Andy Payor founded Rockport Technologies in the '80s in Rockport, Maine, USA. Today the company is located in South Thomaston, Maine, but the original name remains the same. Andy Payor has designed many products for Rockport Technologies and other companies, but he is best known for the Rockport Technologies line of turntables, which were discontinued in the '90s, and loudspeakers, which are the sole products the company manufacturers today. The SoundStage! Network toured Rockport Technologies' facility on August 10, where we were able to audition the company's newest speaker, the Avior, as well as the Altair, which is considered to be one of the company's best-ever designs. For more information about Rockport Technologies, visit www.RockportTechnologies.com.
In the northeast corner of the United States you'll find the state of Maine, which is one of six states that make up New England. If you look up "History of Maine" on Wikipedia.org, you'll find many interesting facts, most of them revolving around the American Revolution and the War of 1812 -- history buffs undoubtedly love the place.
All Rockport Technologies speakers are designed in-house by Payor using a combination of computer-based modeling, acoustical and electrical measuring, and listening. Payor also designs almost all of the speakers' individual parts (including little things like the crossover capacitors!). But many of the specialized manufacturing tasks, including cabinet making and finishing, are the work of highly skilled local craftsmen, a number of whom also work in the high-end marine industry. The final assembly of the cabinets, which includes sanding and bonding the baffle and bases to the main cabinets using a highly engineered structural epoxy, takes place in Rockport's production room, as does the bonding of all of the machined aluminum components such as ports, terminal plates, threaded-leveling-foot receivers, etc. All of the final-assembly processes, including wiring harnesses, stuffing, crossover building, and driver installation, are also carried out in the South Thomaston facility.
One of Rockport Technologies' goals is to make best-in-class loudspeakers. They do this with the help of an in-factory listening room that is undoubtedly one of the finest you'll find at any company.
We did more listening at Rockport Technologies than at any other company we've toured, which was partly due to the quality of Rockport's fabulous listening room, but mostly because Andy Payor wanted to show off his speakers in the way they matter the most to him -- playing music.
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