-
Details
-
Parent Category: Reviews
-
Category: Speaker Reviews
By Kevin OBrien on December 8, 2024
ARETAI CONTRA 100S BOOKSHELF MONITOR REVIEW
We had the opportunity to hear these monitors at AXPONA 2023 with our good friend Tom. We all agreed at the time what we heard was special, so we decided to inquire with the Aretai owner and founder, Janis Irbe. We all agreed it would be a good idea to get a pair of these babies in for a YFS review, so we did just that. Fast forward a little more than a year and half later, and here we are.
Where to start? These 2.5 way monitors measure 17" tall, by 8.5" wide, by 10" deep. They are not large by any means, but appear very low-profile on their stands. Weighing in at 35 pounds per speaker, they are not overly heavy, nor are they extremely light (extremely light is never a good sign in this hobby). There's a 6" woofer on the rear, as well as one situated on the front of the monitor. These woofers work in unison with the 'waveguide' that sits on top of the completely sealed enclosure. Efficiency comes in at right around 86 dB. Frequency response is a claimed 32 Hz all the way up to 30,000 Hz with a 4 Ohm nominal impedance. Power handling is a whopping 100 Watts, so you won't have to worry about overloading these monitors with large amplifiers, they can handle it. We chose to go with the bi-wire / WBT binding post upgrade options, as we like versatility when pairing our speakers to multiple amplifiers, including the tubed variety.
Now that we have the specifications out of the way, let's talk about the speakers themselves, and how they presented our favorite music. First, let us mention we broke these speakers in for 3 weeks straight, with all sorts of different musical genres. We wanted to present these monitors with 'real world' break-in, not using pink or white noise. We noticed the Contra 100S sounded very polite and somewhat subdued / darker as they first came out of their custom flight cases (a very nice touch, by the way). After 3 weeks of straight play, they opened up nicely and displayed their true character. With the sealed cabinets, the bass presented itself with tight and deep nature, true to the description on the Aretai website. The high frequencies along with the midrange, also opened up quite a bit yet still sounded organic, with a deeper view into the recording than we have heard previously.
The Contra 100S throw a big soundstage and sound like a pair of full range floor standers when you close your eyes. This is impressive to say the least. Again, with a speaker so true to the recording, you will want to make sure you pair them with the appropriate gear. Tubes come to mind immediately. When pairing with a good tube amp (or preamp), these little monitors shined. We also paired them with our large solid state amplifier, rated at just under 500 Watts per channel, which also sounded great, but was more tilted towards the highs / mids. This wasn't an issue, but it needs to be mentioned. It's critical to do your homework, and match equipment according to your particular tastes, which is the exact case with the Contra 100S.
When we say we had to make changes to our review system to listen to the Contra 100S, we are specifically referring to our source material. We had to switch to DSD, which shows just how special these monitors are. We upsampled everything to DSD512 with HQ Player and our reference T+A DAC200. This is a big compliment to the Aretai brand, as sometimes it is tough to tell the difference between resolutions and formats. Not so with these little gems. The subtle differences between PCM and DSD streams were immediately recognized.
Gear synergy is paramount, so keep this in mind if you plan on giving these little monitors a spin. We recommend tubes and all-copper. That brings us to another observation, these speakers like to play nicely with all sorts of different music, classical to jazz to rock, and everything in between. You can rest easy knowing the Contra 100S will accommodate any musical genre you throw at it, even home theater duties. This is refreshing, as some transducers are just too polite.
As far as pricing goes, the base Contra 100S comes in at just under $10,000 MSRP. You can add upgrades as you wish, including custom finishes as well as a bi-amp / WBT binding post options. You will have to contact Aretai for pricing on upgrades, as it was too difficult for us to figure all that out initially. That's OK, as Janis is more than happy to help, and is a super friendly guy. These speakers come directly from Latvia, where Janis hails, and are drop-shipped to customers in the US. Janis let us know that lead times run from about 1 month (up to 2 months in extreme cases - barring any major issues with supply chain, etc). With the included flight cases for each speaker, there's no need to worry about damage in transit, which is a very welcomed change of pace.
To sum up the Contra 100S, we here at YFS will not be letting these go, as they are truly unique. If you have a small listening space, and do not want to overfill it with floorstanders (or larger standmount speakers), these are the perfect solution. The only gripe we had, which was a small one, is that the Contra 100S does not like to be run at maximum SPLs in medium to large sized rooms, which made us want the next line up that Janis offers, the Contra 200F. But, that will have to wait for another day.
We have decided to become Aretai dealers after our experience with the Contra 100S. Contact us if you have any questions or concerns, as we're here to help. Thank you for reading and sharing your time with us.
- KOB
