Aurai Z 165 Loudspeaker

A Must Listen For Lovers Of Music

In our 20 plus years in business, we have had the opportunity to listen to many speakers extensively.  None have created such musical excitement and joy for us as Aurai loudspeakers.

What Makes Aurai Speakers Different?

The Story of Aurai and Tweek Geek

I had been on a years long search for speakers that were ultimately musical and efficient. My initial introduction to Aurai loudspeakers came via Sixmoons magazine through Srajan's rave reviews of the loudspeakers.

After reading every review of the various models, I ordered pairs of Z165 and Z215 loudspeakers sight "unheard". I was taking a rather expensive chance on Srajan's high opinion of the speakers, but his listening preferences were similar to mine.

I was not disappointed. Quite the opposite. I was blown away, as my expectations were wildly exceeded. I have heard great soundstage, imaging, dynamics and resolution before. The experience of music through Aurai speakers was different in a way that not just grabbed me, it was an awakening.

This initial experience was what would be the beginning of my friendship and partnership with Alain Pratali (with the help of Google Translate). 

The Z165

The Z165 is a 6.5" two way loudspeaker of extraordinary capability. 

The Innovative Tweeter

It starts with their unique, polymer membrane high frequency driver with a mass of less than 12 milligrams. This driver has a unique, floating system  (rather than a surround) that retains non-resonant properties and stiffness while minimizing mass. There is no glue, no screws, nothing to hamper travel or add weight to the diaphragm. It simply floats in it's magnetic suspension, optimized for maximum speed and resolution.

This driver is mounted in a custom, precisely machined Acetal waveguide. The waveguide insures a controlled and even dispersion throughout the listening room. Srajan Ebaen writes of the Aurai tweeter:

"First impressions? "What an incredible tweeter!"...This was one hellaciously fast and responsive HF unit. It dug deep into the finest upper harmonics...This unknown French tweeter was superior to the far heavier but famous Mundorf AMT in our regular monitors. It was superior to the inverted ceramid Accuton dome in our Albedo Aptica Two-way towers. It most reminded me of a Raal ribbon, albeit with a higher energy density and more color...I thought this dome tweeter to be second only to Michael Borreson's high-tech, ultra-costly ribbon which I'd heard in this room the year prior..."  Srajan, Sixmoons

The highs are mated to the low frequency driver by adding additional magnets to the rear of the tweeter. The additional magnetism lowers the output of the tweeter. Thereby they avoid any attenuation circuit in the signal path, and preserving resolution. The high frequency assembly, being mounted on top of the speaker and not in the front baffle also allows for smooth and even dispersion of the highs with no cabinet reflections to alter frequency response.

The net result is a highly resolving, dynamic, fast, and musical sound that is tuneable by the user. Very few high frequency drivers deliver this kind of experience, and none at this price point. 

Custom Paper Cone Midbass

The 6.5" midbass driver is custom made in house with parts from Supravox and AAC of France. It uses a basket from Supravox, 16mm Nomex coil, paper cone, phase plug and rubber suspension from AAC France. Alain states that this is his finest driver yet, and we would agree.

"On an extended playlist of well-recorded and musically gourmet tracks, I routinely noticed an effect I'll call beam forming. Solo vocals or instruments seemed so materialized that I felt physically singed as though by sunlight through a magnifying glass. Hence beam forming. The sensation was that these virtual center images (not the two speakers!) projected radiation so focused that I felt it on my skin. I'd previously and only rarely encountered this extra intensity with large Single-driver widebanders. Granted, it took premium recordings to come off again. Nonetheless, my spontaneous reaction was "what a fantastic midrange". - Srajan Ebaen, Sixmoons.com

The driver is fast and articulate enough to keep up with the incredible high frequency driver, and yet it can easily produce bass as low (and lower) as 40Hz.  The lightweight paper membrane offers up a tonally balanced, layered and rich sound.

But great drivers alone do not make a great loudspeaker.

Time Alignment

Another element of the Magic in Z series speakers are in the time-alignment of the drivers. The horn loaded tweeter rides on top of the enclosure and is precisely set back from the front baffle, physically time aligning it with the woofer's output. This mechanical alignment ensures that the signal from both drivers arrives at the listener's ears with perfect timing.

