Rockport Aquila vs Altair

I own (and reviewed) the Aquilas and the suggestions and opinions on this thread are all correct. If your room is larger, then you will likely be much more able to justify the price difference and take advantage of what the Altair can do than if you have a much smaller room. That said, Andy has informed me that even in my smaller room (14' x 18' x 8') that the Altair will still work well.

Cmalak pretty much sume up my opinion of the Aquilas.

One thing I would note though - in my opinion you need enough power to drive the Aquilas if you listen at any reasonably loud volumes. I have Lamm 1.2 Reference monos (which are, like the Vitus, solid state amps that are conservatively rated at 115 watts per channel Class A) and they are fine driving the Aquilas. I am not so sure though if the Vitus at 50 watts would do as well. The Altair is more efficient and a bit easier to drive.

Good luck in your search and, if you do end up with Rockports, I'll bet good money you'll be happy no matter which one you choose. You rarely see these speakers up for sale for good reason.

Thank you all for your answers.
My listening room is about 48 sqm, in your answers or heard about Several times the size of the room in just 48 rms for the Altair?

Personally, I'd be reluctant to put the Altair in a room less than 65-70 sq meters, unless I got to hear it in my room first.

Rtn1 Hello, you believe that we are short 48 sqm?

I consider a 21 x 21 foot room to be moderate size for a full-ranged speaker. The Altair is almost 3 feet deep. I would think both the speaker and the listener should be well into the room, with enough space for integration. I am thinking you would need 15-20 feet distance between you and the speaker. With the side-firing woofer, the room becomes an absolutely integral part of the speaker. IMO, more than a front-mounted woofer.