Florida International Audio Expo 2024 begins next Friday in Tampa, and we are already starting to see why this regional show is becoming so important for smaller manufacturers; especially ones from the Balkans and Baltic regions of Europe.
Latvian manufacturer, Aretai, has announced that they will be demonstrating their Contra 200F floorstanding loudspeakers at the show (February 16th to the 18th); which is the North American debut of the product.
You can find them in room 906, where they will be exhibiting with VIABLUE cables and Convergent Audio Technology.
The Contra 200F are uniquely designed loudspeakers. It’s a 3.5-way ported speaker which features a custom-designed waveguide on the front baffle along with both front and rear 8-inch woofers.
After awarding Contra 200F 97/100 points, Philipp Schneckenburger from Litemagazin writes: With the Contra 200F, Aretai cleverly uses the elegant design for tonal advantages. The elegance and the tonal performance of the floorstanding loudspeakers are inextricably linked here, so that the targeted overall concept of the Northern sound works wonderfully here. The Contra 200F offers excellent bass
performance even in smaller rooms, while the three-dimensional representation and the harmonic flow of the 3.5-way system lead to great musicality.”
200F Key Features:
- Coherent near- and far-field soundstage experience
- Controlled indirect spectral balance for lifelike reproduction
- Ultra-low distortion drivers and precision components
- Bass response optimized for small and medium-sized rooms
- Structurally dampened humidity-proof enclosure
- Efficient built-in vibration decoupling base plates
- 8” dual-woofer topology for lower bass extension capability
- Wider HF dispersion from the proprietary waveguide design
- Low-tuned bass extending to 25Hz
- Valve-friendly sensitivity and impedance
Contra Collection
The Red Dot Design Award-winning Aretai Contra collection has three speakers in the lineup, with Contra 200F being the middle-sized option. It’s the smallest floorstanding model designed small to medium sized rooms.
The Contra 100S is also designed for smaller and medium sized rooms and features a sealed cabinet and can be used as a desktop loudspeaker.
Meanwhile, the larger floorstander Contra 350F is designed to deliver deep and tactile bass combined with higher levels of clarity and detail for larger listening spaces.
Comparison
| Contra 100S | Contra 200F | Contra 350F | |
| MSRP | 9,800/pair | $26,500 | $54,200 |
| Size | Bookshelf | Floorstander | Floorstander |
| Type | Closed passive 2.5-way passive stand / desktop speaker | Ported passive 3.5-way floorstander speaker | 3.5-way passive floorstander speaker |
| Frequency range | 32 – 30,000 Hz | 25 – 23,000 Hz | 22 – 23,000 Hz |
| Nominal power | 100 Watts | 200 Watts | 350 Watts |
| Sensitivity, dB/1m/2.83V | 85 | 95 | 96 |
| Nominal impedance | 4 Ohms | 8 Ohms | 8 Ohms |
| Dimensions (HxWxD) | 40 x 21 25 cm | 117 x 27 x 37 cm | 127 x 37 x 47 cm |
| Net weight single speaker | 15 kg | 40 kg | 65 kg |
| Speaker terminals | 24 carat gold plated | 24 carat gold plated | 24 carat gold plated |
| Bottom | Vibration decoupling pad | Vibration decoupling pad | Vibration decoupling pad |
| Rear | Bi-wiring /Bi-amping connectors (2 terminal pairs) | Tri-wiring /Tri-amping connectors (3 terminal pairs) | Tri-wiring /Tri-amping connectors (3 terminal pairs) |
| Warranty | 3 years (parts & labor) | 3 years (parts & labor) | 3 years (parts & labor) |
| Optional | 2 Years warranty extension | 2 Years warranty extension | 2 Year warranty extension |
For more information: aretai.com/collections
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