Ultra Premium Crossover

Along with time alignment, the Z165 implements the most phase accurate type of crossover network, a first order. The crossover has only 3 components to it, with only 2 parts in the signal path.  This simplicity not only protects the signal resolution and timing/phase, but allows Aurai to invest in their design with very high quality parts. A flat frequency response with a first order network is very difficult to achieve, as you need to have very well behaved drivers with smooth frequency responses in and outside of their operating ranges.

Birch Plywood Enclosure

The enclosure for the midbass driver is birch ply. This was chosen for it's stiffness, and the alternating grain direction of each layer of plywood helps to disperse energy in a more optimal way. 

The elongated shape of the enclosure, aside from being visually striking, serves the purpose of reducing the effect of the rear wave on the bass driver. 

The Z165 incorporates a slotted port in the rear. The slot port helps the speaker reach lower into the bass frequencies with no chuffing. For small to medium rooms, the Z165 will be all the speaker you need, as the bass output is shockingly agile, deep and fast. For larger rooms you may want to pair with a subwoofer, but we would likely recommend the Z215 for it's higher output capability.

Reviews

• Sixmoons (first generation Z165) This is an earlier review of the Z165, and where my collaboration with Alain started. Initially, we worked on a new crossover for the Z165, but Alain ended up reworking the midbass driver, changing the magnetic pole piece and adding a phase plug to eliminate a driver resonance.

Our Take On The Sound

Placement

The Z165 is very special. It's not terribly fussy on placement, but you do want to get them out into the room for in order for them to achieve their spectacular 3 dimensional disappearing act.

Soundstage

The width and depth of the soundstage is immense, and with the right recordings, the soundstage literally immerses/wraps around you.

Tonally, they are not hot in the high frequencies and not tuned for exaggerated bass in the lows. They are very balanced. Wood sounds like wood, metal like metal. Applause is rendered with immense detail and articulation, but again, no exaggeration of high frequencies.

Bass

Bass resolution, and depth are shocking. I know we are so inundated with hyperbole these days that descriptive words are almost meaningless. But I was literally shocked with the depth, punch and finess of this speaker in the lower frequencies. In a small to medium room you really don't need a subwoofer unless you want to vibrate your listening chair.

Midrange

Midrange is just like all other aspects of the Z165. Incredible. The woofer covers the entire vocal range, so you can expect rich clarity, layering, separation, OMG this is good...

Highs

Very few speakers can do highs like the Aurai's. Ultimate clarity, delicacy, subtlety. I guarantee you will hear things with an Aurai speaker that you will not hear with many other speakers.

Coherance

 The speakers actually do a good job nearfield, so yes the drivers do blend well and in a relatively short distance.

Dynamics

No disappointment here. Transients were sharp and without edge. Bass punch is sharp without overhang. and midrange attack is on point. They are easy to drive, and even a lower listening levels, you still get a good dynamic performance.

Conclusion

The Aurai Z165 is a class leading loudspeaker at this price point, and one worthy of your attention if you are spending $10,000-$12,000 on a pair of speakers. They have a magical capability to project the energy and emotion of the music into the room in a natural, realistic and captivating way. As far as equipment pairing goes, they are easy to drive, and a 30-40 watt class A amplifier would be wonderful in most cases, as would tubes, or any amp with a refined sound. Their level of resolution will reveal any weaknesses in your system for sure, but the flexibility of attenuating the tweeters by simply adding (supplied) magnets to the tweeter magnet can help offset any brightness i upstream components.

As far as scalability, I have these running in my store, where the lower level is near 2000 sf. There was plenty of output to fill this space, but I would be lying if I said they wouldn't need a subwoofer. In my home, they are all I need for my 15'x25'x10' room.

For my needs, the Z165 is my stopping point, unless Alain improves upon this design.

Specifications

• Design: 2-Way, time aligned, Rear slot ported speaker
• Crossover: 3.3kHz first order using Jupiter capacitor for the HF network, and 12awg Jensen Wax paper inductor for  the LF portion
• Frequency Response: 45Hz-20kHz
  
  
• Sensitivity: 91dB @ 2.83 volts
• Dimensions: 34.2h x 24.2w x 50.2d cm
• Weight: 25 pounds
• Stand dimensions: 55.88h x 24.2w x 50.2d cm