Arya Audio AirBlades

[spiritofmusic]

An interesting opportunity has arisen to have Arthur, the head of Arya Audio, to visit me at the chapel and audition his interesting looking AirBlades 180° dispersion high frequency drivers.
I already run his RevOpods footers under my Zus to great effect, and very curious to see and hear these AirBlades in the flesh, after such positive user feedback on the Audio Exotics forum.
I've invited him to register on the forum and contribute technical info, and answer any Qs.
Until that point, here's the company website with some photos and description of the product.

www.arya-audio.com

 

[arya-audio]

Thanks for the intro. I'm very much looking forward to the 'chapel experience'. I'll bring along our latest AirBlade HYPE SE units that we will be launching officially at High End Munich in May.

 

[J007B]

It will be interesting to hear your impressions. I’ve been reading about the AirBlades for a while now. I am very curious about the price. I have read estimates of $1000 ea, all the way up to £8000 per pair.

 

[spiritofmusic]

I believe the Radian 850 tweeters in my Zus cross from the full range drivers at 11k and gently roll off at 18-19k, w some output at 20k and just above.
I believe Arthur has said the AirBlades are not supertweeters, ie not like those crazy Kharma diamond tweeters that spec to 50k+, but roll off like regular tweeters.
However the secret of their performance is in the wide angle of dispersion, I believe 180° or close to it.
One interesting choice here will be the xover point that Arthur chooses for them. Many speakers cross to their tweeters at 1.5-2k. The Zu full range drivers go up to 11k, will the AirBlades sound best only outputting from 11k, or should we choose a lower point, risking a broader overlap btwn the full range drivers and the AirBlades?

 

[arya-audio]

However the secret of their performance is in the wide angle of dispersion, I believe 180° or close to it.

That's right. If you look at the polar response (or directivity plot) you can see that the dispersion is pretty much independent of frequency. As such, AirBlade is the only driver that offers such a unique performance. The dispersion of 180º has been deliberately chosen to offer the most coherent integration with traditional drivers at lower frequencies. The crossover point on the AirBlade HYPE units is therefore more of a fine tuning tool that helps to find the right acoustic balance between the main speaker and AirBlade rather than a way to replicate the crossover of the main speakers. It might sound counterintuitive at first but I promise it will make sense once you try it yourself.

 

[spiritofmusic]

So, whether mids cross the highs at 1.5k or 11k is not an issue for the AirBlades?

 

[arya-audio]

The Zu's are using quite large drivers (I believe 10"?) and as such will become increasingly directional from somewhere around 1kHz onwards. Therefore, in this particular case the lowest X-Over setting on the AirBlade HYPE's might actually work the best, but we can try them all and see what sounds most coherent.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Arthur, more like 10.3" actually Lol.
And two of them, per side.

 

[matakana]

The Zu's are using quite large drivers (I believe 10"?) and as such will become increasingly directional from somewhere around 1kHz onwards. Therefore, in this particular case the lowest X-Over setting on the AirBlade HYPE's might actually work the best, but we can try them all and see what sounds most coherent.

So what is the RRP ?

 

[arya-audio]

So what is the RRP ?

AirBlade HYPE v2 retails for £9800 per pair and the HYPE SE for £14800 per pair (see details below). We still have a few units of the legacy AirBlade HYPE v1 left in stock that retail for £8000 while they last.
Years of R&D went into the new versions not to mention the improvements that were made in the manufacturing. Pretty much every single aspect of the driver has been meticulously analysed and underwent extensive simulation, optimisation and testing. As an example all pole pieces are now made using metal injection molding (as compared to the casted parts that were previously used). It's quite more challenging to produce parts this way but it allows us to achieve a much higher material density than with any other method resulting in a stronger and more uniform magnetic field. All other parts underwent the same rigorous optimisation procedure and the result of our efforts is the most advanced loudspeaker driver to date that can produce the most coherent wave front of any driver. A paradigm shift in loudspeaker design.
We will be presenting AirBlade in various configurations during the upcoming High End in Munich including an ultra high end cinema system featuring AirBlade that will be presented in collaboration with Western Electric in Hall 4. An event that is not to be missed.

 

[analyzer]

Very interesting, fantastic Polar diagram, neverthless in Arya website the sensitivity value is missing in the datasheet section. That's not good, usually any manufacturer declare It; someone knows something more about It?

 

[arya-audio]

Very interesting, fantastic Polar diagram, neverthless in Arya website the sensitivity value is missing in the datasheet section. That's not good, usually any manufacturer declare It; someone knows something more about It?

Sensitivity (or Sound Pressure) is a somewhat misleading information. You need to bear in mind that sensitivity ? sound power and two loudspeakers with identical sensitivity can sound very different in terms of perceived loudness (cf. https://www.bksv.com/en/knowledge/blog/sound/sound-power-sound-pressure). The reason is that sensitivity is a measurement taken at a single point in space (on-axis). This favours highly directional speakers and puts wide dispersion drivers at a disadvantage. A wide dispersion driver will always produce much more sound power than a highly directional driver with identical sensitivity (measured on-axis). Think for example what happens if you put a horn in front of a driver; The horn channels the radiated sound energy into a small area thus creating the illusion of a higher efficiency on axis while in reality the driver still sends the exact same sound power into the room just more focused and at the expense of sound colouration through the horn loading.
If you measure the sensitivity of AirBlade it is somewhere around 94-95dB at 1m distance but it will sound much louder than a standard driver with the same sensitivity for the reasons outlined above. Therefore I would use sensitivity numbers with caution.
Take for example the system below where AirBlade was paired with Oswalds Mill 'Mini" speakers rated at 95dB/1m, yet the AirBlade was set to '-3dB' for equally perceived levels. Obviously the impedance plays a role here as well but the main message here is that without context the sensitivity alone provides very little insight.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Thanks for the intro. I'm very much looking forward to the 'chapel experience'. I'll bring along our latest AirBlade HYPE SE units that we will be launching officially at High End Munich in May.

