Aretai Contra 100S
The Aretai Contra 100S makes compact monitoring feel thrillingly full scale, pairing deep, controlled bass with a wide, layered soundstage and lucid, fatigue-free treble. Audioholics admired its clear midrange and substantial low end, while hi-fi+ found its detail, extension and scale remarkably relaxed. This is an exquisitely built stand-mount for serious, high-power systems.
WATT RECOMMENDS
Save your favorites. Compare them anytime.
Create a free HiFi Hub account to save products to your Wishlist and compare your favorites side by side.
Deliciously Crispy
Sound Quality
93/100
Build Quality
94/100
Value for Money
85/100
Pros
Delivers unusually deep, tight and weighty bass for a compact sealed stand-mount speaker.
Creates a large, precisely layered soundstage with sharply focused images and convincing depth.
Combines extended, airy treble and articulate midrange with a smooth, non-fatiguing character at high levels.
Exceptionally dense, resonance-resistant cabinet construction and premium fit and finish.
Cons
Requires careful positioning, toe-in and stand selection to achieve its best bass balance and imaging.
Benefits from a powerful, high-quality amplifier; ultimate low-frequency scale and dynamics remain the domain of larger speakers.
Premium pricing faces strong competition from larger floorstanders and less expensive high-end monitors.
WATT RECOMMENDS
Save your favorites. Compare them anytime.
Create a free HiFi Hub account to save products to your Wishlist and compare your favorites side by side.
What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 93/100
Reviewers consistently describe an unusually full-scale, detailed and composed presentation from this compact sealed stand-mount. Its standout qualities are deep, controlled bass, exceptionally convincing spatial performance and an articulate, relaxed character, although it rewards careful placement and substantial amplifier power.
Bass
93/100
For a compact sealed speaker with twin 6-inch drivers, the Contra 100S earns repeated praise for bass that sounds closer to a small tower than a conventional monitor. Reviewers call it deep, weighty, tuneful and tightly controlled, though several found it could become a little boxy or over-rich when positioned close to a wall.
Mid
94/100
Vocals are a major strength: reviewers describe male and female voices as smooth, focused, believable and notably free of coloration. Instruments and voices are rendered with rich definition, emotional weight and very clear separation, while hi-fi+ particularly praises the midrange's effortless presence.
Treble
93/100
The waveguide-loaded ring-radiator tweeter is widely praised for air, sparkle and detail without glare, hardness or sibilance. Reviewers found cymbals airy, upper frequencies extended and the sound composed even at high listening levels; Alpha Audio also noted that treble energy remains present well off axis.
Soundstage Imaging
95/100
Soundstaging and imaging receive especially strong praise, with reports of a wide, deep and tall stage, sharply located images and convincing layers behind the cabinets. The speakers can disappear impressively, although toe-in, stand height and distance from the rear wall can materially affect image spread and precision.
Dynamics
91/100
The Contra 100S plays louder and with more visceral transient impact than reviewers expect from its dimensions, maintaining coherence without becoming aggressive. It benefits from powerful amplification, and Tracking Angle notes that ultimate low-frequency weight and macro-scale still belong to substantially larger speakers.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
94/100
Construction is repeatedly described as dense, solid, heavily damped and exceptionally well finished, with reviewers reporting no audible cabinet resonance. The flush seams, clean cosmetics, integrated waveguide and isolated angled plinth all contribute to an unusually premium impression.
Value for Money
85/100
At about €9,900 or £7,250 per pair, the Contra 100S sits in a demanding premium stand-mount market. Reviewers strongly recommend its performance and describe it as playing much bigger than its size, but they offer little direct comparison of its value against similarly priced rivals.
Reviews & Sources
Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.
Online Reviews & Mentions
YouTube Reviews
Forum Mentions
No forum mentions found yet
Specifications
- Specification
- Closed passive 2.5-way stand speaker
- Nominal power
- 100W
- Minimum recommended amplifier power
- 70W
- Nominal impedance
- 8 Ohms
- Frequency range (in-room, -10dB)
- 32–30000Hz
- In-room sensitivity @1m/2.83V
- 87dB
- Drivers
- 1.25” waveguide-loaded treated silk ring radiator tweeter, two 6” waveguide-loaded composite midrange-bass units in resonancereducing opposite placement.
- Crossover frequencies
- 150Hz, 4.2k Hz
- Dimensions
- H42/W21.5/D25 cm Net weight of a single unit: 13kg
- Specification
- 24 carat gold plated speaker terminals
- Specification
- Vibration decoupling pad
- Specification
- Optional Bi-wiring /Bi-amping connectors (2 terminal pairs)
- Warranty (parts & labour)
- 3 Years
- Optional
- 2 Years warranty extension
- Finishes & Options
- Standard: black semi-matt enclosure with white waveguide
- Finishes & Options
- Options: Painted glossy (polished) finishVeneered semi-matt finishVeneered glossy (polished) finishBespoke custom finish
Manufacturer's Description — Aretai
A precision full-range performer
Designed for smaller and medium-sized rooms, the compact Contra 100S are quite unusual speakers, allowing you to “see” each instrument located right where the recording engineer intended it to be.
The unique and innovative filter design, bi-pole radiation pattern and the closed type enclosure enables Contra 100S two 6” drivers to deliver a surprisingly deep and well-textured bass combined with a coherent midbass and treble balance.
The bass response of this 2.5-way speaker extends down to 30Hz. To eliminate shifted phase summation typical for ported systems of similar size we deliberately designed a sealed enclosure to keep the bass perfectly tight.
Our custom-designed waveguide delivers a soundstage of impressive depth and width. The neodymium tweeter delivers pristine, undistorted clarity up to 25kHz even at higher volume levels.
To give your experience that extra edge, our bi-amping terminal option allows you to use two amplifiers for separate HF/LF amplification paths.
Key features
Coherent near- and far-field soundstage experience
Controlled indirect spectral balance for lifelike reproductionUltra-low distortion drivers and precision components
Bass response optimized for small and medium-sized rooms
Structurally dampened humidity-proof enclosure
6” double-woofer topology for lower bass extension capability
Wider HF dispersion from the proprietary waveguide design
Filter-equalized low-bass extension tuned to 30Hz
Valve-friendly sensitivity and impedance
Verified Dealers
Online Dealers
All Dealers
Zoom out the map to see more dealers