This all started for me a few months back when I unexpectedly
got a call from Mr. Mark Schifter, CEO of AV123, who wanted
to thank ME (of all people) for being one of the first Diva
customers. I quickly thanked him for such excellent products
at great prices. He then told me about his predicament with
the "trade dress" issue and mentioned that he
had a new speaker line in the works. He asked if I would
be interested in beta testing the new speakers along with
a few other Diva owners when the time came (he said this
was his way of saying thank you to some of the Diva customers).
Of course I jumped at the opportunity, but later that night
I began to second guess myself and wondered if I was "qualified"
to beta test a new line of speakers and what would all this
beta testing entail?....
A couple of months pass and I began to think it was all
a dream, or he realized that he picked the wrong guy, but
then I a got a call from Mark saying that the Rockets were
on there way! I asked him what the beta testing process
would require and he responded that my responsibility was
to the speakers. Test the various speakers, dissect them,
if necessary make changes, and report back to him my likes
and dislikes. When I asked about what my beta testing responsibility
would be to the "public", he added that there
was none. If I wanted to come forward and announce that
I was a beta tester after the Rockets are released it would
be up to me (that I had no obligation to do so), and he
insisted that I speak my mind and give my honest opinion
without any fear if I do decide to go "public".
This made me comfortable and I focused on the work ahead.
I
do not want to directly compare the specific models in the
Diva line to the Rocket line, but find it necessary to make
some general comparisons in order to give some kind of reference
point and differences in the two lines, however, before
I do this I would like to explain my beta testing experience.
When I first received the speakers, they came double boxed
and wrapped in cloth much like the Divas, but a few of the
outer boxes were really damaged, and one Ziploc bag of spiked
feet fell out of a box as I was helping the delivery guy
unload them from his truck. A few of the other "testers"
also noticed this and Mark has since then, fixed the packaging.
When I removed the cloth I was surprised by both how "dark
red" the finish was and how beautiful the ring patterns
were. These truly look like the rosewood finish you typically
see at a furniture store. Furthermore, the color matching
across the line was more consistent, which was something
that a few Diva owners had complained about...well Mark
listened! I had to admit that they looked a bit more elegant
than the Divas I own and I actually think the two names
should be switched. The 6.1 look more like rockets, and
the 750s look more like a Diva.
During
the beta testing process we (the testers) did extended breaking
in and listening, found ourselves adding more insulation,
changing phases, etc.. per Mark and Dick Pierce's instructions.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much of our own input
Mark took to heart. For instance, we suggested better packaging,
longer spikes, and other stuff, and Mark seemed eager to
make it so. We also found that the RSS300 were originally
wired in a bipolar configuration and he insisted that he
wanted mirrored adaptive dipoles, and thus began the process
of making the mods. As each speaker was updated, each beta
tester was given the material and instructions to update
their set of speakers. I know that most companies would
have pushed out a lesser product just to meet a deadline
and worry about making fixes to a newer version later. AV123/Onix
is not like most companies. They pushed back the release
date until each speaker was up their standards. With all
that in mind, I can only imagine how much went in to the
Divas.
So,
how do they sound?
Home
theater? I found that the Rockets seemed to be more geared
to HT than the Divas were. The huge RCS200 center (which
I have sitting upside-down on my RPTV) out performs the
C3 in every aspect, but the smaller RCS100 is pretty much
a toss up, with my personal preference leaning slightly
to the C3. The models with the Vifa ring radiator tweeter
have a noticeably larger "sweet spot" which is
an added benefit for an HT environment. The RSS300s are
mirrored adaptive dipolar speakers with a smaller footprint
and flatter edges making them ideal for wall mounting.
How
about music? I found that it depended on the music, but
in general I found the Divas a bit more airy and preferred
them when listening to music with a lot of horns, vs. the
Rockets which I found more tight and liked better with strings.
Both had excellent imaging and soundstage and as others
have eluded to, the bass seemed a bit tighter in the 750
than the 6.1 (probably due to the smaller driver sizes).
Yet the 750 can surprisingly get down pretty low (due to
all 4 drivers firing at the same time), but not quite as
low as the 6.1.