View attachment 89663

Thank you for joining us here, Arthur! Welcome to WBF!

Marc has a wonderful listening room! We look forward to Marc's report on your Airblades!

 

[Ron Resnick]

Hi Marc,

So you are thinking the Airblades could helpfully supplement the high frequency response and projection of your Zus? Is that the thesis?

(I am asking because I was not aware that you have wondered if the Definitions were lacking in some way in high frequency response.)

 

[arya-audio]

Thank you for joining us here, Arthur! Welcome to WBF!

Marc has a wonderful listening room! We look forward to Marc's report on your Airblades!

Thank you for having me and I'm excited as well to hear what Marc will say after listening to AirBlade

 

[spiritofmusic]

There have been a few things I've tested in my room that have really worked out, and it's been good to share them w the wider audio community (Stacore platforms, Arthur's very own RevOpods footers, and Tubulus Argentus DB25 cables).
Whether I buy them is immaterial, the simple opportunity to hear them at home is too good an opportunity to turn down.
I will say that Zu has a more subdued top end than many spkrs, aided by my Townshend supertweeters. It'll be fascinating to see how the whole holistic experience is enhanced by the AirBlades. Especially since Arthur may set the xover low so that the output from the AirBlades superimposes over the output from the Zu full range drivers, and beyond.

 

[iansr]

@arya-audio : I’m confused; what is the intended role of these tweeters? Do you anticipate OEMs designing speakers that use these as the tweeters? If so, then knowing the often outrageous relationship between BOM cost and MRSP you are going to have to offer them very big discounts! Or, do you see them as an after market product such that people disconnect the tweeters in their existing speakers and substitute the Blades? (The obvious problem with the latter is the side positioning and C to C distance if the Blades are on their own stands - ?)

 

[spiritofmusic]

Ian, from what I've seen primarily on the Audio Exotics forum out of HK is that the AirBlades are an addition to systems, host tweeters are not disconnected. I'm a little unsure of the ramifications of this, Arthur can hopefully explain further. I can only really comment on SQ results once listened to.

 

[arya-audio]

As Marc mentioned, AirBlade HYPE has been designed as add-on unit to augment existing speakers. It features an adjustable crossover with discrete steps for level (0 to -12dB attenuation) and X-Over (1 to 3.5kHz) that allows for easy integration into pretty much any system. The point is not necessarily to replace the tweeters (even though it is an option) but more to support them.

About the impact of adding AirBlade HYPE you can check some impressions that people shared:

"As good as the Cessaro Wagner Silver Signatures are, the AirBlades add a significant touch of air between the instruments and extension to the high frequencies all the while maintaining natural, as opposed to 'steely', sounding treble. The layering and positioning of instruments within the soundstage is simply incomparable without the AirBlades, to the extent that I think the AirBlades complete the Wagners."

The result is a more impactful “panorama” perspective as though the “feeling of stage” extends beyond the left and right wall. It is not a only matter of perceived width, there is simply more content of everything, including energy.

While listening to Audio Exotics' HK demo system where AirBlade HYPE is playing with Goebel Divin Majestic, Mr Perrin Laurent (French/Luxembourg cellist, who is teaching at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts) noted:

“Chris, this sounds like my teacher.” to which Chris of Audio Exotics replied: “Who is your teacher?” Perrin said: “It should be my teacher’s teacher, Andre Navarra. My teacher was George Mallach, who was the Principal cellist of the Luxembourg orchestra back then and a student of Andre Navarra.” Chris was utterly shocked because he was in fact playing Navarra’s Camille Saint Sean’s Cello Sonata on the Da Vinci Gabriel turntable. Perrin Laurent carried on to listen more with his eyes closed. When another track was finished playing, he said: “Chris I feel like he is playing in front of me, as his bowing technique is brilliant with endless legato in the slowest passages. This is amazing. I don’t know reproduced music on the vinyl could reach such realism. I can see all his bow movement and feel his soul!”

When switching AirBlade OFF, Perrin Laurent commented:

“Chris, the upper harmonics of Navarra’s cello was gone which is inconsistent with his bowing technique which allows for the most ergonomic use of both hands, wherein proper positions, allows the use of natural weight rather than gripping and shoving. Harmonics content should be very abundant arising from such techniques.”

This is a picture of Perrin Laurent with JLam of AE Hong Kong with the said system comprised of Goebel Divin Majestic and AirBlade HYPE as seen in the far left.

Hopefully that provides some insight.

 

[howiebrou]

As Marc mentioned, AirBlade HYPE has been designed as add-on unit to augment existing speakers. It features an adjustable crossover with discrete steps for level (0 to -12dB attenuation) and X-Over (1 to 3.5kHz) that allows for easy integration into pretty much any system. The point is not necessarily to replace the tweeters (even though it is an option) but more to support them.

About the impact of adding AirBlade HYPE you can check some impressions that people shared:

View attachment 89902


While listening to Audio Exotics' HK demo system where AirBlade HYPE is playing with Goebel Divin Noblesse, Mr Perrin Laurent (French/Luxembourg cellist, who is teaching at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts) noted:

When switching AirBlade OFF, Perrin Laurent commented:

View attachment 89908
This is a picture of Perrin Laurent with JLam of AE Hong Kong with the said system comprised of Goebel Divin Noblesse and AirBlade HYPE as seen in the far left.

Hopefully that provides some insight.

I think that's the Divin Majestic or someone delivered me the wrong speaker!