There is a pretty long list of luxuy cars you can buy for under $100,000. But, in case you alredy have enviable private car collection and you’re looking for a new toy, maybe you should consider this all-new and improved Aida floor-standing loudspeaker. Serving as a successor to the previously released 2011 model, the new Aida features the same elegant aesthetic as its predecessor along with a completely overhauled internal design, blending gorgeous looks with improved drivers to deliver a truly premium product for an equally premium MSRP of $130,000 per pair.
Sonus faber Aida
When it comes to looks, the new Aida “3 and 2/3 way” floor-standing loudspeaker is essentially the same as the previous edition, though there is a new Wenge wood finish option treated with maple wood inlay and the company’s signature hand polishing process. The cabinet uses the same “lyra shape” design as before with dual-side curvature and special cross grained Okoumè plywood in a double thickness constriction layer damped configuration.
Beyond general aesthetics, the cabinet features the company’s “Anima Legata” system, “Tuned Mass Dampers,” and “Bow suspension” with a “Zero Vibration Transmission” system. Put together, these design features basically all help to minimize unwanted resonance and vibration in the loudspeaker and the surrounding musical environment, helping the Aida to not only create quality sound but also a correct reproduction of silence, which Sonus faber calls “the canvas where music is painted.”
Sonus faber Aida
Meanwhile, when it comes to bass performance, the speaker utilizes the company’s patented Stealth Ultraflex system. This tech enables superior bass extension in low frequencies compared to a traditional ported system while also minimizing THD (total harmonic distortion).
Under the hood, the updated Aida features a completely new driver system, including a “D.A.D. Arrow Point” H28 XTR-04 tweeter and an M18 XTR-04 midrange enhanced with an avional-gunmetal basket. Together, the tweeter and midrange help to produce the “Voice of Sonus faber,” which the company defines as its trademark warm and involving timbre.
Sonus faber Aida
And to complete the driver array, the system also houses a W22 XTR-12 woofer with all-new Neodymium magnet motors and a SW32 XTR-08 infra-woofer with a Nano Carbon sandwich cone and long-throw 4’” voice-coils powered by a Neodymium magnet motor.
Finally, the speaker includes Sound Field Shaper technology with an array of rear-facing drivers. This feature actually allows a user to adjust the depth of the soundstage through control of the speaker’s direct/reverberant radiation ratio to suit one’s desired preferences for a specific room.
