Majestic! Simply majestic....in looks and sound for a bookshelf speakers. A unique cabinet design, beautifully finished and just look at those tweeters and woofers. Oh, the sound is even better than the looks :)
I first listened to SB Acoustics in KLIAV 2017 show. It was already a new sound to me but it was not really set up in a conducive way to enjoy it. After the show, we exchanged a few communications but SB Acoustics never landed in Malaysia officially..... until 2021! (No thanks to the pandemic). When I was contacted last year about the opportunity to listen to Ara Be speakers at home, I did not hesitate at all. I know it can offer something special. Nevertheless, delivery can only happen sometime in December 2021, just before Xmas.
THE SPECIFICATION
What is so special about this pair of speakers? Firstly, it uses the SATORI Beryllium Tweeters and 6.5" SATORI Midwoofers (with the proprietary cone material of EGYPTIAN PAPYRUS™ fibres). Although it is designed with 4 ohm in mind, the sensitivity at 87 dB made it not so difficult to be driven.
The cabinet is made of MDF with 6 choices of finishing - White satin, black satin, white high gloss, black high gloss, orange high gloss and red high gloss.
It weighs at 9.6 kg per unit and can be handled easily by one person to set it up. Do ensure you have a suitably sized top plate for your speaker stands as it measures at 391 x 190 x 388 mm.
It will fit in with most modern deco in your house and I do believe it can easily get the approval from your other half with the looks.
THE EQUIPMENT
The Ara Be was tested and reviewed alongside the following:
Siltech 330L Silver Anniversary speaker cables
SPL Audio Direct Mk2 pre amp and S800 Performance power amp
McIntosh MCD 350 SACD player
ARCAM ST60 streamer via Roon
SONY HAP Z1 ES
THE TRACKS
Keroncong Kemayoran by Mustikara - TIDAL HiFi
'S Wonderful by Diana Krall - SACD
Take Five by Kenichi Tsunoda Big Band - TIDAL MQA
Temptation by Diana Krall - DSD
Tuesday's Gone by Metallica - 16/44 WAV
Enter Sandman by Metallica - 24/192 WAV
THE SESSION
There are 2 parts here where I listened to the speakers fresh out of the box in the first few days followed by extensive listening once the speakers have been run in more than 200 hours.
Keroncong Kemayoran by Mustikara
Fresh out of the box, the Ara Be sounded quite flat but clean. It could still deliver some level of excitement in which this track upbeat version of this traditional track can really be enjoyed. Good level of clarity on the drum play of the hi hat and rim shot. The guitar solo also sounded melodic enough. However, the bass was a little bit restricted. Vocal was its best character at this point. Sweet highs and decent delivery of mids and lows.
'S Wonderful by Diana Krall SACD
This is when the real extensive listening started. The pair have gone through more than 200 hours of listening. Straight up, playing the physical SACD gave so much excitement. The percussion intro sounded deep and sharp at the same time. For a live concert like this, it is not easy to reproduce a good percussion sound. The rim shot sounded sharp and the soft play of the hi-hat can easily be recognized. The enjoyment continues to set in with the sweet vocal of Diana Krall delivered with such an engaging presentation. It reminds me of the time my wife and I watched her live in concert at the Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS a few years ago. Now, the biggest excitement for me was actually hearing how low the Ara Be can go to deliver the deep sound of the double bass. For a speaker of this size, I would have thought it can only sound like another typical bookshelf. The Ara Be really gave me a big surprise as it digs in quite deep when it comes to bass.
Take Five by Kenichi Tsunoda Big Band
Another similar experience here when I play Kenichi's rendition of the famous Take Five track. The percussion and double bass were spot on with the Ara Be. Initially, I had a concern on the highs as this track involves various wind instruments played at the higher frequency spectrum. Coupled with cymbals play, it could be an ear-pinching experience if played on a bright system. I guess, the beryllium tweeters is a perfect match with the midwoofers as it presented this track with such energy and head room but without the high pitch that I was concern about. In fact, to me it gave the right dosage of highs to the entire track. Perfectly engaging as well.
Tuesday's Gone by Metallica
Why this track? This is one of the covers by Metallica which I feel depicts real emotions from this band. Not only from James's vocal but also the guitar plucks of Kirk and the simple drumming of Lars and bass notes by Jason. Although originally played by Lynyrd Skynyrd, I can relate more to Metallica's version. On this track, James's vocal sounded really energetic on the Ara Be even in his attempt to sing this song at ease. The harmonica sounded really melodic and sweet and Lars's ride crown plays sounded sharp hit by hit. His tom plays also was reproduced by the Ara Be precisely how Lars's drums should sound. At the end of the song, where James started calling names, it sounded really huge in my hall. It filled up my hall in which no other bookshelf speakers that came through my system have ever done this. It usually would need a floorstander to give m such enveloping and huge sound.
Temptation by Diana Krall
I actually still have a concern about the highs on this Ara Be. I then put on Diana Krall's Temptation track. Purely to hear the 'zing' on the snare note at the beginning of the song. Its not about whether it will sound bad but more whether it can really give me that similar vibe each time I hear this note on my system. The unique part of this track is that intro note. Played on a wrong system or speakers, it will sound flat and will not catch my attention. Sure enough, the Ara Be had no problem giving me that experience. It is not as engaging as what I am used to but it is enough to make me smile to hear that 'zing' from that snare note. For the rest of the song, it just further emphasize the Ara Be character in delivering vocal clarity, deep bass and sweet mids and highs.
Enter Sandman
All good with soft, vocal, brass music so far. Any hifi equipment in my book must also go through a test with metal or punk music. Gone were the days where these genres were poorly recorded. I put on a high res version of Enter Sandman by Metallica. This was definitely the hardest test for the Ara Be to satisfy me. It was challenging for me to experience the bass from Lars's drums once the gut wrenching guitar riffs started to rip through the Ara Be. The highs started to overpower the impact of the bass here. Clarity remains its strength where James's vocal still sounded energetic and clear throughout. The drums and bass lines however, somehow was a little laid back compared to the other tracks I tested.
THE CONCLUSION
When it comes to bookshelf speakers, this Ara Be is one strong contender to be on my 2022 Best Speakers list. I am overwhelmed with its performance. The Ara Be is a pair of speakers that is worthy the time for audiophiles to listen to. The overall performance from aesthetic, sound quality, emotional engagement is all there. It is a nearly perfect design to me and matches my system in terms of clarity, sweet highs and melodic mids. The bass response depends a lot on the musical genre being played but with a good track, it can dig really deep for a speaker of this size.
Who will enjoy this speakers? If floorstander is not your cup of tea and looking for a bookshelf speakers that can deliver high clarity, sweet highs and mids with sufficient low frequency response, you have to listen to the Ara Be before purchasing your next bookshelf. It is not a bass monster but it is also not shy in delivering sufficient bass. In fact, its performance will be able to match or even better than some of the floorstanders out there in the price range of RM8K to RM15K. Pair this with a good amp and you will be satisfied for a long time.
For a chance to listen to this Ara Be, please contact HiFi Paradis
