ARETAI

The ARETAI system was compact and straightforward. It was composed of the Aurender A20 Network Player, CAT SL1 LEGEND BLACK PATH EXTREME Preamp, the CAT JL5 BLACK PATH EXTREME LIMITED EDITION Amplifier, and the ARETAI Contra 100S . Wire and cabling were provided by OePhi.

My notes on the ARETAI system read, “The Contra 100S while a small, stand-mounted speaker delivers bass far beyond its size and the bass is tight, well controlled, and articulate. Impressive.” I then asked Janis to play a well known piece to get a better idea of the systems and he graciously complied.

The stream was Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” and the system with the Contra 100S playing back the music, provided fine, well detailed, and articulate treble information on Joe Morello’s Hi-Hats, that actually topped a number of much more expensive speakers and this in and of itself was quite amazing. The petite Contra 100S speakers were also very dynamic, coherent, and fun! I definitely look forward to a review of the Contra 100S and the ARETAI speaker line.