Apertura Audio STELA
The Apertura Stela pairs crystal-clear, non-fatiguing treble with deep, disciplined bass and a wide three-dimensional soundstage. Audiophile Fr highlights its natural tonal balance, precise imaging and expressive dynamics, while Stereo Magazine finds refined musicality in small to medium rooms—especially with a quality amplifier.
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Nicely Roasted
Sound Quality
92/100
Build Quality
50/100
Value for Money
85/100
Pros
Clear, detailed treble remains smooth and free from aggression, with natural brass tone and crisp cymbals.
Deep, vigorous bass combines weight and extension with controlled, stable rhythmic tracking.
Wide, layered three-dimensional imaging places instruments precisely and reveals convincing depth.
Handles large dynamic swings and orchestral crescendos with composure, including at higher levels.
Cons
Reaches its full musical potential with a genuinely high-quality amplifier.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 92/100
Reviews portray the Stela as an unusually refined and balanced floorstander, combining transparent detail with an easy, non-fatiguing presentation. It is praised for deep, well-controlled bass, spacious three-dimensional imaging and confident handling of large musical swings, while Stereo Magazine also found it rewarding with high-quality amplification.
Bass
94/100
Audiophile Fr found the low end extended with ease and without apparent discontinuity, staying faithful to the recording and musical score. The reviewer also praised its vigour, depth and strongly built bass foundation, an impressive showing from this dual-16cm design.
Mid
88/100
Direct discussion of the midrange is limited, but Audiophile Fr repeatedly describes a pure, transparent and well-balanced presentation with convincing instrumental timbres. The speaker is also credited with delivering emotional involvement and musical pleasure rather than spotlighting one part of the spectrum.
Treble
93/100
The treble is described as clear yet completely free of aggression, retaining detail without artificially highlighting the upper range. Brass is said to sound sweet and naturally coloured, while cymbal strikes remain clean and forthright.
Soundstage Imaging
94/100
Audiophile Fr praises a particularly wide soundstage, alongside precise placement of performers within it. The review highlights clear separation between front and rear instrumental lines and an unusually convincing sense of three-dimensional depth.
Dynamics
93/100
The Stela is described as sporting and capable of taking large dynamic contrasts in its stride across musical styles. Orchestral crescendos, brass entries and violin climaxes reportedly remain rigorously controlled even when the volume is raised.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
50/100
The supplied reviews say little about cabinet finish, resonance control, terminals or long-term construction quality.
Value for Money
85/100
The stated price is €4,350 per pair, placing the Stela in a competitive premium floorstander market. Neither review offers a direct judgement on value against similarly priced rivals, though both are strongly positive about its musical performance.
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Specifications
- Drive units
- 2x Grave-medium 16cm “Isotactic Matrix”, 1x “Ring Radiator” Tweeter 25mm double ferrite
- Frequency range (+/- 3dB)
- 40 Hz – 30kHz
- Sensibility
- 88dB/2.83v/1m
- Impedance nom.
- 8Ω
- Impedance min.
- 6Ω
- Crossover frequency
- 3,4 kHz
- Dimensions
- 230 x 310 x 970 mm (with stand and spikes)
- Weight
- 19 kg
Manufacturer's Description — Apertura Audio
STELA completes the range of three compact Apertura speakers.
With a 2-way, 3-driver architecture, this floorstander speaker has the same qualities as Swing and Sensa, but offers a higher level of performance in terms of bass response and dynamic capability.
special version of the woofers allows Stela to maintain a nominal impedance of 8 ohms and places less strain on the associated amplifier.
Stela will reveal all the qualities of the associated equipment, as well as the most beautiful recordings.
The positioning and integration of Stela remains as easy as ever thanks to its contained size.
ENCLOSURE
- 18mm MDF cabinet.
- Four internal Bracing panels to stiffen the mechanical structure and limit propagation of parasite vibrations. Those internal bracing panels create specific cavities where damping materials can be applied for standing waves cancellation.
- No less than 4 different types of dumping material are used.
- The acoustic load on Stela is a bass-reflex with a vent tube on the rear.
- A well-proportioned base plate ensures that the speaker remains stable.
- Four adjustable spikes allow a fine positioning of the speaker.
DRIVE UNITS
- Two 16 cm bass-midrange drivers from Seas. The driver cone is of “Isotactic Matrix” technology. A composite of woven coated polypropylene tapes. This material has excellent linearity and damping properties.
- The design of the magnetic circuit has been optimised to concentrate the flux on the 26mm coil. The voice coil is ventilated to avoid compression effects between the phase plug and the pole piece. The low-loss rubber surround has radial reinforcements, which helps to reduce break-up modes during long excursions.
- The 25mm Tweeter is a member of the “Ring Radiator” family. It has an extended frequency response beyond 30kHz and excellent directivity performance. The heavy magnetic circuit is based on a double ferrite bringing a gain in sensitivity and a lower level of distortion, at constant level.
- A rear wave damping cavity lowers the resonant frequency of the driver.
CROSS OVER
- Like each Apertura speaker, Stela is fitted with a passiv proprietary « DRIM » crossover, with triple attenuation slopes (6,12 24dB per Octave), phase compliance over the entire bandwidth is granted as well as the absence of intermodulation.
- Hand wiring in our facility in Puceul, on a 140 μm copper printed circuit board.
- All components are audiophile grade – heavy gauge coated enamel wire inductors, polypropylene capacitors, wound resistors. The internal wiring uses our heavy gauge OFC copper cable.
- Three differents standard finishes available :
- Satin : Light Oak, American Walnut
- High Gloss : White, Piano black
Verified Dealers
Online Dealers
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Authorized dealers for Apertura Audio STELA
- ALAIN CHOUKROUN — online and in-store — Paris, Île-de-France, France (website)
- Audio Excellence (CA) — online and in-store — Markham, Ontario, Canada (website)
- AUDIOteam — in-store — Nice, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Switzerland (website)
- Brosseau — in-store — Saint-Hubert, Québec, Canada (website)
- HIFI SOLUTION — in-store — Chandon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France (website)
- Klang-Form — in-store — Tönisvorst, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany (website)
- Le Studio HIFI — in-store — Versailles, Île-de-France, France (website)
- Perfect sense Audio — in-store — Stockholms län, Sweden (website)
- PERFECT’SON — online and in-store — Chartres, Centre-Val de Loire, France (website)
- Project Perfection — online and in-store — Singapore, Singapore (website)
and 3 more verified dealers