Description
New for 2022.
The Aptica MKII SE is the result of years of research in the field of transmission line systems.
With a powerful 6.25″ midbass driver and the innovative tweeter diffraction trap DSD system, the Aptica MKII SE affirms its elegant and unique design.
The external appearance, which is dictated by the basic principles of acoustics and enriched by a precious finish, hides a highly innovative project, capable of making the daily listening experience unique and enjoyable.
This is not one of the usual odd shaped speakers that invade the space of your home and are tolerated only because of the function they perform, but rather a contributor to make your home space more warm, cosy and suited to your lifestyle.
Aptica introduces a new 6.25″ Accuton ceramic main driver, in a two-way pair-matched configuration with improvements made to it’s sturdy base plinth. The front baffle also inherits from 3-way Axcentia treatment, whose sculpted surface is designed to defray reflections. The floor facing transmission-line terminus remains unchanged.
Ceramic Drivers
Ceramic drivers were developed in 1984 by Bernhard Thiel, an engineer at Backes & Müller in Germany. They are made with an extremely thin layer of hard material alumina, a crystalline form of aluminum oxide, which is found in nature as sapphire. Consequently they are expensive and also very difficult to control. The Absolute Sound’s ‘Illustrated History of High-End Audio’ devotes an entire chapter to them … and why the World’s leading loudspeaker manufacturers employ their use.
Advantages of ceramics :
High efficiency
Very thin form factor
Tight manufacturing tolerances
Smaller acoustic cavity required
Aptica employs an Accuton 6.25″ mid/woofer and 1″ tweeter with “DSD” (Diffraction Shaping Device)
Care and attention has been paid to cross-over design. Driver performance paired with the benefits of a properly designed TL enclosure, explain why this model has gained so much acclaim.
What can you expect ?
Independent opinion is always best. The comments (below) derive from Reviews and those that have auditioned Aptica.
At this level of performance a quality Source is essential – they are in fact used at 6 Moons to evaluate Digital and Amplification equipment performance.
Room considerations are less important – even a sizeable room with 5m x 11.5m x 2.6m dimensions … did not ‘phase’ them in Review. Aptica is small in size and stature but even though a TL … bass does not dominate. Smaller rooms therefore are accommodated.
Performance :
In short … “To say that the Albedo Aptica is a masterpiece of acoustics, is not an exaggeration nor rhetoric, but a simple observation.”
Audio Review Italia by Mauro Neri, translated from Italian.
The Aptica Wins a Red Fingerprint Award !!
“I will be brief – I have not heard anything like that from the speakers in this price range for a long time, and I have never heard anything like that from the speakers of such small dimensions, ever”.
Take One
Although I was forewarned that the Albedo speakers deliver “big” sound, hooking them up to my system brought a pleasant surpriseI cannot explain such a large soundstage and so good volume of instruments other than by a very good synergy of well-matched and properly crossed over drivers with the transmission line and Helmholtz resonator.
At the same time, the Aptica showed the same combination of incredible smoothness and attention to detail that I’d previously heard from other good speakers equipped with this type of drivers, like the Avalon Transcendent and the Isophon Berlina RC7.
I would even say that in terms of conveying transient attacks without sound compression they are better than my Harbeths. I am mainly thinking treble here. Their pitch differentiation in this range is much better than that of my M40.1 . if someone does not particularly like the appearance of the Harbeth M30.1 or M40.1 and wants similar quality.
It is a very similar way of building up the sound that has the same texture, with great soundstaging and momentum, realistically sized instruments, and the same outstanding resolution executed by a very precise attack. And it’s all smooth, silky and soft. You want detail without harshness or brightening ? Here you are, the Italian speakers are the champions in this respect.
The Apticas sound in a way that clearly refers to a particular system of values, needs and aesthetics. They are fantastic in that. Large phantom images, absolute smoothness and incredible sensitivity to individual sounds and their attack result in something … “Truly Unique” Wojciech Pacua – Positive Feedback
Take Two
“For audiophile appeal there’s the Accuton angle. It’s long served as Kharma’s and Mårten Design’s trump card. There prices skyrocket quickly.
Here was highly crystallized clarity like a cut glass decanter. The Aptica was a whisperer par excellence. This went back to vertical transients and concomitant super intelligibility. Check the step response of complex multi-way speakers. They tend to be very confused in the time domain. Here single-driver widebanders … have quite an advantage. But not exclusively so. Time-domain accuracy isn’t inextricably linked to high efficiency after all. It would seem more associated with design simplicity.
Extension and speed embrace techno and electronica but raw shove – where a Zu Druid V for example collects stars – falls a bit short and the extra wallop from ported alignments is absent too. Considering just how compact the non-vented Aptica is, that’s no surprise but bloody impressive. As such it is quite the surprise, simply of a different sort.
Whilst I didn’t find the Accuton as gossamer airy as my favored Raal ribbons in hosted Soundkaos and Aries Cerat speakers, it plainly was ideal here for perfect integration with the main driver which isn’t softer paper. The hard convex dome’s leading-edge reaction seemed superior to fabric domes.
Perhaps because they focus brilliantly as time-coherent minimum-phase designs, the Apticas could play the edges of the (sound) field for Cinerama panorama …
This latest Albedo thus seriously impressed us and a number of visitors. That such an “Ultra High-Performance” device could look this good, be this compact and wide bandwidth were the cherry and cream on top. Italians own style. It’s so cliché but true here and with a vengeance”. Srajan Ebaen – 6 Moons
Take Three
Summary translation from Italian Audio Review by Mauro Neri.
“A Masterpiece of acoustics and design”
Take Four
“Another remarkable feature is the good propensity to disappear in the listening environment, to give space to a precise reconstruction of the acoustic scene. The sealed in power and the consequent great sensation of Dynamics, make the Aptica an immersive Speaker, despite their not very high sensitivity (85dB)”.
“A little bit of Magic”
Availability
Aptica comes in 4 flavours – Black Oak, Makassar Ebony, Glossy Graphite Ebony and Glossy Black lacquer.
TECHNICAL DATA
System > floor standing two way, linear phase
Loading > transmission line filtered by resonator (Helmholine System)
Drivers > 6.25 ceramic mid-woofer, 1 ceramic tweeter with DSD acoustic trap
Crossover > acoustic first order
Sensitivity > 85 dB (2.83V 1m)
Nominal impedance > 8 ohm
Frequency response > 45 – 32.000 Hz
Dimensions > 26 x 19 x 101 cm
Weight > 19 kg net each
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.