I was looking for big speakers to my second system and i was close to buy Aida. They have great design, amazing look but when i heard it i didn't want to have it in my home even for zero money.
It was one of worst sound i ever heard!! hi band flat, low resolution, no brilliance, mid band flat, empty sound, kind of old paper efect, dull sounding and horrible bass.
Only space and 3D imaging was very good. Aida there are not High End speakers.
Few days later i listended TAD Reference One and Focal Stella Utopia...it was great speakers.
Hi Friends what would be welcome is information/findings from people who have actually heard the Sonja 1.3 and Raidho 4.1. Most of us have extensively heard the Magico Q7 and Adia. based on that I would like to evaluate which speaker should I own. And finally it will come down to personal preferences as there is nothing like "this is the best".
BTW, I listened to the Aida's and Q7 exactly in the same system and room with my usual recordings.
That's awesome, and totally the way to go. Hopefully the system used will be similar to what you have at home also...
It's tough to make this kind of purchase without having this sort of opportunity.
alexandre
Perhaps we should start a new thread : What dream systems would you assemble for the Q7, for the XLF or the Aida?
Dre, that's cool, no problem.
The 108 has problems with the YG (or vice-versa, as you wish) with very fast transient attacks, when played loud enough. Burns the fuse on spot. I got mine to pop with Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Snow Maiden", from the Reference Recordings sampler.
alexandre
I heard the Raidho 4.1's at Jonathan Valins house with the Solution electronics and I was quite impressed. We listened over a 3 day period and had some long listening sessions so I could get a real feel for the speakers, here is what I heard.
Bass was monumental fast and quite clean, I have also heard the Magico Q5's in that same exact room and the 4.1 bass was better.
The 4.1 speakers are quite tall and that seems to make a big soundstage that was quite impressive.
The result of all those fast drivers gave a dynamic presentation in the midrange that I did not quite hear with the Q5's.
The top end was fluid and natural, NOTHING to complain about, my overall impression was absolutely top tier in every way, I could live with it happily.
My home system is all MBL Reference gear with a set of 101MK2 speakers, I do like the dynamics, shear impact and soundstage of the MBL better, but the 4.1's surely made an impression on me.
alexander,
Thanks for the reply. Is your darTZeel a rev A or B?
I believe this was a similar issue for the other darT owners with fuses blowing using other speakers. Some of it may have initially been pilot error in those cases as well. If I remember correctly, I think an upgrade, re-biasing dc offset, or passive resistor fixed the issue for the others. In your case with the Anat, I think it may have worked in the Lo impedance setting of the dart but there is a possible shift in performance when in that setting that may or may not have been to your liking. It doesn't really matter now though because you, and the other owners, are happily enjoying an excellent sounding amp with your speakers of choice.
Dre
Both 108s were rev. Bs. They went through all the updates, and even in the Lo setting, a very fast, very loud transient would trigger the crowbar protection circuit, and blow a fuse.
I'm going to listen soon to the Sonja, all passive now. I'll see if I can arrange to bring my 108 along, and see if it handles the new model better!
alexandre
Same problem with S5s here. I have the latest 108B with SNCP upgrade. I have one recording (with deep bass) which always blows the left chanel fuse when listening at realistic levels.
I got so proficient in changing the fuses, that it only takes me 5 minutes (total) to change one
Oh, that's good to know (that other speakers trigger this behaviour as well).
All the other speakers I've tried didn't trigger this. Sure, some of them would make the 108 suffer (like the Dynaudio C4). The eyes would blink madly, but the fuses would stay intact.
Does that happen with your Aidas? I'm still hoping to be able to hear my 108 with an Aida, and perhaps change my impression of the speaker...
alexandre
I did better - using a special tool to handle the fuse I managed to do it in 3 minutes. But the mean time is not so brilliant if you include the time of getting out a fuse that falls inside the amplifier.
I only had the problem once with the Aida's. The 108 sounds nice with the Aida's but it is not the best match with them - they sound much better with the Audio Research. Perhaps using a different speaker cable, such as the Valhalla would help. Anyway the 108 is not powerful enough for them. A good friend brought his DartZeel integrated to listen in the Aida's and it was much more dynamic, but also less refined.
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