Uh, the speakers are on sale guys. They're ON SALE. Check the website. The package deals offer discounts of up to $500, and those deals are temporary. If someone here doesn't feel that is a hot enough deal for the forum, they are entitled to that opinion. Otherwise, it's thread crapping.
I can personally vouch for the quality of the Divas by Swan speakers. I demoed them recently through the
www.audioenvy.com website. By coincidence, the person whose Divas I demoed was Sean Parque (mentioned in the first post), who was at the time a fan of the products but was later hired by av123. In any event, the speakers are a phenomenal deal for the money. It is one of the 3 or 4 best deals in loudspeakers anywhere, alongside Paradigms (at Canadian prices), Axioms, and certain speakers in the JBL S series which are going for virtually nothing right now. The Divas have an incredibly liquid, flat midrange without a trace of coloration. The highs are quite detailed if slightly recessed due to the silk dome tweeters. The Rockets will have a different treble response, as the Vifa tweeters are a fabric/metal composite. My guess is that they will be a bit more forward in the treble range.
The build quality of the Divas is fantastic. They are not cheap to make, and I guarenty that gross margins are small. Each Diva 6.1 weighs about 50 lbs. The wood veneer is furniture grade, and the end caps are thick black piano gloss. Few if any speakers are made of 100% wood cabinets. MDF (medium density fibreboard) is the preferred sonic standard to reduce cabinet resonance. Quality speaker enclosures are typically made from either 1/2", 3/4" or 1" MDF. The Rockets are 1" MDF not including the 1/2" wood veneer. The build quality is quite similar to the B&W Nautilus 800 series that runs from $3.5K to $12K per *pair* (not per 5 speaker system). The price of the Rockets is not $3K, but $1-$2.2K for a 5 speaker set (mains, center, surrounds). That may be a lot of money by the standards of the average consumer with little interest in quality sound reproduction, but it is NOTHING to even an entry level audiophile. Most audiophile grade speakers cost WAY more. And yes, you can find them everywhere in stores. Just go to a hi-fi shop for a change of pace from Best Buy and Circuit City. A very partial list of speaker brands which generally cost way more than the Rockets is as follows: Linn, Thiel, Revel, Dunlavy, Wilson, M&K, Dynaudio, Vandersteen, B&W, Vienna Acoustics, Sonus Faber, Totem, Aerial Acoustics, and Martin Logans. Speaker PAIRS from these companies generally run from $1,500 to $150,000.
People here have criticized the online-only source concept because it is more trouble to demo the speakers before buying. However, consider the savings where there is no retailer profit margin, and where marketing/advertising costs are kept to a minimum because most sales come through word of mouth online. Basically, you are getting a speaker at what would be a little less than a wholesale price for a speaker made by a company that distributes through retailers and advertises heavily in magazines. The worst example is Bose with the most inflated market budget in the world. All that money goes toward convincing people they are audiophile quality when they aren't, and the cost reflects primarily the marketing. The speakers are made of paper and plastic. You pay for them to deceive you.
AVSFORUM, hometheaterforum and hometheaterspot combined represent probably 75% of the total web based discussion of mid to high end audio equipment. Run a search on those forums for opinions about Divas. You will find about 99% positive remarks (give or take about .5%). In fact, the only negative remarks I have ever heard is that someone didn't like the fact that they were made in China, and ocassionally someone remarks that they like a $5K+ speaker better. Nevetheless, if you are interested in buying, you should go to audioenvy and arrange a demo. It is important to let your own ears be the judge. I don't feel that the opinions of others are irrelevant as has been suggested here. I just feel that those opinions are a threshold requirement and your listening must take you the rest of the way.
I do not own Rockets BTW, but Paradigm Reference. The Divas were on par with my Paradigms, which is pretty remarkable considering the Dimes cost 20% more even at the discount price I got them, and are themselves considered one of the great bargains in audio even at full price.
For those of you who cannot afford or are not interested in high end audio, I can certainly relate as I was there at one time. However, inserting yourself into a legitimate thread to espouse your viewpoint is particularly unnecessary, even if it isn't against the rules. And it really shows your ignorance. A long time ago I learned a little trick about what to do when people start discussing something that I am totally ignorant about - I keep my mouth shut and nod pleasantly. Works like a charm. Oh, and sometimes I listen and pick up a few things...
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