—it’s the audio equivalent of a luxurious fromage made with a meticulous maturation process and a secret family recipe.

Okay, that’s enough with the food metaphors, but all to say—Rockport Technologies takes its speaker manufacturing quite seriously. And it’s not a common speaker brand to come by. Rockport Technologies speakers are only available through thirteen certified dealers in the U.S., and our store HiFi Buys in Atlanta is now one of them.

So what makes Rockport speakers so special? It’s not just about the materials and hardware they use (although those are excellent and high-quality). It’s the foundation of the company, the processes they use, and the attitude Rockport Technologies brings to their audio manufacturing.

Where Rockport Technologies Began

Rockport Technologies is based in Rockport, Maine, where it was founded in 1984 by mechanical and electrical engineer Andrew Payor. Called Payor Acoustics then, the company began with a satellite loudspeaker system.

In 1990, the company changed its name to Rockport alongside the release of its Sirius Phonograph, which garnered international acclaim. Its first loudspeaker, the Procyon, debuted in 1993, and in the following three decades, Rockport has continued developing groundbreaking and ambitious loudspeakers.

Quality Over Quantity

The incredible thing about Rockport Technologies is how small of a scale they’re operating on. With a staff of only seven employees, founder Andrew Payor has chosen to keep Rockport Technologies small and handcrafted, rather than a large-scale industrial operation. In 2019, Payor sold the company to his design partner Josh Clark so that he could focus entirely on engineering.

Before being shipped to customers, every speaker built at Rockport Technologies is personally tuned and evaluated by Payor and at least two other employees in the listening room. Rockport only manufactures about 150 speakers per year, but this meticulous craft and dedication certainly pays off.

Rockport’s Award-Winning Design

Why does Rockport build so few speakers a year? Simply because they want to. Rockport doesn’t want to be the biggest speaker manufacturer in the world—they just want to be the best.

And the best they are. At the HIGH END Munich Audio show, Rockport won ‘Best of Show’ in both 2022 and 2023 for its Lyra and Orion speakers, respectively. No other audio company has ever achieved that.

Rockport’s innovative engineering is evident in its speaker cabinet technology. The cabinets are thick and heavy–weighing 150 lbs in the Lyra, its pinnacle speaker. Altogether, each Lyra speaker weighs a total 560 lbs. The thick cabinet removes any possibility of vibrations, so all you hear is the music.

Rockport doesn’t exactly have a ‘low-end’ speaker, but even its entry-level speaker uses the same driver as its highest-end, the Lyra. What changes from speaker to speaker are the number of drivers and driver size, moving up with each model. Other differentiators between Rockport speakers are how the cabinets are assembled. But even its beginner speaker is unlike anything else on the market today.

Where to Find Rockport Speakers in Atlanta

Rockport speakers are something to take pride in for the rest of your life. With only 13 dealers nationwide and each dealer receiving about 12 speakers each, it’s not easy to get your hands on these.

Luckily, HiFi Buys is your local Rockport Technologies distributor! Visit our showroom to hear the magic for yourself, and contact us here to learn more.