I’ve been following Jacob George’s Rethm speakers for many years with great interest. His new Aarka Active Speakers strike me as a very big step in a great new direction.
The new Rethm Aarka Active Speakers ($6000/pair!) employ a 5″ Wideband whizzer-endowed driver up front powered by a 25 Watt hybrid amplifier that marries a tube driver stage (6H6P) with a FET output stage, and a pair of 6″ bass drivers around back powered by a 95 Watt Class A/B amp.
I happen to love their look, the mixture of materials speaks to my inner industrial designer.
The Aarka were playing with an iFi Pro iDSD DAC/Preamp ($3249) as source and the sound was immediate, vibrant, rich, and captivating. Bravo!
I’ve already put in my request to get a pair in Barn. Stay tuned.