The Nordic Sound
Contents
The Aretai Contra 100S has a clear signature if you ask us. The reproduction is airy, grand and very rhythmic. Truly a willing little speaker with lots of drive and an enthusiastic character. Abundant warmth we do not hear. Later in the measurements we also see why that is the case.
Nordic Sound
Aretai calls the signature sound of the Contra 100S “Nordic. And that’s kind of fitting. It’s a light, precise and insightful sound we hear. We kind of like it.
Now it’s not completely uncolored, because it’s just a touch freshly tuned. That’s how it feels and that’s how it measures. We see in the response measurements that the response graph just goes up. It does that in a nicely even way, so it doesn’t bother you. But a trained ear can hear it.
Now we’re not bass junkies. And we do like nimble and open sounding systems. So this is kind of right up our alley.
Layered
What is the absolute strength of the Aretai is the representation of musical layers. It’s simply impressive how well this speaker can do that. No matter what we feed the speaker, we hear an insightful reproduction rolling into the room.
Now it doesn’t feel like a surgeon cutting everything loose and presenting it. Rather, it’s more like a conductor maintaining complete control, allowing us to keep a close eye on all sides. The interplay between the Bladelius and the Aretai will also help with that of course. However, we hear the same quality in the reference system. In short: this is really due to the qualities of this speaker.
And whether we put on Air or A Perfect Circle, Massive Attack or Mammal Hands: the performance is still rock solid. The rhythm remains compelling and the understanding of the musical layers is unparalleled. It is almost addictive!
Placement
Now one thing we really do want to give away: placement is not immediately critical with these Aretai’s. They are placed correctly fairly quickly. However, because of the woofer at the rear and the characteristics of this speaker, it seems important to us that they are placed well in relation to the rear wall. So be sure to play with that for optimal results.
