Sonus Faber's original Aida was born in 2011, and the Aida II, which is now launched, can be said to be a well-thought-out redesign. Aida is one of Sonus Faber's masterpieces, and the second generation now launched must be a more sophisticated product.
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The shape and cabinet of the Aida II are similar to the original, but in addition, they have been upgraded. Not only the reflective holes in the back, but also the unit configuration has been upgraded, and the internal design has also been changed accordingly.
The first change was the 28mm diameter Soft Convex Tweeter (H28 XTR-04), which added the unique design of the Damped Apex Dome to suppress excessive vibration of the tweeter's diaphragm. Not only that, but the back of the tweeter is also covered with a solid wood box chamber as a component for mechanical vibration suppression.
The second change, the 180mm midrange (M18 XTR-04) is a mixture of aerospace aluminum and gun steel, and is cut with CNC from a whole piece of material, which is not an ordinary casting process. In doing so, the fine vibrations of the frame are completely eliminated. The voice coil material is made of CCAW (Copper Clad Aluminium Wire) copper-clad aluminum wire, and three Kellog/Goeller Rings are used inside the magnet assembly, similar to the role of a Faraday ring, which can reduce the eddy current and minimize the change in the voice coil inductance. The diaphragm is made of a mixture of pulp, kapok , red hemp (Kenaf) and other natural fibers, and the surface is coated with a transparent viscous substance to enhance the damping effect.
The third change is the newly designed dual woofer, the 220mm W22 XTR-12. The diaphragm is sandwich-type, the middle layer is a very light, very hard foam material, and the inner and outer layers are pulp material. The purpose of using pulp materials is to achieve the same sound characteristics as the alto unit. The two woofers have their own chambers and The Space Ultraflex bass reflection holes. The voice coil diameter is 2 inches, and the same Kellog/Goeller Ring is used, and at the end of the day, the sound characteristics of the woofer are to be as consistent as possible with the midrange.
Finally, let's talk about the 320mm subwoofer (SW32 XTR-08) hidden inside the box. Its diaphragm is also a sandwich structure, and the foam material of the middle layer is the same as that of the woofer, but the surface of the upper and lower layers is replaced by nanocarbon tube material. The 320mm subwoofer is designed for a long stroke, with a voice coil as large as 4 inches, or 10cm in diameter, and is a double-wound voice coil inside and outside, which can effectively resist the Lorentz Current (electromotive force generated within the electromagnetic field).
The sound splitter is all "good material" built. Because the units have been replaced, the sound splitter has naturally been completely redesigned, using a very special 3 2/3 sound path, and drawing on the exquisite design of the flagship Phoenix The Sonus Faber in the box, which clears the subtle vibrations in the box clean.
What are the wonderful vibration absorption, vibration avoidance and vibration suppression methods in the box?
Please look at the top and bottom of the box first, the top is a metal plate that slopes upwards, and the bottom is a Bow Spring Suspension like a high heel, these two heavy metals first "clamp on both sides" of the box to suppress the vibration of the box. And that high-heeled elastic device can block the vibration from the floor.
In addition, the chamber is divided into three separate chambers to remove subtle vibrations. Finally, there's a Tuned Mass Damper design, which absorbs subtle vibrations coming from all over the box and renders them invisible. All of these ingenious designs are combined to form the Zero Vibration Transmission System.
The box material used by Aida II comes from Africa, has the nickname "King of African Trees", and is used exclusively for high-end furniture. The veneer is made of Wenge Wood, the texture is beautiful, and the transparent lacquerwork makes the Aida II really look like european high-end furniture.