While I'm sure both speakers are excellent examples of their respective philosophies, imo in this case the Sonus Faber Aida starts out with a superior paradigm: Getting not only the direct sound, but ALSO the reverberant soound, right.
The (adjustable) rear-firing drivers on the Aida imo give it an advantage over its front-firing-only competition, as there are definite psychoacoustic benefits to adding a bit of later-arriving reverberant energy to the mix.
Unfortunately audiophiles tend to resist this sort of thing on general principles because intuitively it seems like you're adding "more of the room" to the mix, but this is a case of a little knowledge being a dangerous thing. When done right, reflections can actually improve clarity, and in practice let you hear "more of the recording". This, according to Dr. Floyd Toole, is because the ear/brain system can better decipher complex sounds when it gets multiple "looks" in the form of spectrally-correct reflections.
I seldom post in threads about speakers in this price range because frankly it's not a price ballpark that I have much in common with, but I do like to acknowledge what looks to me like exceptionally intelligent design when I see it. Again I have zero experience with either speaker, but I do have experience with the psychoacoustics behind the Aida's unorthodox configuration.
Duke
The (adjustable) rear-firing drivers on the Aida imo give it an advantage over its front-firing-only competition, as there are definite psychoacoustic benefits to adding a bit of later-arriving reverberant energy to the mix.
Unfortunately audiophiles tend to resist this sort of thing on general principles because intuitively it seems like you're adding "more of the room" to the mix, but this is a case of a little knowledge being a dangerous thing. When done right, reflections can actually improve clarity, and in practice let you hear "more of the recording". This, according to Dr. Floyd Toole, is because the ear/brain system can better decipher complex sounds when it gets multiple "looks" in the form of spectrally-correct reflections.
I seldom post in threads about speakers in this price range because frankly it's not a price ballpark that I have much in common with, but I do like to acknowledge what looks to me like exceptionally intelligent design when I see it. Again I have zero experience with either speaker, but I do have experience with the psychoacoustics behind the Aida's unorthodox configuration.
Duke