Rethm Audio’s Jacob George, one of my favorite people in the audio industry, was present at Axpona 2023 making a rather special showing. Having celebrated a newly inked distribution deal with Angie Lisi of American Sound of Canada, Jacob had every model in his current lineup present and was swapping speakers throughout the show. My eye was particularly caught by a very snazzy semi-matte white version of the Aarka standmount. Equally eye-catching was the substantial Saadhana flagship speaker in the gorgeous dark wood finish.

Reporting by Grover Neville

Paired with Phasemation amps, I heard the Maargas, the speaker one step higher in the line than the Trishnas I reviewed for Part-Time Audiophile recently. The sound was much as I remember it – or perhaps even better. That uncanny Rethm ability to completely detach the soundstage from the speakers and float an enormous horizontal and vertical image before the listener was in full force here. No doubt the very nice and quite pricey Phasemation amplifiers were partially responsible, but my sense was also that as you go up the Rethm line, the larger drivers increase the sense of bandwidth, scale and dynamics of the presentation.

Somewhat akin to Treehaus Audiolab, Rethm to me is a company doing hi-fi in a unique way which is distinctly fun and focused on musical engagement rather than a single absolute truth of experience. Not to mention, they have tremendously more reasonable prices than many equivalent speakers – Jacob George continues to speak my language.