Intro
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Gauder Akustik is a German speaker manufacturer. We visited the factory at the end of last year to take a look at the production and development of these special loudspeakers. Now we have one of the floorstanders in our listening room: the Gauder Akustik Arcona 100 MK2
We like brands that do things differently. NAIM, Sonnet, Spectral… Gauder Akustik. In our interview with Roland Gauder we’ve already told a lot about the brand. We’re not going to repeat it all in this article. But to sum it up:
Gauder Akustik believes in very stiff cabinets – preferably aluminum – ceramic drivers (especially Acuton) and enormously steep filters. In short: they have a rather different approach than a lot of competitors. And we like that at Alpha. It makes for discussion. And discussion is good.
Arcona 100 MK2
The Gauder Akustik Arcona series is the entry-level series. Now that’s relative, because with the Arcona 100 MK2 you’re already on about 8000 euros per pair. Serious stuff. But know that you’re starting at a serious level. so you’re getting a serious pair of loudspeakers. Compare it with food at a star-restaurant. If you choose the ‘boarding party’ of the menu there, you still have a special culinary plate of food right in front of your nose.
The Gauder Akustik Arcona 100 is a ventilated, 3-way, floor standing model, constructed from MDF. The tweeter is of course a ceramic model of Acuton. Woofers are XPulse diaphragm units. Two for bass, one for mid. The crossover is very steep with 50dB per octave. The DARC-series is 60dB.
Also the Arcona has the ‘bass-extension’ bridge at the back. Connecte (put in) you have a deeper low-end, but a – considerably – heavier load on the amplifier. Out the Arcona 100 is an easier load and therefore also suitable for even tube amps. We have measured and indeed see a considerable difference in both response (and distortion).
