Rethm is a manufacturer of high-efficiency loudspeakers that has been working in the field for more than 20 years. This company was founded by two Los Angeles architects who are avid music lovers. They were looking for a pair of high-efficiency loudspeakers and heard about the famous manufacturer Lowther‘s broadband transducers. After a few years of experimentation with this type of transducers, the two architect friends came to the conclusion that it was possible to produce such a loudspeaker on the audiophile market.
Given their connections with the Indies, the manufacturing of their products was relocated to the city of Cochin located in the state of Kerala in southwestern India. This location enables them to achieve unrivalled manufacturing that perfectly respects their industrial design and specifications. A Rethm production model was introduced in 2000 at the Las Vegas Show. Then came three other models. These loudspeakers with a single broadband transducer received good reviews, but like most loudspeakers using a single transducer of this type below 60 Hz, low frequencies are practically non-existent.
In 2010, Rethm therefore decided to adopt the principle of the broadband transducer for its cohesion of message and its ease of implementation, since it does not require a frequency filter that is complicated to design. Rethm also decided to manufacture its own transducers. To counter the lack of low frequencies in this principle, it was decided to add an independent low-frequency module to the loudspeakers, comprising two or four woofers. Each loudspeaker model therefore has its own low-frequency module to ensure that this part of the spectrum is reproduced more accurately and stereophonically. The Rethm catalogue now includes 4 models that have been developed since 2011 and have been improved over the years.
The Aarka model is a monitor-type loudspeaker to be placed on a support. However, its architectural design means that it needs to be visually associated with its own dedicated support. The Aarka is equipped with a 13 cm broadband speaker at the front and two 15 cm woofers at the back. With this model, Rethm took a different approach by including a 95-watt class A / B amplifier for both woofers and a 25-watt hybrid amplifier (lamp / FET transistor) for the broadband speaker. The internal amplifiers can be bypassed if it is desired to supply the Aarka with one or more external amplification blocks.
The Trishna model is a relatively compact floor standing column that uses a 13 cm broadband speaker at the front and four 15 cm woofers in isobaric mode, two of which are visible on the front. The broadband transducer must be connected directly to an external amplifier of choice while the low-frequency section is fed internally by a UCD Hypex class D amplification module of 180 watts. This amplification module has a control to adjust the level of the low frequencies according to the tastes of the user or the acoustics of the room.
The Maarga model resembles the Trishna column, but with larger dimensions that allow it to accommodate a 15 cm broadband speaker and four woofers of 17.5 cm in isobaric configuration. For the low-frequency section of the Maarga loudspeaker, a UCD Hypex amplification module of 400 watts is provided.
The Saadhana model is also a floor standing loudspeaker that constitutes the top of the Rethm range. It is even larger than the Maarga and it includes the manufacturer’s largest broadband speaker which is 17.5 cm. Its four 20 cm woofers are also in isobaric configuration powered by a UCD Hypex module of 400 watts.
All these speakers have a truly unique look that makes them look like real models of buildings designed by an architectural firm. Rethm products are distributed worldwide by American Sound of Canada located in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
rethm.com
americansound.com
