R 8 Arreté

Why it is renowned

The American magazine Stereophile reviewed the R 8 Arreté, describing it as a complex design from Ole Klifoth of the Danish maker Audiovector and admiring its piano-lacquered walnut burl.¹ At the time it was the step below the R 11 flagship, and like it the R 8 is sold only in the top Arreté grade, with every option fitted.¹

The story

Ole Klifoth designed the three 6.5-inch drivers on the front baffle with outside driver specialists; their cones combine carbon and aramid fibre with a synthetic wood resin, and the voice coils are wound on titanium formers.¹² Above them sits an Air Motion Transformer tweeter whose back wave leaves through slots in the rear, and a 4-inch midrange driver fires backwards.²¹

The bass comes from an isobaric pair of an 8-inch and a 6.5-inch driver firing down into a slotted aluminium base, which spreads the sound to the back and sides.²¹ The teardrop-shaped cabinet is kept open and fairly light, so that little energy is stored inside it.¹ A separate grounding cable connects the driver chassis to earth, part of Audiovector's Freedom Grounding concept.²¹ The standard finish is Italian walnut burl in piano lacquer.²